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______________________________________________________________________ READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST This Insert contains Text 1, Text 2 and Text 3. ____________________________________________________________________________ This document consists of 6 printed pages. Setter : Mdm Norwita Mohd Ariff BEDOK TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL A FUTURE-ORIENTED SCHOOL THAT BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN EVERYONE SEC ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 2 COMPREHENSION 1128/02 THURSDAY 3 MAY 2012 0800 0950 hrs1 hour 50 minutes MID-YEAR EXAMINATIONSECONDARY 3 EXPRESS2 Section A Text 1 Study the advertisement below and answer Questions 1-4 in the Question Paper. Build Your Career with Wildlife Reserves Singapore At Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), we believe in providing our employees with meaningful work experiences built on our core values of: - Respect and Care for Wildlife We create experiences that inspire everyone to love, respect and protect our flora and fauna - Achieving Excellence Together We strive to attain best practice at the individual and group levels - Creative and Innovative Thinking We encourage and celebrate creativity and innovation to enable us to be the foremost wildlife conservation institution - Focus on the Guest We regard all our visitors as important guests and ensure they have a memorable wildlife experience - Pride of a Professional We walk the talk for conservation, research, education and recreation. Our employees are instrumental to our success and we invest in their future by providing them with an enriching work experience, and ample learning and development opportunities. We invite motivated individuals with a passion for service and wildlife to grow with us. J urong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari, Singapore Zooand Wildlife Reserves Singapore are trademarksor registered trademarks of WRS Group in Singaporeand/or other countries. Be Part of Our Dynamic Team! BTSS / MYE / 2012 / Paper 2 Insert 3 Section B Text 2 Thetextbelowdescribesthewritersconversationwithhisfriendaboutahousethatwas believed to be haunted. Read it carefully and answer Questions 5-14 in the Question Paper. 1That is a haunted house, my friend said, indicating the house a few doors from his. I smiled, saying, Come on Chen, really? You believe that stuff? I was then young and cynical and I just did not enter into the spirit of things with any spirit. 2Still,onmywayhome,IwalkedabitfasterasIpassedtherun-down,dark bungalow.Thehousedidseemgloomyandominous.Thelalanggrassandthe touch-me-notweedsintheshadowygardenwereovergrownandgaveita menacing look. An old frangipani tree with its graveyard flowers spread skeleton-like branchesoverthegarden.Itmadeeeriemusicwiththewindthatwassighing through it. 5 3Chenhadelaboratedhowitcametobehaunted.Ayoungdomesticmaidwasleft behind to look after the house when the family went off on a holiday. On their return they found her dead and decaying, locked up in the house. How she had died was neverresolved.Somepeoplesaiditwasmurder.Someweresureitmusthave been suicide the poor thing always looked a sad one to them. But it was possible shecouldhavefallensuddenlyillanddiedfromnaturalcausessincethecoroner returned an open verdict. 10 15 4Her unhappy spirit wanders about the house, Chen revealed. Is that a fact, now? You saw her, of course? I challenged him. Not exactly, but Ive heard some strange sounds coming from the house! Once, late at night, walking past its gate, I heard a long unhappy moan. My hair stood on end, butofcourseIdidnotinvestigate.Iranpastthegate.Itdefinitelysoundedlikea restless soul 20 5Months later, Chen rang just to tell me about a couple who moved in after the house had remained untenanted for a while. Apparently they did not know the tragedy that hadtakenplacethere.Atfirstthingswerequiet.Thentheneighbourstoldthem about the ghost of the maid who had died in their house. So they became more alert to things they never noticed before. 25 6Theybegantosee,hearandsmelloddthings.Mysteriousnoisesofmovement coming fromtheceiling.Strangesighsand soundsinthewindthatwouldprecede flashes of lightning and rain in the night. Occasional whiffs of a distinct putrid odour in the air the stink of death. 30 BTSS / MYE / 2012 / Paper 2 Insert 4 7Over-activeimagination!Couldvebeensomeanimalorreflectionsofglass fragments or dew something like that! I suggested. 8Thehousestayedunoccupiedforaspellafterthat.ThenChenreportedan unexpectednewdevelopment.Alongcameastrangelot:abattalionofrough foreign workers who worked in shifts and slept in shifts too. They worked hard in theirfactoriesorwhatever,andsotheycamehomedead-beat.Whentheyslept, theynaturallysleptthesleepofthedead.Dayandnight,theirinertbodieslayall overthehouse,includingtheporchandeventhe frontgarden on hotnights. They kept the lights on all night. 35 40 9And since they spoke in different tongues, the neighbours, even if they had wished to communicate with them, could not do so. So they never heard about the ghost. 10No more manifestations while that gangs all there, right? I asked Chen. Nothing reported, admitted Chen glumly. What spirit, assuming if there were one, would have any fair chance trying to haunt such a rowdy lot? I conceded to Chen, more out of pity than anything. 45 11But there was another spirit, a stronger one, that the workers found themselves up against:thespiritofthelawthatfrownedontheuseofpremisesinbetterclass areas as labour lines. That spirit caught up with them. So they too left. Adapted from The House - One Singapore, More Singaporean Stories Vol 3by Goh Sin Tub BTSS / MYE / 2012 / Paper 2 Insert 5 Section C Text 3 Thearticle below discusses some of mans extraordinary abilities involving his senses. Read it carefully and answer Questions 15-20 in the Question Paper. 1As a chemist with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, 57-year-old PeggyMoylanspendsmostofherworkinghoursanalyzingwaterqualityusing specialist instruments. Her company provides 5.7 billion litres of water per day to 19 millionpeople,soitsclearlyanimportantjob.Buteveryonceinawhile,Moylan reportstoaspeciallabwheretheairispressurizedandfilteredtoeliminateany outsideodours.Theresheusesaverydifferentsetoftools:herownnoseand tongue. 5 2Sheisnotalone.Menandwomenaroundtheworldareusingtheirunusually heightened senses to detect smells, tastes, sounds and images that many ordinary humansdontevenknowarethere.Therearenotmanyoftheseextraordinary people about, but they have senses significantly more acute, discerning or powerful than the norm. They are the supersensers. 10 3Whether due to nature or nurture, the supersensers are able to smell scents, taste flavours,hearsounds,feelsensationsandseedetailsthateludetherestofus. Whatever their origin, heightened senses can enrich experiences, boost careers and evenhelpsavelives.Butamplifiedsensescanalsobedistracting,overwhelming and painful, leaving the supersenser longing for a respite from sensory overload. 15 4For Moylan, her senses are definitely a bonus. Is a blue-green algae bloom in one of the districts lakes giving the water a musty taste? Moylan can sip, sniff and tell you which algae chemical is present. She can detect odourants in concentrations of just a few parts per trillion, frequently outpacing the usual scientific instrument tests. 20 5Inlate2003,shedetectedasmokyaromainsomeofthesystemswaterthatthe instruments had failed to detect. It turned out the water had been contaminated by runoff from bush fires. A year and a half later, when the instruments werent able to identifyan off-putting oilyflavorinwaterfromone ofthe districtstreatmentplants, Moylanandafellowpanelistundertookanimpromptuinvestigation.Theysniffed aroundtheplacelikebloodhoundsuntilMoylancaughtwindoftheoilyodourand tracked it to its source: a new polymer that a contractor had been using to remove solids from the water. 25 6Although Moylans supersense is important to customer satisfaction, it is more about measuring quality than danger. Some other supersensers, however, can thank their abilities for averting some highly dangerous situations. 30 7CaptainMarkHubbard,adeputywingcommanderbasedatNavalAirStation Lemoore, California, saved his team from certain death when he spied a pair of faint lights that didnt look quite right. In April 2003, he was leading a division of fighters 35 BTSS / MYE / 2012 / Paper 2 Insert 6 over Iraq on a no-lights night mission. The pair of lights he saw earlier drifted apart and grew larger, and it dawned on him that he had spotted the jet exhaust plumes of a giant bomber. He was closing in on it at several hundred kilometers per hour. He immediately ordered his three wingmen to descend, missing the bomber with just 20 or 30 metres to spare. 40 8LouisRosas-Guyon,whorunsacomputerconsultingcompanyinMiami,Florida, reports his unusually sensitive hearing was able to foil a potential robbery. 9OnenightafteralocalpowerfailurecausedbyHurricaneKatrina,Rosas-Guyons neighbourwasrunningageneratortoprovidebackuppower.Despitethenoiseof the generator, Rosas-Guyon was woken up by the sound of footsteps on the grass outsidehisbedroomwindow.Heranoutsideandchasedoffaprowler,whowas planning to steal fuel from the generator. 45 10ButRosas-Guyonwasntalwaysseenasasuperhero.Atschool,whenhewas givenahearingtest,thenursewaslessthancomplimentary.Shelookedatthe number of the test machine and called me a freak with dog hearing, he says. 50 11Supersensitivehearingcanbepainful.Normalsoundlevelscanbeuncomfortably loud, even unbearable, to such supersensers. Dan Malcore had always had normal hearing,butsuddenlytalkingonthephone,watchingTVandevenhearingthe soundofhisownvoicebecameintolerable.Itwasdifficult forme toeventolerate the sound of my children whispering to me. 55 12Researchsaysthatdifferencesinbrainstructuremayaccountfortheheightened sensitivityinsomeindividuals.Butmanysupersensersappeartobeabletohone their abilities through practice.In time, the supersensers will be the newleague of superheroes we can call upon to serve the needs of mankind. Adapted from Discovery Channel Magazine, August 2009 BTSS / MYE / 2012 / Paper 2 Insert