Exam Practice
First, prepare yourself to answer questions on any of the Christian ethical theories - you can use these if asked about 'the religion you have studied':
The following is an exam question written by OCR:
(a) Explain the main ethical principles of the religion you have studied. [33]
(b) ‘“Treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself” is the most important ethical principle.’ How fair is this claim, in relation to the religion you have studied? [17]
This AS question is from January 2005:
(a) Explain religious objections to euthanasia. [33]
(b) 'Religious objections to euthanasia ignore human dignity.' Discuss. [17]
This AS question is from June 2005:
(a) Explain one ethical theory that has its basis in religion. [33]
(b) 'It is indefensible to base ethics on religion.' Discuss. [17]
These A2 questions are from June 2005:
Compare and contrast Utilitarianism with the ethics of the religion you have studied. [45]
'Religious ethics prevent progress in embryo research.' Discuss. [45]
This AS question is from January 2006:
(a) Explain the ethical teachings of the religion you have studied. [33]
(b) ‘Religious ethics are too rigid for moral decision making.’ Discuss. [17]
This AS question came up in June 2006:
(a) Explain how the ethics of the religion you have studied might be considered absolute. [33]
(b) How far can a religious theory of ethics be justified? [17]
This A2 question is from June 2006:
'Only religious ethics can provide answers to the problems raised by euthanasia.' Discuss. [45]
This is an AS question from January 2007:
(a) Explain objections to abortion in the religious ethics you have studied. [33]
(b) ‘A foetus is a person and should be protected at all costs.’ Discuss. [17]
This A2 exam question is from June 2007:
Examine critically the claim that religious ethics are the best approach to justifying killing in war. [45]
(taken from the OCR website)
We now have an interactive diagram showing how to answer an ethics exam question, The 'structure' of the paragraph will be different for 'ethical theory' questions, but the basic principles are the same. Try filling it in yourself and print out the completed diagram.
