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Social Commentary 2: Complicated Technology

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, technology is defined as “the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area” and “a capability given by the practical application of knowledge.” With this definition, we can say that technology is supposedly used for making our life simpler and more convenient. However, do all our technological advancements actually make our everyday lives easier? I believe that some technology nowadays actually makes some of everyday simple tasks more complicated. For example, the simple task of going out for a morning jog is made very complicated by the various gizmos and gadgets that could be used to see your performance. Technology such as this just doesn’t make sense. A jogger would have to push buttons all over his gizmo before starting a routine jog. This makes things more complicated for the jogger, who could have just opted for a jog without his gizmos and gadgets and save time trying to figure out that particular gadget. The ...
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ERP: Extensive Reading Programme

2. ‘Once More to the Lake’ by E.B. White a) Write about a place that you would like to share with others, and describe how it became significant to you. When it comes to significant places in one’s life, his home would surely be one of them. One who is very proud of their home would want to share it with others so that they too could experience the warm ambience of your home. I’m no different. Having moved around a lot and even migrating to Singapore, I have lived in quite a number of houses. However, there is one particular house that holds a lot of meaningful childhood memories. Although I have lived in a number of houses, I consider this as my home as this is where I had the most number of good times, as well as the bad times. Along Mulberry Road in the neighbourhood of ‘La Marea’, my home is found. My mother, being a green thumb, decided to have a small garden in our front yard. There were the purple orchids and jasmine flowers gave out a sweet scent that would make my day when I ...
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Social Commentary: Deaf to the World

Summary The article “Deaf to the World” talks about youngsters absorbed in their cell phones or music players facing greater risk of accidents on the road. The authors supported their claim by having many arguments from different people. Firstly, these youngsters tend to use their hand phones and music players to text and listen to music while crossing the road. They could pose great danger for themselves as well as inconvenience to the other pedestrians. To further their claim, they conducted an experiment where they purposely ‘bump’ into people engaged by these handheld devices. The results show that quite a number of them failed to dodge them while some barely missed them. Worse still, most of them were unconcerned and unapologetic. Commentary In this modern age where most people own at least a hand phone or a MP3 player, some people uses these devices to such an extent where they endanger themselves as well. If you go to an MRT or cross the road, you would definite...
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Scrap the CCTs

At the end of each term, a hot topic among students would be CCTs. They would be trying to get home as early as possible so that they would be able mug – slang for studying hard. Why you ask? It’s because a large percentage of their grades is decided by how much they get for that test. As much as 24% of their overall grade depends on that CCT. It’s suppose to help gauge a pupil’s gauge on a particular subject. Is it that helpful? Maybe. However, the CCTs gives students too much of a pressure given its nature. Is it the only method of assessment? No. With all the performance tasks, creative assignments, EOYs and other class tests, what’s the harm of just scrapping the CCTs? During CCT period, students would be under a lot of pressure to perform well in their exams. Since they can account for up to 24% of your overall marks, it’s essential to excel in them if you would like to keep a GPA of at least 3.6. However, exam pressure can have very negative effects on students. Accor...
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A Foreign Language Cannot Be Taught. It Must Be Learned

A foreign language must be learned, not taught. To teach is ‘to give lessons in or provide information about a subject’. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the person at the receiving end would learn. On the other hand, to learn is ‘to acquire knowledge of a subject or skill through education or experience’. Hence, knowledge of foreign languages doesn’t need to be taught. It can be acquired through experience. Furthermore, according to a Montgomery County Public Schools report in 2000, there was only 83% pass rate for those who took Spanish and French languages exams. This shows that foreign language cannot just be taught, it must be learned. The End. Fin. Conclusión. L'estremità.
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What is an exposition?

According to the, more often than not, reliable Wikepedia.org, an expository writing is a type of writing , the purpose of which is to inform, explain, describe, or define the author's subject to the reader. Expository text is meant to ‘posit’ information and is the most frequently used type of writing by students in colleges and universities. A well-written exposition remains focused on its topic and listing events in chronological order. Examples of this type of writing are cooking instructions, driving directions and instructions on performing a task. Key words such as first, after, next, then and last usually signal sequential writing. Personal pronouns may be used in such writing, if needed. In brief, an exposition is a rhetorical discourse that provides information about or an explanation of difficult material.
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