Wednesday 11 May 2011

How to Be Happy

By Saima Abedi




Brooding over our worries, we often drown in the bottomless sea of despair and fritter away our precious time. The deeper we dig, the greater our agony grows. We tend to feel that mulling over our problems will lead us to a solution and the accumulating anxiety will be alleviated. However, each time we rack our brains for a way out, our optimism and enthusiasm ebbs away, pushing us into the zone of negativity; ultimately the result is disastrous; mounting tension, ruining our mood and even putting our relationships at stake.

The better way to cope up with such issues is to divert our attention and indulge ourselves in something we really love to do: watching a movie, listening music or any creative activity like painting or gardening. It will mask our negativity and bring us back in our element. Furthermore, taking a nap or going out with our friends will not only change our environment and mood yet will certainly give us strength to think of a better solution, with renewed hopes plus zeal to encounter challenges of life.

Sometimes pouring our heart out, helps to a great extent; we may call one of the closest friends to confide in worries or start writing freely on a paper. Letting the weight off the heart, lightens our mind and we start behaving normally. Another way to feel contented is to smile as much as we can, since it instantly elevates our mood.

Drinking a lot of water and eating chocolates are too proven beneficial in staying happy and healthy as water is very effective in reducing stress and the sugar in chocolate boosts our levels of endorphins, a hormone that makes us happy.

In a nutshell, it’s all up to us, how we react in difficult moments; aggravate our anxiety by over thinking or assuage via smiling.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

GCE O’ Level English Language Guideline for Comprehension- Passage 2 (Paper 1123/22)

By Saima Abedi



The passage 2 will be fiction that’s a narrative. It is important to read the whole passage carefully before attempting the questions. After comprehending the main ideas of the passage, questions should be read thoroughly and passage paragraph wise. Understanding the types of questions is important in this regard. Broadly there are two major types, explicit and implicit.

Explicit Questions

Literal: The answer of such question is quite obvious. Furthermore, the key word in the question directs you towards the answer.
E.g. According to the beliefs of ancient peoples, what caused earthquakes to happen?


Quotation: A single word or phrase from the passage is to be extracted. However, following instruction is very important here. A single word means single word.
E.g. Pick out and write down the single word which shows that the teacher did not believe that ancient peoples understood what caused earthquakes.

Vocabulary: Eight words will be given; only five words’ meaning ought to be written. Here, a synonym or description of that word within seven words is required. Yet the meaning should be according to the context.
E.g. Choose five of the following words. For each of them give one word or short phrase (of not more than seven words) which has the same meaning that the word has in the passage.

Implicit Questions


Inferential: The reader is expected to think about the ideas given in the passage and drive a conclusion.
E.g. Why might Rena’s mother’s smiling expression in the photograph be described as ‘inappropriate at this time’?

Your Own Words: The reader needs to look for the keywords in the passage and replace them using their synonyms. The number of marks tells the number of key words to be found.
E.g. Explain in your own words why the baby was ‘gurgling with happiness’.

Writer’s Craft: Here the reader should mention the effect the writer wants to create through his words.
E.g. Many people risked their lives by returning to their burning homes. Why does the writer describe this as ‘pathetic’?

Saturday 7 May 2011

Guidelines for Section 1/ Reading Paper (GCE O’ Level English Language -1123)

Reading for Ideas

By Saima Abedi


Summary writing in GCE O’ Level English language paper has tasks to do:
Ø     Note Making
Ø     Using your own words for summarizing the content points.
A    Answering critical thinking questions

Read the question properly, themes given in the question will help you out in finding the relevant content points. The tentative themes are advantages and disadvantages; compare and contrast, action and consequences; causes and effects or a timeline (for increase/ decrease in popularity or uses in former/ modern times). 

For note-making, the following guidelines will ensure maximum marks :

1.      Read the themes carefully along with the paragraph numbers (material for information).
2.    Find at least 15 relevant content points from the particular paragraphs (Do not include the given examples). The task is of 12 marks but the extra point would give you an edge in case any of the points is marked incorrect.
3.      While you extract the content points, underline the topic sentences and key facts.
4.      Leave out details and examples (easy to identify: such as/ for example/ like/ written in brackets or after the colon).
5.      Write the points legibly in the specified space (under the correct theme).
6.      While note-making, do not use your own word that may cause confusion later (in summary writing).
7.      Stick to the given information in the passage (do not display your general knowledge for the theme).


For the summary, the following guidelines will ensure maximum marks :
8.      After note-making, do not read the passage again; use your own words to summarise the content points as far as possible. Use a variety of sentence structure simple, compound and complex.  Add connectors.
9.      Be concise. Write the summary in the given space. Do not exceed the word limit (180 words).
1.  Once you have written your summary, you should review it for style, grammar, and punctuation.


For the critical thinking question, reread the paragraph specified in the question and answer accordingly. Most of the time, candidates are instructed to identify and write down facts and opinions. Remember, facts can be proven true and are supported by evidence and experiences whereas opinions are statement or views that are not conclusive. 

               Examples: Nelson Mandela was a politician and philanthropist. (Fact)
                                  Apple pie is the best dessert in the world. (Opinion)