2016 has been a tremendous year for us at The Knowledge Loft. Our first batch of students walked through the halls of terror this year and boy were we spot on! Hopefully, they prepared and read up on the content topics that we predicted. For all of our JC 1 (going JC 2) students, if you were to walk into an exam hall right now, would you be able to take on any of these questions?
Here are the essay questions for the 2016 GP Paper 1:
- ‘Any adaptation of a novel for a film, television or the theatre is never as effective as the original.’ Discuss. (Media)
- Assess the view that traditional buildings have no future in your society. (Arts and SG Society)
- ‘Longer life expectancy creates more problems than benefits.’ Discuss. (S&T)
- Considering the money involved, should developing countries be allowed to host major sporting events? (Sports)
- ‘Human need, rather than profit, should always be the main concern of scientific research.’ Discuss. (S&T)
- ‘Countries experiencing conflict should be left to sort out their own problems.’ How far do you agree? (International politics)
- How far has modern technology made it unnecessary for individuals to possess mathematical skills? (S&T + Maths)
- ‘People who do the most worthwhile jobs rarely receive the best financial rewards.’ To what extent is this true of your society? (General)
- Evaluate the claim that equality of opportunity for females is a desirable, but unrealistic, goal. (Gender)
- Assess the view that most natural disasters are the result of human activity. (Environment)
- Is competition always desirable? (General)
- ‘Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone’s opinion is of equal value.’ What is your view? (General)
For 2016, we predicted that questions related to the environment, technology, politics, sports and the media would appear in the A’ Level Examinations. We prepared our students and drilled them on the environment, technology, politics and the media (while conveniently ignoring sports – our students know why).
It seems as though Cambridge is coming up with essay topics that are increasingly specialized and narrow. While this year’s paper was relatively doable, the fact that a large portion of the paper was filled with Extreme Questions (a.k.a. Absolute Type Questions) and Philosophical Questions (a.k.a. We Prohibit All Students from Attempting type of Questions) should sound alarm bells in students who are currently taking GP. The fact is, it is getting increasingly difficult to ‘hot-house’ for the General Paper. The GP examination, nowadays, requires students to think on their feet and work with what they have.
Congratulations to the 2016 batch of students for completing their A’ Levels with such tenacity and ardor.
And now, the period of anxiety begins. We wish all of our students the very best for the February slaughterhouse.