Professional Documents
Culture Documents
GP Skills
GP Skills
Disclaimer: These notes are based on my opinion on how the questions should be tackled. Do take it
with a pinch of salt, and practice to see how they are applied.
Answer in your own words means that the answer comes from the keywords in the
paragraph
If answer in your own words is not present, then you need to infer from the passage
o You should ask yourself what is the authors stand, why he is doing this, and why
does her feel about ___
If a question is worth 2 marks, look for 2-4 lifted sentences and rephrase them
The parts of a question are located in the same paragraph and so not usually overlap
For questions that ask you to explain a word/ phrase, you need to define (literal meaning)
the word/ parts of the phrase and then explain the context and what it implies.
There is a need to answer the question in the context when asked to explain phrases or infer
meaning
Take note of the perspective the question wants you to answer in
o Consumer
o Firms
o Government
o Victim
Look out for qualifiers to determine a change in stand or voice
When answering questions, dont rephrase the lifted sentence, instead infer what it means
and answer the question
For irony questions:
o Start with the expectations
o Use instead to show contrast with reality
o Do not use the same vocab for both parts. DO NOT:
It is wise but it is not wise...
It is significant but it is not significant
For metaphor questions:
o Use just as to show similarity between concepts
o Start with original meaning
o Relate to the meaning of the metaphor
If asked a how does A (e.g. a specific town) differ from B (e.g. another town) question
o No need give both sides
o Use Unlike B, A is
If the question was two parts, the first part asks the big picture, the second part is more
specific.
For questions that ask what, no need to explain the answer, just state.
Summary Skills
Watch out for questions that defines with paragraph range with an and instead of to
Under the point banding marking system, the summary should have 16 points in the
summary to rephrase
AQ Skills
A good AQ refers to ideas in the passage, has a clear stand, and uses own explanations and
examples
o Even if the question only states examples from your society, you can also bring in
your own experience.
For How far questions, you need to talk about both sides in the intro and rest of the AQ
The preamble tells the writers view. If both writers agree, do not say which writer you agree
with more
o Always address the point in the preamble in the AQ
o If no preamble is given, you need to look out for the writers main points/ idea of
each paragraph
Refer to the summary and the questions before it to get the writers main
arguments
Weigh the limitations of the two sides of the stand, and choose the side with less limitations
in the argument
The intro should
o Be 2-4 sentences long
o Show both sides of the argument, using qualifiers
o Show understanding of the question by paraphrasing the requirements (R1)
o Specify the society to be Singapore if need be
o Unpack the keywords by explaining their meaning
o Have a little foreshadow
o End off by clearly stating the stand and answering the question
The paragraphs should be optimistic if possible. Structure:
o Negative point
o Why the situation is not so bad
Limitation of drawback
Over generalization of situation
Safeguards that are in place and are successful
o Positive point
Every paragraph must clearly answer the question
To start a paragraph for evaluation marks
o I concede
o I acknowledge
o It is a fact that
o It is undeniable
o I think it is an over generalization to
Every sentence must either be an example, explanation, or evaluation
For the topic sentence of a paragraph, you need to give the main idea, use keywords, and
put forth your stand.
For an AQ paragraph, state your point/opinion, then quote, then explain your opinion, then
give an examples to evaluate the question
o When stating the point, make it clear by giving the area it applies in
o To agree with the writer, use
I concur
The view is accurate
o If possible, do a higher order paragraph, where you say how it might (not) apply in
some cases, but generally ____
o Use short quotes when quoting, not entire sentences
o Try to explain the meaning of the quotation with a short sentence
o Instead of quoting, you can sum up the main idea and then put the line reference
o Examples should not be identical to those used in the passage, but needs to be in
the field of the authors argument
o Example should be short, about 1 sentence, and link to how they are an example of
the argument
They show
The problem is evident in
o You can extrapolate your example to apply to the general society, but backup claim
with general evidence
They are only the tip of the iceberg
They are one of many people
To find quotes to apply, look for whether they
o Apply to the situation
Give examples to back this up
o Are an exaggeration
Either up play or downplay the effects or consequences
Omit certain viewpoints
Eradication of mankind
Vocab Skills
GP Essay Skills
Disclaimer: These notes are based on my opinion on how the questions should be tackled. Do take it
with a pinch of salt, and practice to see how they are applied.
For Should intro, you should start by conceding the other side, while using vocab
and qualifies to avoid contradiction. Then state your argument that answers the
question, followed by the explanation to support your choice (foreshadow)
o Requires an absolute stand
o The higher order paragraph should not be used, rather a more argumentative
essay should be used (1 point per paragraph)
What is your view, means that you should look at both perspectives of why it is true
or not, and include your opinion
Best and The, means you should talk about how the issue has flaws and there are
better alternatives
Only, means you should talk about how other issues are present
More harm than good, means you need to concede that the issue has both qualities,
and weight which is more severe
o Use a higher order structure
___ more important than ___, means that you need to have three viewpoints, agree,
disagree and both equal.
Always has two main ideas
o When and why does ____ happen
o And exceptions to the rule, thus not always
o It also has a sense of time so theres a need to talk about the future.
The terms overly, too much, overrated implies that the claim is unreasonable
and unattainable. Hence they need to be challenged
Too much can also suggest that the activity is harmful, as it compromises other
activities
o Consider if the reliance is the new normal
The terms too reliant, over dependent implies that if ___ was removed, countries
will flounder, as they have a crutch mentality
Your intro should usually be positive, or at least neutral. No negative intro
Intro should include keywords define abstract or ambivalent terms, preferably
rephrased; provide a thesis statement which includes both sides, showing the point
of view with qualifiers
o Thesis statement should use exact keywords, while use vocab for topic
sentences
If you disagree with an absolute keyword, dont use it in the essay.
o Qualify your synonyms instead
Try to not use negative or positive unless its a key word.
o Use harmful, beneficial
Watch out for implications or consequences of chosen stand
o Are you suggesting to stop advancement
o Are you suggesting to not resolve the matter
Some questions have a fixed stand, especially those that use absolutes like
eliminated
o Poverty, hunger, gender inequality, prejudice and discrimination can never be
eliminated, as remnants will still remain
Poverty and hunger caused by uneven distribution of food/ resources
and lack of political will
GP talking points
Bill Gates
Played a key role in developing the personal computer
o Grameen Bank
Microcredit firm that spearheaded microcredit for less developed
countries
o Lybian coup
People banded together to fight oppression and change the country
o Innovations by scientists
For conflict, you can talk about
o Scope
Politics
Art
o Pros
Unification of the United States of America through the American Civil
War
Rights for blacks through non-violent protests like civil disobedience
Inspired great works of art
Pablo Picasso: Spanish civil war
Van Gogh: Inner conflict
Les miserable: French civil war
o Cons
Loss of lives
Protestors
Bystanders
Collateral damage of property
o Transcending conflicts
World Organisations
United Nations
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Fighting against a common enemy
Collaboration efforts
Sending food aid
Sharing for technology
Holding join operations
For helping the poor, you can talk about
o Tied aid
Conditions for aid, like buying allegiance
May be necessary to prevent aid abuse
o Government corruption
Prevent aid from reaching the poor in need
For censorship, you can talk about
o Scope
Conventional media
Internet
Inflammatory remarks made by Campus Crusade against
Thailand
Movies
o
Hunger
Increased food production does not solve distribution problems
Corruption
Poverty
For Education is the solution, you can talk about
o Teaching farmers sustainable farming methods
Prevents over-farming
Maintains arable land
Income is sustainable
o Trade skills for LDC
Sewing
Pottery
Handicraft
For Goals of education, you can talk about
o Holistic development of an individual
Cultural
Political awareness
Respect for the past
Intellectual
Critical thinking
Power of innovation
Creativity
Literacy
Trade skills
Physical
Healthy lifestyle
Character
Moral values are essential
Part and parcel of any civilisation
For Education creating empty students, you can talk about
o No fulfilment
No passion for studies as students feel like robots, as they only
pursue grades
o No moral fibre
CIP is done in self-interest, for CIP hours for students portfolio
Students are not taught character
o Become self-centred
Become very academically driven, acting in self interest
Do not give up seats on buses
For Political will is the solution, you can talk about
o Laws
Prevent certain activities
o Incentives
WIS to encourage work
Tax rebates for charitable activities
For Government control, you can talk about
o Why it is needed
Economically
Unprecedented global corporation
UN, ASEAN, EU
Alleviated poverty
Number of people living below the poverty line
decreased by 430 million between 2005 and 2010
More people have access to education, employment and basic
amenities
Can work their way out of poverty trap
Unprecedented global trade
Access to a wider range of goods and services
International markets highly vulnerability
Economic collapse in one country triggers collapses in other
countries
Europe debt crisis
US growing debts
14 Trillion in debt
No one is immune to the international financial flu
o Socially
Greatest level of equality in history
Less discrimination
`Refer to earlier points
Greater womens rights
Refer to earlier points
o Environmentally
More efforts to stop ruthless exploitation of the environment
Rate of deforestation of Amazon forest reduced by 76.8%
between 2004 and 2010
Global corporation to maintain environment
World wildlife fund
UNCLOS
Toll of economic development reaches new heights
Destabilisation of weather patterns
Earlier, longer, colder winters
Later, shorter monsoon season
More floods and droughts
Mining scaring
Oil disasters
BP oil spill in 2010, largest marine oil spill disaster
o Scientific progress
We are able to cure previously incurable diseases
Huntingtons disease through gene therapy
We have currently have promising developments that can develop
potential cures to todays incurable diseases
Designer drugs
However, there is the problem of ethics
Refer to earlier points
For Gender equality unrealistic, you can talk about
o
Provide retraining
Workfare Training Support Scheme to combat
structural unemployment
Teaches transferable skills that increase job
opportunities
Set minimum wage law of reduce worker exploitation
Build sufficient infrastructure to support growth of industries
Tackle inflationary prices
Provide subsidies for low income families like tax
rebates
Have a progressive tax structure
For Potential of youth, you can talk about
o Making mistakes
Though their mistakes, they still have time to learn and have a second
chance
They mature through life experiences
o Can rise is sports
Sportsmanship teaches moral values like integrity and perservence
For Punishment is the solution to crime, you can talk about
o Functions of punishment
Retribution
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life
To see justice done
Rehabilitation
Get convicts to reflect and repent so that they will not repeat
their crimes
Deterrence
Make the cost of getting caught for doing a crime great
Protection of society
To seal away dangerous individuals that would harm others in
society
o Alternatives
Political will
To create educational programs to change the heart and minds
of criminals so that they will not repeat their wrong-doings
Reform the police system to reduce corruption
Raise pay and consequences to deter bribes
Combat poverty to reduce the number of those forced by
circumstance to resort to crime
Rehabilitation schemes
Provide convicts a second chance in life, by helping them get a
job, so that they are less tempted to return to crime
Yellow ribbon project
Help convicts to reintegrate into society as they face the social
stigma that we pressurise them to return to crime
For Sports being unsporting, you can talk about
o What is sportsmanship
Fair play
Gracious in defeat
Integrity
Giving the utmost to push the boundaries of human limits
o Why it is seen as unsporting
Sportsman stoop to unscrupulous means in their bid for glory in the
competitive world of sport
Cheating with drugs
Floyd Landiss doping case at the 2006 Tour De France
where he too performance enhancing drugs
Sore losers
Malaysian fans shine lasers into the eyes of the
Singaporean goal keeper in an attempt to distract him
from saving the goal
Match fixing
Renault Formula 1 team at the 2008 Singapore Grand
prix staged a crash by Nelson Piquet Jr to let the main
driver, Fernando Alonso
Bribery of referees
o Why it is still sporting
Not all sports are competitive, hence there is less pressure to resort to
unsportsmanship behaviour
For Heritage trade-off, you can talk about
o Definition of heritage
Identity of nation
Essential for nations survival, else everyone will not help the nation in
times of need
War
Brain drain
o Reasons trade-off
Governments are pursing growth to remain competitive on the world
stage, harming both physical and non-physical heritage
Resources are exploited for economic growth
Coral reefs damaged from tourism and pollution
Amazon Rainforest used to provide timber for housing and
export
Monuments are damaged by tourist traffic
Underused heritage is not economically efficient
Old shop houses
Singapore kampong villages
o Possible to co-exist
While culture is prostituted, it can still generate money for its
preservation
The village rituals have lost their meaning, as they are
constantly performed for the entertainment of the tourist
Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus(CHIJMES) grounds were
slated for redevelopment, but now it is used for functions and
events to prevent the church from being torn down
Done by Nickolas Teo Jia Ming
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Mark Zuckerberg
The success of nations is largely due to the hard work of the locals
and government
Singapore government diversifying the economy, making
policies that benefited the nation rather than populist policies
o For some people, their success is largely due to luck
Celebrities being born with good looks, and luck that they were
discovered
Britney spears
For organising major games, you can talk about
o Economics
Counties tend to spend over budget in preparation of major events
The Athens Olympics 2004 caused the government to greatly
overspend
Initial forecast of 4.5 billion euro
Actually spent 8.954 billion euro
Only 1.752 billion euro was received from sales of
tickets and advertisements, 7.202 billion came out from
the states pockets
However, this was due to improper planning, as countries can make a
profit, if they budget their spending wisely
Los Angeles Olympics 1984, earned a profit of US$250 million
Seoul Olympics 1988, earned a profit of US$300 million
Record profit for a government-run Olympiad
The over budget spending can also be justified by the long term
benefits from tourism
o Social
During preparation of event locations, there is much disruption to lives
during building construction.
There is also demolition of slums and relocation of squatters
Furthermore, some Olympic infrastructure become white elephants
The infrastructure built for the Athens Olympics were not reused
There was a lot of red tape that discouraged private firms from
requisitioning its use.
However, the big picture overshadows these short term costs
The cleaning and building of new infrastruction are of great
benefit to the locals
Governments with forsight and political will have opened the
infrastructure for private re-use or as a public attraction
Sydney Olympic villages were turned into residential
homes
Singapore used existing NUS dormitory to house
athletes during the 2010 Youth Olympics Games
Singapore used existing roads for the F1 night race
o Security
Done by Nickolas Teo Jia Ming
Politics
Governments may sanction the use of performance enhancing drugs
for their athletes to win the competition
Government may use the games to make a political point
During the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the US boycotted the
event by not letting US athletes participate in it.
In retaliation, the Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympics, involving 14 Eastern Bloc (aka Communist Bloc
which includes former communist states of Eastern and
Central Europe)
For Attention to criminals and victims, you can talk about
o Victims
Need more
When the perpetrator is not found, more media coverage
should be given to enlist the help of the public
For traumatising crimes, like surviving a massacre, the
government should take steps to provide counselling. Extend
the coverage of treatment of prisoners to the victims
Enough
Rape and scandal victims want their privacy
Gag orders from the court for the safety of the family
o Criminals
Publicity
May hurt the criminals family and friends
Public has the right to know about the life and motive of the
criminal
Rehabilitation
Counselling services
Re-education
Punishments
o
GP vocab
1. Entrenched privilege
a. The large amount of resources available to someone, as they are born into a
rich family
2. Slippery ethical slope
a. Easy for science to lose its ethics
3. Moral regression
a. Decrease in morals
4. Debilitating
a. Progressively weaker
b. QOL decrease
5. Degenerative
a. Progressively worse
b. Condition worsens
6. Moratorium
a. Ban for a limited period of time
7. Unscrupulous
a. Underhanded, ulterior motive
8. Ubiquitous
a. Existing everywhere
9. Leap the species barrier
a. Diseases transferring from animals to humans
10. Morally repugnant
a. Seen as morally wrong by society
11. Scientific imperative
a. To find out more about the unknown, to unravel mysteries
b. A powerful reason for any scientific research
12. Sentient
a. Capable of thought and has a conscious
13. Vocal minority
a. A small but influential group
14. Sine qua non
a. An indispensable condition
15. Folly of youth
GP fact sheet
Science and technology
1. Genetically modified food
a. Golden Rice contains the gene that produces beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin
A
b. Bt (Bacillus thuringinesis) corn, containing the gene coding for the Bt delta endotoxin,
has resistance against European corn borers
i. Affects the growth of the Monarch caterpillars
2. Important people
a. Stephen Hawking
i. Works in the field of Theoretical Physics
Discovered Hawking radiation, the radiation from black holes
Wrote a ground breaking book on cosmology, A Brief History of
Time
o Best seller that sold more than 10 million copies
ii. Awards
Honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009
o High civilian honour in the US
Lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
o The scientific academy of the Vatican
iii. Has a motor neuron disease, and uses a speech generating device due to
nearly total paralysis
b. Isaac Newton
i. Was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and other stuff
Laid down the three laws of motion
o First law
In the absence of a net force, an object at rest will
remain at rest, while an object in motion will
continue in motion in a straight line at a constant
speed
o Second law
=
The net force on a body is its mass times its
acceleration
o Third law
For every force, there is an equal and opposite force
He introduced universal gravitation
Developed Newtons law of cooling
Worked with Gottfried Leibniz to develop differential and integral
calculus
c. Albert Einstein
i. Works in the field of Theoretical Physics
Developed the special and general theory of relativity
His mass-energy equivalence formula is widely known
Had works on the Brownian motion, photoelectric effect
Over 300 scientific papers and over 150 non-scientific works
ii. Awards
Novel Prize in Physics in 1921 for photoelectric effect work
d. Claudius Galen
i. Father of anatomy
Society
1. Famous people
a. Gandhi
i. Led India to independence from the British, through non-violent civil
disobedience, on 15 August 1947
b. Rosa Parks
i. Act of civil disobedience in 1955, as she refused to give up her seat to a
white man.
ii. Catalyst of the Civil Rights movement
c. Martin Luther King Junior
i. A prominent figure in the African-American Civil Rights movement
ii. Led the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Meant to protest the policy of racial segregation on public transport
From 4 December 1955, to 20 December 1956 (381 days)
Blacks boycotted all form of public transport
Organized carpools, took non-motorized transport instead
d. President Lincoln
i. 16th president of the US
ii. Led America through the American Civil War
iii. Worked towards slavery by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation during
the Civil War in 1863
iv. Abolished slavery by helping to push the Thirteenth Amendment to the
United Sates Constitution through Congress in December 1968
e. Nelson Mandela
i. President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999
ii. Fought against the apartheid system in South Africa
Racial segregation in South Africa, with white superiority
Native, White, Coloured and Asian
Official abolishment of the Apartheid was in 1990 with the repeal of
the remaining Apartheid laws
However, the end is widely regarded as arising from the 1994
democratic general elections, with the African National Council (ANC)
winning 62.56% of the votes, and Mandela as president
Done by Nickolas Teo Jia Ming
2. Reformed laws
a. Jim Crow Laws
i. Racial segregation of the blacks in the US. From 1876 to 1965
Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination
against racial, ethnic, religious and national minorities and women
Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the disenfranchisement (losing
the right to vote) of African-American in the US
Politics
Environment
1. Energy
a. Coal
i. Around 7 billion tonnes of coal is used yearly
ii. Since 2000, global coal consumptions has grown faster than any other fuel
iii. China, USA, India, Russia and Japan are the largest coal uses, accounting for
77% of total global coal use.
iv. Asia accounts for over 65% of global coal consumption, mainly due to China
and India
b. Oil
i. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
Art