Text 1

The text below is about how to form healthy relationships.

1 Are you in a healthy relationship? Are you looking for the right things
in a partner? Would you know if you found them? Many people spend
so much time looking for that 'spark' or that feeling when they've found
'the one' that they forget to examine whether the relationship is good
for them. It would be ideal if we were all able to recognize the signs of 5
an unhealthy relationship. The truth is that it can be hard to let go of
someone we love. We focus on the good and refuse to see what's
often obvious to everyone else - the relationship is unhealthy.

2 The signs of an unhealthy relationship is aplenty. We all love honesty

but there's a difference between honesty and criticism. When your 10
partner is being honest, you'll still feel respected and valued because
their feedback is constructive. Criticism is often about small things, like
your clothes or favorite pastimes, and makes you feel belittled.
Another reason why you possibly feel belittled could be if your partner
blatantly pressures you to change your appearance, quit activities you 15
love or stop seeing friends or family, those are big red flags. Pushing
you to share every thought or detail of your day or always needing to
be with you are more subtle signs of controlling behavior.

3 It is safe to say that all couples encounter disagreements. Sometimes

it is best to defuse arguments over minor things. But if you're always 20
burying conflict - or constantly arguing without seeing any
improvement - your communication skills may be lacking. Certain
relationship red flags, like physical or emotional abuse, are always
signs that you must leave the relationship immediately. Otherwise,
healthy relationships can often be formed with the commitment and 25
dedication of both partners.

4 Have you ever heard the expression 'love at first sight'? Some people
believe that a healthy relationship is the work of destiny. However,
what they mistake as 'fate' is the law of attraction - the idea that we
attract the things that we focus on and surround ourselves with - and 30
it applies to relationships and life. If you embrace positive thinking, live
with passion and are kind and accepting of yourself and others, you'll
attract people who do the same. You'll need to identify and overcome
your limiting beliefs and rewrite your story to give you strength and
confidence. That being said, learning self-love isn't always easy. 35

5 You must hold yourself to high standards if you want a healthy

relationship. If your expectations are low and you're not putting in the
effort to grow with your partner, the result will be a stale and
In your own words, summarise the ways to form a healthy relationship in 80 words
Use only information from Paragraph 2 to 6.

To form a healthy relationship, we need to ...........................................................................

Text2

The text below is about tourism.

1 The word 'tourism' did not exist when Thomas Cook was born but at his death, his
name was synonymous with the tourism industry he had started. An impoverished
preacher and a strict non-drinker, Thomas Cook made his start when he chartered
one of the newly invented trains to take a party of fellow non-drinkers a grand total
of 11 miles to their regular meeting, with the profits split between Cook and the 5
other meeting organisers. This success emboldened Cook, and he began to offer
cheap day trips to the working classes, as well as grander expeditions to the
emerging middle classes, exploiting the possibilities opened up by the rapidly
expanding train networks. Soon, he was selling escorted tours to Europe, America
and Biblical sites in the Holy Land. 1O

2 Before Thomas Cook, recreational travel was limited to the wealthy. The
eighteenth-century sons of European elites, fresh from university and
unconstrained by either time or money, would embark on what they call the Grand
Tour, visiting revered sites of classical culture. They would network with fellow
members of the upper class, the rich and wealthy of various nations before they 15
return to assume positions of power in their own countries. Interaction with the
locals was kept to the minimal and cultural artefacts were shipped back home to
demonstrate their status and impress future guests.

3 Over time, the working class won the right to paid holidays and then gained
increases in disposable incomes. These, along with the introduction of travel by 20
car, bus and later by plane transformed recreational travel from what was exclusive
to the affluent few available to the masses. Modern mass travel has enabled
today's holidaymakers to escape from the rigours and routines of work, or seek
thrills in the unfamiliar. Where they want to escape to can be very diverse, of
course. Many may choose to explore their own countries more widely while others 25
look further for a better climate or in search of the new: a different landscape,
culture or culinary experience.

4 Whatever the reason for travel, all destinations gain financially from tourism,
particularly the poorest. Tourism can benefit local communities by providing
employment, even if it is only seasonal. Tourism also revitalizes communities 30
through economic investments which reverse declining traditional industries.
Cultural assets, heritage and crafts can be preserved when the community
appreciates their economic benefits. These economic benefits may also motivate
locals to work to preserve the natural environment along with protecting
endangered wildlife. Furthermore, when the profile of a destination is raised, 35
community pride can also be rekindled.
5 But there exists a less rosy analysis of the travel boom. Problems arise from over­
reliance on tourism as it is vulnerable to political upheaval, economic uncertainty
or natural disaster. Furthermore, tourists often visit only famous or iconic sites,
thereby concentrating the economic benefits of their visits in the hands of only a 40
few businesses. Tourists are also criticized for barely scratching the surface of
what a destination has to offer before hastily moving on. Instead of broadening
their minds, these tourists cling to preconceived notions of their destinations, and
are ignorant - or what is worse - indifferent to local customs and sensitivities. Such
tourists often offend the local inhabitants, creating misunderstandings and cultural 45
strife. For their own comfort and convenience, they want to speak their own
language, be friendly only with their fellow tourists, and eat only what they find
familiar. By keeping the natives at arm's length, they highlighted the differences
between them and the locals, the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'.

6 There is a paradox at the heart of modern tourism: the very thing that draws the 50
crowds is changed, even endangered by these very same crowds. Their growing
numbers are spawning a global culture of homogeneous fast-food outlets and
brand name goods, which drives out what is local, traditional and distinctive. Where
the traditional culture survives, it is often a source of shallow entertainment, a
prettified and lifeless version of what was once crucial and alive. In addition, the 55
sheer weight of numbers of visitors can mean that erosion - a natural process - is
accelerated. The World Heritage site of Angkor in Cambodia, for example, was
securely cloaked by forest and unvisited for centuries. Since its rediscovery, annual
visitor numbers have surpassed two mHlion, crushing its sandstone steps underfoot
even while bringing vital income for Cambodia's economy. Being a 'must-see' 60
destination is now a double-edged sword, requiring popular tourist sites to regulate
visitor numbers so as to minimize negative impacts.

In own words, summarise the positive and negative effects that tourism has on the
destinations visited in 80 words.

Use only information from paragraphs 4 to 5.

For better or worse, tourism has impacted various destinations as ...................................

.............................................................................................................................................
Text3

The text below is about students who are afraid to fail.

1 A famous aphorism has it that "success represents the 1 per cent of your work
which results from the 99 per cent that is called failure". That statement bears
repeating today. This is because our young appear to have a strong fear of
failure. According to the latest study by the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), 15-year-olds in Singapore were ranked second globally in 5
reading, mathematics and science, but more than 70 per cent of the participating
Singapore students expressed a fear of failure, compared with a global average
of 50 per cent. Some Singaporean students also lamented that the education
landscape is stressful, especially when failure in some milestone examinations
can affect one's future. While these observations may be valid, in truth systemic 10
and cultural changes take time to effect. In the meantime, we could perhaps
explore how to help students alleviate their fear of failure.

2 American psychologist John William Atkinson characterised fear of failure as a

disposition to avoid failure, prompted by the ensuing experiences of shame and
humiliation. Researchers found links between fear of failure, parental shaming 15
and a child's susceptibility to shame. Perceived failure is not confined to those
struggling with their studies. High performers who set unrealistic personal goals
often experience a deep sense of abandon and frustration if they fall short of their
own expectations. They view this as a "failure" even though their actual
performance is well above average. Individuals who have higher fear of failure 20
tend to experience greater shame than those with lower fear. What we tell a child
who failed influences his likelihood of experiencing shame and fear of failure.
Remarks such as "stupid" and "why can't you be as smart as so and so ... " will
inevitably be detrimental.

3 Influential psychiatry professor Donald Nathanson identified four strategies that 25

failure-fearful individuals adopt to cope with shame - withdrawal from the activity,
negative emotions, denial of failure and blaming others. Although these coping
strategies may provide a temporary reprieve from shame, they are ineffective
since they do not address the core of the problem. Researchers Jeff Elison and
Julie Partridge suggested to deal with the source of shame and giving due 30
consideration to the possibility of addressing it. Thus, individuals with an adaptive
shame-coping style not only acknowledge their failure experiences, but also
actively explore the reasons for their failures and search for ways to do things
better or differently. These individuals view failure positively, as a learning
experience, rather than a cataclysm or something to avoid at all cost. As Henry 35
Ford said, "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more
intelligently".

4 Experiences of failure are often accompanied by feelings of low self-worth and

diminished confidence. When confronted with their children's poor performance,
some parents overreact to the extent that their kids begin to feel utterly worthless 40
and despondent. Psychologist Carl Rogers advocated that each person has
within himself vast resources needed for personal development, but this cannot
take place without the unconditional positive regard of those who are significant
to him. Parents could focus on nurturing in their children the spirit of resilience
and a die-hard attitude that would enable them to bounce back every time they 45
 6

fail. Children need to understand that although failure might be unpleasant and
undesirable, it is part and parcel of life.

5 Some researchers liken the relationship between an individual's fear of failure

and outlook on the future to the chicken-and-egg conundrum. Fear of failure may
drive individuals to engage in self-handicapping behaviour, such as absenteeism 50
on the day of a test, in an attempt to protect their self-worth. However, task
avoidance does little to improve performance, hence the likelihood that the
individual will sink lower in achievement and confidence levels, and become even
more fearful and risk averse.

6 One might ask, "How can I help my child overcome his fear of failure?" One can 55
take the first step by redefining failure, by taking a positive stance towards it.
Highly successful people often choose to describe it in affirmative terms. Albert
Einstein called it "success in progress". Second, psychologists recommend taking
a mastery orientation, focusing on learning, skills acquisition, effort investment
and self-improvement, rather than a performance orientation focusing on 60
competition and comparison. Finally, there is no better role model for young
people than our very own Joseph Schooling, who, after losing to his teammates
at the SEA Games, still graciously and sportingly embraced and congratulated
the winners. When asked by the media whether he was disappointed, he
acknowledged his disappointment and shortfall, and then immediately focused on 65
the lesson learnt, "No one likes to lose. But this is a good reality check... I've got
a lot of work to do." We wish our young people would know that too.

In your own words, summarise the negative impacts of facing failure and the ways
parents can help children overcome it in 80 words.

Use only information from Paragraphs 4 to 6.

There are several consequences to failure. Children who have failed may .........................

...............................................................................................................................................
Text 4
The text below is about how whales gather.

1 The shimmering glare of reflected tropical light was overwhelming. I squinted and
rubbed my eyes, as a haze of brine blurred my vision. When a faint puff of
condensation shot into the air on the horizon, I thought it was a mirage, an artifact of
fatigue and my compromised senses. But when I saw a second, I knew there was only
one thing it could be - the exhalation of a surfacing whale. Excitedly, I counted a third, 5
then a fourth, a dozen ... no, hundreds! That's how I came to witness a phenomenon
few have ever seen before. Skimming over the waves, I stopped the boat a short
distance from where I had seen the whales' last blow and slipped quietly into the sea.

2 As my eyes took in this secret spectacle, my ears were assaulted by a cacophony of

excited whale chatter. Creaking and crackling, clicks, buzzes, and pops permeated 1O
the water as the whales pinged one another with sound. Moving together in groups
several dozen strong, the whales occasionally descended to deeper water, but largely
stayed near the surface, giving me a privileged view.

3 Humans have had a long and checkered history with whales, in which we feared,
hunted and killed them. Today, although widespread hunting is no longer an issue, 15
whales still face an alarming litany of threats including ship strikes which cause
terminal injuries. Ingested plastics block their guts, causing them to starve with full
stomachs. Earlier this year, when thirteen whales beached themselves in Germany,
researchers found plastic garbage in the stomachs of four of the dead whales. Though
most people have never seen a whale, the byproducts of our modern societies often 20
reach marine mammals without our knowledge, and can have devastating effects.

4 It is only relatively recently that we have taken the time to try to get to know them.
Whales are mammals and live in almost every major ocean, including tropical and
temperate waters, foraging constantly. But the ocean is a big place, and much of it is
a nutritional desert, so they are most often found where there is abundant prey. They 25
dine primarily on squid, although they have been known to eat fish and octopuses.

5 Whale society is structured along matrilineal lines, with adult females and their
offspring forming the basis of a social unit. Such units typically comprise a dozen or
more individuals, though average numbers and unit structures vary across ocean
basins. Female offspring generally stay with their social units, while males leave as 30
they mature, striking out to form loose groups with other young males. Together, they
seek out prey in the nutrient-rich waters of higher latitudes.

6 Recent research suggests that whales organise their societies and keep tabs on one
another using a set of unique sounds that are distinct from those used by other units.
The units with similar sounds form larger groups of whales comprising many 35
thousands of individuals scattered across vast regions of ocean, which socialise from
time to time. As a result, they maintain a sense of extended group identity through the
recognition of similar sounds.
 8

7 In light of these insights around communication and social structure, the factors that
likely contributed to the incredible congregation of whales I encountered that day 40
become easier to understand.
8 Whales tend to be found wherever the hunting is good - and so, predictably, I spotted
the aggregation in a location with abundant squid prey. They are also highly social -
and so an encounter involving multiple social units in a given clan produces a riot of
sound and energy. It was, in a sense, a vast reunion with plenty to eat and 45
communicate about.

In your own words, summarise the characteristics of whales' living environment,

dietary habits and social structure in 80 words.

Use only information from Paragraphs 4 to 6.

Pertaining to the living environment of whales, they are typically ...................................

..........................................................................................................................................
Text 5

The text below, adapted from The Cat by Muriel Beadle, discusses the charms of cats and their
associations in different cultures.

1 Cats are beautiful and graceful animals, soft and sleek to the touch, amiable in expression, patient
with children who carry them with legs dangling, and amusing when they pounce upon a ball of
crinkled paper or chase spots of sunlight on a wall. Cats are small and clean and endearing, as
millions of lonely people can testify; the purr of a cat on a lap makes solitude endurable.

2 Some of their most charming features, however, stem from the fact that they are specialised 5
hunters; hunting is what they were evolved to do, and it is the key to their whole behaviour, whether
one is talking about wild cats, farm cats or cats which spend their lives in city apartments and
hardly ever see a mouse. Those soft paws which slither harmlessly over even the most delicate
of objects also ensure its silent progress while some poor mouse is unaware of its impending
doom. The crinkling of paper alerts it to a game of toss and catch, but it is the same sound that 10
mice make in their burrows, and it triggers an age-old instinct to chase and kill. The kitten which
amuses us by probing with its paw into a box is in fact developing the skills that enable it to search
out prey underground. When it bats a ball of wool around and tosses it in the air, it is rehearsing
the gruesome way in which full-grown cats "play" with their victim before its death.

3 Indeed, the cat has long been the subject of superstition and strange beliefs. The ancient 15
Egyptians associated the cat with their gods, especially with Bastet, goddess of the moon, and
temple carvings represent her as cat-headed. Certainly, at night a cat's eyes reflecting moonlight
create an eerie effect. Many motorists have experienced a sudden shiver when their headlights
picked up their moonlike glow; no wonder some people have believed the fire of their eyes to be
that of the Devil himself. 20

4 Even in death the cat could be given costly and special treatment by the Egyptians. Coffins have
been found with the cat's likeness painted on top, and eyes fashioned from expensive crystal and
gold, and the body elaborately encased in strips of linen. Perhaps the most amazing evidence of
this special treatment was the discovery last century of thousands of mummified cats just outside
a small Egyptian village on the River Nile. Nineteen tons of their remains were unearthed, packed 25
in layers six metres deep.

5 It is perhaps not surprising that the ancient Egyptians paid so much respect to the cat, for it is
highly likely that they were the first people to domesticate the creature. No doubt because of their
religious associations, cats were jealously guarded by the Egyptians. Their export was forbidden
for at least a thousand years after they first appeared, although eventually they made their way 30
East and West as the trade routes opened up and traders smuggled them out, some to Europe,
others far afield to China, and then to Japan. Its close association with Egyptian gods earned it
respect among the religions of the West; the cat found its way into their paintings, possibly as a
symbol of fertility.

6 It would not be long before it lost this special respect. One of the religions which had welcomed it 35
now began to hunt it down. Tales were put about women who worshipped the Devil, and who
practised evil magic to harm others. To escape detection, it was said they turned themselves into
cats to cast their spells unseen. Cats were then considered partners in this oractice of evil maaic.
7 Its reputation for fertility that had once brought it popularity with fine Egyptian ladies was now a
sign of its ungodly nature. Its amazing ability to fall immense distances and survive gave rise to a 40
fearful yearly ritual in one European town. Cats were tossed from the highest point of the city, no
doubt to test their capacity to survive the fall and thus to prove their supernatural powers. Even to
this day that same city conducts a yearly procession in which thousands of people dress up as
cats of all shapes and sizes, and the same fall is enacted, though mercifully with dummy cats.

In your own words, summarise how and why cats were respected by Egyptians and Westerners in
80 words

Use only the information from Paragraphs 4 and 5.

Dead or alive, cats were given special treatment such as .....................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................................