There is some example of MUET questions :-
1)How to encourage the students to read more? -Set up a reading corner around the college -Equip the library with more interesting materials -Second hand book store -Reward those who read more 2)What would make a good life partner? -Religious -Wealthy -Good-looking -Fun to be with 3)How to promote tourism in Malaysia? -Build more tourist spots -Build more affordable hotels -Using Information Technology (IT) -More facilities 4)How to attract customers? -Reasonable price -Extend business hours -Fresh goods -Helpful and courteous staffs 5)What challenge would be faced by youth in 21st century? -Knowledgeable skills -Resources -Information and Communication Technology (ICT) -Good in studies and active in co-curriculum activities
Speaking Test :Candidate A Instructions to candidates: Task A: Individual presentation
Study the stimulus or topic given. You are given two minutes to prepare your responses. You are given two minutes to present. Listen to the others while they are making their presentations and take down notes for the group discussion in Task B. Task B: Group discussion You are given two minutes to prepare points to support or oppose the other candidates’ views. After you have listened to everyone, try to come to a decision as to which of the four suggestions is the best. Your group is given ten minutes for the discussion. Task A and Task B will be carried out consecutively. Situation Your brother has been given the opportunity to study in England on a government scholarship. You and your family are very proud of him. Decide on a special gift for him to prepare for his trip abroad. Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why. Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful. i. cash ii. a computer iii. some suitable clothing iv. some Malaysian foodstuff Candidate A Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why. Good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. I’m very happy that my brother has just received a scholarship to study in England. My relatives and I would like to give him a special gift. We all think that the best gift is money because it will be very useful for him. The first reason is with cash he can buy the things that he needs when he gets there. There will me a lot of things that he will need like new books, stationery, clothes and food. He will also need to pay for transportation like taking the bus or train to go to the university campus. As we know, it is very expensive in England so any money we give him will be very useful. Secondly, my brother can use the money to buy a mobile phone when he gets to England. I think this is very important in case of emergencies so we can contact him easily. Furthermore, he can sms us and keep us updated with his progress in his studies there. Hence, if we really miss him we can just give him a call. Finally, I also think giving him money is the best choice because it is light and doesn’t take up a lot of space. If we were to give him a computer, books or winter clothes it will be very heavy and bulky for him to bring to England. Therefore, I think that it is much easier to bring money and buy those things when he gets there. In conclusion, these are some of the reasons why I think giving him cash is the best choice. To me, it is the most useful gift we can give him. Thank you.
Candidate B Task A: You suggest that they give him a computer. Say why. A very good morning I bid to one and all. My relatives and I are very proud of my brother. He has just received a scholarship to study in England and so we would like to give him a special gift. We believe that the best present for him is a laptop computer. Firstly, as a university student, my brother will have to do many assignments. If he has a laptop computer he can bring it everywhere and consequently, do his work anytime and anywhere. Thus, he will not have to share the computers at the computer room with other students and he will be able to do his work more quickly and efficiently. Another point is that when he boards the plane from KLIA to London, he will be able to bring the laptop with him easily because it is compact and light compared to a desktop computer. Hence, it will not be too much trouble to transport it to England. Last but not least, if he has a laptop he will be able to connect to the internet. This has two main advantages as firstly, he can do a lot of research online. The world wide web is a fountain of information so it will be very useful for him to make full use of this technology. Furthermore, he can keep in touch with friends and family here in Malaysia by e-mail. In short, a laptop computer will prove to be very useful to my brother. He can do his assignments, research for information and keep in touch with us using it therefore it will make the best gift. Thank you for listening. Candidate C Task A: You suggest that they give him some suitable clothing. Say why. To the examiners and my fellow candidates, a wonderful morning I bid you. My brother was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to study overseas. We want to send him off with a nice gift so we have decided to buy him some suitable clothing. The main purpose for buying him some suitable clothing is because the weather in England is very different from the weather in our country. There are four seasons there so he will need to have different clothes for different situations. For example, we can buy him some sweaters, cardigans, scarves, snowcaps, thick socks and gloves and many more. These will definitely keep him warm in winter. The second reason is we think that he should have clothes that reflect our Malaysian identity. This is because he will be a young ambassador for our country so if he has a few sets of traditional clothing like the B aju Melayu or formal Batik shirts, I am sure he will not only look good but promote our culture overseas. Lastly, neat clothes make a good impression. For instance, if we buy him some everyday clothes like jeans and trousers with nice shirts and matching ties, this will give him a good feeling about himself so he will walk a bit straighter and talk a bit wiser. Moreover, people will look at him and have a good impression about Malaysian students. To conclude, I think that the best present to give him is some suitable clothing because it will be very useful and will reflect positively on him. Thank you very much. Candidate D Task A: You suggest that they give him some Malaysian foodstuff. Say why. I would like to wish everyone here a very good morning. As we all know, my brother has won a scholarship to study in England. Therefore, some relatives and I have decided to give him some Malaysian foodstuff as a going away
present. First and foremost, one of the main problems Malaysians face when studying overseas is that it is hard to find Halal food. We feel it is a good idea to give him some Malaysian foodstuff because it will take time for him to get used to the place and find out where to buy Halal food. Thus, in the meantime he can enjoy the Malaysian foodstuff that we have given to him. The next reason is because some of the foodstuff we are used to having here in Malaysia is quite hard to find in UK. Most students studying overseas really enjoy eating Maggi Mee and sambal belacan. For instance, it is also hard to find the right spices for curry and rendang and so on so if we supply him with enough Malaysian foodstuff, he can eat it whenever he misses home. The final point I have is that he can use the Malaysian foodstuff we give him and cook it for the Westerners there. Sometimes, universities organise events like Malaysian Night and so he and his friends can cook some Malaysian specialities for them to taste a bit of our way of life. Hence, the Malaysian foodstuff will be very useful to promote our culture. In a nutshell, giving my brother Malaysian foodstuff to take with him to England is a good idea. This is because he will have some familiar food to eat when he misses home and he can also share it with his new friends. Thank you for listening to my opinion. Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful. i.
Cash ii. A computer iii. Some suitable clothing iv. Some Malaysian foodstuff * Work together in your respective groups and complete the following discussion. A: Good morning once again to everyone. We are here to focus on the issue at hand which is __________________________________________________________. I would like to invite anyone of you to kickstart this discussion by giving us your point of view. B: Allow me to begin. First of all, I’m happy that our brother has won the scholarship to study in England. Therefore, we must decide what would be the most useful gift for him. In my opinion, I strongly believe that _______________ _________________________________________________________________. This is because I think he can _________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. For example, ______________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. C: I see your point but how about getting him ______________________________. In this way, he can use it to ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. D: I don’t quite agree with you because ____________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. I think it would be
more useful if we bought _______________________ for him. Does anyone agree with me? A: Yes, I agree with you. To add to your point, I feel that ______________________ _________________________________________________________________. This is so he will ___________________________________________________. C: I’m afraid I don’t see eye to eye with both of you. Buying that as a present for him is not the most useful gift because __________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. Moreover, ________________________________________________________. Can you all understand what I’m trying to say? B: Indeed, I do see your point of view but I still feel that the most useful gift is __________________ because it can ___________________________________. Another reason is ___________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. For instance, _______________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. D: That’s an interesting perspective and I agree with you that ___________________ _________________________________________________________________. However, I think we should consider other points. We should also think about buying him _______________________________________________________. If he gets this as a present, he can ______________________________________ and _ ___________________________________________. Wouldn’t you agree? A: I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. Can you explain it again, please. D: What I mean is we should buy him _____________________________________ because it will me more useful for him when he is studying in England. This is because ___________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. A: Aaah… I see. Yes, I think it would be a very useful gift too. This way, he can _________________________________________________________________. C: That’s a good point, but don’t you think if we gave him _____________________ it will be the most useful for him as a student. I still believe that this is the most useful because _____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. Remember, we need to think of the best and most useful choice. B: I agree with you, Candidate C. In addition, he can use this gift to _____________ __________________________________________________________________________________ ___________. So candidates A & D, what do you guys think? D: Now that you’ve explained it like that, I also agree that it will be the most useful. In fact, he c ould also use it to _________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________.
A: As for me, I feel that it is also the most useful. When he arrives at his university in England, he will be able to ____________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________. C: That’s right. Well, after listening to all the points on the four choices we have, I think it is time to make a conclusion. D: Yes, I think so too. Does everyone agree that we should give our brother _______________________________________ as a special going away present? All: Yes, I agree. B: In a nutshell, we all agree that _______________________________ is the best choice because firstly, he can _________________________________________, secondly, ________________________________________________ and finally _________________________________________________________________. Thank you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What to conclude if after 10 minutes of discussion…. A) AGREE = 3, DISAGREE = 1 Conclusion: To conclude, MOST OF US agree that ______________________ is the best choice because ________________________________. ___________________________________________. Thank you. B) AGREE = 2, DISAGREE = 2 Conclusion: In conclusion, we were unable to make a solid decision because SOME OF US stongly believe that the best choice is __________ because _______________________________________________ while THE REST OF US think that givi ng him _______________ is the most useful b ecause _________________ ___________________________________________. Thank you. C) ALL DISAGREE Conclusion: In a nutshell, we were unable to come to an agreement on which of the four options is the best choice. It seems ALL OF US strongly believe in our own points so as we have run out of time, we think that we should each buy him a gift individually. Thank you.
Various Expressions used in asking for and expressing opinions
Function Asking for an opinion
Expressions What’s your opinion on…
Do you have anything to add?
What do you think of…
Don’t you think that…
What are your views on … Giving opinions
I believe that..
From my point of view ..
I am certain that..
In my opinion..
I must say..
I think that…
It is quite clear that..
I would say that …
I maintain that ..
It seems to me that …
I am sure that …
I think it would be fair to say that …
As far as I am concerned ..
I guess..
I suppose . ..
Agreement Complete
I totally agree with you
Agreement
Disagreement Direct
I’m sorry, I beg to differ
Disagreement I see your point of view
I absolutely disagree with you
That’s true/right/brilliant
I’m sorry but I have to disagree
That’s good/splendid idea
I disagree
True. I am glad you say that
I am afraid that I don’t agree
Yes, I feel the same way. I agree
I don’t think so
Yes, I’m sure you are right
I don’t see your point
Absolutely/ Definitely
I don’t get it
I couldn’t agree with you more Yes, I think that is a wonderful idea
Tentative
I agree with you to a point
Indirect
Partial Agreement
Are you sure?
Disagreement I agree with you to a certain extent
I could be wrong but
I think you are right but
I see your point but I think it would be better if ..
You’ve got a point there, but Really? Well, perhaps you are right Oh, I don’t know about that I agree that….but… I’m not sure about that That may be so but I do not think that is always true because
I will take that into considerations
Some expressions used in making suggestions, recommendations and some possible responses. Suggestion
Positive
Yes, that’s a good idea
response Wouldn’t it be a good idea to
That would be nice
Shall we
Okay
I think we should
Negative
I think that is out of the question
response I feel that we should
I can foresee problems
Perhaps we could
I’m not convinced that this will work
Why don’t we
The suggestions will give rise to other problems
What about
I’d rather not
How about
No. I don’t really like the idea
Let’s
No, I really don’t think so
It might be a good idea to Have you ever thought of Maybe we should If I were you, I would Don’t you think we should Recommendation
Positive
I fully support
response I strongly recommend that
I am in favour of
I strongly advise that
I totally agree with
I propose that
I approve of
I would like to put forward a proposal that
I see no objection to that I would certainly endorse Negative
I am totally opposed to the proposal
response I think that is out of the question I can foresee problems I’m not convinced that this will work This will give rise to other problems
Various expressions that may be used in persuading someone Persuassive
Have you considered
I encourage you to
expressions
Do you realize that
I am very sure there is no harm
Don’t you think
I feel you should
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to
I persuade you to
I wonder if you have thought of Maybe you should consider It would be in your own interest to I can assure you that You have no need to fear USEFUL PHRASES FOR MY SPEAKING TEST II TASK A You need to organize your speech so that there is a smooth glow of ideas. INTRODUCTION
BODY
CONCLUSION
- Introduce topic
-Include major points and elaborate
-Reinstate your opinion
on them -Highlight main points of task
-Summarize main points of the topic -Talk about the most important point
-Give definition (if any)
first
-Give advice or recommendations
-Use transition signals to connect ideas Some expressions you may use when presenting information. INTRODUCTION Let me enlighten you on
I would like to begin by
Today, I would like to talk on
The reason I am here is to talk about
I have been asked to talk on BODY I would like to mention briefly
To begin with
I would like to comment on
The next issue is
There are several points I would like to make
Furthermore/Moreover/ In addition
My first point is
Let me give you an example
Firstly / First of all
Let us consider
CONCLUSION In general
Let me conclude by saying
All in all
I would like to conclude by
In a nutshell
Finally
TASK B When managing a discussion, you will - Thank people for coming and then start a discussion - introduce the subject or problem - have to invite people to speak - need to encourage group participation - close/ conclude the discussion Some expressions that you can use in managing a discussion. OPENING A DISCUSSION Good morning, thank you for coming
Shall we start?
Thank you all for coming
Right, let’s begin
Thanks for being here
May I have your attention please
INTRODUCING A SUBJECT First, let’s tackle the issue of
Let’s talk about the problem of
Today we are meeting to discuss
We’re here to talk about
A · Good morning to the examiners and all my friends. · Firstly, I would like to suggest ……………. · My main point is ……………….. (explain/give example) · My next point is ……………….. (explain/give example) · The next point I would like to make is ……………( “ ) · However / But / Nevertheless …………………. Etc · I have mentioned earlier that …………………. · Therefore / Thus / Hence …………………….. etc · In short ………………………… · Thank you. B
· Good morning ………………… · First of all, I propose …………………. · The most important factor is ………………… (explain/give example) · Next, let’s look at ……………………………. ( “ ) · Another suggestion is………………………( “ ) · However / But / Nevertheless …………………..etc · Ther efore / Thus / Hence / As a result …………………….etc · Those are the suggestions ………….. · Thank you. C · Good morning………….. · As a start, I would like to suggest ………………….. · It is important to …………………………(explain/give example) · The next issue is ……………………….( “ ) · Another point I would like to emphasize is ……………( “ ) · However / But / Nevertheless ………….. · Therefore / Thus / Hence / As a result ………………. · In summary, I would suggest …………. · Thank you. D · Good morning ………. · I would like to begin by suggesting ……………… · One important reason is ……………….(explain/give example) · Next, I would like to highlight …………( “ ) · Moving on to my next point, which is ……….. ( “ ) · However / But / Nevertheless ………….. · Therefore / Thus / Hence / As a result ………………. · As a conclusion, I would say………….. · Thank you.
FOR EASY A person’s career choice should be determined by his or her interest. Discuss.
At some point in their life, people need to take up a career. As there are many career choices in this world, people need to think carefully in order to find the right one for them. Many of them choose their careers based on the salary, their skills and talents or qualification or influences from role model. However, in my opinion, our career choice should be determined by our own interest. This is because it brings motivation, enjoyment and satisfaction to us. The first reason why we choose our career based on interest is because when we do something that we like, we can motivate ourselves. For example as students, if we want to achieve a good result, we will learn from the beginning and take the initiative to organize study groups with our friends. The same also occurs in our workplace. We will give our total commitment to do well in our work if we are interested in the career. We also can motivate ourselves to learn not to give up easily, especially when we have to face challenges or failures. We will try even harder to do the work again if we have failed until it is successful. For example, if we are policemen, we will not easily give up or be afraid of catching criminals. In addition, we do not mind working long hours to solve any case. Other than that, if we have interest in our career, we can build a dedicated characteristic in ourselves. It is the same case with a teacher. It is not easy to be teachers because we have to face all types of students’ attitudes and behaviours. If we love to be teachers, then we will possess high spirits to teach our students in or der to help them to achieve good results in the examinations or to mould them to be useful citizens one day. Therefore, our career choice that is based on interest can give us motivation to do well in our career. Another reason why we choose our career based on interest is we can have enjoyment in our work. We would love to do any work that can be enjoying to us. This is because being interested in our career can bring happiness as it helps to reduce stress. Even though we have to face a lot of workload, we will take it as a challenge and not as a burden that stresses us. It does not matter if we have to work overtime too. It is also the same when we are scolded by our superiors or employers. We will take the criticism as a way to improve or to encourage ourselves to do even better in the next task. Moreover, we will think creatively and create a new product to help our companies to enhance their profits. For example, when we love to be a scientist, we can always think and create a new antidote to cure patients that suffer from HIV. We also will not feel depressed because we always think positively and look at the bright side when we are interested in our career. This will make ourselves more cheerful, confident and never give up easily when facing problem in our work. This is because when we enjoy our work, we surely can have a good relationship with our colleagues. This will make us feeling pleased when doing our work and thus, we will not think of changing our career. Therefore, having a career based on our interest can actually bring happiness to us and lead us to a brighter future. In addition, interest-based careers will definitely give us satisfaction. When we like our career, we will do any task given earnestly. For example, if we are very interested to be singers, we will sharpen the talents we have. We will try to please the audience by performing well on stage. In this case, we can achieve the satisfaction when we see the audience are happy. Other than that, we will grab the opportunity to organize a concert to entertain the audience. When we have managed to sell all the tickets, this signifies that we are successful as we have attracted a lot of fans. When people love us, we can be famous. We also can achieve our goal when we receive many awards. This will make us satisfied in our career. It is different when we have a career that we do not like. For example, if we become doctors, following our parents’ expectations or based on high salary, we may feel bored doing the same routine every day. We may treat our patients but not satisfied with the job. It will make us be very depressed and thus cannot do our career better or cannot have a good relationship with our colleagues and patients. That is why we will have satisfaction if we choose our career based on our own interest. In conclusion, our career choice should be determined by our interest. This is because it surely brings motivation, enjoyment and satisfaction to us. Deciding on the career that we like can ensure a bright future. Our family or friends should not expect us to choose a career based on other factors because it cannot guarantee us benefits in the future.
The world today is turning more to electronic communications such as the e -mail, Facebook and Short Message System (SMS). What is your opinion of this growing trend? Discuss. You should write at least 350 words.
As time goes by, the world is changing rapidly; so are its people and the technology itself. Technology brings about a lot of amendments in people’s life. It is getting more advanced from d ay to day especially when it comes to Information Technology or in this case; electronic communications. Back then, mailing was seemingly to be one of the most vital ways of communication especially for the world communication. In contrast, nowadays people are more prone to communicate the easier ways; by staring on their electronic accounts on their computers or through their iPods and sending short messages from their iPhones or Blackberries. Why is it so?In my slight opinion, this growing trend gives a lot of dominances in today’s life, which are helping people to save their time and money, create borderless communication and make it easy for people to gain prominent information. First and foremost, the world today is turning more to electronic communications like e-mail, Facebook and Short Message System (SMS) and other electronic communications is because they will prevent people from wasting their time and money. How do these work? As we all know, sending a letter to someone will take a lot of processes and will eventually take a long time and waste a lot of money. On the contrar y, electronic communications entail only the tip of our fingers so as an electronic device to work with. Then, what is left for us to do is just, typing! Has that not taken a much lesser time and money? For instance, an e-mail only requires us to turn on our laptops, open our accounts on the website and then, you can start write your letter and send them through e-mails. In short, with the very unstable economy nowadays, having these kinds of communications will ease everyone’s burden especially on their daily expenses and also their valuable time will not be wasted. Secondly, the growing trend of electronic communications is making it possible for a borderless communication which is vital these days. Why is it vital? A lot of things require borderless communication; in education field, businesses and even daily activities, especially when foreigners involved. For example, when trading with foreigners, in order to communicate with each other, they need Skype or Yahoo Messenger as mediums to interact and be able to do the trade at a faster rate as compared to by using ‘snail mails’ or regular letters. Skype is the perfect example of an electronic communication which will cut the boundary that has separated each country and make communication between two different countries from around the world possible. In conclusion, it is crucial to have these electronic communications in today’s age of globalization as they ma ke it easier for people around the world to connect with each other. Last but not least, the dominance of these electronic communications is people could gain prominent information more efficiently than before. As there are lesser borders between countries, the efficiency of getting much more relevant and prominent information is higher. People will have the ability to provide and gain information effectively through Facebook or Twitter accounts. For example, international artists who have planned to do a world concert can inform their fans about it through their Facebook account. Likewise, the fans also can ask just about anything to their favourite artists regarding the concert. Hence, this explains why people make these electronic communications as a huge trend these days and in order to keep the trend ongoing, each person has the responsibility to adapt with the technology itself. In a nutshell, the growing trend of using electronic communications is inevitably vital in people’s lives as it gives out a lot of benefits as stated in above paragraphs. So, to avoid ourselves from not getting the chance of keeping up with the changing trends, we have to try our best to adapt ourselves with the rapid changes. I believe that the electronic communication trend is a trend which is very important to be followed as the world is getting more advanced day to day. Sncd 2
Everywhere we turn today, the world is crowded with people busy typing SMSes on their Nokias or iPhones or someone is staring unblinkingly at a Facebook or Yahoo page on the computer screen. Whether you like it or not, the age of Information Technology is upon us, and we can either learn new skills and adapt to this new technology, or be forever lost and stuck in the older generation. In my opinion, I am fully convinced that this growing trend is the way of the future, and it brings countless benefits to mankind. In this essay, I will discuss three positive effects of electronic communication, namely its efficiency, enhances communication and creates a borderless world community. First and foremost, more and more people are relying on e-mail, Facebook, Short Message System (SMS) and other types of electronic communication tools because of its high efficiency. This is because in today's age of globalisation, we need information at the tip of our fingers. Moreover, with the use of these tools, we can increase the speed of getting the necessary and relevant information within seconds and this will increase our productivity. For example, gone are the days of using 'snail mail' or regular letters using stamps and envelopes and many more examples of 'old' technology because it is simply too slow and inefficient. Therefore, these e-communication tools increases the access to important information which is why the new generation is fully accepting this growing trend. Secondly, this form of technology enhances communication among people today. This means that when we use SMS, e-mails and websites like Facebook, we are able to communicate clearly and directly to our target audience. Furthermore, people today find that the message is more important than the form it comes in as an e-mail in short but clear sentences is just as good or even better than a long and formal letter. For instance, an SMS can give clear instructions in just a few words and this communicates what needs to be done quickly and directly. Thus, when the intended message can be spread clearly using short and clear information like in SMSes and emails, communication can be enhanced and there will be less problems of miscommunication. Last but not least, e-communication creates a borderless community in the world we live in today. This is due to the fact that the boundaries that separate each country becomes less relevant when information is transferred without limitations. In addition, the world would be a better place because there is a sense of 1-World commitment, respect and tolerance for the global community through efficient and clear e-communication. Take for example, we are able to connect with people on an international basis using Facebook, Friendster, Tagged, Hotmail, Yahoo and others. Hence, these tools will enhance global unity and create a more peaceful world. In a nutshell, this growing trend has many positive effects not just to individuals but the global society in terms of efficiency, enhancing communicative skills and shaping a borderless community. In my opinion, I still firmly believe that this latest trend is the best way for ward and if we do not catch up, we will be left beh ind by the tide of development. Our government can encourage the proper usage of electronic communications by increasing communication amenities and free broadband accessibility especially in rural areas so that they can enjoy the same facilities as city-folks therefore balancing the development of our country towards achieving Vision 2020.
Stress is a common problem among university students. Discuss. Support your answer with examples.
Stress is a normal phenomenon in university life. It is an accepted fact that stress is a common problem for university students of different ages, disciplines of study, and social and economic backgrounds. Furthermore, research has shown that stress has negative impact and effects on an individual’s health and lifestyle. In view of these situations, it is essential and necessary for university students to know how they can mange stress effectively.
In my opinion, there are three ways that can effectively reduce or eliminate stress. All these ways are inter related and bring about the maximum positive impact to deal with stress effectively. The first way is related to self awareness, self realization and acceptance of stress. These qualities build a foundation that will positively nurture the appropriate mindset and emotional attitude to deal with stress in realistic ways. The student must be aware, realize and accept the fact that he or she is experiencing stress. Such awareness, realization and acceptance are strong contributory factors to alert, motivate and initiate the student to think seriously of the nature, possible causes and potential consequences of the stress he or she is experiencing. The attention given to these issues is a strong catalyst to direct the student to want work out the solutions to deal with the problem or situation or people that generate the stress. Self awareness, self realization and self acceptance of stress will generate in students the need to confront stress with the right, positive, mental and emotional attitude. The second way that can help university students manage stress effectively is to educate and equip themselves with knowledge and relevant information on approaches, methods and techniques on how to identify the symptoms of various types of stress and stress related factors. For example, they can learn more about the causes and effects of stress on health, personality and lifestyle. Being university students, their maturity and mental and emotional intelligence should be their guides in searching for the above mentioned information from authorized sources like health reference books or the Internet. They can also seek advice from professionals namely doctors, lectors and counselors or experienced individuals like parents and elders.
The third way relates to a holistic
healthy lifestyle that involves constant physical activity, having good eating habits, adopting positive attitudes to problems and nurturing healthy family, social and working relationships. These characteristics effects of stress like anxiety, frustration and health problems of poor concentration, lack of sleep and loss of appetite. In sum, I leave in shot note these three ways can effectively help university students to mange stress mentally, emotionally and holistically.
A university education is better than a college educaton.Give your opinion.
After the SPM examination,many students have to decide their future on which education to pursue.Some of my friends chose to enrol in college.I decided to study in matriculation college as a Pre-U qualification to enter university.My reason is university education is better than college education. This is because university has a better education system,more dedicated lecturers and better facilities.
First,university education provides a better education system than college does.A SPM certificate is enough for you to enrol in a college but to enter a university you need a Pre-U qualification such as STPM or A-level.This simply shows that it is harder to study in university as you need some qualifications in which the college does not demand.Besides,the grading system in university is stricter than that of college.So,students have to work harder to get a good result.On the other hand,most college change their grading system,according to the overall result of their students.Moreover,the the syllabus in university is well designed.Besides giving knowledge,it helps to develop the social skills of students.For example,Students have to do survey on public about topics related to their study.This ensures that the graduates can have critical thinking skill and communication skill.
Universities usually hire more experienced lecturers with better knowledge.According to a research, these lectures
possess a Master or PhD degree and some even graduated overseas.Thus,they have higher level of of knowledge which benefits the students.Besides,Most of them have years of teaching experience and so they know how to guide their students,developing their skills and exploring their potential.For instance,a Physics lecturer does not only talk on theories.Instead,he teaches the students to analyse a problem logically.They are also more caring and responsible to their students.These qualities are hard to seen in college lecturers,who are mostly bachelor degree holder and work just for money. (very serious generalisation here!)
Last but not least,university usually has better facilities,for example,the state-of-art computers.Unlike those college such as Inti College which are run by private companies,university has a better management.Thus every single thing in the university,including the infrastructure is planned and developed well.This is beneficial to students.For instance,university with advanced laboratories is beneficial to students as they can learn science better by being explored to the real situation while conducting experiments.Besides,university with better sports facilities can help the students to relax their mind.In other words,better facilities means a more conducive environment for university students.
In a nutshell,university education is better than college education for its better education system,lecturers and facilities.Despite the growing number of college in our country,I advice fellow friends to choose university education so that when you graduate,you are competitive enough to survive in this ever developing world.
The rising fuel price has pushed up the price of other consumer products. How w ill this affect the society? Give your opinion. You should write at least 350 words.
Money is always an issue in today's era of materialism. Most people need it for basic survival while the lucky few indulge in luxuries without worrying about money. In my opinion, I strongly agree that the rising fuel price has pushed up the price of other consumer products and this will definitely affect the society. In this essay, I would like to touch on the effects this price increase has on society today, namely increasing vice activities, widening the gap between the rich and the poor and affecting the population trend in the long ter m.
First and foremost, society will immediately be affected by the rise in fuel prices because consumer products will be more costly and this leads to an increase of vice activities. This is because basic necessities such as rice, flour, sugar and so on will be in great demand and some warehouses will store or hoard the items to further increase the price of the product. Moreover, in the newspapers today, reports of smuggling of these items prove that this vice activity is on the rise. For example, the recent sugar price hike caused a furor among the Malaysian society as it costs more fuel to travel to and from the supermarket and when arriving, most places had run out of stock even though the government had allocated 2kg of sugar to one person. Therefore, the fuel price increase had definitely caused more hardships to society today.
Secondly, it is undeniable that the rise in fuel prices leads to the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. This is due to the fact that people are greatly affected by the price of basic necessities such as food and fuel in particular. Furthermore, the rich people will still be able to afford such things but the poor wil l face greater
challenges as the popular saying goes: "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer." For instance, when money is used to purchase consumer products that are necessary for survival, then less money will be spent on health and dental check-up, educational purposes and others. Thus, it is clear that the fuel price hike will further stress on the differences between the rich and the poor which is such a tragedy.
Last but not least, in the long term the population trend or demographics of the society will be greatly affected. This means that new families will consciously decide not to have too many children in order to increase their quality of life. In addition, society is now more aware of birth control and family planning so this will greatly reduce the population as most families will have 1 to 5 children i nstead of more. Take for example, new families with less children will surely spend less on basic necessities like food, clothes, transport and many more. Hence, the demographics of the whole country will be affected and this in turn will reduce our workforce which will affect our country's productivity and prosperity.
In short, there are many short term to long term effects of a fuel price increase which includes more crimes like hoarding and smuggling will occur and this leads to the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor as well as a change in the society's demographics. I still strongly believe that the rising fuel price has pushed up the price of other consumer products and this will surely cause a negative impact to society. The government must find a way to stabilise the fuel price at a reasonable rate so that it does not affect the productivity of this country towards achieving the aspirations of the nation for Vision 2020.
The most valuable thing in life is friendship. Do you agree? Discuss. It is true that no ‘man is an island’ meaning that no one in this world can live alone without friendship. That person would be very socially challenged as he or she would miss the camaraderie and life experiences that come with friendship. However, I completely disagree with the statement that the most valuable thing in life is friendship as there are certainly more important and priceless things in life besides this. In this essay, I will outline how life itself is more valuable than friendship, and elaborate on why family and the individual’s principles in life are ranked higher.
First and foremost, before one can enjoy the beauty of friendship, one must surely value life itself or in other words, we should value our health. This is because, the quality of our life is the single most important criteria in life if we are to live a meaningful and wholesome life. Moreover, without good health, we will be hard pressed to do even the simplest of tasks like feed ourselves or relieve ourselves without the help of doctors, nurses and caregivers. For example, if we are paralysed, lost our sight, hearing or ability to speak or even a simple case of a fever or allergic reactions, then the quality of our life is greatly reduced and no amount of friendship can make us healthy again. Therefore, while friends can stand by us in our time of need, pristine health is still the most valuable asset in our lives.
Secondly, we are no one without our family as indeed blood is thicker than water. This means that however you analyse it, friendships will almost always play second fiddle because family always comes first. Furthermore, if we
do not value our family above others, then there must be a problem among the family members that has caused their relationship to be strained. For instance, people tend to turn away from family if the family member(s) themselves are the ones to cause them to react negatively such as divorced parents, abusive parents or siblings and so on. Thus, when people consider friendship to be the most valuable thing in life, more often than not they may come from a troubled household.
Last but not least, a person’s principles in life is by far more valuable than friendship alone. This is due to the fact that each person needs to have a code of ethics, quite often prescribed by their individual religions. In addition, this code will guide each person to live their lives according to the good and right principles. Take for example, if an individual has set his principles to do good, then no amount of friendship especially negative influence from friends, can shake his hold on his principles and cause him to commit undesirable deeds like smoking, stealing, raping, murdering and others. Hence, if a person values friendship so much to the point where he is willing to break his principles, then he has done a serious misdeed against himself and will most likely regret his actions later in life.
In short, friendship is the rainbow of life as it colours our horizons with invaluable experiences but without good health, a supportive family and strong principles, life becomes empty and meaningless. In my opinion, it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that I still firmly believe that friendship is not the most valuable thing in life. Our government can encourage people to prioritise health, family and principles in life by organising awareness campaigns especially in primary schools where the younger generation should learn about priorities in life because they are t he leaders of tomorrow.
Suggest some measures that you think should be taken to prevent snatch thefts. Support your answer with examples.
Recently, there have been a lot of reports in the newspapers on the rising cases of snatch theft. I fully agree with the writer’s opinions which were published in your editorial column. In order to curb this problem, the public and the police should word together. One of the ways to curb this problem is the public to be more aware of their surroundings. They should always be on the looked for suspicious-looking characters and make a report to the police, if necessary. Often, the police rely on public information to make a head start in solving cases. They must also learn to take better care of themselves. For example, they should make sure that they have a friend with them they have to walk in a deserted area. As far as possible, however, they should avoid dark and deserted areas. One mistake which people make is to wear a lot of jewellery or take along a lot of money when going out. Flashy jewellery will attract the attention of snatch thieves. In addition, they should take b etter care of their belongings. For example, girls or women with handbags need to ensure that they hold on their handbags properly so that they will not be easily snatched. They should always walk facing oncoming traffic so that they can see what or who is approaching them. Women are also advised not carry handbags with long straps as these are easy to snatch.
The public should also cooperate and be more civic minded in helping others. They should try and help victims of snatch thefts and not just turn a bl ind eye. In many cases of snatch thefts, not many people came up to help the victims even though there were cries for help. The least they could have done was to try to take down the vehicle registration number of the motorcycle or to help give a description of the perpetrators to the police. If people look out for a nd each other, snatch thieves will not have such an easy time. Last but not least, the police should come up w ith preventive measures to curb this problem. They should patrol snatch-theft prone areas such as bus stations and LRT stations. They should also come up with posters to remind the public to be more careful about snatch thieves. Aside from this, they can conduct seminars to educate the public on how to avoid becoming victims of snatch thefts. All in all, in order to curb this growing problem, it is necessary for the public and the police to cooperate with each other. By being more responsible for their own safety and working hand in hand with the police, the public can play a great part in helping to reduce the number of snatch thefts “People are becoming more materialistic. They are concerned with making more money and what money can buy.” What is your opinion on being materialistic?
They say that money makes the world go round. And indeed it does as without money, life would be very difficult as in today’s society, nothing is free. The side effect however is that people are becoming more materialistic; more concerned with making money and what money can buy. But how much money is enough? Is it ever enough? To some, it will never be enough. In my opinion, I truly believe that this statement is true and that people are becoming more materialistic in nature. In this essay, I will discuss how materialism has affected modern society’s way of life on an individual level, the country’s economy as well as our spiritual and moral beliefs.
First and foremost, each individual is affected by materialism to some extent in this day and age because hedonism is becoming an uprising trend. This is because today's generation are geared towards making more and more money so that they can enjoy the carefree lifestyle that is so popular these days. Moreover, people now are striving to earn more income in order to afford things that are more expensive and branded. For example, people spend their hard earned money on material objects like genuine LV and Coach handbags, expensive gadgets li ke Iphones and Tablet pcs and so on which in my opinion is a waste of money when regular goods may prove to be good enough. Therefore, while individuals become more focussed on their pursuit of material wealth and improving their standard of living, they may forget that what matters most in life is quality time spent with family and friends and not the quantity of their material goods.
Secondly, when society starts spending in a materialistic manner it will surely have a domino effect on the country’s economy. This means that the spending power of society will help boost the economy and create more business opportunities for the booming trade. However, when a society overspends, using plastic money or credit cards, or when they take loans they cannot afford to repay, then the country’s debt margin will be higher. For instance, USA today is facing an economic crisis because banks have approved home loans to people who aspire to own bigger houses than they can actually afford and this is causing the collapse of the country’s economy there. Thus, while a
society’s spending habits helps our economy to grow, overspend ing due to materialism will have an adverse effect to the country’s financial stability.
Last but not least, materialism affects our spiritual and moral beliefs. This is due to the fact people who are materialistic may become ‘amoral’ whereby they disregard their spiritual and moral upbringing and instead turn to crime to satisfy their materialistic needs. In fact, the crime rate is increasing because criminals these days have developed many ways to gain more money from society. Take for example, there are more reports of snatch thefts, burglaries, kidnapping for ransom, credit card fraud, internet banking hacking and others that are driven by materialistic criminals. Hence, when people lose sight of their spiritual and moral beliefs and believe instead in the greed of materialism, therefore the crime rate is bound to increase.
In a nutshell, materialism is a common agenda in the 21st century as more people are working hard to afford things beyond their reach. While this may spur individuals to work harder to improve their standard o f living, overspending due to materialism may cause the downfall of a country’s economy and their morality. In my opinion, I still firmly believe that materialism has a strong hold on today’s society; both positive and negative e ffects. Our government can encourage society to be less fri volous and wasteful in spending by running campaigns such as ‘Consumer Awareness’ and ‘Buy Malaysian Made Products’ in order to educate our younger generation for the prosperity of our nation.
