UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

SEPTEMBER EXAMINATION

UJLL1063/MPU32033 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS

FRIDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2014

TIME: 2.30 P.M. 4.30P.M. (2 HOURS)

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (HONS) CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) FINANCIAL MATHEMATICS
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) ACTURIAL SCIENCE
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) PHYSICS

Instructions to Candidates:
This question paper consists of 3 sections.
SECTION A: Answer any ONE of the two questions.
SECTION B: Answer ALL the questions.
SECTION C: Answer the question.

1.

All answers are to be written in the answer book(s) provided.

2.

Begin each of the three sections on a fresh sheet of paper.

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UJLL 1063/MPU32033 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS

SECTION A: [TOTAL: 25 MARKS]

PROFESSIONAL CORRESPONDENCE
There are 2 (two) questions in this section.
You are required to answer any ONE of the two questions.
You are the Purchasing Officer in your company that deals with a wide range of electronic toys.
You received the following memo from the officer in charge of inventory and stock.
MEMO
To: Ms Helen Yong, Purchasing Officer
From: Bill Leung, Inventory & Stock Officer
Date: 28 August 2014
Subject: Wrong AX511s
Dear Ms Yong
On 13 August 2014 we ordered 50 AX511 remote-controlled helicopters from Fortune
Goods of 317, Orchard Road, Singapore. They arrived today, but they sent us last
year's model instead of this year's.
Please write a letter to Mr Hu, their Marketing & Sales Manager, telling them the
situation and requesting they send us this year's model in replacement. We need them
before our current stock is completely sold by 10 September 2014.
This is not the first time they have sent us the wrong goods, and please warn him that
if they do it again, or if the replacements do not arrive by the target date, we will use a
different supplier.
Thanks.

Bill

Q1.

Based on the memo, write a letter of complaint to the Marketing & Sales Manager,
highlighting the particulars stated by your Inventory & Stock officer.
OR

Q2.

Due to the urgency of this order, you decide to write an email to Mr. Hu, so that he can
make adjustments and meet the deadline given by Bill Leung, your Inventory & Stock
officer.

Your answer should be about 200 WORDS, including any additional information.

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UJLL 1063/MPU32033 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS
(Total: 25 Marks)
SECTION B: [TOTAL: 35 MARKS]
TEXT COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY
Read the following passage carefully, and answer ALL the questions that follow using your own
words as far as possible.

Global Warming Solutions

1

Solving global warming by cleaning up air pollution and investing in clean

energy, green jobs and smart energy solutions will improve our lives. We need
to drive smarter cars, save money with energy efficient homes and offices and
build better communities and transportation networks.

Set limits on global warming pollution

The most significant step we can take to reduce carbon pollution is through legal
means - to set practical, feasible emission limits on the major sources of carbon
pollution such as cars and manufacturing plants. By establishing Emission
Limits on new and existing plants, emissions can be reduced by 26% at very
modest costs and with significant economic and health and welfare benefits.
Further, the introduction of the Clean Air Act on the emission and fuel economy
standards for cars will deliver huge results, cutting fuel use and emissions in
half. Well-designed and properly implemented pollution standards deliver
multiple benefits. We will have cleaner air and a safer environment, which not
only benefits our health but also our quality of life and economy.

The new car standards will cut our oil imports by as much as one third. For
manufacturing plants, carbon standards on reducing emissions would accelerate
investment in clean energy and result in very significant reductions in harmful
pollution. By 2020 such an approach could reduce carbon emissions by 560
million tons per year; spur electric utilities to invest in clean energy, create
thousands of jobs, and avoid health and climate change impacts.

Invest in green jobs and clean energy

Investing in clean energy industries, such as wind and solar, as well as energy
efficiency programs and retooling manufacturing plants can lead us into a new
clean energy economy.
Troy Galloway lost his job at the steel mill. When Spanish wind
turbine maker, Gamesa opened a plant in Ebensburg in 2006, he
landed a job, smoothing the edges of mammoth windmill blades.
It was like his first job in the steel mills. "All my skills
transferred," he says. "It's a feel-good job," says Galloway. "Not
only it gives good money and provides good working conditions,
but you feel good because of what you're doing. You're doing
something good for the environment, reducing our dependence on
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UJLL 1063/MPU32033 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS
foreign oil, and doing something good for our children."
5

Manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines and retrofitting homes will get
retrenched workers employed again. Studies show that investing in clean energy
technologies would produce more jobs than similar investments in oil and gas.

Drive smarter cars

Breaking our addiction to oil and retooling plants to manufacture fuel-efficient
cars that consumers are demanding, including hybrids and plug-in hybrids may
be the answer.
While installing solar panels for their house, Paul Scott and his
wife came across a website about electric cars. "I decided to
take one for a test drive. After one drive, I was sold. There was
no noise, no vibration. And the acceleration was better than the
petrol/diesel version of the car." Scott now owns an all-electric
Toyota RAV4. He runs about 10,000 miles a year on the car
purely on sunlight. The solar panels that provide all the
electricity for his home also charge his car battery. "I haven't
been to a gas station in 6 years," he says. Cars that drive on
electricity, such as plug-in hybrids dramatically cut oil use,
reduce global warming pollution and save money. Including the
cost of the solar installation, Scott estimates he's paying just a
few hundred dollars a year to power his house and his car.

High-mileage cars use less gas; and retooling auto plants will help carmakers
meet the demand for fuel-efficient cars and find profitability locally. If we make
our cars more efficient, we will cut global warming pollution.

Create green homes and buildings

Buildings and the appliances within them account for 40% of energy use and a
third of our global warming emissions. New buildings should meet strong new
energy-efficiency standards that maximize energy savings. Existing homes and
commercial spaces can be retrofitted to save energy by weatherising and
installing energy efficient heating, cooling and lighting systems.
Fay and her sister thought of making some improvements to
their 50-year-old house. "Every winter we would be huddled
up against the wall heater." Fay recalls, and in the summer
we would sleep in the living room because the rest of the
house was so hot." They installed a new Energy Star furnace
and air conditioner, insulated her attic and sealed leaks
where energy was escaping. "We replaced the old can lights
with some energy efficient lights that were just as nice." says
Fay. Today, their monthly energy bills are down from $150 to
just $40 or $50.

One of the biggest costs of homeownership is energy cost. An average retrofitted

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home can save $700 to $1150 a year in energy cost and the benefits
are huge. Retrofitting every house in the country would cut as much global
warming pollution as taking a half a million cars off the road and save more oil
and gas than we could extract from drilling in our coastal waters.
10

1.
2. Build better communities and transportation
Building walkable communities near transportation hubs instead of far-flung,
car-dependent suburbs can contribute towards saving energy cost. There is a
need to invest in and expand public transit -- such as commuter rail -- to give
people real transportation choices.
Atlantic Station was built using principles of smart growth, a
movement that espouses the environmental, social and health
benefits of compact, walkable communities. Atlantic Station
is a city within a city, with 5,000 homes, restaurants, shops,
movie theatres, hotels, parks and office buildings all within
walking distance. "By far the best thing is having access to
what we use the most. I walk to the gym and to the
supermarket three or four times a week. It's nice just being
able to walk out and not get in the car."

11

3. Studies show that a neighbourhood where people walk more is healthier, safer
and friendlier. And when people can walk to the store, the office, or the movie
theatre instead of driving, we slow down global warming. Each smart growth
community reduces global warming pollution by 20 to 40% compared to the
norm.
4.
(Adapted from Global Warming Solutions, http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/solutions/step5.asp)

Q1. List two laws that can be used as a legal measure to reduce carbon pollution.
(4 marks)
Q2. Explain the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage.
(a) emissions
(paragraph 2)
(b) mammoth
(paragraph 4)
(c) addiction
(paragraph 6)
(d) hybrids
(paragraph 6)
(e) retooling
(paragraph 7)
(f) weatherising
(paragraph 8)
(6 marks)
Q3. Ultimately, what is the underlying cause for global warming?

(3 marks)

Q4. In paragraph 4, it is said that Troy Galloway landed a green job. What exactly is a
green job?
(3 marks)
Q5. Wind and solar are referred to as clean energy industries. Why is it so? (3 marks)
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UJLL 1063/MPU32033 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS
SECTION B (CONTINUED)
Q6. Why is the country that is mentioned in the text so determined to reduce
dependence on foreign oil, cut fuel-use and save more oil and gas? (4 marks)
Q7. According to paragraph 8, Existing homes and commercial spaces can be
retrofitted to save energy Give 3 (THREE) examples of your own on the type
of retrofitting one can do to a house or any building to save energy.
(3 marks)
Q8. As a potential professional, briefly explain your idea of a walkable community.
(5 marks)
Q9. How does a smart growth community reduce global warming pollution?
(4 marks)

(Total: 35 Marks)

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UJLL 1063/MPU32033 ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONALS

SECTION C [TOTAL: 40 MARKS]

REPORT WRITING
Q1.

You are the Infrastructure and Maintenance Manager at Megabuild Sdn. Bhd., a longestablished property development company. In order to keep up with the times, the
management has instructed your department to upgrade the infrastructure and relevant
equipment to provide conducive and pleasant working conditions with user-friendly
equipment for the staff. This has to be done within 2 weeks in order not to disrupt the
productivity of the company. You conducted a brainstorming session and came up with
the following ideas.

To separate the different departments and place them in separate working floors
To provide specialized computer equipment, upgrade printers and software for
architecture, accounting, costing, marketing, administration, etc.
To provide ample vehicle-parking facilities and cafeteria

However, it is not feasible to do all the upgrading work at once as you have limited
budget, manpower and time. Therefore, you have to make choices on the type of
upgrading work that you want to do first. Based on your evaluation on the upgrading
work, write a recommendation report of about 300 - 350 words in length to Mr. Azlan
Kamaruddin, the General Manager, stating your choice.
You may include any other relevant details.
(Total: 40 Marks)

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This question paper consists of 12 questions on 7 printed pages