2022 TJC H2 Prelim Paper 1 Question Paper.docx

TEMASEK JUNIOR COLLEGE 2022 JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS Higher 2 ECONOMICS 9757/01Paper 1 24 August 20222 hours 15 minAdditionalMaterials:one12-pageanswerbooklet,onepieceof writingpaperforrough work READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Ananswerbookletwill beprovidedwiththisquestionpaper.Youshouldfollowtheinstructionsonthefrontcover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper ask the invigilator for acontinuationbooklet. Answerallquestions. Indicate the question number clearly in your answers. Start Question 1 and Question 2 on a fresh page. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

2 This document consists of7printed pages and1blankpage.

3 Question 1: Government intervention in the market for rare earths Extract 1: The uses of rare earth elements Rareearthelements(REEs)isacollectivetermforseventeenchemical elementsintheperiodictable. Despitethename,REEsarenotveryrareandfoundfarmorecommonlyintheEarththanmost precious metalssuchasgoldandplatinum. However, extracting, processingandrefiningREEs are tricky for a myriad of technical and environmental reasons. Rare earth metals like dysprosiumand terbiumplay a critical roleindefense, technologyandelectric vehicles. Neodymiumandpraseodymiumaresomeof themost sought-after rareearthelements crucial in products such as motors, turbinesandmedical devices. Demandfor themexploded in recent years with the growth of technology and will continue to climb amid theongoing race to create a large electric vehicle market. Source:CNBC,17 April 2021 Figure 1: Price of rare earth dysprosium oxide, 2009 – 2024 (US$ per kilogram) Source:statista.com

4 Extract 2: The harms of rare earth mining Beginning in the 1990s, rare earth mining took off in the region located in Southeast Chinaabout 300 miles north of Hong Kong. As China began to produce more smartphones, windturbines, electric vehicles, andother high-techproductsrequiringREEs, theminingintensified.But the removal of theseelementsfromtheearth’scrust, usingamixof water andchemicals,caused extensive water and soil pollution. “To us as an environmental group, wehopethat theenvironmental damagecanstopandthattheseexternal [pollutioncosts] couldbeinternalizedinthecost” of products, MaJun,aleadingChineseenvironmentalist anddirector of theInstitutefor PublicandEnvironmental Affairs,saidin a phone interview. Ma’s fear is that other regionsaroundtheworldcouldsuffer asimilar fateif theybecome, likeChina, thesupplier of cheaprareearthelements, withlittleor noenvironmental priceattached.“I hope that wedon’t missthisopportunity,” hesaid. “Thereistalkthat similar miningcouldbestarted in Africa and other regions, so we should not repeat the same mistakes.” Deng Zhiyong, director of the Longnan Environmental Protection Department, said in aninterviewthat themininghasdumpedexcessiveamountsofammoniaandnitrogencompoundsinto the region’s ground and surface water. Other pollutants, such as cadmiumand lead, arealso released durin