Associated General Examination Board

GCE Society Paper One Two Hours

Answer three questions, at least one from each part of the paper.

All questions carry equal marks.

Part One: The Past

By reviewing the social history of the UK in the last three generations, can you establish when our society surrendered its space, its safety, its lifestyle and its future to the motor car, and why?

What, in your opinion was the link between the names of public houses and the nature of the community facilities public houses provided? Use specific examples where you can. You may wish to consider public house and inn signs.

What role has mass media played in manipulating society’s aspirations and dreams, and how has art in any of its forms responded to such manipulation?

Would you distinguish ‘happiness’ from ‘contentment’? How has European society sought in the last fifty years to make the vast majority of its members ‘happy’ and ‘content’?

Explain how you react to the following statement: ‘Let us stop thinking of human beings as autonomous, omnipotent and limitless, and begin to think of ourselves differently, in a humbler but more fruitful way’.

‘The ethical decadence of real power is disguised thanks to marketing and false information.’ What have individuals been able to do to change the stance of governments in the face of climate change?

Write an essay explaining either that we can learn nothing from the past, or that ‘we can never move forward without remembering the past’.

Part Two: The Future

How inclusive do you find the the slogan, ‘Clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy’?

‘Development must not aim at the amassing of wealth by a few.’ What, do you think, will the word ‘profit’ come to mean in coming years?

‘Everyone together can hold up the sky.’ What, and in what ways, will it mean for every member of a community to be ‘useful’?

How far do you agree with the statements that ‘ideally, unnecessary migration ought to be avoided’ and that ‘this entails creating in countries of origin the conditions needed for a dignified life and integral development’?

‘We cannot expect a better world, a bright and peaceful future, if we are not willing to share what we have received.’ In what ways, then, is diet a political issue? Can we imagine a manifesto for a better diet?

Explain how you react to the following statement: ‘Indigenous peoples are not opposed to progress, yet theirs is a

different notion of progress, often more humanistic than the modern culture of developed peoples. Theirs is not a culture meant to benefit the powerful.’

How far do you agree that in discussions about climate change ‘the actions of groups negatively portrayed as

“radicalised”’ are simply ‘filling a space left empty by society as a whole’ and that ‘every family ought to realise that the future of their children is at stake’?