F.7 WRITE 08 Extra Composition Topics, 2009-2010
1. Your friend Mary, who is studying in Australia, recently asked for your advice. She is interested in music,
but she thinks she will not find a good job after graduation if she studies music. She is thinking of
studying accounting because of the better career prospects.
Write a letter to her giving your advice and provide at least three good reasons to support that advice.
Sign your letter ‘Chris’. Do NOT write any address.
2. Your good friend Peter has asked you for advice. When his family emigrated to Australia, his parents
opened a dry cleaning shop. Recently his father passed away. Peter would like to continue studying, but
feels that he is responsible for taking over the operation of the shop and looking after his mother and
younger sisters.
Write a letter to persuade him to continue his education. Discuss the benefits of doing so, and suggest
ways to study on a part-time basis while helping his mother out in the shop. Sign your letter ‘Chris’. Do
NOT write any address.
3. Business people in Hong Kong often complain that the standard of English spoken by students in Form 7 is
declining. Many students have difficulty carrying out simple conversations. This has a negative impact
on businesses which must then spend more money on employee training.
As the Chairperson of the English Club at your school, write an article for the school magazine
discussing why the standard of English is falling and suggest ways that students can improve their English.
4. Imagine you are a new immigrant who has settled in Hong Kong from Mainland China. Write a letter to a
friend in your homeland expressing the difficulties you encounter and how you adapt to the new
environment.
5. Most schools have a house system. Do you feel such systems serve a useful purpose, or are they an
out-of-date idea that should now be allowed to die? Write a letter to the school magazine either arguing for
the abolition of the house system, or suggesting ways in which it could be improved and strengthened.
6. Each year, local universities admit a small number of non-local, mostly mainland, students into their
undergraduate programmes. There have been talks of increasing this number to allow more mainland
students to study in Hong Kong.
Write an article for the school newsletter expressing your view for OR against this proposition. Give at
least three reasons to support your view.
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7. Some men in Hong Kong have married women from the mainland. Very often their children were allowed
to immigrate to Hong Kong before the mother was, leading to problems for the fathers who must work and
care for the children.
In extreme cases, mainland mothers have entered Hong Kong illegally to take care of
their children.
Write an article for the school magazine expressing your view either for OR against the illegal immigration
of such mothers from the mainland. Give three to four good arguments that strongly support your view.
8. Write an essay agreeing OR disagreeing with the following statement. “Winners of beauty contests in Hong
Kong do not seem to have contributed much to Hong Kong except some emerge as category III actresses.”
Do you think young girls should be encouraged to contend in beauty pageants? Justify your view, and give
your essay a title.
9. To help Hong Kong People become better equipped to find good jobs in Hong Kong and the mainland, many
people suggest making Putonghua a compulsory subject in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education
Examinations and Advanced Level Examinations.
Write an essay expressing your support for this proposal. Justify your view with at least three
reasons . Give your essay a title.
10. Although the number of smokers in Hong Kong is decreasing, the average age of smokers is getting
younger. Write an article for the school magazine to persuade teenagers not to try smoking. State
briefly some reasons why teenagers are smoking at a younger age.
Then provide at least three arguments
against smoking. Give your article a title.
11. Under a new scheme proposed by the Education Department, Cantonese-speaking students from other
Asian countries are being encouraged to come to Hong Kong for a one-year period during which they will
live with Hong Kong families and study in Hong Kong schools.
You and your family have been selected to
host one of these students who will attend your school and enter Form Six in September 2006.
Write a letter to the student (whose name is Jackie) suggesting how he/she can use the one-year school
experience to the fullest advantage both educationally and socially. Sign your letter “Chris Wong”.
NOT write any address.
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Do
12. You hear the following conversation in the school canteen by chance:
Philip: The opportunities for studying overseas are so attractive.
You must be mad to want to go to
universities in Hong Kong.
Joanna: I think the opportunities offered by the higher education institutions in Hong Kong are perfectly
adequate. Why should I increase the stress on me by going overseas?
Consider the relative merits of the two arguments expressed by Philip and Joanna and write an article for
your school newspaper entitled: “Study Abroad: the Road to Success or Misery?”
13. Your principal has asked you to organise an end-of-term exhibition for your school. The theme is “Be a
Blood Donor”.
Write a letter to all senior students in the school. In your letter, try hard to persuade
them to volunteer to help with the exhibition. In addition to persuading them by giving reasons why they
should assist you, give them some indication of what you are planning for the exhibition.
Sign the letter “H.K. Wong”.
Do NOT use your real name. Do NOT write any address.
14. According to the Firm Guidance issued by the Education Department, all secondary schools, except for the
114 approved schools, should use Chinese as the teaching medium. However, the plan incurs objection
from various sectors of the community. They believe that English is important and hence English must be
the teaching medium in secondary schools.
Write an article for your school newspaper on the topic “Chinese – the Road to Misery?”. Give reasons
why the parents favour their children to enter English-medium schools and evaluate the advantages and
disadvantages of using English as the teaching medium in secondary education.
15. There has been a lot of discussion recently about changing the three-year university curriculum to four
years.
One effect would be to shorten secondary education from seven years to six years.
Write an article for the school magazine discussing the pros and cons of changing secondary schooling
from seven to six years.
End the article by giving your opinion on the issue.
16. Although genetic engineering can be used to increase food production, many people think that it will create
problems for future generations and that it is unethical.
As the chairperson of the Science Club at your school, write an article for the school magazine expressing
your view either for OR against modifying food. Give three strong reasons to support your view. Give
your article a title.
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Schedule for handing in and checking compositions
Questions 1, 2 ,3 or 4:
Questions 5, 6, 7 or 8:
Questions 9, 10, 11 or 12:
Questions 13, 14, 15 or 16:
Date Due
Monday
5 Oct (M)
9 Nov (M)
7 Dec (M)
4 Jan (M)
Paper Checking
Friday
23 Oct
27 Nov
18 Dec
22 Jan
Topics covered
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Music or accounting? – advice letter + reasons
Benefits of continuing family business & studying on a part-time basis – advice letter
Reasons for declining standard of English & ways to improve – problem-solution
New immigrant’s adaptability to new environment
Abolition of the house system
Increasing the number of non-local students into local undergraduate programmes –
one-sided
7. Illegal immigration of mainland mothers to Hong Kong
8. Beauty contest winners – no contribution to society? – one-sided
9. Making Putonghua a compulsory subject – one-sided
10. Persuading teenagers not to smoke - persuasive
11. Exchange student for one year in HK – 2-sided
12. Studying locally or overseas? – 2-sided
13. Blood donation - persuasive
14. EMI Vs CMI schools – 2-sided
15. 3-year Vs 4-year university curriculum – 1-sided
16. Genetic engineering – good or bad? – 1-sided
F7wri8j(09-10)