1. Use connectors to make complex sentences (Note the punctuation and sentence pattern too!)Wrong: Some people tend to overspend, they do not earn that much.

   Better:

   1. Some individuals tend to overspend although they do not earn that much.
   2. Although/While some people do not earn that much, their expenditures exceed their income.
   3. Despite their limited revenues, some individuals’ expenses exceed their earning.
   4. A large section of the population does not necessarily earn exceptionally high income, but/yet they tend to incur excessive expenses.

 

 

• Use gerund (V-ing) to connect sentences.Wrong: Unemployment rate increase lead to higher crime rates need to be addressed immediately.

  Right:

  1. An increase in the rate of unemployment which would lead to higher crime rates needs to be addressed immediately.
  2. An increase in the rate of unemployment potentially leading to higher crime rates has to be addressed immediately.

 

 

• Use infinitive (to + v(1)) vs. Gerund interchangeably.Wrong:  It is not easy pass the English exam.

  Better:

  1. It is not easy to pass the English exam.
  2. Passing the English exam is not easy.

 

 

• Do the passive to introduce a point.Wrong: Some people always think passing an exam is only lucky.

  Better:

  1. Some people always assume that passing an exam is merely a matter of luck.
  2. It is invariably assumed that passing an exam partly depends on luck.

 

 

• Use a Noun Clause as a Subject.Usual: It is questionable what causes the problem.

  Better: What has caused the problem is questionable.

 

 

• Use a ‘perfect’ Modal.Usual: People can prevent the problem if they know first.

  Better: The problem could have been prevented.

Happy New Year and Happy Holiday!

 

24 December 2017

Telaga

 

 

It is highly recommended that students consistently use EITHER the U.S.or the U.K. Spelling convention throughout the entire exam. See the illustration below:

1. AmericanExamples:
   1. Favor, center, realize, traveling.
   2. While, among, amid, toward.
   3. Program, sceptical.
   4. Has proved, learned.
   5. Advisor, story, acknowledgment
2. BritishExamples:
   1. Favour, centre, realise, travelling.
   2. Whilst, amongst, amidst, towards.
   3. Programme, sceptical.
   4. Has proven, learnt.
   5. Adviser, storey, acknowledgement.

To avoid misspelling, break up the word into word parts.

• e.g., govern +ment → government
• dis + satisfied → dissatisfied
• Hobby + ist + s → hobbyists

To decide whether or not to double a consonant, notice the syllable stress.

• e.g., occur + ed → occurred
• occur + ence → occurrence
• prefer + ed → preferred
• refer + ing → referring
• BUT: prefer + ence → preference

Using accurate spelling as well as correct punctuation and spacing will save you at least a few points in Writing!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

24 December 2017

Telaga

Continuing on from previous posts about common question types, this post will cover another frequently seen question type – one that asks for the “general topic” or “main theme” of a paragraph, or a variation on these. An example we will discuss is below.

In a socio-demographic study in 1988 among Lebanese, Turkish and Vietnamese women in Sydney, migrant women were found to be, much less likely than Australian women generally to report sterilisation operations. Compared with the Australian population, these migrant groups were more likely to marry earlier, to start childbearing earlier, to have larger family sizes, to use traditional methods of contraception in their earlier years and to turn to oral contraception and IUD use at a later age. Hysterectomy was also far less common. Among the migrant women aged 40-49, hysterectomy was reported by 3-7% across different groups of migrant women. Compare this with a national sample survey in 1986, which showed that 15 per cent of women aged 40-49 years reported having had a hysterectomy.

The general topic discussed in this paragraph in relation to the 1988 study is differences between migrant groups and Australian women generally…

•  in the reported use of sterilisation procedures
•  in terms of hysterectomy rates
•  in socio-cultural attitudes towards family planning
•  in the reported use of contraception

The first thing worth noticing is that all four of the answers are indeed covered within the text – we can’t rule any of them out for being wrong straight away. However, the important thing with any question asking for the “main” or “general” aspect of a paragraph is to pick the broadest, most overarching of the answers. As an example, hysterectomy is mentioned several times, but falls under the topic of sterilisation, so hysterectomy is not the general topic. Sterilisation itself also comes under the topic of contraception, as sterilisation is one possible route of contraception, and so sterilisation is not the general topic either. Finally, contraception is only a part of family planning, which also covers ideas about family size and the age of marriage and childbirth. Family planning is thus the broadest, most overarching of the answers here, and is the correct answer.

The big trick to be careful of in these question types is not to always pick the answer that has the most written about it, but is only a specific example of a bigger general topic. In this paragraph, sterilisation and hysterectomy are talked about a lot, so it is easy to pick one of these as an answer, but as we said before they are only part of the larger general topic of family planning.