2021 DSE English Past Paper 閱讀材料 (中英翻譯 + MP3 配音) 完整版

2021 DSE English Past Paper

• (A) Parking up at the Food Garage

  
  

• (B1) Girlgeorgy

  
  

• (B2) One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’

  
  

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Parking up at the Food Garage  - A  

停車於美食車庫

[1] Have you ever watched the way teenagers eat when they’re out? They constantly check their phones and pay little attention to their environment, let alone what’s in front of them... their lack of seriousness is fantastic. You may think taking them to a restaurant would be a waste of time and money, but it’s not. You just have to find the right eatery.

[2] To prove this theory, I took some friends and their two teenage daughters to the Food Garage. The family had recently relocated to New Zealand from America, and I thought if I could fill them with burgers, fries and hot dogs, they may feel less homesick. It worked like a treat.

[3] I first learned of the Food Garage after Watching an episode of the TY show, Cool Mood, At that time, it was just a humble food truck, turning out fast food that promised not to send you to a fast grave, After the show already, fans Nocked to the truck, and the business has since also opened a restaurant on 90 Wellesley St. West, in the City Works district.

[4] The first things we ordered were fish wraps and mini pizzas, The wraps had plenty of zing and slap from fresh lime, and were topped with hot chilli and fresh greens all locally grown, The pizzas bore no resemblance to those served at late-night deliveries, This version consisted of a thin crust and a light layer of cheese, The favours were moreish in the extreme, Next to arrive were our burgers and hot dogs. The knock-out was the hot dog, a dark sausage of minced and pickled pork, with homemade sauce. Yums!

[5] The Food Garage concept plays heavily on the ‘healthy’aspect of classic fast food and, without a more scientific test, at the end of our meal we all reported feeling fabulous and guilt-free, If you feel as though dining out has become a bit serious of late, parking up at the Food Garage is the perfect antidote.

The War on Big Food

[1] Multinational packaged-food companies lost $4 billion in market share alone last year, as shopper switched to fresh and organic alternatives. Can these food giants win you back? 

[2] Try this simple test. Say the following out loud: 

-  Canned food 

-  Pre-packaged lunch 

-  Frozen TV dinners 

-  Soft drinks containing artificial colors and flavors

[3] If any one of these terms raised a hair on the back of your neck, left a sour taste in your mouth, or made your lips purse with disdain, you may be part of Big Food’s multi-billion-dollar problem. In fact, you may even belong to a growing consumer class that has some of the world’s biggest and best-known food companies crambling to change their businesses.

[4] Lest you think this is exaggeration, consider this: industry analysts say that the top 25 U.S, food and beverage companies have lost an equivalent of $18 billion in the market share since 2009, One expert compared them to melting icebergs. “Every year they become a little less relevant.”

[5] In some ways, it’s a strange turn of events. The idea of ‘processing’—from salting and curing to the modern artificial preservatives —arose to make sure the food we ate didn’t give us food poisoning, Today we know that it's the processed food itself that’s making us unhealthy. Shoppers still value the convenience that food processing offers but the pendulum has definitely shifted in their minds. They have more and more questions about why this bread lasts 25 days without going stale.

[6] Although the changing consumer landscape has contributed to lackluster growth among some of the industry's major players, major food companies are still going strong. For now.

Newsletter - The Sustainability Plan of Star Resort, Singapore - B1 

[1] Despite our leading role in the resort industry, we are constantly making improvements to our sustainability practices, As a world-leading luxury resort, we have thoroughly reviewed our environmental practices. We have decided on several new measures for both food sustainability and employee engagement. 

[2] By 2050, unless behaviors change, overfishing will have reduced fish numbers to dangerously low levels in the seas of Southeast Asia, The current situation is that Star Resort does not have the same clout when compared to that of the rest of the entire service and retail sector in Singapore, Last year, we imported about sixty million dollars’worth of seafood compared to one billion dollars for the whole sector.

[3] We have three proposals to increase both the supply and demand for sustainable food sources. First, Star Resort will develop a buyers’consortium with a few premium hotels, such as Royal Park or The Grand, which promote sustainability, This consortium should be able to identify which seafood vendors use environmentally-friendly fishing techniques and restrict our purchases of fish to only these vendors. 

[4] This leads to the second recommendation. Based on this increased buying power, Star Resort will be able to demand that other food suppliers of all our food types also get certified as environmentally-friendly corporations. That means more food companies in Singapore will become environmentally-friendly, creating a ripple effect. 

[5] And third, Star Resort can increase investment in its own vertical farms that grow herbs and vegetables. Last year, Star Resort’s garden provided about 2 kilograms of herbs a day and we think this can be increased to other common vegetables.

[6] Central to our stewardship program, however, is employee engagement. Last year, we had about 60 ‘Go Green Ambassadors’but less than 50 percent of our employees attended our sustainability events. We have three measures to improve employee engagement. 

[7] All new staff need to attend training sessions to increase awareness of environmental issues facing Southeast Asia as well as Singapore, with a focus on solutions that our company promotes to solve these problems. Additionally, we should provide rewards for different teams and departments when they meet their key performance indicators. Finally, we plan to host innovation contests for our employees to promote solutions that are unique and applicable to their specific departments.

Girlgeorgy

[1] I looked at the entrance area of our housing estate and thought It was ugly. We have some concrete plant holders outside and we should put some colourful plants in them to make it livelier, Right now, they are full of rubbish but I think people would not throw rubbish into them if we filled them with soil and some bright plants, Also by adding plants, the front area would become more pleasant and fresh, Those coming home from a long day would see the plants and feel better. The boring appearance would be livened up and people would have a warm, welcoming feeling; so adding plants out front would be an improvement to the lives of the residents.

Artsypatsy

[2] Yes, we need something outside. I have thought about putting climbing plants In the plant holders on the right side of the entrance, There are pipes and posts running up to the ceiling beside and above the planters, The climbers will help cover the posts and pipes and brighten the entrance and keep the air fresh.

Bazseeding

[3] We should have some flowering plants around the front doors. They would be a very nice addition and I’m sure many people would appreciate them.

Crustyclown

[4] You are all dreaming, Plants will only bring bugs and will dirty the entrance with falling leaves and dead flowers. The janitors will have additional work to tidy the mess. If you want it to look vibrant, just paint it with many colours.

Girlgeorgy

[5] Thanks to those of you who are supporting my ideas. We should start planning our project for the entrance. I think we need to appoint someone to take care of the project and to finish the planting in the entrance. That person should start by choosing the plants for the front. I am willing to take charge but I would like some of you to help me out. If that is fine, then I will start looking for suitable plants and then check possible garden supply stores. Our concern should be the price so I will ask for a discount.

Susan_B

[6] Girlgeorgy, I really don’t care whether we have plants or not. Remember that there are many kids playing around the estate. We should not have plants which are sensitive to excessive touching and kids will always want to play with the plants. What's more, I can see some of the kids pulling the leaves out and sticking them inside their mouths. That would kill the entrance plants. So if we are going to have entrance plants, just make sure they are safe.

Artsypatsy

[7] I really think Girlgeorgy should be in charge but I could also help out. The entrance is a perfect place for plants because there is a lot of sunlight but it only hits the left side which is also windy and cold in the winter. The right side doesn’t get direct sunlight but does have some light when the lobby lights are switched on after 6:00PM. That means we need to consider different plants on each side of the entrance. A mix of different plants on each side would be ideal for all the residents.

Bazseeding

[8] I am all for the idea that Girlgeorgy should be the head. I also want some flowers in the front area. Either the right side or the left side would be fine.

Girlgeorgy

[9]  OK, I will take charge of the project. My next step is to make a flyer by researching possible choices and prices for plants and circulate it among you for your opinions. Please tell me what you think and how much you'd like to spend. Hopefully, we should be able to get good mixture of different plants - we don't need flowering plants everywhere in order to get a good variety of colour.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind - B2

“人類的一小步，整個人類的一大步”

[1] On 20th July 1969, as he stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar lander, Neil Armstrong uttered these immortal words and propelled the human race from Earth-bound beings to intrepid explorers of space. These words were the culmination of human dreams from the day our ancestors first gazed in fear and wonder at the heavens. They also signaled the beginning of a journey that has gone, in fits and starts, to find out all we can about our galaxy and our place in the universe. Armstrong, together with Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, made the improbable 400,000 - kilometre journey to our nearest celestial neighbour in a tiny, cramped and fragile collection of metal and wiring. This trip was a modern-day miracle successfully completed after many long years of hard work.

[1] The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has discovered hints of a warmer past on Mars, possibly, one in which water has flowed and life might have existed. With evidence showing that water exists in a frozen state on Mars, the human race could one day make Mars its second home. To do that, we would begin with altering the current climate and atmosphere to resemble that of Earth’s. The process of transforming the Martian atmosphere to create a more habitable living environment is called terraforming.

[2] Terraforming Mars would be a huge undertaking with the initial stages alone taking several centuries, and the whole process of terraforming needing several millennia to complete; a brief interval, considering that Earth needed billions of years to transform into a planet on which plants and animals could flourish. To transform the Martian landscape into one that resembles Earth would require unrelenting scientific ingenuity and enormous capital expenditure.

[3] Terraforming Mars would require three interrelated processes: building the atmosphere, increasing and maintaining temperature suitable for life, and preserving the atmosphere. The atmosphere of Mars is very thin, and temperatures there range from -113 °C to 0°C, and most of the carbon dioxide is trapped as ice at the poles. Considering these factors and challenges, physicists and engineers have been researching various terraforming methods, and encountered practical difficulties with each method investigated.

[4] One option for thickening the atmosphere of Mars and raising the temperature of the planet would be to set up solar-powered, greenhouse-gas producing machines. Their sole purpose would be to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These greenhouse-gas machines would either have to be ferried to Mars or made out of materials already located on the planet. In order to transport these machines to Mars, they greenhouse-gas machine would be needed to mimic the natural process of plant photosynthesis, absorbing carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen. Photosynthetic bacteria and algae could also be used alongside these greenhouse-gas machines. It would take millennia upon millennia but the Martian atmosphere could slowly be oxygenated to the point that Mars’inhabitants would need only a breathing-assistance apparatus, not a pressure suit as worn by astronauts.

[1] Recent research by NASA on terraforming Mars has sparked a debate among ethicists as to whether space exploration and terraforming other worlds are ethical endeavours. Human beings have been captivated by the possibility of planet hopping since the discovery of planets. Below is a short extract from a transcript of a debate between two professors, Annabelle Lee and Theodore Cheung, who are discussing this issue.

[2] Prof. Lee: The ever-increasing scope of our space exploration efforts threatens the other planets in our solar system with biological contamination from Earth. If life is present on another world, the introduction of terrestrial life forms would be an ecological disaster as well as an immense loss to science. The possibility that life exists on other planets tells us that we cannot simply land on other planets because we want to satisfy our need for more land.

[3] Prof. Cheung: I get your point but we have entered unspoiled environments before and those areas have benefited from our intervention. The national parks service of the USA illustrates how we can create havens for nature, where we maintain the flora and fauna at levels that would not have happened if nature were left to her own devices. In response to your point that human exploration would alter natural conditions on other planets, | propose a planetary park system that would bar the landing of spacecraft in protected areas to prevent destruction of the environment.

[4] Prof. Lee: You know that microorganisms can be spread across the planetary surface by dust storms, for example, so this approach would not protect non-park areas from human contamination. Although it may help safeguard the aesthetic qualities of some areas, a park system approach misses the larger question of whether it is ethically responsible to interfere with other planets. The discovery, exploration, and invasion of the Americas by Europeans led to dire consequences for the indigenous people of that ‘New World’.

[5] Prof. Cheung: I agree that the activities of human beings can damage the environment and cause other negative consequences, but these are exceptions. I do not subscribe to the idea that the natural world and other living creatures have intrinsic moral worth equal to human beings. It is our duty as human beings to make Earth a better place and that is something no other living organism can do. We need to continue the activities and processes not only to make our world livable and comfortable, but all other worlds around us too.

[6] Prof. Lee: While we grapple with our ethical obligations to our fellow humans and the other creatures with whom we share the planet, it would be wise to consider the ethical obligations we have to other worlds. We must consider whether landing spacecraft on other planets is justified because they may carry with them the potential to destroy endemic ecosystems. Even if these ecosystems are composed of only microbial life, our ethical obligations must be taken seriously. Life independent of Earth deserves valuation equal to that of our world and those landscapes deserve to be spared from our meddling even if they are not home to any life.