HWA CHONG INSTITUTION

JC2 Preliminary Examinations

Higher 1

CANDIDATE
CT GROUP 10A/S
NAME

CENTRE INDEX
NUMBER NUMBER

General Paper 8806/02

Paper 2 31 August 2011

1 hour 30 minutes

INSERT

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
This insert contains the passages for Paper 2.

This insert consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page.

Passage 1 Gloria Eastwick writes...

1 We are constantly reminded of peoples need for the truly heroic, such as when we read eulogies
lamenting Ronald Reagans passing. While we might not necessarily concur that Reagans deeds
were impressive or that few in politics can take his place, I came to the conclusion that his admirers
sentiments were inspired by what they saw as his heroism in having the backbone to stand up and
say the Soviets were wrong, in eschewing bureaucratic-speak for straight talk, and in being 5
steadfastly unapologetic about the old-fashioned values he ceaselessly championed.

2 The heroic are exceptional because they inspire others to see possibilities beyond the usual,
refusing to bow to the inevitable. Like ice-breaking ships in the polar cap regions, they destroy
seemingly impenetrable barriers and open up a new course. Of course, moving in a different
direction has always been possible, but it takes a certain type of person to convince us that it is 10
feasible and to inspire us to follow in his wake.

3 We are starved of the catalytic exhilaration of watching someone doing something courageous with
utmost conviction and without the apologetic or self-deprecating sugarcoating that bold moves seem
to require today. This dearth of inspiration is destroying our code of honour and our resolve to
condemn travesties in our daily lives. Recently, there has been a spate of robberies at the end of 15
Londons Central Line. It appears that gangs of young men have been intimidating passengers to
hand over their valuables. What chills me is not so much the robberies but the fact that they are
committed in full view of carriage-loads of people conditioned to look the other way. While the
passengers on Flight 93 knew that they had to try to overthrow the terrorists and thwart their plans to
destroy the World Trade Centre in New York, the passengers on the Central Line seem unable to 20
rouse themselves to scare away a few juveniles.

4 Confronted with the alternatives of an untroubled mediocrity and an arduous but exceptional life, the
heroic will make his unequivocal choice and chart his course in search of greatness. But what about
the hesitant who lack such innate resolve? Where are the great men and women who could have
inspired them? Consider the Order of Merit, founded by Edward VII in 1902 for exceptionally 25
meritorious service or significant advancement of the arts, learning, literature or science. Past
holders include pioneering nurse Florence Nightingale; composers Vaughan Williams and Benjamin
Britten; writers Thomas Hardy and Ted Hughes; statesman Sir Winston Churchill; and philosopher
and mathematician Bertrand Russell. Recent nominations show a paucity of equally illustrious
candidates. 30

5 It is traditional to attribute the absence of greatness and heroism to the lack of cataclysmic wars.
Coming face to face with the Grim Reaper compels heroes to exercise the supreme virtue of
courage. From Achilles to Churchill, a necessary adjunct to glory and honour has been the proximity
of death, and in The Iliad the heroes that enthral us are the ones who are doomed. While
performing acts of heroism in times of peace can be difficult, this does not fully explain the nagging 35
feeling that greatness is all but dead, that many of the current contenders for that accolade are
pygmies tottering on the shoulders of giants.

6 The absence of war does not explain the intellectualism and discoveries of the Victorian age, a long
era of peace that nurtured a legion of greats. In his book on the Victorians, A.N. Wilson argues that
the era was intellectually productive because it was a 'ruthless, grabbing, elitist society, stamping on 40
its victims and discarding its weaker members with all the devastating relentlessness of Darwin's
vision of Nature itself. That, perhaps, is getting near to the heart of the mystery. We now live in an
age where we are supposed to be compassionate, altruistic and non-judgmental. We are taught in
school that anyone is just as special as everyone else. We are constantly reminded of the price of
unconventionality. Greatness demands an independence of mind and a risk-taking spirit but we are 45
conditioned to not jeopardise our well-being or be offensive to others. Not only are we now bereft of
real-world role models, our young are fulfilling their need for heroes by revering manufactured
celebrities-of-the-moment with their calculated smiles, air-headed conceit and substance-addled
indiscretions.

7 If people are not impressed, people cannot be impressive. As Brecht writes in The Life of Galileo, 50
unhappy is the land that needs heroes. We live in very unhappy times.
Passage 2 William Courtney writes...
1 It is argued that heroes encourage mankinds development, serving as chinning bars on which
people can strengthen their spirit, raising themselves above their mundane lives to see farther and
endowing them with the mental muscle to break the fetters that hold them down. But while it is
understandable for people to be impressed by the extraordinary, conferring the accolade of heroes
on those who accomplish ostensibly great feats ultimately results in disenchantment and 5
discontentment. If I could offer one piece of advice, it would be for everyone not to have heroes.

2 Humankind is capable of phenomenal acts, including profound self-sacrifice. But no one is

irreproachable and to laud people as heroes is to court crushing disappointment when they fall short.
Consider John F. Kennedy, frequently voted by Americans as one of their greatest leaders. A young
and charismatic president, he inspired his countrymen with his now iconic exhortation Ask not 10
what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. His assassination
devastated the nation and cemented his image as a hero cut down in his prime. But was Kennedy
worthy of such adulation? History reveals an unseasoned and ineffectual leader who got little done
in his fleeting thousand-day presidency. His legacy includes embroiling America in the Bay of Pigs
fiasco and the Vietnam War. He was also a notorious playboy who indulged in multiple liaisons with 15
starlets and White House staffers.

3 Apart from the inevitable disillusionment that results from revering fallible people who invariably let
us down, our attachment to heroes becomes self-limiting when we live vicariously through their
achievements. This is evident in the sports fanatic whose life revolves around the sports season and
whose emotional well-being fluctuates with the performance of his favourite player or team. Worse 20
still, such hero worship encourages resignation and apathy. Like Rapunzel in her tower, hero
worshippers wait to be rescued, absolving themselves of responsibility for their meaningless
existence. Unsurprisingly, myriad problems continue to plague the world when people, instead of
rolling up their sleeves, wring their hands and yearn for Superman to liberate the oppressed, defeat
terrorism, save the environment and rid the world of nuclear weapons. Far from being inspirational 25
and empowering, our adulation of and reliance on heroes cripples us.

4 More insidiously, our fascination with larger-than-life figures enables governments and the media to
promulgate questionable ideals and camouflage fatal missteps. During wartime, for instance,
governments regularly scour their troops for a poster child who can rally the public behind them. The
United States did just that with the story of Private First Class Jessica Lynch when its misguided 30
2003 invasion of Iraq faced waning international and domestic support. Young, blonde and
attractively all-American, Lynch became a public sensation after the press portrayed her as a patriot
who was injured during fierce combat, captured by enemy forces and subsequently rescued by
compatriots in a daring mission. Such media melodrama shored up a crumbling enterprise (and sold
plenty of newspapers). It eventually emerged that, contrary to initial reports, Lynch did not heroically 35
defend herself against her so-called captors because she had never been held hostage in the first
place: she had merely suffered a minor concussion when her vehicle accidentally crashed and was
actually being treated at a local hospital when she was saved. All too often, the heroes celebrated
by governments and the media are merely manufactured, furthering the interests of those who wish
to hoodwink us. 40

5 Subscribing to the hero myth also allows us to be exploited in other ways. Our blind worship of
celebrity has made us easy pickings for advertisers seeking to sell us anything and everything from
the latest pair of jeans endorsed by pop idols like Justin Bieber to tickets for the latest Hollywood
blockbuster. Bedazzled by a false halo of heroism, society ardently emulates the rich, beautiful and
famous whose only claim to greatness lies in their ability to prove that who they are and what they 45
have is much more important than what they do or stand for.

6 It has been said that every stone laid in the Great Wall of China cost the life of one labourer. The
credit for the wall must then be rightfully spread among the invisible, emaciated masses who toiled
tirelessly to construct it, not the selfaggrandizing, bloated emperor who sat comfortably in his
palace and commanded it to be built. If role models are needed, we need only look to the common 50
people who enabled great achievements, not venerate bogus heroes who unfairly take credit for
them. Intoxicated by our admiration of false idols, we diminish ourselves and demean our nation.
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