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Exercise 1(Informal letter)

Based on the notes given, write a letter to your friend to share the ideas
with him.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR EXAMS

Study much earlier before a test.
Never do last minute cramming.
Stick to a revision timetable. This is to make sure you
revise all the topics.
Go over past years’ question papers.
Sleep early the night before an exam. You need to feel
fresh the nest morning.
Arrive a little earlier at the place of the exam.
Try not to talk about the exam with your classmates just
before sitting for it.
Ask for help from the invigilators if you face any problems.
Read through the questions and plan how you are going to
answer them.
Answer all the questions that you know first.
Pay attention to your exam and not to other students.

WORD BLOG

Cramming – to study intensively for an

examination
Fresh - alert, full of energy
Invigilators – people who watch over
students in an examination.

EXERCISE 2. (Introduction of summary writing)

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A. Match the paragraphs below with their main ideas.

Paragraph Main idea

1. Students must exercise to keep fit and healthy. The quality of water and the sources
They ought to take part in all kinds of games and of water supply have been badly
sports. Just as studies exercise the brain, games affected as a result of felling of trees.
exercise the body.
2. Saving is not only for the adults. Children too, Examinations are set to check a
should be encouraged to save. By saving, students’ academic progress or for
children learn the value of money. They learn to selecting students for a scholarship
buy only what they need, and not to waste their or a course.
money on unnecessary things.
3. Crows often make a lot of noise. In the morning, Saving should be encouraged as it
they wake up very early and greet each other teaches us not to spend
loudly. Then they fly off together to get their unnecessarily.
breakfast. Whenever they are, you can hear them
crowing loudly.
4. To improve your English, you must read books. Smoking is bad for health
If you read books, you will learn more words and
phrases. You will get more knowledge and ideas.
If you have ideas and know a lot of words, you
will be able to write better.
5. Smoking is bad for health. When you smoke, Students must exercise to keep fit
you will lose your stamina. Your lungs become and healthy
‘polluted’. As a result, you may fall sick. You
will have brownish teeth and bad breath.
6. Examinations are set for various reasons. They Crows often make a lot of noise
can be used to check a students’ academic
progress. They can be used to select a student for
a scholarship. They can also be used to select a
student for a particular course.
7. Water is important natural resource. To improve your English and write
Unfortunately the quality of water and the better, you must read books.
sources of water supply have been badly
affected. The feeling of trees has caused soil
erosion. This has in turn polluted the rivers and
the quality of water.

B. Read the passage below, underline and write down 5 main ideas what one can do in
Pangkor.

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Dear Mum,
I’m having a great time here in Pangkor. My friends and I have been spending our
days swimming in the sea. The water is warm and inviting. In fact, we are enjoying ourselves
so much that we would only get out of the water when the sun sets. We also enjoy water-
sports activities such as jet skiing and para-sailing.
Yesterday, we took a boat to another island off the west coast to do some fishing. We
didn’t catch any fish though, just some old shoes and plastic bottles!
We also took a day tour round the island that offered us a glimpse of some historical
sites that date back to the time of the Dutch. The tour also included visits to some cottage
industries such as a batik-making factory. The nights are the best for us. The streets come
alive with little stalls selling all sort of things and we really like strolling along the streets
then.
We will be leaving the island tomorrow to continue our journey up north to Penang. I
will write again soon to tell you about my adventures there. Bye.

Love,
Nicole

Main ideas:

1._________________________________

2. ________________________________

3. ________________________________

4. ________________________________

5. ________________________________

6. ________________________________

C. Write a summary on what one can do in Pangkor.

Begin your summary as follows:

There are many things that one can do in Pangkor….

Exercise 3 (Introduction of summary)

A. Read the paragraph below, underline and write down their main ideas.

Write a summary on how to prepare well for an exam

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You can draw up a study timetable to follow, which includes time for breaks, time for
exercise, meal and sleep.

Main idea: _______________________________

Write a summary on the qualities of a good teacher.

A good teacher must show sympathy to the students. This means he or she must be in
tune in the minds and feelings of students. To do this, the teacher has to be tolerant of the
childish behaviour of students. Students are still young people. They cannot act or think like
adults. Exercising patience is very important is dealing with them.

Main idea: _______________________________

Write a summary on the importance of a healthy breakfast.

Studies conducted show that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Children
who eat a healthy breakfast do better in school. Adult perform better at work if they have a
healthy breakfast.

Main idea: _______________________________

B. Summarise the paragraph below by choosing the best main idea for each
paragraph. Circle the correct answer.

When tea was first imported and distributed it was done so in tins. This meant that the tea

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could be kept stored at the proper temperature in a cool environment, but it was also
expensive. This meant only the rich could afford to drink tea.

A Only the rich drink tea.

B Tea was first imported in tins.
C Tea must be kept in a cool environment.

Thomas Sullivan changed all that in 1908. He was a tea importer based in New York city. As
tea was becoming more popular in America he had drink of another way to send the tea to his
customers.

A Tea was becoming popular.

B Thomas Sullivan was a tea importer.
C Thomas Sullivan tried to make tea affordable to all.

So, he came up with the idea of using tea bags, which was actually just a silk pouch with
small amount of tea inside. This meant he could send the tea to his customers, without having
to waste money on tins and mailing costs.

A Thomas Sullivan was a tea importer

B Thomas Sullivan invented tea bags to cut transportation cost.
C Thomas Sullivan started mailing tea to his customers in silk pouches.

His customers were amazed with Sullivan’s ingenious idea. They thought that the pouches
were designed to go straight into the tea pot. The idea caught on and the customers started to
order their tea bags from Sullivan as they were so convenient, much better than the tins.

A The customers liked Sullivan’s idea.

B Tea in tea bags taste better than those in tins.
C The customers thought that Sullivan’s tea bags were made to go into the tea pots.

Exercise 4 (Adjectives)

A. Complete the paragpraph below with the correct degree of comparison for the words in
brackets.

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1. The water in the ocean is _________ (salty). The __________ (salty) water is in the Red Sea
and in the Persian Gulf. The ____________ (salty) seas are in the polar regions, where both
melting polar ice and a lot of rain dilute the salinity.

2. The bluefin tuna is the _________ (long) bony fish in the world. Bluefin tuna are among the
__________ (large) and __________ (fast) marine fish. In Japan, the bluefins are among the
_____________ (valuable) fish.

3. The horseshoe crab is one of the world’s _________ (old) living animals. It is usually gathered
in summer when the water is _________ (warm). In _________ (shallow) water, the
horseshoe crabs are collected by hand. In the ________ (deep) ocean, fishermen can scoop
________ (big) crabs.

B. Complete the table below based on the information given.

The Pasific Ocean is the largest ocean covering an area of 64,186,000

square miles. The Indian Ocean is smaller than the Atlantic Ocean but
much bigger than Artic Ocean. Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is
the deepest valley in the ocean floor. It is 36,200 feet deep. Puerto Rico
Trench is deeperthan Java Trench. Eurasia Basin in Artic Ocean is not as
deep as Java Trench but it is the deepest depth of the Artic Ocean.

Ocean Area Deepest Depth

(1) ________________ 64,186,000 square miles (2) ______________ ,
(3) _____________ feet
deep.
Atlantic Ocean 33,420,00 square miles Puerto Rico Trench,
28,231 feet deep.
(4) _______________ 28,350,000 square miles Java Trench,
25,344 feet deep
Artic Ocean 5,106,000 square miles (5) ______________,
17,881 feet deep.

Exercise 5 (Simple Past Tense)

A. Complete the paragraph below about Pablo Picasso by choosing the correct verbs.

Pablo, born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain was a famous art icon. Pablo attended local school and
had a very difficul time. He (is/was/being) describe as having difficulty reading the orientation of the

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letters and (label/labels/labelled) a dyslexic. Despite the initial difficulties, he (is/was/has) able to
catch up with the curriculum. However, dyslexia (make/makes/made) school difficult and he never
really (benefit/benefits/benefited) from his education. Dyslexia (trouble/troubles/troubled) Picasso for
the rest of his life.

Pablo’s father, an art teacher in Malaga, (encourage/encourages/encouraged) him to attend his

school. Despite his disabilities, it (become/became/becoming) clear that Pablo (has/have/had) an
incredible talent. Over the course of his career, he (develop/develops/developed) a unique sense of
beauty and style. Pablo (paint/paints/painted) things as he saw them –out of order, backwards or
upside down. His paintings (demonstrate/demonstrates/demonstrated) his power of imagination.

B. Read the story below and underline the irregular verb in that story.

Last night, Kartigesen dreamt that he invented a robot that could help him do his
homework and all his household chores. The robot was very intelligent. He did Kartigesen’s
science project as well as his mathematical problems. Kartigesen was delighted. In the
evening, it even swept the floor and mopped the house. He dreamt that he spent all the time
playing the computer games while the robot went about doing his work. Kartigesen made the
robot do more and more work. Suddenly the robot became violent. It pulled off wires and tore
Kartigesen’s books. It turned to Kartigesen. Just at that moment, Kartigesen got up with a
shock with all his books and homework all over him. Thank goodness, it was just a bad
dream!

Exercise 6

A. Read the passage and fill in the blank with circled words.

bandag bleedi friend

pain
ed ng s
I

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hop
e hospit my
al
Dear mom,
I hurt (1)______ leg while roller-skating this morning. (2) _________ fell because i
lost my balance. My right leg was (3) ___________. My (4) _________ took me to the (5)
__________. The doctor told me that my leg was broken and needed to be put in a plaster cast.
He also (6) ____________ my wounds. I am still in (7) ________. I (8) _______ you would
be able to be with me for a while. Please come as soon as possible.

B. Based on the passage above, arrange the events on chronological sequence.

Hopes to see mother wound bandaged taken to hospital roller

skating

Leg in plaster broke leg fell down

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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Exercise 7 (Formal letter)

A. You are the director of Petronas Twin Tower. The Science Society of SMK Gemilang has
sent the letter of asking permission to visit your place. Please arrange this formal letter so that
you can read it carefully.

The Director
Petronas Twin Towers
KLCC
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Dear Sir,
4. If you find the proposed date and time unsuitable we shall be glad to agree to an
alternative date and time convenient to you.
2. The proposed date of the visit is 5 August 2009. The group consists of forty two
students and two teachers. We intend to make a trip in a chartered bus. We shall leave our
school at 8 a.m. and arrive at the factory at about 9.30 a.m.
Aina Suhana
The Science Society
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Gemilang
41000 Klang
Selangor Darul Ehsan.
5. We shall be most grateful if you could give us an early reply to enable us to
make the necessary arrangements. Thank You.
Educational Visit to Petrosains Discovery Centre
Yours faithfully,
I am writing on behalf on the Science Society of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan
Gemaling to request permission to visit the Petrosains Discovery Centre.
Secretary
The Science Society
3. The purpose of the visit is to learn more about the centre. We also wish to see
this various exhibits at the centre. Therefore, we would be most grateful if you could
arrange someone to take us around.
Aina Suhana
29th April 2010
B. Write a letter to reply the letter above. State that you are agree to give them the permission to
visit your place.

Exercise 8 (Comparison Writing)

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As a manager, you should choose one person to fill the position of sales executive. Based on the
details given, compare about these two people and state your opinion and why you choose that person.

PROFILE A PROFILE B

Name : Stephen Lawrence Name : Shafik Affendi

Age : 25 years old Age : 32 years old

Work experience : new graduate Work Experience : 8 years

Qualification : B. Econs (Marketing) Qualification : B. Pcychology (Honours)

Achievements : The Excellent Trainer 2009 Achievements : Senior Executive in present

organization
Personal Qualities :
Personal Qualities :
√ Friendly
√ Hardworking
√ Willing to help
√ Responsible
√ Responsible
√ Willing to share the experience
√ Willing to learn new things

Exercise 9 (Rearrange the ideas)

Arrange the sentences in a logical order to form a paragraph.

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Set A.

1. When i sit in the garden, I can see beautiful butterflies resting on the colourful flowers.

2. Monkeys can be seen swinging from tree to tree.

3. My friends are always amazed at the mini zoo in my garden.

4. A family of brown squirrels is always darting in and out the plants as they chase each other.

5. If we are not careful, they will even feast on our bananas in the kitchen.

6. Every morning I wake up with the birds twittering in the trees.

Set B.

1. Her sister ran into the room and locked herself up.

2. Minah was very angry with her younger sister.

3. Then, she found her pen missing.

4. Yesterday, her sister had asked if she could borrow it, but she had said ‘no’ as she needed it
for a test.

5. She had taken her pen without permission.

6. On the next day, she apologised to Minah and Minah forgave her.

7. So, she scolded her sister.

Exercise 10 (Connectors)
Rewrite the following sentences with the connectors given.

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My professor is an extremely fascinating person. She tells some of the most interesting
stories I have ever heard.

1.) Additionally,
____________________________________________________

2.) In addition,
____________________________________________________

3.) Too
____________________________________________________

4.) Also
____________________________________________________

5.) Furthermore,
___________________________________________________

6.) Besides that,

____________________________________________________

7.) And
____________________________________________________

8.) Moreover,
____________________________________________________

9.) As well
____________________________________________________

10.) Not only...but also

____________________________________________________

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