Post-Mortem for 1189 English Language Paper 2 Term 3 Week 5SHSS 2010 Preliminary Examinations 2 Yeo Yam Hwee

Section 1 [15 marks] Name: _____________________[ ] Date: ______

Fill in each blank with a suitable word. Write each answer in the space provided in the passage.

The news that “American Idol” has started a new season with ratings even more [-----1------] than last year’s should remind us as to why there is not a call to clean up television [------2------] that specialize in humiliating the weak. People spend untold hours worrying about the sexual orientation of cartoon characters in Spongebob Squarepants, but nobody seems [-----3-----] that more than 30 million American households watch a “family” show that picks out helpless [-----4-----] solely for famous and powerful judges to make [-----5-----] of them on national television.

“American Idol” is known, even among those who have never seen it, as a [------6------] show in which a dozen or so young pop singers compete to [-----7-----] a recording contract and a national profile. But it [-----8------] every season with several weeks of early elimination rounds in which judges pick the handful of contestants who will make it to the [-----9------] from a pre-selected mixture of very talented and very terrible singers. The very terrible have reason to hope that, having come so far, they might actually be as good as they imagined in their [-----10-----].

Most of them are extremely young, naïve and deluded. The fun is supposed to come from [-----11------] the celebrity judges roll their eyes, laugh, and tell them that they are tone-deaf, fat, funny-looking or, in the case of one young man, “atrocious” and “confused”. The producers so treasured the [-----12------] of one [-----13------], Simon Cowell, who said an overweight woman would [-----14-----] a bigger stage in Hollywood, that they used it to promote the segment.

No one wants to censor Fox Television’s money machine, but it does seem peculiar that a nation keen to uphold good, old-fashioned family values is so unified in giving a pass to a programme that teaches young people that it is extremely [------15------] to be mean.

Post-Mortem for 1189 English Language Paper 2 Term 3 Week 5SHSS 2010 Preliminary Examinations 2 Yeo Yam Hwee

The news that “American Idol” has started a new season with ratings even more [1. SPECTACULAR] than last year’s should remind us as to why there is not a call to clean up television [2. SHOWS/PROGRAMMES] that specialize in humiliating the weak. People spend untold hours worrying about the sexual orientation of cartoon characters in Spongebob Squarepants, but nobody seems [3. CONCERNED] that more than 30 million American households watch a “family” show that picks out helpless [4. INDIVIDUALS/CONTESTANTS] solely for famous and powerful judges to make [5. FUN] of them on national television.

“American Idol” is known, even among those who have never seen it, as a [6. TALENT / REALITY] show in which a dozen or so young pop singers compete to [7. WIN / GARNER / SECURE/WRANGLE] a recording contract and a national profile. But it [8. STARTS /BEGINS] every season with several weeks of early elimination rounds in which judges pick the handful of contestants who will make it to the [9. SHOW /STAGE] from a pre-selected mixture of very talented and very terrible singers. The very terrible have reason to hope that, having come so far, they might actually be as good as they imagined in their [10. DREAMS].

Most of them are extremely young, naïve and deluded. The fun is supposed to come from [11. MAKING] the celebrity judges roll their eyes, laugh, and tell them that they are tone-deaf, fat, funny-looking or, in the case of one young man, “atrocious” and “confused”. The producers so treasured the [12. COMMENTS / ANTICS ] of one [13. JUDGE], Simon Cowell, who said an overweight woman would [14. OCCUPY] a bigger stage in Hollywood, that they used it to promote the segment.

Post-Mortem for 1189 English Language Paper 2 Term 3 Week 5SHSS 2010 Preliminary Examinations 2 Yeo Yam Hwee

No one wants to censor Fox Television’s money machine, but it does seem peculiar that a nation keen to uphold good, old-fashioned family values is so unified in giving a pass to a programme that teaches young people that it is extremely [15. FASHIONABLE/ NATURAL ] to be mean.