MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

In this COMPLIMENTARY CD to MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE, you will find these helpful sections:

A. What is MUET? B. Specific Objectives of MUET C. Test Format

D. Brainstorming Activities (Paper 2)

i. ii. iii. Activity 1: Re-angling Your Thoughts! Activity 2: Looking at the Big Picture Activity 3: Improvising!

E. Speed Reading (Paper 3 & 4) i. ii.

Activity 1: How Fast Do You Read? Activity 2: Speed Reading

F. Short Forms for Note-Taking i. ii.

Activity 1: Creating Short Forms Activity 2: Using Short Forms

G. Links to Interactive English Language Games

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

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A. What is MUET?
MUET is the Malaysian University English Test, an English competency test administered by the Malaysian Examinations Council.

MUET is open to Sixth Formers who wish to enter university as well as to pre-university students. The MUET syllabus aims to equip students preparing for tertiary education with the appropriate level of proficiency in English. It also seeks to develop critical thinking skills.

Students level of proficiency is measured based on an aggregated score of zero to three hundred. Candidates are placed on an aggregated score range, which is based on six levels of proficiency, i.e. Levels One to Six, where Level Six signifies a Very Good User while Level One denotes an Extremely Limited User.

MUET tests the four main language skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Below are the time allocated for and weightage of the four components of the test.

PAPER CODE 800/1 800/2 800/3

PAPER Listening Speaking Reading Comprehension

TIME hour hour 2 hours

WEIGHTAGE (%) 15 15 45

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800/4

Writing

1 hours

25

B. Specific Objectives of MUET

These are: Listening and Speaking

o To improve students listening, speaking and

note-taking skills o To enable students to interact proficiently and efficiently in English in a variety of formal and informal situations o To develop students ability to respond critically to information heard Reading Comprehension o To enable students to understand texts beyond the literal level

o To enable students to understand the

interconnectivity of text content from a variety of genres o To develop students ability to respond critically to various texts Writing o To write accurately and appropriately for a particular purpose and audience

o To organise materials logically, coherently and

cohesively o To develop writing skills specific to academic genres such as formal essays, term papers, reports and summaries

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C. Test Format
Paper 1: Listening Candidates listen to recorded texts and answer questions based on these texts. A total of 15 multiple-choice questions are given.

Paper 2: Speaking Candidates perform two tasks: individual presentation and group discussion.

Candidates give their opinion on a given topic, justify or defend their point of view, agree and disagree with ideas presented and draw their own conclusions from the facts presented.

Paper 3: Reading Comprehension

Candidates answer 50 multiple-choice questions based on a cloze passage and texts which may be in the form of journals, reports, articles and reference from books.

Questions may involve information transfer from linear and non-linear forms, and vice versa.

Paper 4: Writing Candidates are given two writing tasks. One is to write a summary and the other is a piece of extended writing. The

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stimulus may be in the form of linear and/or non-linear texts.

D. Brainstorming Activities (Paper 2)

(Adapted from Management for the Rest of Us at www.mftrou.com)

Getting lots of speaking practice is the norm in preparing for Paper 2 (Speaking) of the MUET. This is of course the right way to go you will need ample practice in thinking on your feet and coming up with ideas in just a few short minutes. But instead of the usual mock discussions with classmates and friends, why not try a different method of preparation?

Care to know what this different method could be?

Well, it is simply a method that helps you learn to think out of the box, so that you will eventually be able to generate fresh ideas quickly. The following are three activities that challenge conventional and routine ways of thinking. There are many, many brain-galvanising exercises out there -- look them up on the Internet.

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

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May these activities help you churn out fresh ideas for your presentations!

Activity 1: Re-angling Your Thoughts! Make a list of common words, e.g. fast, strong, big Then, for each word, list the words of opposite meaning that immediately come to mind, e.g. slow, weak, small This will help you omit the words that do not fit your context, or words that are used too often. Next, challenge yourself to come up with at least three more words that mean the opposite for each given word: E.g. fast slow, dull, inefficient, time-consuming, etc. strongbig weak, sickly, fragile, lethargic, etc. small, little, petite, puny, pint-sized, etc. Dont worry if you find words with similar meanings creeping into your list. Keep going, as these can generate more words that

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mean the opposite. Bear in mind that ideas breed ideas and this helps to keep critical and analytical thinking going. Limit the time spent on this activity to 10 to 15 minutes in order to keep it fresh and focused.

Key in your words here:

Common words
1.

Opposite words

2.

3.

4.

5.

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6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Activity 2: Looking at the Big Picture Look at these shapes and write down what you see.

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Your answer might have been: three coloured shapes OR OR OR

a green circle with a diagonal line Key in your answer here: a red hexagon and a yellow thought bubble

something else. You may have made a small leap in creativity and seen the top-left figure as a green forbidden road sign. You may also have made a bigger leap and deciphered the combination of shapes as a winking bearded face or an imminent solar eclipse on a cloudy day! It doesnt matter if you could or could not see more in these shapes there are no right or wrong answers. The main purpose of this activity is to guide you to look at things from a different perspective. When you do, you will trigger off an exciting new train of thoughts which will give you a multitude of ideas. Just sift through them to see which you can work with and which you cant.

Now you know the essence of effective brainstorming!

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Look at the shapes again and see if you can come up with new descriptions the second time round. Have fun!

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

Activity 3: Improvising!

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Collect any five items e.g. a belt, paper clip, toy dog, post-it notes, anything. Put them on your table and challenge yourself to come up with different uses for each, e.g. use the belt as a Japanese warriors headband or the paper clips as ear rings. Similar to the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the principle of this activity is simple improvisation! Now that your creative muscles have been warmed up, try coming up with some fresh ideas for these topics:

Q1. If you were the Prime Minister of Malaysia, what would you do to improve

a) The education system?

Key in your answer here:

b) National integration?

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Key in your answer here:

c) The civil service?

Key in your answer here:

d)

The mindset of Malaysians? (i.e. road

ethics, civic consciousness, work ethics, etc) Key in your answer here:

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Q2. What would you do if you had a million dollars? Donate to charity Key in your answer here:

Go jet-setting around the world Key in your answer here:

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c)

Learn a new skill

Key in your answer here:

Invest, invest and invest! Key in your answer here:

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Q3. If you are a person of high authority who could have done something to: prevent the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001; contain the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003 more effectively; deploy aid to the countries that were hit hard by the Tsunami disaster in December 2004 more efficiently; prevent the massive flood that hit Taman Tun Dr. Ismail Jaya in Shah Alam in February 2006; what would you have done? a) September 11 attacks

Key in your answer here:

SARS outbreak Key in your answers here:

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Tsunami disaster Key in your answer here:

d) Shah Alam floods Key in your answer here:

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Q4. In February 2006, Malaysians faced an overnight hike in fuel prices after the government decided to reduce petrol and diesel price subsidies. As a Malaysian who is affected by this move, how would you deal with this situation? a) Optimise the use of public transportation

Key in your answer here:

b) Inculcate good spending habits Key in your answer here:

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

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c) Car-pool Key in your answer here:

d) Plan your route before travelling Key in your answer here:

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

E. Speed Reading (Paper 3 & 4)

(Adapted from - www.learning-tech.co.uk) Many students do not allocate ample time for editing and rewriting their summaries because they spend too much time on reading and rereading the passage and then writing out the summary. What does this mean? Only that they lose precious marks for careless mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation. To solve this problem, why not cut down on the time spent reading and understanding the text? Want to know how? Well, it is a little secret that isnt really a secret to people who have to read a lot of text in a very short time, and it is called yes, you guessed it: SPEED READING! The following are some handy tips on speed reading, a very useful technique you can use for Paper 3 (Reading) and Paper 4 (Writing). First though, try assessing your current reading speed by reading the following passage at your normal pace. Of course, youll need a stopwatch to time yourself.

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

Activity 1: How Fast Do You Read? Time yourself as you read this passage.

Patients suffering from liver, heart and lung failure often die because they are unable to procure organs for transplantation. According to the National Transplant Resource Centre in Kuala Lumpur, there is a demand for some 500 hearts, 600 kidneys, 350 livers and 700 corneas annually in Malaysia. What is Transplantation? It is an operation that involves the replacement of diseased and defective organs and tissues with healthy ones from donors. This treatment often saves lives. What are the organs and tissues that are commonly donated? The commonly transplanted organs are kidneys, liver, heart, lungs and pancreas while transplantable tissues are eyes, bone, bone marrow, skin and heart valves. Thus a single donor can save the lives of a number of people. What is an organ? An organ is defined as that part of a human body consisting of a structured arrangement of tissues which, if wholly removed, cannot be replicated by the body This means that blood, semen, bone marrow and hair are examples of regenerative parts of the body and are therefore not considered as organs.

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On the other hand, the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas and lungs are examples of non-generative parts of the body and can be regarded as organs.

The liver, for example, straddles both aspects. The whole of a liver can be considered an organ as the removal of it in its entirety will not allow the body to regenerate another one. A segment, on the other hand, would constitute tissue since the liver has the power of spontaneously regenerating itself. What are the sources of donation? Organs may be obtained from two sources: live donors and cadavers (corpses). Organs from live donors may be used for kidney transplantation and transplantation of a part of the liver. The live donor is usually the spouse or a living relative of the patient. Sometimes a stranger who is not genetically related to the person who needs the organ or tissue selflessly comes forward to donate. This was the case with Wan Hafizan Wan Ismail who donated part of his liver to Mohd. Afiq Muhammad Zaini in 1999. Generally, live donors are discouraged for various reasons: the fear of coercion to donate; the fear of long-term complications for the live donor; and the scarce availability of donors who are truly physically fit individuals. Cadaveric donations are more common as this involves the donation of an organ of an individual after his death. Organs from cadavers include not only kidney and liver but also the heart, lung, cornea and pancreas. Generally, organs from cadavers are preferred as the problems that crop up with live donors do not surface with cadaveric transplants. Current practice

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The lack of organs for transplantation has led many Malaysians to purchase organs abroad. At the end of 1995, it was reported that some 6000 Malaysians had been to India and China to purchase kidneys for transplantation. As at December 31 1995, the National Renal Registry of Malaysia (confined to kidney transplants only) registered 56 cases of commercial procurement of cadaveric kidneys (55 from China, one from Russia). In addition, it was reported that there was a further 526 recipients of commercial transplants (not necessarily kidneys) mainly from India. The organs procured for transplantation in these countries were often extracted from persons who had been executed or who were the victims of extreme poverty. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has produced a set of guiding principles on human organ transplantation. It is clearly stated that consent must be obtained before transplantation is carried out (Guiding Principle 1). Guiding Principle 5 states that the human body and its parts cannot be the subject of commercial transactions and that the giving or receiving of payment is prohibited. What is required? Before organs are recovered or harvested from cadavers, the law requires that the consent of the donor has to be obtained before his death. The donor has to state in writing or orally to two witnesses that he is willing to donate his body or any specified part of his body for transplantation purposes. The donor also has to be pronounced dead before any body part is removed. Traditionally, a person was considered dead when he or she had no pulse or was not breathing. Today, however, death can also occur when there is a loss of brainstem function (the brainstem is the last part of the brain to die). The brainstem is necessary for awareness (the upper brainstem) and for spontaneous reflexes such as respiratory (lower brainstem). This concept of death is also known as brainstem death or simply brain death. To ensure there is no abuse, the potential donor, who may be in his last hours of life, receives care from a health care team that is

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separate from the team that has been charged with the duty of extracting organs after the patient dies.

Appeal for donors The living need help from the dead. If more people were to pledge their organs after their death, a lot of hope is given to people who are living half a life. A kidney, a liver, a heart, or a cornea will go a long way to ensure that a 10-year-old, an 18-year-old, or a 30-year-old gets another chance at quality life.

Timothy (21 years old) dies in an accident. He has pledged his kidneys and liver for transplantation. His kidneys go to Pragasam and Chan. His liver goes to Azian.

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

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To work out your speed, you need to calculate, in minutes, the

time it took you to finish reading the text. Divide the number of 'leftover seconds' by 60 and add to the
24

number of whole minutes (e.g. if it took you 2 minutes and 24 seconds, then you divide 24 by 60 and add to the 2 i.e. 0.4 + 2 = 2.4 minutes). /60 = 0.4;

The text contained 901 words, so to calculate the number of

901

words per minute, divide 901 by the number of minutes (e.g. 375 words per minute or wpm). Remember or jot down your speed for later comparison.

/2.4 =

Average readers read texts word for word. Such readers also tend to skip back (consciously or sub-consciously) while reading and may even wander off a page. Speed readers, on the other hand, are able to take in groups of words with each fixation and are constantly moving forwards while reading. Hence, in order to improve your reading speed, you should:

have LESS fixations (you should take in words by groups make fixations quicker stay on the page (don't allow your eyes to wander off) only go forwards (don't skip back, even if you thought you
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rather than by the word)

missedPEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006 something)

Now, time yourself again, and this time, apply the four tips above as you read. Compare your new time against the previous time to check if there is an increase in speed. After youve done that, answer the following questions to ensure that

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

Activity 2: Speed Reading Read the passage again, then answer these questions. 1. Based on the information given in the box at the end of the passage, who is the donor? A. Chan B. Azian C. Timothy D. Pragasam Key in your answer here: 2. What specifically would you term Azian, Chan and Pragasam? A. Donors B. Patients C. Sources D. Suppliers Key in your answer here: 3. What is the difference between organ and tissue? A. An organ can be donated while not all tissues can be donated B. An organ degenerates while tissue does not C. An organ cannot regrow while tissue can D. An organ can regrow while tissue cannot Key in your answer here:

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4.

Which of the following charts is correct? Human parts donated to people A. Organs kidney liver bone lungs B. Tissues skin cornea bone lungs C. Tissues D. Organs skin kidney kidney liver bone heart bone lungs marrow Key in your answer here:

5.

Donations from live donors are accepted for the following reasons unless A. they are physically fit B. they are not forced to donate C. they are blood relatives of the recipient D. they might have complications after the surgery Key in your answer here:

6.

The meaning of the word procure in the text means A. obtain B. supply C. extract D. purchase Key in your answer here:

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7.

Two requirements are necessary before a dying patient can give up his/her organs. They are: A. his will and his wish B. his written and oral statement C. his expression and the certainty that he is dead D. his written or oral consent and the certainty that he is dead Key in your answer here:

8.

Why are there two teams of doctors attending the dying patient who has pledged his organs? A. If the procedure of transplantation takes a long time, the other team continues the operation. B. One team is to care for the health of the donor and the other to transplant the organs. C. This is to ensure that maximum care given to the dying donor remains objective. D. The donor deserves the full attention of the doctors. Key in your answer here:

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

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Answers: 1. C 5. D

2. B 6. A

3. C 7. D

4. D 8. C

F. Short Forms for Note-Taking (Paper 2)

The following is a brief list of short forms you can use for Paper 2 (Speaking), which requires you to take notes. Oh yes, you can use them to send SMSes too! 1) Linkers a) To show additional information is forthcoming And & /n Also oso Another anthr Moreover m/ovr Furthermore fthrmor Even though evntho Firstly/secondly/etc 1stly/2ndly/etc Finally 5nally b) To indicate a change of direction in sentence Though tho However hwevr Although although On the other hand OTOH Nevertheless nvrdless c) To further develop an idea by illustrating For example e.g. That is i.e. Such as sch as/sas

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d)

To show a cause-and-effect cqly thr4 AAR bcz/bcoz 2 4 r d wif btwn b4 aftr dat/tat thoz dis thz ws/wuz wr cn cld wil wld/wud shl shld/shud ech evry js/jz/juz sth/sumthg anyth/anythg evryth/evrythg whl whthr whnevr whrevr whcevr

relationship Consequently Therefore As a result Because e) To For Are The With Between Before After That Those This These Was Were Can Could Will Would Shall Should Each Every Just Something Anything Everything While Whether Whenever Wherever Whichever Others

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

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By the way What Where Which When Why How

btw/BTW wat whr whc wen y hw Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat 2day tmr/tomoro yday/ytday

2) WH questions -

3) Days in a week Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Today Tomorrow Yesterday

Here is an example:

In writing an essay or a report, it is important to remember the rules of punctuation. There are about twelve different punctuation marks that are commonly used in writing. Most of you who have reached a level of proficiency in the English Language are already familiar with the more basic punctuation marks such as capital letters, full stops and question marks. However, there are five punctuation marks which students are often confused about. They are explained as follows.

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Answer:

In writg an SA or a rport, it is imprt 2 rmbr d rules of punct. Thr r abt 12 diff punct marks dat r commonly used in writg. Most of u who hv reached a level of prof in d Eng. Lang. r alrdy familiar wif d mor basic punct marks such as cap. lettrs, full stops & Q marks. Hwevr, thr r 5 punct marks whc stus r oftn confusd abt. They r explained as fllws.

Activity 1: Creating Short Forms Come up with your own set of short forms for words you use often. Key in your answer here: Words I Use All the Time My Own Short Forms

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Activity 2: Using Short Forms Copy this text using the short forms you just learnt.

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Lets look at five attitudes. First is self-esteem. Thats the way you feel about yourself. That feeling of your own worth influences every facet of your life. The second attitude is love, which is your attitude towards others. Love real love always thinks in terms of what is best for the other person. The third attitude is faith. Faith is your attitude towards God. It will influence your attitudes toward your fellowmen and members of your family. The fourth attitude is hope, which is your attitude towards your future. Alfred Adler, the psychiatrist, said, Hope is the foundational quality of all change, and it is the great activator. It gets people moving towards an objective. Hope is the realistic expectation that something good is going to happen. The fifth attitude is forgiveness, which deals with your past. Your ability to forgive others for any wrong-doing will have tremendous bearing on your future. The person who damaged your past is negatively impacting your present, and will negatively influence your future unless you forgive him or her. Forgiveness is the wisest choice. Maintain these five attitudes in your life, and you will be well on your way to the top! (Extracted from You Can Reach The Top by Zig Ziglar)

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Key in your answer here:

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Bored with traditional exercises? Then try out some fun interactive English Language games from these links to improve your grammar and vocabulary: www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm www.lapasserelle.com/lm/exercices/games.page.html www.manythings.org/ www.englishpage.com/games/games.html www.world-english.org/games.htm www.abroadlanguages.com/al/la/english.asp www.onestopenglish.com/ www.englishclub.com/ www.eslcafe.com/ www.nonstopenglish.com/ www.bellenglish.com/courses/freegame/introduction.asp www.languagegames.org/la/english.asp www.eltweb.com/liason/Games/ owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html www.bellenglish.com/ www.ukstudentlife.com/Ideas/Fun.htm www.orbislingua.com/ekai.htm www.english-at-home.com/

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