Drilling on WRITING 2011 A) EXERCISE 1: FORMAL LETTER Sample Question: You are the secretary of the Art Club in your school. One of the activities planned is visiting places of interest. Write a letter to the manager of a batik factory seeking permission to visit the premises. NOTES Haryati Batik Factory – 44 members – 3 teachers Proposed date and time Transport – by bus Proposed activities – learn skill Buy some pieces - souvenirs When writing your letter: use all the notes given. elaborate on the given notes to make it more interesting. make sure it is not less than 120 words. Sample Answer: Fill in the blanks with the correct phrase. Choose the phrase from the table below. Then, REWRITE the letter in the examination pad. request for permission Transport learning the skills of batik printing Dear Sir The details of the visit 8.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. 5 November 2011 expose our members to the art of batik printing to grant us permission would be given discounts The Secretary, Art Club, Sekolah Menengah Sultan Idris Shah, Jalan Hang Setia, 35000 Ipoh. For your information take up new skills to purchase Thank you the proposed date is not convenient to you interested in buying souvenirs Yours faithfully The Manager, Haryati Batik Factory, 56, Persiaran Tawakal, 85 000 Kuala Terengganu. Numbers of visitors Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 1 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 _________________________________, _________________________________, _________________________________, _________________________________, _________________________________. _________________________________, _________________________________, _________________________________, _________________________________. 5 September 2011 _______________, Permission to Visit Factory On behalf of the Art Club members of my school, we would like to ________________________________ to visit your factory. 2. 3. ____________________________________________ are as follows: 2.1 Date: ______________________________ 2.2 Time: ______________________________ 2.3 ________________________: 44 students and 3 teachers 2.4 ________________________: Chartered bus The objectives of the visit include ________________________________________________. Many of our students are in Form Four and would like to ______________________________________ for their batik printing project next year. Hence, we would like to ____________________________________. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 2 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 4. We would also like _________________________ a few pieces as souvenirs and gifts._________________________________, most of us have never been to Terengganu and this will be our first visit. Hence, I am very sure that most of us would be _____________________________________ to take home. I hope we ____________________________________ for the souvenirs purchased. 5. I hope you will be able _________________________________ to visit your premises. We are willing to accept an alternative date if______________________________________________________. _______________________. _______________________, Saddamia Rauddah (SADDAMIA RAUDDAH) Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 3 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 B) EXERCISE 2: SPEECH / TALK Sample Question: Your friend, Salim Bin Ahmad was chosen by the Perfectorial Board to represent the school in a District Quiz Contest and he emerged champion. As the Head prefect, write a congratulatory speech to be delivered during the party. POINTS Party – specially organised – to congratulate Chosen the correct person – represent school Salim – well read, intelligent prefect Good preparation before contest Honour to the school When writing your speech: use all the notes given. elaborate on the given notes to make it more interesting. make sure it is not less than 120 words. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 4 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 Sample Answer: Fill in the blanks with the correct phrase. Choose the phrase from the table below. Then, REWRITE the letter in the examination pad. I am given this opportunity to We are proud of him who emerged champion deliver a congratulatory speech prepare himself well well-read hit the nail on the head after due consideration Thank you Congratulations Principal, teachers and fellow friends Good morning to the _____________________________________________________________. As the Head Prefect of this school, __________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ on behalf of the school and Prefectorial Board. This party is specially organized to congratulate Salim bin Ahmad ______________________________________ in the District Quiz Contest, held recently. _______________________________________. Before we sent the particulars of Salim to take part in the District Quiz Contest, the Prefectorial Board had several prefects in mind. But__________________________________, we decided to send Salim to represent our school. We have_________________________________________. We know Salim is a ________________________ and intelligent prefect. He has always been the top student since Form One. Salim told me that before he participated in the Quiz Contest, he had to ______________________________. He read up the relevant topics which he sensed will come out in the contest. __________________________ Salim, for bringing honour to our school._____________________. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 5 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 C) EXERCISE 3: OPINION Sample Question: Ranjit and Suzana are at a food stall. They want to buy some fruit for a class party. Ranjit likes local fruit but Suzana prefers imported fruit. Read the dialogue. Who do you agree with? Provide reasons to support your answer. Suzana : Ranjit, do you prefer to eat local or imported fruit? Ranjit : I love local fruit. They are nutritious as well as delicious. Suzana : I like local fruit too but I prefer apples and pears though. Somehow, I feel imported fruit just taste better. Ranjit : Well, I find local fruit richer in vitamins and nutrients compared to imported fruit. They are also cheaper. Suzana : But eating too much local fruit can make you fall sick. You definitely won’t fall sick if you eat too many apples and oranges. When writing your opinion: state your stand clearly add any other relevant details to make it more interesting. make sure it is not less than 120 words. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 6 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 Sample Answer #1: Fill in the blanks with the correct phrase. Choose the phrase from the table below. Then, REWRITE the letter in the examination pad. Although Furthermore I firmly believe twice the content of Vitamin C local fruit are better than imported better for consumers fruit takes quite a while not so fresh packed and refrigerated on the other hand cheaper, fresher and contain more anytime and anywhere nutritional benefits (Option #1 – Agreeing with Ranjit’s opinion) I agree with Ranjit that _____________________________________________________________. Local fruit are not only delicious but they are _________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________. Since we can get most local fruit __________________________________, they are much cheaper. Imported fruit, _____________________________, are most expensive because they have to be transported to our country. Sometimes, the imported fruit are also_________________________. This is because these fruit are ____________________________________ before they are exported from their countries of origin. It also ______________________________ for the fruit to reach our country. _______________________, local fruit such as guavas and rambutans have higher Vitamin C content than most imported fruit. ____________________ many believe that oranges are a good source of Vitamin C, research has proven that our local fruit has ___________________________________. Local fruit also have other nutritional benefits and are ___________________________________. Thus, ____________________________ that local fruit are a much better option than imported fruit. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 7 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 Sample Answer #2: Fill in the blanks with the correct phrase. Choose the phrase from the table below. Then, REWRITE the letter in the examination pad. detrimental to health unhealthy side effects overindulging an array of different fruit easily available easily available, do not I believe that imported certain periods in a year have unhealthy side fruit have more benefits effects and come in than local fruit get bored wider variety seasonal I agree with wider variety to choose from any time we want (Option #2 – Agreeing with Suzana’s opinion) __________________________ Suzana that imported fruit are better than local fruit. This is because imported fruit are________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________. Most local fruit are ___________________. Therefore, we could only enjoy them during _______________________________. Imported fruit such as apples, oranges, kiwi fruits and grapes are ___________________________ at the markets and supermarkets all year round. Thus, we can eat these fruit ________________________________. Furthermore, eating too much imported fruit such as apples, oranges, grapes and pears will not have any _______________________________. However, _________________________ in local fruit such as durians, rambutans, mangosteens and langsats can make us fall sick. Some local fruit such as durians and bananas also contain fat, which can be _______________________________________. Finally, although imported fruit may be a bit more expensive than local fruit, there is a ________________________________. One can ________________________ eating the same types of fruit all year round. Therefore, imported fruit from other countries enable us to get a taste of ____________________________________. In conclusion, ____________________________________________________________________. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 8 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 D) EXERCISE 4: ARTICLE Sample Question: Your English teacher has asked you to write an article about ‘Very Special People’. Based on the notes below, write the description of these people. Nina – born – hearing impaired – needs hearing aid – at home – uses – fax machine – communicate – loves reading – hopes – go – university Peter – lost – sight – gradually – now – cannot see – completely – loves animals – has – guide dog – help – move around – loves music – be a singer – performance Ronald – lost leg – car accident – was a top runner – won medals in 100 metres sprint – at first felt crushed – then pulled back – went to university – studied sport psychology – train them When writing the description for the article: use all the notes given. elaborate on the given notes to make it more interesting. make sure it is not less than 120 words. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 9 of 10 Drilling on WRITING 2011 Sample Answer: Underline the correct answer. Then, REWRITE the letter in the examination pad. Very Special People BY: SITI SARAH BT ABDUL RAHMAN Success [does, do, did] not come easy, especially for the disabled. However, there [is, are, was, were] many people out there with disabilities who achieved remarkable success. Nina [is, are, was, were] born with hearing impaired and she uses a pair of hearing aids to help her listen clearly. At home, she [use, uses, used, is using] fax machine to help her communicate. The fax machine allows her to [communicate, communicates, communicated, communicating] with others namely, her family, friends and relatives. Nina, who is an avid reader, [enjoy, enjoys, enjoyed, is enjoying] reading in her free time. One day she hopes to go to a prestigious university and [become, becomes, became, is becoming] a successful computer programmer. [Moreover, Thus, On the other hand, Although] Peter is a boy who lost his sight gradually. Now, he cannot [see, sees, saw, seeing] completely. Peter loves animals and he has a guide dog [name, names, named, namely] Max, which helps him to move around. [In addition, However, Even though, Next] Peter is completely blind, he loves music very much. He wishes to be [a, an, the] singer some day. Peter [love, loves, loved, is loving] performing on stage and his performance is always energetic. Another very special person [is, are, was, were] Ronald, an aspiring athelete who lost his leg in a car accident. The incident almost ruined [he, his, him] life. Ronald [is, are, was, were] once a top runner in his school. He [win, wins, won, is winning] medals in the 100 metres sprint and various other events. Poor Ronald at first [feel, feels, felt, is feeling] crushed. He [is, are, was, were] so frustrated at first that he pulled back. Ronald nearly gave up all [he, his, him] hope. [Moreover, Besides, So, However], he was lucky enough to have met a counselor. The counselor advised him not to [give up, gives up, gave up, giving up]. Thanks to his counselor, Ronald finally went [to, too, at, in] the university. He [study, studies, studied, is studying] Sport Psychology and later became a Sports Trainer. Stories of these three very courageous people [has, have, had, are having] inspired many. [They, Their, Theirs, Them] tales have taught us a very important lesson. Prepared by: Teacher Nuha, SAMBBST, Selangor. This material can be viewed @ http://teachernuha.blogspot.com/ Page 10 of 10