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Monday, November 29, 2010

Life, through my eyes.. Dedicated to my children and students.

Everyone writes stuff everyday that is meaningful, and I guess it's time to jump on the bandwagon. This is for Besra & Lanner.. and all my 'external' children who weren't sired in my womb, but have a room in my heart nonetheless.

Here's 10 lil gems from me. Read it. Do it. Feel it. Don't let this life slip you by. Now.

1. At the top of the list is: Do Good. Anywhere, everywhere, all the time. But don't expect anything in return. As simple as opening the door for someone, paying the car park fee for the car behind you, never killing, stealing or sleeping with someone else's partner. Do Good, not Evil.

2. Air Asia.. Now Everyone Can Fly. See the world.. it is so affordable these days that you should pack your bags and go.. even if it is just for a weekend. And even if you go alone. Guys no prob.. girls, read everything you can before you go; check out maps, book hostels/hotels, plan your holiday so that you look purposeful, and no one will dare to cheat you. Or go with close friends, they will show you a different spin on the things you see. Friendships are priceless.

3. On the same note, here are some places you MUST visit and experience. The canals of Venice are gorgeous. Stonehenge is magnificent and so is the Colosseum in Rome. The Eiffel tower and the river Sien beckons the romantic in all of us. The fields of golden sunflowers in Italy are simply breathtaking. The pastel coloured buildings in Florence and the rest of that country is spellbinding. Walking down the streets of La Ramblas in Spain was amazing.. and so was Athens.. where orange trees permeated the sweetest scent perfuming the air. Travel to Inverness in Scotland to see the elusive Loch Ness monster and go stay a night in the hostel on the Isle of Skye. I haven't done much of Asia yet.. except for Singapore and Thailand.. even if you're not Buddhist, visit a temple in Bangkok and feel the peace, calm and contentment awash you. The beauty of travel... it makes you realise that life is so short, we must grab joy with both hands lest it slips from our fingers and disappears into the transient nothingness. Promise yourself - One Country Every Year. I myself will get back to that promise once the kids are older.

4. Spend time with the people you love. Your mother loves you. And your father does too, sometimes quietly. They and your siblings wouldn't mind hearing the words 'I love you' once in a while. Declaring your love doesn't make you weak but stronger. This world needs more love to make it spin on its tilted axis. Anger, greed, envy, hatred... we should never gravitate towards the forces of evil. We could all do with less of these negative emotions and more of love, care, giving, generosity, helpfulness, tolerance and bliss.

5. On that note: call your mother now! Or write your friend a real letter with a real stamp. Drive or take the bus and visit an old aunty today.. To sum it up: Nothing; nothing beats your personal touch. One day you might be able to afford a personal assistant to buy presents and send cards or flowers for you.. but it wont mean as much as if you yourself put in the time and effort to show someone you love them.

6. Get a job you really love. There is no point waking up every day dreading the day ahead. Even if you don't earn much money (like being a teacher).. think of how satisfied you are when you do a job well. Think of all the lives you have touched by committing to your profession and giving it your best. If you hate your job.. get up and get out! Dare to make that change in you by trying something new.

7. Children need time - quality time and quantity time if you can spare it. When you have kids and you hear them laugh out loud for the first time, you'll know what a gorgeous lil piece of creation you helped to make. Read to them. Sing nursery rhymes with them. Play lego or dolls with them. Sit them on your lap and make them feel like your time is their time, your love is all theirs and hold them tight like you'll never let them go. Children feel it if you love them and want to spend time with them, listening to their never ending questions. Children know if you don't care. So please, find the time for them no matter what you're doing. PRIORITIZE!

8. Take picture. Make memories. Life if not just work, work and more work. I try to make sure I never bring my work home with me. Finish it all at the office. And when you come home, plan something simple but nice or extravagant but meaningful. Take a picnic basket and enjoy the beach, river, mountaintop etc. Plan family holidays. Have a bbq or potluck with friends. Nothing beats enriching our lives with soul-feeding experiences. Don't retreat into your own world, thinking nothing is worth the effort. Life is worth the effort, don't let it go down the drain and dissipate into oblivion.

9. Read. I love romance novels. Erotic and moving love stories with a happily ever after. But read everything and anything. Roadsigns, articles, newspapers... I love John Grisham (laywer stories), Jeffrey Archer (incredible storyteller) and Dan Brown (you don't know intelligent until you read him.. then you wikipedia it and and be goggle-eyed by the sheer amazement of the true things he writes about). I really respect people who buy books. Books will live long after you have left this mortal world. They are the footprints of all the loud heroes and quiet victors... And maybe one day, if I am so blessed, I will write a book and seal my footprints in the sands of time.

10. Be good to yourself. If you don't love and appreciate yourself, no one will. Whatever you look like now, I'm pretty certain you are the best person you can be cos everyone gets old and then the bones start creaking and the skin starts becoming friends with gravity and a spare tyre is the norm. By that time, you'll be wishing you were 10, 20, 30 years younger. So no regrets, love yourself now before it is too late. Change your dressing style once in a while. Colour your hair. Wear torn jeans. Learn something new. Pick up a new hobby or try something different. Don't keep ordering the same menu when you get to the same restaurant. Be adventurous. Really enjoy the things that you do for yourself. Even if you do it all by yourself. If you're still single, enjoy the freedom of having no one to answer to but yourself. Sooner or later someone will pop into your life. And if they don't, there is no crime in not getting married or having children. If you do tie the knot, make the best of it. Be good to your spouse, be considerate, loving, compassionate and verbal about how much your life has changed for the better just by being together.

And so we return to the essence of my ramblings. Be good. To others. Even your enemies. Kill hatred with love. And most of all, be good to yourself because the rest will follow.

With all my love,

Audrey

30 Nov 201

Sunday, November 14, 2010

END 2010 MUET Reading 800/3

Here are my answers.. MPM's may vary but only slightly, I think.

1.A
2.A changed to B or C, but definitely not A
3.B
4.B
5.B
6.A
7.A
8.A
9.A
10.B
11.C
12.B
13.B
14.C
15.C
16.A
17.C
18.B
19.A
20.B
21.B
22.A
23.A changed to C
24.C
25.A changed to C
26.A
27.B
28.C
29.C
30.D
31.C
32.A
33.B
34.B
35.D
36.A
37.A
38.D
39.A
40.B
41.C
42.A
43.B
44.D
45.C


Phew.. I've got to say that the MUET exam is getting harder every year. Each question raises doubts.. I can tell the difference but i'm sure many of you out there can't. Ah well.. as long as you all tried your best. So how many did you get right?

I've ammended a few answers thanks to Scott and Naomi. Keep up the good work guys.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Grammar Test Answers

Hi.. if you've taken the grammar test in a previous post, here are the answers. if you haven't tried it, attempt them first before u check the answers. :) don't cheat yourself!

1.D
2.B
3.C
4.B
5.D
6.D
7.A
8.C
9.A
10.D

If you want to know how to improve your grammar.. read, understand and apply the rules. I've written abt grammar rules 3 blog entries ago. pls check.

again... good luck everyone, two days and counting!

MUET WRITING 800/4 ACADEMIC ESSAY

Don't forget to check out the archives for samples of essays for the writing question. This blogger program won't let me copy and paste from Microsoft Word.. so I can't be bothered to retype more sample essays. Good Luck for Saturday!!!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

REPORT WRITING MUET 800/4 QUESTION 1

TIPS:
1. WRITE THE TITLE AND UNDERLINE
2. WRITE IN 3 PARAGRAPHS (MINIMUM, BODY CAN BE MORE THAN 1 PARA)
3. 1ST SENTENCE WRITE THE TYPES OF GRAPHS/DIAGRAMS/HEADLINES ETC.
4. 2ND SENTENCE WRITE THE MOST OUTSTANDING POINT
5. BODY - WRITE ONLY INFORMATION THAT IS OUTSTANDING (KEY FEATURES, NOT FEATURES.. FEATURES JUST MEANS EVERY SINGLE POINT, YOU NEED TO BE SELECTIVE IN CHOOSING THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES ONLY)
6. CONCLUSION IS JUST ONE SINGLE SENTENCE AS SUMMARY.
7. ALL WORDS AFTER 200 IS NOT CHECK/READ/EXAMINED. EXAMINERS WILL NOT READ AFTER THAT SO STICK TO THE WORD LIMIT.
8. TRY TO LINK ALL THE INFO AND EXPLAIN IT IN A SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE WAY.
9. TITLES ARE CONSIDERED 1 WORD (BUT I COULD BE WRONG)
10. GOOD LUCK, AND ALWAYS ANSWER THE ESSAY QUESTION FIRST BEFORE TRYING TO WRITE THIS REPORT.



SAMPLE 1:

The Various Types of Cooking Oil Used in the Kitchen

The stimuli present a line graph on 'Global production of cooking oil (2000-2006)', a bar graph on 'Fat content in commonly-used cooking oils' and an article excerpt on the healthiness of oils. In general, palm oil is the most produced oil while the least produced but healthiest option is sunflower oil.

According to the line graph, the highest world oil production is palm oil increasing steadily from 25 million tonnes in 2000/01 to 35.5 million in 2005/06, beating soya oil by a small margin. Among the 5 types of oil, sunflower has the lowest production stabilising at just under 10 million tonnes from 2000 to 2006. Based on the bar graph, the healthiest oil is sunflower because it contains the second lowest fat (12%) content and the highest healthy polyunsaturated fat (71%). This is followed by other healthy oils with lower fat like canola (7%), olive (15%) and soya (16%). The unhealthy oils are very high in fat and very low in polyunsaturated fat such as palm oil (51%) and coconut oil (91%). The article states that we cannot be sure about how healthy the oils we eat are because it may contain too much trans fats leading to heart diseases and cancer.

In conclusion, coconut and palm oil should be avoided because fo the high fat content while the healthiest oils are sunflower, canola, olive and soya.



SAMPLE 2:


Crimes Involving Foreign Workers in Malaysia

The stimuli show a line graph on 'Number of crime cases involving foreign workers (2006-2008)', a bar graph on 'Types of crime committed by foreign workers (2006-2008)' and a newspaper headline on 'Overworked and Underpaid foreign workers'. In general, the number of crimes are increasing steadily from 2006 to 2008 especially petty crimes like robbery and snatch theft by underpaid foreign workers.

According the the line graph, every year the number of crimes increases by about 200 cases which is 1535 in 2006, 1780 in 2007 to 1926 in 2008). These crimes can be divided into petty crimes including robbery and snatch thef and hardcore crimes like rape and murder. Based on the bar graph, the highest incidence of crime is robbery that rose from 65 in 2006 to 75 cases in 2008. This is followed by snatch thefts from 15 in 2006 to 18 cases in 2008. Conversely, rape and murder cases have reduced drastically by 50% or more from 2006 to 2008. The reasons given for the increase of crimes in the headline are that foreign workers are unhappy with their meagre incomes which result in them being overworked and underpaid.

In c onclusion, foreign workers are committing more petty crimes like robbery and snatch theft because they are overworked and underpaid.

Good luck 13th Nov! LOL

ok it's been a while since i updated and i'm sure everyone is itching to know more tips.

GRAMMAR FIRST.
I've developed some basic rules. If you can follow it, i'm sure your writing will improve by leaps and bounds.

Firstly, you must learn (memorise) all the words in the table of tenses. There are 4 columns, all starting with 'P'.

P1 - Present tense (+s or -s) [for now, facts or habits]
P2 - Process (+ing) [takes time to complete]
P3 - Past (+ed or spelling change) [for stories that are over]
P4 - Participle (=ed, spelling change or +n) [for perfect tense and passive sentences]

Here are the common words in English according to the table of tenses.
P1 - P2 - P3 - P4
has/have - having - had - had
goes/go - going - went - gone
gives/give - giving - gave - given
chooses/choose - choosing - chose - chosen
buys/buy - buying - bought - bought
flies/fly - flying - flew - flown
sings/sing - singing - sang - sung
cuts/cut - cutting - cut - cut
puts/put - putting - put - put
becomes/become - becoming - became - become
*smiles/smile - smiling - smiled - smiled
*explains/explain - explaining - explained - explained

* if you notice P3 and P4 looks the same in smiled and explained but they are completely different meanings.
the 4 columns in Malay actually means:
p1 - sekarang
p2 - sedang (imbuhan me-)
p3 - telah
p4 - imbuhan di-
so for 'kick'
kicks/kick - kicking - kicked - kicked
is actually in Malay
tendang - menendang - telah tendang - ditendang.
Get it?

Now for the rules:

1. P1: present
1 +s, >1 -s (except for sentences that start with 'You' or 'I')

1 +s
He likes to eat. (Correct)
He like to eat. (Wrong)
>1 -s
They like to eat. (Correct)
They likes to eat. (Wrong)

1 +s
She is a prefect now. (Correct)
She was a prefect last year too. (Correct)
She are a prefect now. (Wrong)
She were a prefect last year too. (Wrong)

>1 -s
They are prefects now. (Correct)
They were prefects last year too. (Correct)
They is prefects now. (Wrong)
They was prefects last year. (Wrong)

Sometimes the verb is quite far away but the rules still apply.

1 +s
The student reading the biology book is the top student.

>1 -s
The students reading the biology book are the top students.


2. P2: Process (+ing) (imbuhan me-)
If you want to use 'ing' it cannot stand alone
It needs one of the Be5 (am/is/are/was/were)
The 5 versions of Be5 are very important words that are always lost when translating directly from Malay or Chinese as it doesn't exist in these languages.

The baby is sleeping soundly. (Correct)
The baby sleeping soundly. (Wrong)
The babies are sleeping soundly. (Correct)
The babies sleeping soundly. (Wrong)

*notice you need a combination of 2 words to make the process sentences correct!

3. P3: Past (+ed/spelling change)
There is no rule. You have to just memorise all the words in this column.

4. P4: Participle (+ed/spelling change/+n)
This is the trickiest part of English grammar.

There are 2 uses: perfect tenses and passives.

a) Perfect tenses: 3H + P4
if you see the words Has/Have/Had, it MUST be followed by P4.

3H + P4
He has eaten the cake. (Correct)
They have eaten the cake. (Correct)
The boys had eaten the cake yesterday. (Correct)
He has eat the cake. (Wrong)
They have eating the cake. (Wrong)
The boys had ate the cake yesterday. (Wrong)

b) Passive sentences: Be5 + P4 (Imbuhan di-) [kek dimakan, bukannya dia dimakan]
The cake was eaten by him. (Correct)
The cakes were eaten by them. (Correct)
The cake eaten by him. (Wrong)
The cakes eating by them. (Wrong)


Be5 + P4 (don't confuse kicked with P3)
The ball is kicked by him. (Correct)
The balls were kicked by him. (Correct)
The ball kicked by him. (Wrong)
The balls kicking by him. (Wrong)

* Passive sentences are a combination of 2 WORDS: Be5 +P4, not P3. But sometimes if the spelling it +ed, it looks like P3, but the function is actually P4.


5. Other rules:

a) to + ori
to give (correct)
to gives, to giving, to gave, to given (wrong)

b) to + be + P4
to be taken (correct)
to be take, to be takes, to be taking, to be took (wrong)

c) modals: can/cannot/may/must/mustn't/should/shouldn't/will/would etc
modals + ori
can swim (correct)
can swims, can swimming, can swam, can swum (wrong)

d) modals + be + P4
must be discussed (correct)
must be discuss, must be discusses, must be discussing (wrong)

e) by + ing
by taking the bus (correct)
by takes, by take, by took, by taken (wrong)

f) for + ing
for demonstrating (correct)
for demonstrate, for demonstrates, for demonstrated (wrong)

g)
3H + been + P2
has been taking (correct)
has been take, has been takes, has been took (wrong)
or
3H + been + P4
has been taken (correct)

* P2 is used if the process takes a long time,
P4 is used if it is a passive sentence.


NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE RULES, CHALLENGE YOURSELF AND TAKE MY GRAMMAR TEST. YOU WILL FIND THAT KNOWING THE RULES MAKES ANSWERING SO MUCH EASIER.

http://muetmyway.blogspot.com/2010/07/grammar-test.html

WELL... WHAT DO YOU THINK?