Name of the Organization : De Beers English Olympiad / saenglisholympiad.org.za
Examination Name : De Beers English Olympiad Main Exam Paper
Announcement : De Beers English Olympiad Past Papers
Year : 2013
Type : Past English Olympiad Exam Papers
Website : http://www.saenglisholympiad.org.za/pastmaterial.php
De Beers English Olympiad Main Exam Paper
Candidates will- enjoy a collection of short stories, each with their own twist unfolded at the end of the story.
Related : SA De Beers English Olympiad Past Papers : www.southafricain.com/14011.html
Please note that while past papers are helpful guides, each year is unique and the exam paper needs to be understood within the context of the anthology prescribed for that year.
Instructions
1. Answer ONE question from Section A and ONE question from SECTION B – TWO in all.
140272. We invite you to express your own ideas in response to the questions, using your own voice. There are no “right” answers; however, the better responses tend to refer to the anthology often.
3. Write the section and number of the question above each answer, and start each question at the top of a new page.
4. On the cover of the examination book, please clearly indicate :
a) your school’s Olympiad number (e.g. 317)
b) your personal examination number (e.g. 317/3)
c) each section and the number of the question that you have answered from that section (e.g. A 3 and B 7).
Do NOT write your name, your address or your school’s name on the cover or anywhere in your answers.
Download Question Paper :
https://www.southafricain.com/uploads/pdf2019/14027-MainPa.pdf
Past Paper
In Camera :
Total Marks : 100
Time : 2 – 3 HOURS
Theme : Whose truth is it anyway?
Text : In Camera
SECTION A
60 MARKS
There is no “ideal length” for a response to Section A. However, the better responses are generally 3 – 5 A4 pages in length. Answer ONE of the following questions:
1. “The Opposite of Courage… is Conformity.” (Rollo May) “How far should one accept the rules of the society in which one lives?
o put it another way: at what point does conformity become corruption? Only by answering such questions does the conscience truly define itself.” (Kenneth Tynan, critic and writer, 1927 – 1980) Respond to this question, using characters from the anthology. (Imagine naïve, adolescent Alison Staude meets fascinating, unctuous John Profumo meets fiery, activist Ferial Haffajee …)
2. Mavericks Anonymous Eschel Rhoodie, John Profumo, Wikus van der Merwe (and perhaps a present-day young leader of your choice) meet at a support group for misguided mavericks. A psychologist is present. Write the conversation that takes place amongst those present.
3. “For the future, for the unborn.” Write your own short story entitled two thousand and eighty-four. (Ask yourself: is Big Brother still watching you?)
4. @chrismoerdyk The government’s response to “deepening poverty and inequality, faltering social cohesion” was “rolling back human rights…. The Secrecy Bill is merely one of a much bigger and problematic effort to centralise power in the security cluster of government.” (COSATU’s director of alternative information and development)
And:
“Don’t let anyone kid you: There is a systematic move on several fronts to strangle independent critical journalism. It’s happening, chaps.” (Sunday Times editor Ray Hartley) You are Chris Moerdyk. Write your response to these comments. 1
4. “Brutal truth”
Write a letter to the president of South Africa in which you express your views on the state of the nation. It may help to refer to Seven Principles of Public Life, Black Wednesday, the extracts from the Information Bill and Section 28, and the Wonkie cartoons.
5. Spin doctoring
“The ‘Club of Ten’, as the group was known, had the difficult task of tackling the media, the United Nations, other institutions, individuals and countries for their double-dealing and hypocrisy where South Africa was concerned.” (from The Information Scandal).
And
“…at one stage South Africa was the poster child for freedom in the world …” (Nadine Gordimer)
And
“Geography is our friend; Africa is the new cool.” (Ferial Haffajee) Write a speech, for an international audience of your choice, which projects the views of the South African Government.(You cannot ignore actual happenings.)
6. Taking on sacred … chickens
You have joined the creative team at Black River FC, the advertising agency responsible for the Nando’s advertisements.
a) Using any of the material in the anthology, write up the sketches and/or notes which you would use to make your pitch for a new advertisement to the Marketing Manager of Nando’s, Thabang Ramogase, a man described as a “controlled free spirit who knows when to play.” (The Sowetan Live)
AND
b) Having received a letter of complaint, the ASA is required to adjudicate on the merits of your advertisement versus the merits of the complaint. Write the adjudication.
Write your own response to the above in any way you wish (the text of a speech, a long poem?), keeping the anthology in mind.
6. Whitewashing
“White spaces and missing pages have periodically played a significant role in the manipulation of information.” Considering the contents and spirit of the anthology, write the article: What you might not have known about that should have been printed on
7. “Heresy is another word for freedom of thought.” (Graham Greene) “There were also whispered stories of a terrible book, a compendiumof all the heresies, of which Goldstein was the author and which circulated clandestinely here and there. It was a book without a title. People referred to it, if at all, simply as the book.” (from nineteen eighty-four) Write the editorial, which comments on “the book”, that would appear in the Party newspaper.
AND
Write the introduction, penned by a supporter of Goldstein, which would appear in a published edition of “the book”.
SECTION B
(40 MARKS)
There is no “ideal length” for a response to Section B. However, the better responses are usually 2– 4 A4 pages in length. Answer ONE of the following questions:
1. The pen is mightier than the sword After her lecture, Haffajee asked the people “to take away the koki pens they had been given … [and] … to use them as a reminder of what a pen can symbolise: the power to censor speech and blacken writing, the power to rite on placards and to give voice to issues, and the power to make an X when voting for freedom.”What would you do with your koki? Present your response in any way you wish.
2. You’re the voice
“A single voice may be strong, but a chorus of voices can become a powerful weapon for hope and a driving force behind change … raise your voice, sing your song … do something meaningful to you – just be sure your voice is heard!” (from the Shout SA campaign) Write a new song which could be used as the basis for the next phase of the Shout SA campaign.
3. Truth is in the eye of the beholder Design the pamphlet for one of the four ministries mentioned in nineteen eighty-four: the Ministries of Truth, Peace, Love and Plenty, that would sell its ideals to the masses. (The artwork is less important than the text and the layout.)
AND
Write an extract from the diary of a dissenter in response to the pamphlet.