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2018 ‘O’ LEVEL ENGLISH PAPER 2

1128/02

Disclaimer:
The questions and texts provided are correct to the best of our knowledge, however answers provided are suggested solutions
solely the view of Phi Learning Pte. Ltd.
The Cambridge marking scheme may and most likely will accept more than our suggested answers.

The questions, answers and insert provided are not used and are not to be used for commercial purposes. We at Phi Learning
Pte. Ltd have uploaded it for the sake of students interested to find out the answer.

How accurate are our answers?

Mr. Neo and Mr. Chan are tutors
tut ors from prestigious learning centres and exam veterans who sign up as private candidates
every year for ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels. They have obtained A1 for every sitting since t he launch of the new syllabus 1128 in 2013.
Answers are also compared with our school
sch ool teacher partners and they are usually a 99% match.

Answers in blue by Mr. Neo

Answers in green by Mr. Chan

Questions? Send us an email!

[email protected]
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 From Text 1:
Q1. Who is the whole webpage aimed at? [1]
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 People who are interested to learn kayaking.
People interested in trying kayaking.

Q2. Look at the two photographs of people kayaking. What feature of each course described in the section ‘Our Courses’
do the photographs show?
i. one-day course [1]:
[1]: Learning in a small supportive group, maximum of six people.
Small group learning with no more than six people.
ii. five-day course [1]:
[1]: Exploring the waterways.
Exploring the waterways.

Q3. Refer to the box headed ‘What you need to know’. Give two items which you must bring when you come kayaking.
i. [1]:
[1]: High factor sun cream
High factor sun cream
ii. [1]:
[1]: A bottle of water
Bottle of water

Q4. Refer to the section ‘Our promise to you’ What does the phrase ‘above all’ indicate about the company’s promise? [1]
It is the company’s utmost consideration to keep the students safe.
The students’ safety is
safety is the highest priority for the company.

Section B
Text 2
The text below describes what happens when a young man called Joe goes out to fish. Read it carefully and
answer Questions 5-13 in the Question Booklet.

1. It had been weeks since anyone had seen the whale. On a day when the sky was a strip of old grey 1
linen, Joe took the boat out alone for the first time. Even his thick waterproof coat afforded little
protection from the icy grip of the elements as he looped his safety rope round the wheel and r aised
the sails. A strong, steady wind filled them, and before long he had been propelled far out, further than
he'd ever sailed from the village, almost beyond sight of land. He lowered the sails and let the boat bob 5
in the water as he threw out the lines and caught two full buckets of herring.

2. Satisfied with his catch, he tacked

ta cked back against the wind. He had almost lost sight of Piran Head, but
there it was, the rocky headland
h eadland and the whitewashed village, the stone harbour and th e church. It
would take some time to sail back, but there were still a couple of hours until dusk. He set to the task,
letting the ropes run through his palms, feeling the secret power of the breeze, enjoying the freedom 10
of the vast expanse of water and its enveloping solitude.

3. His thoughts drifted to the times when he h e used to do this with his father.
fath er. 'Take her home, Joe,' Pappa
Mikkel would say, and they would sail between the rocky islands along the coast, with Joe at the wheel.
Sometimes the wind would roar and buffet, as if charging
c harging at them.
th em. 'Trim your sails, Joe,' Pappa Mikkel
would yell from below, and sometimes he did, but often reckless, he would disobey, and he'd feel the 15
little vessel rising up in the water like a speedboat, skimming over the waves.

4. A black shadow sliding beneath the water in front of the boat brought Joe abruptly abrupt ly back to the present
and at once he was alert. He tugged frantically on the wheel, and swung a few degrees to the right.
There it was again. Grey this time, uncommonly
unc ommonly fast, just a foot or so beneath
b eneath the surface. The whale,'
he whispered, smiling to himself. And all at once it surfac ed, only metres away, breaking above the 20
swell like a submarine released from an underwater anchor. With a great thrust of hidden power it
lifted almost clear of the rolling ocean, corkscrewing as it did so. There, for the smallest instant of time,
it hung in the unfamiliar air, defiant of gravity, until with a further
f urther twist it fell into the gulf between the
waves and an equally huge cascade of spray and foam rose in its place. p lace.
25
5. Joe's hands tightened hard on the wheel. The upsurge from the breaching whale lifted the boat and, as
it balanced unsteadily on the peak of the wave, his heart skipped a beat but down it went
w ent again, safely.
Now the whale was lifting again. Up it rose, and again it turned, and this time it held steady with an eye
towards the boat, seeming to return his gaze, and then down it plunged, slapping its ta il against the
milky foam behind it. As the impact tossed his boat for a second time, he scanned theth e surface of the
sea wondering where the whale had gone. There
Th ere it was again, another breach, a hundred metres away. 30

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 This time the whale fell backwards into the water, with what he saw as a farewell wave of its fin. A
minute later and there it was again — but much further off this time, heading away.

6. There were flecks of snow in the darkening sky as he turned in towards the harbour. Annie Battle was
there to help tie up the
t he ropes. `Any luck?' she asked him. `Yes! I saw the whale! Right close!' `Oh yeah, 35
we all have. It's been out in the bay all day. But did you get any herring?'

From Text 2:
Q5. At the beginning of this text,
t ext, Joe goes out to fish. Explain how the language
langua ge used in paragraph 1 indicates the
weather conditions on that day.
Support your idea with three details from the paragraph. [3]
‘sky was a strip of old grey linen’ suggests that there was no sun in the sky, showing a gloomy day.
‘thick waterproof coat afforded little protection from the icy grip of the elements’ suggests that the cold is all
enveloping to the point it penetrates protective clothing.
‘strong steady wind filled them, and before long he had been propelled far out’ suggests that the boat was pushed a
great distance in a short time, emphasizing the power of the wind.
‘strip of old grey linen’ suggests that the sky was overcast, showing a lack of sunlight.
‘icy grip of the elements’ suggests extreme cold that grasps the person tightly.
‘’propelled far out’ suggests that the boat was pushed out a great distance, showing winds stronger than usual.

Q6. From paragraph 1, give two ways in which the trip was different from any that Joe had done before.
i. [1]:
[1]: It was the first time he took the boat alone.
He was sailing alone for the first time.
ii. [1]:
[1]: Joe had never sailed so far from the village before.
Joe sailed farther from the village than he ever had.

Q7. ‘In paragraph 2, we are

ar e told that Joe enjoys ‘the freedom of the vast expanse’.
Explain in your own words what this ‘freedom’ is. [1]
The freedom of being alone. (Change
(C hange ‘solitude’ from
‘solitude’ from line 13)
The freedom of being alone in the endless waters. (Change
(C hange ‘vast expanse’ and ‘solitude’ from
‘solitude’ from lines 12-13)

Q8.
Q8. In paragraph 3, we are told that the wind sometimes ‘would roar and buffet’, as if charging at’ Joe and his
h is father.
i. What is the writer comparing the wind with? [1]
Lion.
Lion.

ii. Why is the comparison effective? [1]

It suggests that the wind was loud and powerful.
It suggests that the wind was fierce and potentially dangerous.
Q9. In paragraph 4, the writer says ‘at once he was alert’.
i. Why was Joe not alert up until
un til that moment? [1]
He was reminiscing about his time spent with his father.
He was reminiscing about the time spent with his father.

ii. What caused the change? [1]

The sighting of the black shadow beneath the water.
wa ter.
A black shadow appeared in front of the boat.

Q10.
Q10. In paragraph 4, the writer says, ‘and all at once it resurfaced, only metres away, breaking above the swell like a
submarine released from an underwater anchor. With a great thrust of hidden power it lifted almost clear of the rolling
ocean, corkscrewing as it did so.’
Which words or phrases in the given sentences describe the actions of the whale?
Descriptions Words or phrases from the passage
i. unexpected strength hidden power
hidden power
ii. turning its body corkscrewing
corkscrewing
iii. freed from restriction released from an underwater anchor
released from an underwater anchor

Q11. In paragraph 5, we are

ar e told that ‘Joe’s hands tightened hard on the wheel’ and that ‘his heart skipped a beat’/ What
was he afraid would happen? [1]
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 He was afraid that his boat would overturn from the upsurge wave created by the breaching whale.
He was afraid of capsizing from the upsurge from the breaching whale.

Q12.Which two phrases from paragraph 5 suggest that Joe thought the whale was communicating with him?
i. [1]:
[1]: ‘farewell wave of its fin’
‘farewell wave of its fin’

ii. [1]:
[1]: ‘return his gaze’
‘return his gaze’

Q13. The structure of the text reflects Joe’s mood at different stages of his sailing trip.
trip . Summarise his dominant mood at
each stage. [4]
Joe’s dominant mood
contentment fascination indifference regret disappointment fearfulness nostalgia

Paragraphs 1-2: contentment

contentment
Paragraphs 3: nostalgia
nostalgia
Paragraphs 4-5: fearfulness
fearfulness
Paragraphs 6: fascination
fascination

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 Section C
Text 3
The article below is about Brazil nuts. Read it carefully and answer Questions 14-19 in the Question Booklet.

1. Brazil nut trees are native to a number of countries in the Amazon River basin, including but not limited
to Brazil. In fact, the most significant exporter of Brazil nuts is Bolivia. The trees are found scattered 1
through large forests on the banks of the Amazon, the Rio Negro, the Tapajos and the Orinoco rivers.
The name 'Brazil nut' is doubly misleading as, in botanical terms, they are not nuts at all but the seeds
inside the fruit of the Brazil nut tree.
5
2. The Brazil nut tree towers over its neighbours, reaching heights of around metres, with its crown
spreading over 30 metres in diameter. The tree bears elongated oval leaves with smooth edges, and
produces cream-coloured flowers. The hard-walled fruits are spherical pods that resemble large
coconuts hanging at the ends of the tree's thick branches. A typical pod contains 12-24 triangular
seeds, or nuts, that are arranged like the segments of an orange. A mature tree can produce more than
300 pods which ripen and fall to the ground from January to June. The pods are harvested from the 10
forest floor, and the seeds are extracted, dried in the sun and then washed and exported while still in
their individual shells.

3. These Brazil nuts are valuable non-timber products of the Amazon region and are primarily harvested
har vested
in the wild by local people. Many forest-based communities depend on the collection and sale of Brazil
nuts as a vital and sustainable source of income. The sweet nuts provide protein and calories for tribal, 15
rural Amazonians who also use the empty pods as containers and brew the tree bark to treat
tr eat ailments.
Not only are the nuts themselves popular because they are delicious and nutritious, the oil extracted
from them can be used in cooking. There is a substantial market for nut oil among urban Brazilians as a
lubricant in clocks, for making artists' paints and in the cosmetics industry.
20
4. There are, however, several obstacles to developing commerce in Brazil nut trees and their products. It
is difficult to grow them in plantations because the production is low and therefore not currently
cu rrently
economically viable. The trees are extremely sensitive to deforestation because of their complex
ecological requirements. They produce fruit only in pristine forests, as disturbed habitats lack the
large-bodied bees which are the only insects capable of pollinating the tr ees' flowers. Once the flowers
have been pollinated, they rely solely on rodents called agoutis for the dispersal of their seeds. These 25
rodents gnaw the pods open, eating some of the seeds inside while burying others for later use; some
of these seeds eventually germinate into new Brazil nut trees. Most of the seeds are 'planted' by the
agoutis in shady places, and a young sapling may have to wait for years for a nearby tree
tr ee to fall and the
necessary sunlight to reach it before it starts growing again. In an attempt to protect the Brazil nut
trees, logging them is prohibited in nut-producing countr ies. Nevertheless, illegal extraction of the 30
timber continues to present a threat.

5. As a result, in Brazil, tr ees are being planted in people's backyards, near roads and streets. The pods
containing nuts are very heavy and rigid, and whenwh en a tree is grown in populated areas falling pods pose
a serious threat to the people living around it. Every year vehicles are damaged as they pass under the
trees. Moreover, the nuts sink in fresh water, which can clog waterways and cause local flooding. Not 35
only that, away from -the safety checks
chec ks of regulated production, individuals risk serious illnesses,
because the shells contain high levels of toxins.

6. Brazil nuts are a challenging commodity to produce in commercial quantities and ther efore remain to
the present day a valuable export for the areas
a reas where they are indigenous. 40

From Text 3:

scattered
scattered

i. [1]:
[1]: They are seeds rather than nuts.
They are not nuts but seeds.

ii. [1]:
[1]: The Brazil nut is not limited to Brazil.
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 The Brazil nut does not only grow in Brazil.

coconut Spherical shape of the fruit

coconut Spherical fruit
orange Arrangement of its internal segments
orange Seeds arranged like the internal segments of oranges

i. [1]:
[1]: The nuts provide protein and calories for the tribal rural Amazonians.
The nuts provide protein and calories for the rural people.
ii. [1]:
[1]: The oil from the nuts is used for cooking.
The community depends on the collection and sale of the nuts as vital and sustainable income.

‘substantial market for nut oil among urban Brazilians’

‘substantial market for nut oil among urban Brazilians’

of poor yield and expense ratios. The trees

have stringent habitat needs, requiring untouched forests as they need specific large bees and rodents to
propagate. As seeds are dispersed in dim areas, it takes years for sunlight to reach the plant. Illegal logging poses a
threat to the wild trees. In urban areas, the heavy falling pods from private growers pose danger to people and
vehicles within vicinity. Without safety oversight, people risk poisoning from the toxic shells. (78 words)

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