GCE Advanced Level - StudyGuide.PK

(c)(d)(e)The three points here were given for the ambassador’s aim to draw the attention of Americanconcerns to the significant future for Mauritius and his desire to extend business links. To gainthese marks, candidates often offered a synonym for accroître and needed to insist on relationscommerciales.This proved to be the most straightforward question, as long as candidates did not just quote theoriginal text. There were a number of points for which the three marks available could be gained;the progress of recent years, the diversification of the economy, the quality of textile production andthe launch into financial services.Here again, candidates found this question relatively straightforward. The key points were therapidity of the response to racial problems (vous n’hésitez pas…), the search for a solution and thecomparison with other countries who seek to ignore or hide such problems.Text 2 – Stratégies de Faim(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)As usual, the instruction Expliquez… tends to indicate a more searching style of question. Here,most candidates understood that the inégalités referred to were the differences between rich andpoor. To gain the third mark, some explanation or definition of fossé was required, and a numberof candidates offered abîme, gouffre or trou. Alternatively, the idea of fossé might be rendered byan indication of the size of the gap, e.g. la différence est immense.This proved to be a difficult question, partly because of the need to explain fatale, but partly alsobecause candidates found it difficult to equate the appalling situation described with the apparentlycarefree comment. A number of candidates could only believe that the author was being, in someway, ironic. But if the notion of fatale had been understood in context, it was possible to see theauthor’s point, that there was a solution available and that this situation was not an irreversiblecatastrophe. So, to gain all three marks, candidates needed firstly, to suggest that the word fatalesuggested a total lack of hope, but that, secondly, this was not the case, as solutions wereavailable. Finally, reference should be made to the availability of resources and the fact that 13milliards de dollars could solve the problem.Key elements here were: the availability of food supplies; the fact that production is not the problemrather the ability to purchase and to have access to the supplies.Two of the marks here were relatively straightforward, the need for democratic government and afree press. The third mark was given for a general conclusion drawn from the statements ofProfessor Sen, namely that there is a clear link between famine and political systems, freedom ofexpression etc. Some candidates turned the answer round (but gained the marks) by saying thatfamine was only to be found in authoritarian regimes or countries where the inhabitants did nothave such freedoms. Some candidates badly missed the point by answering as though the texthad simply said, il n’y a jamais eu de famine grave dans aucun pays.An opinion was asked for here, and therefore candidates were at liberty to disagree with theproposition. Some very good answers offered a debate on the relative merits of state control andmarket forces, pointing to the poor examples of what state control had achieved in communistregimes. A majority of candidates agreed with the proposition and developed an answerconcentrating entirely on the responsibility of the state. They could not, therefore, gain the thirdmark which was given for a response to the role of the market.Paper 9112/04LiteratureGeneral commentsExaminers have continued to report that many candidates write far too much and sometimes appear moreconcerned with their own agenda than with that set out by the questions on the paper. This has frequentlyresulted in mediocre marks for unfocused essays and also in an imbalance in candidates’ performances astime ran out and the fourth answer was abandoned altogether or abbreviated. With effect from November2002, the new format will mean a limit of 600 words for each of three essays, to be written in two and a half25