Stating Points and Elaborating Them Part II

 Lesson 16 (31 October, 2023)

Writing a short essay

Title of Essay:

Commuting Public Transport Could Reduce Traffic Congestion

Points:

1. Public transport could carry more passengers

2. Some public transport run on their own tracks

3. The number of vehicles on the road will be reduced

Introduction

    Commuting to work can be a serious business. There will be too many vehicles on the road at one time or the other. During peak hours, traffic jams are unavoidable. So, a lot of time is wasted on the road. To overcome this problem, it is wise to use public transportation instead of private vehicles. Public transport could carry more passengers. Apart from that, some public transport run on their own tracks. Not only that, the number of vehicles on the road will be reduced.

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Stating Points and elaborating them (Lesson 15, 10 October, 2023)

 State a point, elaborate it. (Lesson 15 10 Oct 2022)

Title of essay:

Studying in local universities is better than studying abroad. 

Points:

1.      It is cheaper.

2.      Familiar culture and food.

3.      Frequent family visits.

State a point, elaborate it.

e.g.

a) Studying in local universities is cheaper. The cost to complete each degree course is mostly below RM20,000 except for medical and engineering courses. So, the cost of food and lodging could be easily covered. We have learned that the cost of studying in foreign universities may at least be RM100,000 for ordinary degree courses. For technical and medical courses, it is even much higher. Those who are not offered scholarships may have to decline the offer to study the various courses overseas. Apart from that, the cost of lodging, food and transportation may considerably affect the students’ monthly and annual budgets.

 

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c)

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Constructing Sentences

 

Lesson 14 (25 Sept. 2023)

Construct sentences using the Subject/Predicate or SVO (Subject/Verb/Object) Structure.

Use the words listed in the table below.

Study the words in the table below and construct sentences using them.

List of subjects	List of verbs	List of objects
building hawker food rain stalls	is constructed sells is sold causes are opened	in town food court cheap flood morning

Simple sentence construction:

e.g.

a. The building is constructed in town.

b. That hawker sells food in the food court.

c. The food is sold cheap.

d. The rain causes flood.

e. Those stalls are opened in the morning.

More detailed sentences can also be constructed:

 e.g.

The huge office building is constructed in the heart of town.

Can you construct more detailed sentences in (b) until (e)?

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Expanding the Object - Lesson 13 (22 August 2023)

 The Object of a sentence makes up the 'story' for the subject.

e.g. 

1. He lives in the house.

...lives in the house (the object of the sentence)

Let's expand the object.

...lives in the house near the beach.

So, in the end the sentence becomes:

He lives in the house near the beach. 

2. The Minister launched the programme.

     ...launched the 'Go Green Environment' programme.

So, the sentence will become:

The Minister launched the 'Go Green Environment' programme.

*Now, let us exploit the above sentence putting in more details in the subject and also the object.

3. The Minister of Technology and Environment launched the 'Go Green Environment' programme in conjunction with the 'Healthy Environment Day 2023'.

Expanding the Subject - Lesson 12 (23 May 2023)

 Expanding the Subject of a sentence creatively

A sentence in English starts with a subject which consists of people, animals or places. A subject can be as simple as; Ali, Aisyah, The boy, That lady, My father, His cousin and as such.

For adults like us, we may need to expand the subject according to our needs, for example;

a) Ali, who is our group leader

b) My new sales assistant, Aisyah

c) That lady in the pink blouse

We may need to expand the subject to include details, for example;

a) The weather forecast (basic subject)

    The weather forecast released by the National Meteorological Department

b) A pair of kangaroos

    A pair of great red kangaroos, the iconic Australian marsupials

c) The Petronas-Sauber F1 team

    The Petronas-Sauber F1 team which was  scheduled to participate in the Le Mans October       Grand Prix

Now, let's expand the subjects below;

a) My brother

b) The dry season

c) Malaysian contingent

    

Expanding the Subject and Object

 Lesson 11 - 28 February 2023

Expanding the Suject and Predicate

e.g.

a) The dog wagged its tail. (5 words)

    The huge black dog wagged its long bushy tail.        (9 words)

b) His Majesty, the King of Brunei arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport where he was welcomed by the His Majesty DYMM Sultan Abdullah and other dignitaries. (27 words)

Now, let us try to impress others!

1. My father came yesterday.

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2. The bridge is opened in 1984.

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3. We were surprised by the team.

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4. Gunung Kinabalu is located in Sabah.

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Getting the structure right

 Lesson 10 - The Structure Subject + Verb + Object (7 February 2023)

Fill up the table with the words showing Subject + Verb + Object

e.g.

Subject	Verb	Object
The dog	wags	its tail

News extract:

AZMARIN, Syria: A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked wide swaths of Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing more than 1,300 people . Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.

On both sides of the border, residents jolted out of sleep by the pre-dawn quake rushed outside on a cold, rainy and snowy night. Buildings were reduce to piles of pancaked floors, while major aftershocks, some nearly as strong as the first, continued.

Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities searched for survivors, working through tangles of metal and concrete. A hospital in Turkey collapsed, and patients, including newborns, were evacuated from facilities in Syria.

Fill up the table with the components from the sentences found in the news extract:

Subject	Verb	Object
e.g. A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake	rocked	wide swaths of Turkey and Syria early Monday...

Fill the table with the rest of the sentences from the news extract:

Subject	Verb	Object

DIYABAKIR, Turkey: The most powerful earthquake to strike Turkey and Syria in nearly a century killed over 2,300 people on Monday, sparked frantic rescues and was felt as far away as Greenland.

The 7.8-magnitude early morning quake, followed by dozens of aftershocks, wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a region filled with millions who have fled Syria's civil war and other conflicts.

Rescuers used heavy equipment and their bare hands to peel back rubble in search of survivors, who they could in some cases hear begging for help under the debris.

"Since I live in an earthquake zone, I am used to being shaken," said Melisa Salman, a reporter in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.

The head of Syria's National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, called it "the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre".

At least 810 people died in rebel and government-controlled parts of Syria, state media and medical sources said, while Turkish officials reported another 1,498 fatalities.

The initial quake was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude tremor that jolted the region in the middle of search and rescue work on Monday afternoon.

 

Fill up the table with proper components of the sentences found in the news extract

Subject	Verb	Object