2012-DSE Kenneth Lau

ENG LANG
PAPER 1
RP

BEACON COLLEGE
KENNETH LAU
HONG KONG DIPLOMA OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION 2012

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 1

READING

Reading Passages

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Write all your answers in the Question-Answer Book.

2. DO NOT take away this booklet. It will be collected separately at the end of the examination.

3. DO NOT write any answers in this booklet because they will not be marked.

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Kenneth Lau Beacon College
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 Part A – This is the compulsory part. Answer all questions in this part.
Read the following article and then answer questions 1 – 30 on pages 2 – 5 of the Question-Answer Book.
(49 marks)
Let’s get the fats straight

[1] If you’re shunning all kinds of oils for fear of getting fat, here’s something you should know: the amount of oil and
fat you eat isn’t linked with disease. What matters is the type you eat. No doubt, consuming too much bad fat –
saturated and man-made trans fats – can lead to obesity, high cholesterol and other diseases, but fat is a vital part of the
diet. It’s a source of energy, protects the bones and vital organs, aids blood vessel function and keeps us warm.
5 Without it, we simply can’t function.

[2] According to Christine Jonkers, a nutritionist at Super Natural, about 30 per cent of the regular diet should be
derived from fat; this translates to about 60 grams to 70 grams a day for women (about four tablespoons of olive oil) and
70 grams to 80 grams for men. When it comes to cooking, plant-derived oils rich in good fat can have a positive impact
on the body. Jonkers says two to three tablespoons, or 30 grams of the daily fat intake, should come from good oil.
10 But what exactly is “good” and “bad” fat and oil?

[3] For a start, cooking with butter, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil is bad. They’re high in saturated fat,
which raises one’s levels of bad cholesterol – low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – in the body that can cause plaque build-up
in arteries, potentially leading to a heart attack or stroke. Solid at room temperature, saturated fat is found mainly in
animal products – meat, seafood, poultry with skin – and whole-milk dairy products such as cheese and ice cream.

15 [4] Though saturated fat, like all dietary fat, also raises the body’s levels of good cholesterol – high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) – it’s still better to eat as little of it as possible. Our bodies make all the saturated fat we need. Trans fat is
even worse for you because it raises the body’s levels of bad LDL and lowers the level of good HDL. It’s made by
heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen gas, a process called hydrogenation that turns the oils into a
solid. Commercially prepared baked goods, processed food and fried fast food are the main sources of trans fat.

20 [5] Good fats are unsaturated, such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Liquid at room temperature, they
raise levels of good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol, ease inflammation and stabilise heart rhythms.
Polyunsaturated fat is found in sunflower, corn, soya bean and flaxseed oils, as well as walnuts, flax seeds and
omega-3-rich oily fish such as salmon and mackerel. Monounsaturated fat is found in nuts, seeds and canola, peanut
and olive oils.

25 [6] So, it’s sensible to replace saturated fat in the diet with good fats whenever possible. Swap butter in cooked
dishes, for example, with olive or canola oil. How you use the oil matters, too. Stir-frying is one of the healthiest
ways, with one or two spoonfuls enough for large plates of food. Dressing salads with oil-based vinaigrettes is also
good.

[7] Deep-frying in plant-derived oils, however, is a no-no. By dipping products in flour or egg-based batters, a
30 coating is created on the food's surface that absorbs oil “like a sponge”, says Jonkers. It can push one’s fat intake way
over the daily limit. Avoid deep-frying with extra virgin olive oil as it is claimed that it can become toxic and pose a
health risk at the higher temperatures reached in this cooking method.

[8] Many restaurants use hydrogenated instead of plant oils to deep-fry. At home, if you aren’t doing the cooking, let
helpers know your preferences. Many might not be aware of the health guidelines. In Italy, using oil is simply a way
35 of life, says Andrea Fraire, chef de cuisine at the Grand Hyatt’s Grissini restaurant. He recommends oils that have been
cold-press extracted, which preserves the flavour. “The first part of the oil [in extraction] is the extra virgin olive oil,
after that you have regular olive oil,” he says. Fraire uses olive oils for sauteing, but chooses richer-tasting extra virgin
olive oils for finishing dishes, from meats and fish to salads.

[9] Not all extra virgin oils are created equal. The type of olive, where they are grown and when they are picked all
40 affect flavour. “If you use extra virgin olive oil from Liguria it’s lighter and good for green or mixed salads. If you
add to steak, use oil from south Italy because it’s stronger,” says Fraire. Choosing oil is like choosing wine, he says.
Look for a good colour: clear vivid green or yellow, and try (if you can) before you buy.

Source: Adapted from an article in the South China Morning Post, 8 November 2011.

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 Part B – Answer EITHER Section 1 (easier) OR Section 2 (more difficult).

Section 1
Here are some comments from netizens, posted to the website of the Economists. Read them carefully and answer
questions 31 – 48 of your Question-Answer Book. (44 marks)

What are the world’s biggest sources of renewable energy and where are they located?

EFFORTS to tackle climate change include heavy investment in renewable sources of electricity around the
world. Solar power saw the biggest leap in 2010, with the installed base jumping 70% compared with 2009 to 40
gigawatts. Wind power also grew strongly, adding 24% of generating capacity. Yet the biggest source of
renewable electricity, hydropower, and the smallest, geothermal, both only added 3% to capacity. Finding
5 usable sources is becoming increasingly hard or costly. The region that saw the biggest growth in renewable
energy projects was power-hungry Asia. Investment in renewables also saw the biggest leap since 2007, with
$243 billion spent, a 30% increase over 2009.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
A. Because renewable energy methods are new, they tend to be very costly compared to older conventional methods to
generate electricity. However, there is a great potential for them in the future. As the non-renewable resources begin
10 to become depleted, they will become more expensive, leaving the renewable resources in higher demand. While it is a
good thing that these renewable energy technologies are growing now, they will need to continue to grow to meet the
rising energy demands of the world.
alyud Nov 14th 2011 16:12 GMT
________________________________________________________________________________________________
B. The fact that hydropower is the most used renewable source was surprising. Solar energy is by far the most
powerful source of renewable energy and the world needs to increase its use of solar power in future. North America
15 should not be third in renewable energy use. I realize that Asia has an excess of money right now, and the US is in
debt. However, we should not be behind Europe in renewable energy production. The US and North America need to
step up their game. This is not a competition, but producing/using more renewable energy benefits everyone in the
world.
Alex_Berman Nov 14th 2011 16:15 GMT
________________________________________________________________________________________________
C. I had no idea that water was the biggest source by a long shot. That’s pretty cool and efficient. It’s also
20 interesting to see that Asia has the largest growth in portion of renewable energy. This only means Asia can develop
much further in the future.
parkerlikesplaid Nov 14th 2011 16:31 GMT
________________________________________________________________________________________________
D. I think renewable energy needs a champion like china or all of Africa installing solar sources in remote locations
but to large populations. As these locations develop, hopefully renewable will be cheaper to install than other sources
of energy. The nice thing about solar and wind sources is that they can be installed on many different scales, in
25 contrast to a coal plant which requires a large scale to be economical. Once renewable sources get a foothold in these
remote locations they will continue to become cheaper and more efficient and can move towards the hubs of civilization.
peterm76 Nov 14th 2011 16:53 GMT
________________________________________________________________________________________________
E. It has been stated that in 24 hour period, the sun alone generates enough electricity to power the entire planet. The
difficult part, however, is finding an efficient method to capture this energy. As of now, solar panels are so costly and
inefficient that solar power is not currently the best method for storing energy from the sun. Currently, studies are
30 being conducted on better means to storing energy from the sun by way of nanotechnology; however, it will be quite
some time until we see these new methods implemented on an international level. As of now, we must be cautious with
the amount of fossil fuels that we are consuming as they are constantly being drained and will continue to drain until the
Earth is dry of these fuels.
patacker Nov 14th 2011 16:57 GMT
________________________________________________________________________________________________
F. It is not really surprising. Hydropower is the oldest renewable resource. We have been building utility-scale
35 Hydro since the dawn of electrical generation. Assuming you’re building it somewhere with a constant or high flow,
it’s reliable and consistent all the time, unlike more modern sources of power that are much more difficult to integrate
into the grid because of being very intermittent.
guest-iwojniw Nov 14th 2011 17:28 GMT
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 G. Solar energy is a technology that has been in commercial production for 50 years. It is not much different in
maturity from nuclear power. In that time there has been only one major technical innovation introduced into the
40 marketplace - the use of thin films to replace the old silicon solar panels. This reduced the cost of solar panels at the
expense of LOWER efficiency. There is very little potential for improvement in this mature technology, as efficiencies
are limited by 1) the fundamental properties of materials and 2) the limited availability of the sun. There is a lot of
wishful thinking, however – if only this could be converted directly to electricity.
Rob S Nov 14th 2011 17:31 GMT

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/11/renewable-energy

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Section 2
Read the following poem and article and then answer questions 49 – 65 on pages 9 – 13 of the Question-Answer Book.
(48 marks)
Geography Lesson
by Brian Patten

Our teacher told us one day he would leave

And sail across a warm blue sea
To places he had only known from maps,
And all his life had longed to be.

5 The house he lived in was narrow and grey

But in his mind’s eye he could see
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the walls,
And green leaves burning on an orange tree.

He spoke of the lands he longed to visit,

10 Where it was never drab or cold.
I couldn’t understand why he never left,
And shook off the school’s stranglehold.

Then halfway through his final term

He took ill and never returned.
15 He never got to that place on the map
Where the green leaves of the orange trees burned.

The maps were redrawn on the classroom wall;

His name forgotten, he faded away.
But a lesson he never knew he taught
20 Is with me to this day.

I travel to where the green leaves burn,

To where the ocean’s glass-clear and blue,
To places our teacher taught me to love –
And which he never knew.

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 The sweet smell of extinction
[1] Along Sheung Wan’s Des Voeux Road West, the potent aroma is unmistakable. It’s that of dried seafood – one of
the most traditional of Hong Kong industries – and it wafts over much of the Western District from more than 200 shops
selling dried and salted fish, flattened squid, oysters, scallops, abalone, fish maw and more. But there’s one product
that sticks out more than most: shark fins, preserved in large glass jars and tagged with price tags soaring well above
5 $1,000.

[2] At the industry’s heart in Sheung Wan, shark fin is easy to get your hands on. But in other parts of the world, there
are moves afoot to outlaw this controversial trade. The Californian Legislature has just passed a bill to ban the trade
and possession of shark fins, joining Hawaii, Oregon and Washington as the fourth American state to enact such a law.
And now, local environmental groups are urging Hong Kong, the world’s largest importer of shark fins and believed to
10 handle at least half the global trade, to follow this trend.

[3] The major justification behind the ban is the horrific, wasteful and often illegal methods utilised in shark finning.
The shark finning practice involves the fins, the most profitable part of a shark, being cut off while at sea, with the
remainder of the shark thrown back into the water, making it almost impossible for it to survive. According to
international environmental group Oceana, in 2008, nearly 10,000 tons of shark fins were imported in Hong Kong, with
15 up to 73 million sharks killed each year to satisfy the international demand for this high-priced delicacy.

[4] “Banning the trade of shark fins in Hong Kong is the most effective way to protect sharks,” says Silvy Pun Yuen-yiu,
marketing officer of WWF Hong Kong, referring to the city’s magnitude in the global market of shark fins. Pun says it
takes one to two years for sharks to reproduce and around 10 years for babies to mature, which cannot compare to the
rate of them being killed. “Sharks play an important role in the oceans. If they disappeared, the ecosystem of the
20 oceans would be greatly affected or even collapse.”

[5] Bertha Lo Ka-yan, the project director of Hong Kong Shark Foundation, says judging by the current speed of
consumption of shark fins, sharks could be extinct in 10 years. Says Lo: “The government should ban the trade of
shark fins. If depending only on common people, it will be difficult and will take a long time to make any difference.”
But banning shark fins in Hong Kong would be a significant blow to local shark-fin traders. Calling the four American
25 states ‘a very few irrational societies’, Ricky Leung, a committee member of Hong Kong Marine Products Import and
Export Association. “The trade of shark fins should not be banned all over the world. Shark meat, shark bones,
medicine and cosmetics made of shark oil and purses made of shark skin are popular globally. Why do they only ban
shark fins?”, he says.

[6] Leung says local shark-fin traders are practising according to the international agreement, the Convention on
30 International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), where only three species of sharks –
namely basking shark, great white shark and whale shark – are included as endangered. CITES suggests that the trade
of these species should be tightly controlled, while the rest of the species can be traded freely. But Pun argues that
although CITES only includes three endangered species of sharks, on the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN)’s red list of threatened species, the species of sharks increased from 15 in 1996 to 181 last year.

35 [7] Daniel Chui Tak-yiu, the executive director of Fook Lam Moon, a local restaurant known for its shark-fin cuisines,
doubts if shark finning is really a common practice. His reason is that sharks are not easy to catch, and many parts can
be sold to make good profit, so it is unlikely that the fishers would waste the sharks. Chui says even if Hong Kong
banned shark fins, it still would not help much, because the Mainland is the biggest consumer of shark fins, and the
whole shark-fin business could go underground, or Macau could take the place of Hong Kong as the trade centre.
40 Statistics show that about 80 percent of shark fins in Hong Kong are exported to the Mainland. The upsetting thing,
according to Chui, is that many local fast food restaurants are serving shark fins from dogfish sharks, the prices of which
are relatively low. He suggests that the government can set a quota of the amount of imported shark fins and a license
and tracking system, where buyers and sellers of shark fins need to register to trade, so the related costs and the
subsequent prices would increase and there would be less people willing to buy shark fins or such dishes.

45 [8] Surprisingly, even though opposing the ban of shark fins in Hong Kong, many local seafood retailers on Des Voeux
Road West admit that it would not affect their business much. Lee Wong-lung, one of the retailers, said that the money
he earned from selling shark fins only accounts for 10 percent of his total earning.

[9] Hong Kong’s traditional demand for shark fins is undoubtedly the major reason why a ban would be a controversial
step. According to WWF Hong Kong, there are 107 organisations pledging not to sell or buy shark fin soup in any
50 activities, and 26 restaurants and hotels provide alternative banquet menus.

[10] “There is definitely a growing trend amongst environmentally-aware young couples to seek an alternative menu for

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 their wedding banquets,” says Shane Pateman, general manager of Eaton Smart Hong Kong hotel, one of the 26.
Pateman says the hotel will not stop serving shark fins because shark-fin soup is a long-time tradition in Chinese
banqueting, and the hotel respects the choice of its customers. “We have limited shark-fin soup to our Chinese restaurant
55 and Chinese banquet menus only,” he says.

[11] L’hotel Island South, meanwhile, hasn’t provided shark dishes since its opening last year. According to its
communications manager, the hotel targets young people who always follow the trend. “We support environmental
protection and want to set the first step. Our customers are satisfied too. There were customers who required menus
with shark fins, but after we explained our idea, they changed their minds after all.”

Source: http://www.timeout.com.hk/big-smog/features/45768/the-sweet-smell-of-extinction.html

END OF READING PASSAGES

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