Paper 1

Answer ONE question from this Paper.

Answers should be between 500 and 800 words in length.

1 To what extent do you agree that ancient myths and legends have little value
in today's world?

2 ‘A world without borders results in more problems than solutions.’ What is

your view?

3 ‘Technology has revolutionised sport, but not necessarily for the better.’
Discuss.

4 ‘Given the problems countries face today, resources should not be wasted on
space exploration.’ Comment.

5 How far should protecting the environment be a priority in your society?

6 With the proliferation of the Internet, is privacy more desirable today?

7 Consider the view that an ageing population is the most devastating crisis that
society is facing today.

8 Has technology made modern society a more dangerous place?

 Paper 2
Passage 1: Don Morgenson writes about why the modern world is having an identity crisis.

1 These are tough and confusing times we are living in. People of the 21st century are hurled into
these difficult times with few precedents. If only we had a more concrete sense of self, we might be
suffering less. Instead, we become obsessed with a quick or even instant sense of identity. We have
become addicted to becoming someone, but we want that identity effortlessly and impatiently. We
want it now. Our toiletries, our automobiles, our swimming pools and even that latest Botox injection. 5

2 In our search for identity, many of us have worn out our lives trying to become somebody. Some of
us have twisted ourselves into knots, trying to be that somebody others might want us to be. The
more fortunate among us have worked hard at finding out who we are. The question of who we are
can haunt us for some time; and there are some among us who find no answer at all. In the American
play “Death of a Salesman”, the protagonist, Willy Loman, is a salesman who is obsessed with the 10
American Dream, and thinks that as long as he worships the gods of financial and social success,
all would be right with the world. When he was eventually lowered into his grave, however, one of
his sons remarked, "Poor Willy ... he never knew who he was." His obsession with sales success
had ultimately prevented him from knowing who he really was.

3 We embrace any sort of recognition that promises to give us a unique sense of being, however frail 15
or fragile. We often hear a variety of claims to some minor distinction: having the worst appendix
the surgeon had seen in 40 years of medical practice, holding the Boy Scout record for making fire
by friction, having the most Friends on Facebook. Each of us needs to feel there is, somewhere in
this vast and overwhelming universe, some superlative that just might describe us. And why
shouldn't we want a sense of unique significance? Each of us is unique — we happen only once 20
and we have a right to cherish this special nature.

4 Many years ago, in the high school I attended, it was the custom to have schoolwide who's-who
contests where we selected the brightest guy and brightest girl, the friendliest, the wittiest, the
smartest, etc. There were certainly a sufficient number of awards to give each of us some claim to
glory — a title of some sort which might secure our place in the hallowed halls of our alma mater. I 25
used to fret through these contests searching for something for which someone might nominate me.
But nothing ever came my way; nothing contrived or even synthetic. I would have settled for that,
and I would have been completely in tune with our radically synthetic society.

5 We eat meatless burgers. Our work desks look more like elaborate coffee tables. We have silicone
implants, false eyelashes and suntans from either a pill or a bottle. And we have our bronze sticks 30
to help us retain a tan through the white ravages of winter. Our sons and daughters have developed
pleasant relationships that are created not by refining interpersonal skills but by using a certain
toothpaste or by chewing a gum promising instant and irresistible attraction to others. We buy certain
toiletries simply to exert an erotic power over all others.

6 Clearly, each of us must define for ourselves (with some help from family and friends) what kind of 35
somebody we want to become; that is our true vocation. We too often look to the outside world to
form an idea about our worth and our identity. We study the images in other people's eyes, and for
the sake of such images, clothe ourselves in fashionable rubbish, the in-brand of the day, status
symbols, and other dimensions of eggshell fragility. Then we wonder why a total stranger is reflected
in the mirror. We have tried to invent ourselves from the outside in. We have wanted so desperately 40
to be somebody that we have ended up being nobody where it really counts. And how incomparably
sad to glance back, albeit late in our brief walk across eternity and say: "But none of that was me."
Passage 2: Giuliana Mazzoni writes about how the ‘real you’ is a myth.

1 We all want other people to “get us” and appreciate us for who we really are. In striving to achieve
such relationships, we typically assume that there is a “real me”. But how do we actually know who
we are? It may seem simple: we are a product of our life experiences, which can be easily accessed
through our memories of the past. Indeed, substantial research has shown that memories are central
in shaping a person’s identity. People with profound forms of amnesia typically also lose their identity 5
– as described by neurologist Oliver Sacks in his case study of 49-year-old Jimmy G, who struggled
to find meaning as he could not remember anything that happened after his late adolescence.

2 But it turns out that our identity is often not a complete or truthful representation of who we are anyway,
even if we have an intact memory. Research shows that we do not actually access and use all
available memories when creating personal narratives to define who we are. It is becoming 10
increasingly clear that, at any given moment, we unconsciously tend to pick and choose what to
remember. Concepts that are rather vivid and rich in detail and emotion – episodes we can re-
experience – are more likely to be marked as memories. These then undergo a “plausibility test” to
tell whether the events fit within our general personal history. For example, if we remember flying
unaided in vivid detail, we know straight away that it cannot be real as logic would tell us that such a 15
superhuman feat could not have been possible.

3 What is selected as a personal memory also needs to fit the current idea that we have of ourselves.
We might only remember the bits that we find more reflective of the characteristics we associate with
ourselves. Let us suppose you have always thought of yourself as a very kind person, and your identity
was built around memories of you performing kind deeds. After a very distressing experience, 20
however, you develop a strong aggressive trait that now better suits how you see yourself. Not only
does your behaviour change, but your personal narrative and identity have too. If you were asked to
describe yourself, you might include past events previously omitted from your narrative of you as a
kind person, for example, instances in which you acted aggressively.

4 And this is only half of the story. The other half has to do with the truthfulness of the memories that 25
are chosen to become part of our personal narratives. Our memories can be highly inaccurate or
outright false: we often either forget details or make up memories of events that never happened,
essentially creating for ourselves an identity which may not even be based on what we have actually
experienced. Remembering is not like playing a video from the past in your mind. It is a highly
reconstructive process that depends on several things: our knowledge of a topic or event, the image 30
we have of ourselves, our physiological and emotional needs, and even the aspirations that we have.
Indeed, brain imaging studies have shown that many parts of the brain are involved in creating
personal memories. A crucial area is the frontal lobes, which are in charge of integrating all the
information received about an event into a single memory that needs to make sense to us. Otherwise,
the memory is either discarded or it undergoes changes, with information added or deleted. 35

5 Memories are therefore very malleable, and can be distorted and changed easily. Crucially, there are
upsides to our malleable memory. Choosing memories is actually the norm, guided by self-enhancing
biases that lead us to rewrite our history so that it resembles what we feel and believe now. Inaccurate
memories and narratives are in fact necessary, resulting from the need to maintain a positive, up-to-
date sense of self. 40

6 My own personal narrative is that I am a person who has always loved science, who has lived in many
countries, met many people … And my consequent identity is a scientist, a professor of Psychology,
or a wanderer as befits the situation. But I might have made up those memories and narratives, at
least in part. My current enjoyment for my job and frequent travels might taint my memories.
Ultimately, there may have been times when I did not love science and wanted to settle down 45
permanently. But clearly it does not matter, does it? What matters is that I am happy and I know who
I am.
 From Passage 1
1 In Paragraph 1, why does he author say that these are ‘tough and confusing times we
are living in’ (line 1)? Use your own words as far as possible.

2 What does the author suggest about the way we form our identity by referring to ‘our
toiletries, our automobiles, our swimming pools and even that latest Botox injection’ (line
5)? Use your own words as far as possible.

3 In paragraph 2, what contrast does the author make in lines 6-8 about our search for
identity? Use your own words as far as possible.

4 Explain what the author means by ‘frail or fragile’ (lines 15-16).

5 What is the author’s intention in asking the question ‘and why shouldn’t we want a sense
of unique significance’ (lines 19-20) and what justification does he offer? Use your own
words as far as possible.

6 What does the author mean by ‘I would have been completely in tune with our radically
synthetic society’ (line 28) and how do the examples in paragraph 5 support his view?
Use your own words as far as possible.
7 In paragraph 6, explain what the author means by ‘our true vocation’ (line 36). Use your
own words as far as possible.

8 What is the author implying about our search for identity in lines 36-37? Use your own
words as far as possible.

9 Explain the author’s concern when he says ‘we have wanted so desperately to be
somebody that we have ended up being nobody where it really counts’ (lines 40-41). Use
your own words as far as possible.

From Passage 2
10 From paragraph 6, what does the author intend you to understand by the ellipsis (…) in
line 42?

11 Using material from paragraphs 2-4 only (lines 8-35), summarise what the author has to
say about why our identity is not a complete or truthful representation of who we are.
Write your summary in no more than 120 words, not counting the opening words which
are printed below. Use your own words as far as possible.
Our identity is not a complete or truthful representation because…

12 Don Morgenson says that we ‘clothe ourselves in fashionable rubbish, the in-brand of the
day, status symbols’ (lines 38-39) to form our identity, while Giuliana Mazzoni says that
our identity is ‘a product of our life experiences, which can be easily accessed through
our memories of the past’ (lines 3-4).

How far do you agree or disagree with the opinions expressed in these two passages?
Support your answer with examples drawn from your own experiences and that of your
society.