4 Simple Steps: How to answer MUET Writing Task 1

4 Simple Steps: How to answer MUET Writing Task 1?

Step 1: Read the question and instructions carefully. What is the question about? How many words required and how much time do you have? Step 2: Plan your essay. Label the charts for easy reference and make notes on the charts. There are 3 pie charts, you MUST compare them. The total student population pie chart is the base, you compare the undergraduates to all students and then postgraduates to undergrates and all students. Use the relevant target vocabulary to descibe the pie charts, i.e. majority, minority, one third etc Step 3: Write it. Write in paragraphs. Step 4: Check your answer. Make sure its between 150 to 200 words.

You are advised to spend 40 minutes on this task. The pie charts below show the number of hours spent in a Malaysian university library by undergraduates, postgraduates, and the total student population over the past year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant. Write between 150 to 200 words.

The pie charts provide information on the time spent in a Malaysian university library by undergraduates and postgraduates compared to all students over the past year. It is noticeable that postgraduates spend a significant amount of time in the library when compared to the other students. Overall, the time spend in the library by undergraduates and the total student population was quite similar. The majority of undergraduates spend 1 to 7 hours in the library, which is similar to the total student population, the figures were 63% and 50 % respectively. The minority of both groups spend 15+ hours in the library, at 9% and 15% respectively. Meanwhile, the majority of postgraduates spend 15+ hours in the library, which was slightly above half at 51%. While the minority of postgraduates spend 1 to 7 hours in the library. This is the complete opposite when compared to the total student population and undergraduates.

The only similarity between the undergraduates and postgraduates was that about one third of both groups spend 8 to 14 hours in the library, the figures were 28% and 32% respectively. In conclusion, there is a clear trend towards using the library more as students move towards postgraduation.

Prison is not a cure for crime. To reduce crime in the long-term, courts should significantly reduce prison sentences and focus on education and community work to help criminals not to re-offend. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion?

Note: The general subject of the question is the best way to reduce crime. It has been given that long prison sentences should be maintained or to reduce it and emphasis on education and community work. Comment on both views. This is a short example. You should write at least 350 words. 4 body paragraphs.

There are many different opinions on the best way to reduce crime. The traditional solution is to be hard on criminals and put them in prison for a very long time. An opposing point of view is expressed by people with more modern ideas. They think that education and community work are the long -term solutions to cutting crime. So, who is right - the traditionalist or the modernist? People in favour of reducing prison sentences often argue that prisons should not simply be places of punishment. In traditional prisons, people learn a lot about crime, so when they leave prison, they will commit more crimes. Education, however, gives people the skills to get a job when they leave prison, which means that they will probably not re-offend. Part-time work experience in the community is also very helpful as it is a step back into everyday life in society. People can be in prison, but they can also feel they are doing useful work. On the other hand, some people argue that long prison sentences are right because the punishment should fit the crime. If, for example, someone commits a serious crime such as bank robbery, they should go to prison for a long time. They also believe that reducing prison sentences significantly reduces people's fear of prison and consequently, people will commit more crimes. People will not be frightened of going to a prison which is like a university with learning and work experience opportunity. In conclusion, it is agreeable that education and community work can have an important role in helping reduce crime, but there should also be strict controls on the type of community work prisoners can do. It is important to understand that some people are a real danger to society and need to stay in prison for a very long time.

MID YEAR 2010: MUET WRITING 800/4 QUESTION 2 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. [60 marks] 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 peoples life. It is getting more advanced from day 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 todays 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 contrary, 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 everyones 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 todays age of globalization as they make 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 peoples 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.