Poeple who are addicted to social sites, read this...
Life without facebook and twitter etc. etc. might be fatal... hehe...
http://rage.com.my/writeups/story.asp?file=/2009/10/29/experiment/20091028174749&sec=experiment
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
How to brainstorm for SATwriting
“OK, now you can start your essay.” Madam Ong.
Straight away I will be squeezing my brain hard so that I can get some “juice’, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, I can’t get any “juice”. Then I share my problem with my roommate, so called “chicken”. Then, he gave me some tips on how to start brainstorming examples. After he shared his approach with me, I started to google for tips on brainstorming examples. And here are some:
1. Read the newspaper and keep a list of all the major stories. Stories that can imply something are most useful as you can use the story to illustrate some moral values or facts. The current health care debate, for example, might get you pondering the reasons opposing sides have such a hard time compromising. But, Madam Ong’s advice is that avoid using latest politics issues as one of the examples. So, pick some stories or issues that are relevant.
2. List out all the novels and story books that you have read. Then, make some notes of the novel’s or stories’ themes and moral values in the list. For example, you have read Harry Potter, and then you can include Harry Potter in your list and also note the themes in the novel, like friendship, determination and many more. With that particular list, you can refer what you have read and which one you can use in your essay.
3. Jot down all of your significant life experiences. Don’t censor yourself and only write the “serious” events. Remember, SAT writing is creative writing and not a very “academic” or serious writing.
Try to make this activity as stress free as possible: don’t start your lists the night before the test and stay up until 4 AM brainstorming. Rather, begin writing a couple weeks early and add to the list whenever something pops into your head. Review your ideas the night before the test, and don’t be surprised when three or four great examples come to you as soon as you see your essay prompt. We bet it will feel great to be the one scribbling furiously while everyone else is still staring at the blank page.
Straight away I will be squeezing my brain hard so that I can get some “juice’, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, I can’t get any “juice”. Then I share my problem with my roommate, so called “chicken”. Then, he gave me some tips on how to start brainstorming examples. After he shared his approach with me, I started to google for tips on brainstorming examples. And here are some:
1. Read the newspaper and keep a list of all the major stories. Stories that can imply something are most useful as you can use the story to illustrate some moral values or facts. The current health care debate, for example, might get you pondering the reasons opposing sides have such a hard time compromising. But, Madam Ong’s advice is that avoid using latest politics issues as one of the examples. So, pick some stories or issues that are relevant.
2. List out all the novels and story books that you have read. Then, make some notes of the novel’s or stories’ themes and moral values in the list. For example, you have read Harry Potter, and then you can include Harry Potter in your list and also note the themes in the novel, like friendship, determination and many more. With that particular list, you can refer what you have read and which one you can use in your essay.
3. Jot down all of your significant life experiences. Don’t censor yourself and only write the “serious” events. Remember, SAT writing is creative writing and not a very “academic” or serious writing.
Try to make this activity as stress free as possible: don’t start your lists the night before the test and stay up until 4 AM brainstorming. Rather, begin writing a couple weeks early and add to the list whenever something pops into your head. Review your ideas the night before the test, and don’t be surprised when three or four great examples come to you as soon as you see your essay prompt. We bet it will feel great to be the one scribbling furiously while everyone else is still staring at the blank page.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
SAT Reading Passages: Answering Tone and Attitude Questions
1. Figure out if the author is positive, negative, or neutral toward the subject. As you read the passage, look for descriptive words that give away the author’s attitude (you might even want to underline these words as you read). In a literary analysis passage, if the play being discussed is referred to as “witty and ground-breaking,” you know the author feels positively about the subject. If it’s described as “dull and derivative,” then the author’s attitude is negative. If the passage is devoid of words casting judgment, but simply sticks to the facts of when the play was produced and how it was perceived by the public, then the author’s tone is neutral.
2. Eliminate answers that disagree with your assessment. Each of the answer choices will convey some kind of feeling; for example, let’s say your choices are a) amazed, b) admiring, c) skeptical, d) bemused, e) angry. If you have decided the author has a positive attitude toward the play, you can eliminate c, d, and e.
3. Be skeptical about answer choices with strong emotional connotations. There are usually a couple of answer choices that differ only slightly; finding the correct answer among them can be hard. To find the right answer, you'll need to determine the intensity of the emotion being conveyed in the passage. In the example above, “amazed” is the more emotional word than “admiring.” If, like many reading passages, the passage is filled with academic language and technical terms, you would hardly consider it a piece of emotional writing. In this case, you would eliminate the answers that express stronger feeling and go with “admiring.”
source:http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/2009/10/20/sat-reading-passages-answering-tone-and-attitude-questions
2. Eliminate answers that disagree with your assessment. Each of the answer choices will convey some kind of feeling; for example, let’s say your choices are a) amazed, b) admiring, c) skeptical, d) bemused, e) angry. If you have decided the author has a positive attitude toward the play, you can eliminate c, d, and e.
3. Be skeptical about answer choices with strong emotional connotations. There are usually a couple of answer choices that differ only slightly; finding the correct answer among them can be hard. To find the right answer, you'll need to determine the intensity of the emotion being conveyed in the passage. In the example above, “amazed” is the more emotional word than “admiring.” If, like many reading passages, the passage is filled with academic language and technical terms, you would hardly consider it a piece of emotional writing. In this case, you would eliminate the answers that express stronger feeling and go with “admiring.”
source:http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/2009/10/20/sat-reading-passages-answering-tone-and-attitude-questions
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Retrospection OR Introspection????
i am sure that many of us do realize that SAT is just 20++ days ahead. Yet, many of us haven't cultivate the "mood" to prepare for the exam. (JY, don't just cultivate farm!)hehe..
Why do i said so? For these past few days, what were we doing? ( Section 1 boys) playing DOTA! And of course, not only playing for 1 round. is ROUNDSSsss!!!
We all succumb to the temptation. Staying up till 2-3 am for that..OMP!
We do realized that this "disaster" is just around the corner. Why are we still so relaxed,blithe and have the time to play? Why are we so indolent about SAT? We did try out the test before. I would say that my marks isn't satisfying. Do you guys feel satisfied and contented with your own marks?
Guys!!! Time to be serious!! REAL serious!
spend lesser time on playing,
spend more time on studying,
do more SAT till the marks is gratifying,
so that next year we shall all be flying,
to the States!
people! time is not on our side! WORK HARD!
ps: i will really abandon dota for this final few weeks! i pledge off myself that i would do so!
Commonly Confused Words
DO NOT CONFUSE
- adoptive with adopted: children are adopted, but parents are adoptive.
- adverse, 'unfavourable, bad', with averse, which means 'strongly disliking or opposed to', as in I am not averse to helping out.
- affect and effect: affect means 'make a difference to', whereas effect means 'a result' or 'bring about (a result)'.
- ambiguous with ambivalent: ambiguous primarily means 'having more than one meaning, open to different interpretations', while ambivalent means 'having mixed feelings'.
- amoral with immoral: amoral means 'not concerned with morality', while immoral means 'not conforming to accepted standards of morality'.
- appraise with apprise: appraise means 'assess', while apprise means 'inform'.
- augur, 'be a sign of (a likely outcome)', with auger (a tool used for boring).
- censure with censor: censure means 'express strong disapproval of', whereas censor means 'suppress unacceptable parts of (a book, film, etc.)'.
- climactic, 'forming a climax', with climatic, which means 'relating to climate'.
- complacent, 'smug and self-satisfied', with complaisant, which means 'willing to please'.
- complement, 'a thing that enhances something by contributing extra features', with compliment, which means 'an expression of praise' or 'politely congratulate'.
- continuous and continual: continuous primarily means 'without interruption', and can refer to space as well as time, as in the cliffs form a continuous line along the coast; continual, on the other hand, typically means 'happening frequently, with intervals between', as in the bus service has been disrupted by continual breakdowns.
- council, an administrative or advisory body, with counsel, advice or guidance.
- councillor with counsellor: a councillor is a member of a council, whereas a counsellor is someone who gives guidance on personal or psychological problems.
- credible with creditable: credible means 'believable, convincing', whereas creditable means 'deserving acknowledgement and praise'.
- definite ('certain, sure') with definitive, which means 'decisive and with authority'.
- desert (a waterless area) with dessert (the sweet course)!
- discreet, 'careful not to attract attention or give offence', with discrete, which means 'separate, distinct'.
- draft and draught. In British English draft means 'a preliminary version' or 'an order to pay a sum', whereas a draught is a current of air or an act of drinking; in North American English the spelling draft is used for all senses. The verb is usually spelled draft.
- egoism and egotism: it is egotism, not egoism, that means 'excessive conceit or self-absorption'; egoism is a less common and more technical word, for an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.
- envelop with envelope: envelop without an e at the end means 'wrap up, cover, or surround completely', whereas an envelope with an e is a paper container used to enclose a letter or document.
- exceptionable ('open to objection; causing disapproval or offence') with exceptional ('not typical' or 'unusually good').
- fawn with faun: a fawn is a young deer, and a light brown colour; a faun is a Roman deity that is part man, part goat.
- flaunt with flout; flaunt means 'display ostentatiously', while flout means 'openly disregard (a rule)'.
- flounder with founder: flounder generally means 'have trouble doing or understanding something, be confused', while founder means 'fail or come to nothing'.
- forego and forgo: forego means 'precede', but is also a less common spelling for forgo, 'go without'.
- grisly with grizzly, as in grizzly bear: grisly means 'causing horror or revulsion', whereas grizzly is from the same root as grizzled and refers to the bear's white-tipped fur.
- hoard with horde: a hoard is a store of something valuable; horde is a disparaging term for a large group of people.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
TOEM
“The idiotic joys of idioms” an article by Jag Bhalla. This is an attention-grabbing reading. For Malay idioms, they are either meant to impart some moral values, or conversely, when translated literally into English are rendered hilarious, near ridiculous, even weird or funny.
These are a few match-making exercises on idiomatic expressions. Let us begin with Hindi:
> To sound out your throat: to boast
> There is some black in the dhal: there is more than meets the eye
> Chicken cooked at home is equivalent to dhal: a prophet is seldom accepted in his own country
> Bore holes in the plate that feeds you: bite the hand that feeds you
> Milk will remain milk; water will remain water: justice will be served
> When the birds have taken away the harvest: useless to cry over spilled milk
> To cook one’s own meal/porridge: to each his own
> A monkey/donkey has neither taste for, nor knows the benefits of, ginger/ to play the sitar in front of a buffalo: casting pearls before swine
> To become enmeshed in a tangle of “ifs” and “buts”: to stall
Next, a few in Malayalam:
> When trees are available in the forest, and the elephant belongs to the village headman, you can pull all (the trees, I presume) you want: make hay while the sun shines/strike while the iron is hot
> Like a dog visiting the marketplace: like a fish out of water; be a square peg in a round hole; an unwanted presence
> A donkey does not know the smell of camphor – similar to the Hindi saying: casting pearls before swine
> To hold open an umbrella at midnight (doesn’t say if it’s raining!): doing something utterly useless.
A couple of French idioms, again, because their literal translation makes them appear meaningless or sound crazy, but fun! And yes, never mind if they become ungrammatical in the process:
> To have a spider in one’s head: to have a screw loose/to have bats in one’s belfry
> To see 36 candles: to see stars
> By horn and cry: a hue and cry
> To make white cabbage: to draw a blank
> To drown in a glass of water: to make a mountain out of a molehill
> With body lost: headlong
> A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away: An apple a day keeps the doctor away, for the rest of us.
Then of course we have a host of expressions in our national language, sounding equally humorous when literally translated, and similarly finding their idiomatic sense preserved in some “distant English relations”.
> Diam diam ubi berisi, which literally translates to “silently, silently the tapioca fills out”: still waters run deep
> Berbadan dua, literally “double-bodied”: to be in the family way/pregnant
> Telan mati emak, diluah mati bapak. Literally, “if you swallow, your mother may die; spit out, and your father may die”: catch-22; to be in a spot
> Pencuci mulut literally, “mouthwash”: dessert
> Tak pandai menari, dikatakan lantai jungkang-jungkit, which refers to someone who can’t dance but blames the floor for being uneven: a bad workman blames his tools
> Hangat-hangat tahi ayam, which means “hot, hot chicken sh**”: new broom sweeps clean.
It is interesting and significant that unity and value are addressed when the intended sense contained in a particular saying finds expression across cultures.
Extracted from http://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/9/9/lifefocus/4667614&sec=lifefocus
These are a few match-making exercises on idiomatic expressions. Let us begin with Hindi:
> To sound out your throat: to boast
> There is some black in the dhal: there is more than meets the eye
> Chicken cooked at home is equivalent to dhal: a prophet is seldom accepted in his own country
> Bore holes in the plate that feeds you: bite the hand that feeds you
> Milk will remain milk; water will remain water: justice will be served
> When the birds have taken away the harvest: useless to cry over spilled milk
> To cook one’s own meal/porridge: to each his own
> A monkey/donkey has neither taste for, nor knows the benefits of, ginger/ to play the sitar in front of a buffalo: casting pearls before swine
> To become enmeshed in a tangle of “ifs” and “buts”: to stall
Next, a few in Malayalam:
> When trees are available in the forest, and the elephant belongs to the village headman, you can pull all (the trees, I presume) you want: make hay while the sun shines/strike while the iron is hot
> Like a dog visiting the marketplace: like a fish out of water; be a square peg in a round hole; an unwanted presence
> A donkey does not know the smell of camphor – similar to the Hindi saying: casting pearls before swine
> To hold open an umbrella at midnight (doesn’t say if it’s raining!): doing something utterly useless.
A couple of French idioms, again, because their literal translation makes them appear meaningless or sound crazy, but fun! And yes, never mind if they become ungrammatical in the process:
> To have a spider in one’s head: to have a screw loose/to have bats in one’s belfry
> To see 36 candles: to see stars
> By horn and cry: a hue and cry
> To make white cabbage: to draw a blank
> To drown in a glass of water: to make a mountain out of a molehill
> With body lost: headlong
> A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away: An apple a day keeps the doctor away, for the rest of us.
Then of course we have a host of expressions in our national language, sounding equally humorous when literally translated, and similarly finding their idiomatic sense preserved in some “distant English relations”.
> Diam diam ubi berisi, which literally translates to “silently, silently the tapioca fills out”: still waters run deep
> Berbadan dua, literally “double-bodied”: to be in the family way/pregnant
> Telan mati emak, diluah mati bapak. Literally, “if you swallow, your mother may die; spit out, and your father may die”: catch-22; to be in a spot
> Pencuci mulut literally, “mouthwash”: dessert
> Tak pandai menari, dikatakan lantai jungkang-jungkit, which refers to someone who can’t dance but blames the floor for being uneven: a bad workman blames his tools
> Hangat-hangat tahi ayam, which means “hot, hot chicken sh**”: new broom sweeps clean.
It is interesting and significant that unity and value are addressed when the intended sense contained in a particular saying finds expression across cultures.
Extracted from http://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/9/9/lifefocus/4667614&sec=lifefocus
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