CSEC English Prep - Dec 2022 - Jan 2023

 

Summaries 

Activity 1: 

Summarize in not more than 120 words, describing the life in deserts.

As what geographers have estimated, about twenty percent of the earth's surface is occupied by deserts. A majority of us view deserts as one unique kind of landscape -- areas with little or no rainfalls. In actual fact, there are differences between the deserts, though in varying degrees. While it is common for laymen like us to see deserts as rocky or covered with gravel or pebbles, there are some where large sand dunes inhabit. Despite the fact that rainfall is minimal, temperatures do change in deserts, ranging from seasonal ones to daily changes where extreme hotness and coldness are experienced in the day and night. Unfavorable conditions in the deserts, especially the lack of water, have discouraged many living things from inhabiting these landscapes. Nevertheless, there are exceptionally surviving ones which through their superb tactics, have managed to live through and are still going strong. One such kind is the specialist annual plants which overcome seasonal temperature changes with their extremely short, active life cycles. In events of sudden rain, the plant seeds pullulate and grow very quickly to make full use of the rain water. Their flowers bloom and set seeds that ripen quickly in the hot sun too. Once the water runs dry, the mother plant dies, leaving behind the drought-resistant seeds, waiting patiently for the next rainy season to arrive. The Cacti, a native in American deserts, adapts to the dry surroundings by having unique body structures. The plant has swollen stems to help store water that carries it through months. By having sharp pines instead of leaves, water loss through respiration is minimized. Besides, these pointed pines also help the plant ward off grazing animals, thus enhancing its survival period. Besides plants, there are also animals with distinct surviving tactics in deserts too. For instance, Skinks ( desert lizards ) metabolize stored fats in their bulbous tails, producing water to supplement their needs, just like what camels do with the stored food in their humps during long journeys through deserts. Antelopes like the addax, have very low water needs and hence are able to tolerate the conditions in deserts, extracting moisture from the food they eat. Finally, there are the sandgrouses ( desert birds ) which do not have special features to overcome the drought-like nature in deserts. Hence, to survive in these hot, dry deserts, they need to spend a large part of their time flying in search of waterholes. Activity 2: Make a summary of not more than 120 words, describing the emergence of paper money used widely today.   Buying things today is so simple. Just enter a shop, say a bookstore, choose the desired book and pay for it. Long ago, before the invention of money, how did people trade? The most primitive way of exchange should be the barter trade. In this form of transaction, people used goods to exchange for the things that they had in mind. For instance, if person A wanted a book and he had a spare goat, he must look for someone who had the exact opposite, that is, that someone, say person B, must have a spare book of person A's choice and is also in need of a goat. Having found such a person, the problem does not end here. A big goat may worth not only one book, hence person B may have to offer person A something else, say five chickens. However, he runs the risk of person A rejecting the offer as he may not need the chickens. The above example clearly illustrates the inefficiency of barter trading. Many years later, the cumbersome barter trade finally gave way to the monetary form of exchange when the idea of money was invented. In the early days, almost anything could qualify as money: beads, shells and even fishing hooks. Then in a region near Turkey, gold coins were used as money. In the beginning, each coin had a different denomination. It was only later, in about 700 BC, that Gyges, the king of Lydia, standardized the value of each coin and even printed his name on the coins. Monetary means of transaction at first beat the traditional barter trade. However, as time went by, the thought of carrying a ponderous pouch of coins for shopping appeared not only troublesome but thieves attracting. Hence, the Greek and Roman traders who bought goods from people faraway cities, invented checks to solve the problem. Not only are paper checks easy to carry around, they discouraged robbery as these checks can only be used by the person whose name is printed on the notes. Following this idea, banks later issued notes in exchange for gold deposited with them. These bank notes can then be used as cash. Finally, governments of today adopted the idea and began to print paper money, backed by gold for the country's use. Today, besides enjoying the convenience of using paper notes as the mode of exchange, technology has led man to invent other means of transaction too like credit and cash cards.   Activity 3: Write a summary on how to manage your finances   When you're away from home, your parents expect you to be responsible for yourself and this includes taking care of your own finances. To manage your money sensibly, you need a plan to work with. Write down your allowance and expenses for the month. What you are doing is actually budgeting your income. Make sure that you set aside a small amount for your savings. One way of cutting cost is eating in. It is cheaper than eating out. Moreover, by cooking your own meals, you have greater control over what you eat. Besides that, if you know of friends who live in the same area as you, you might want to consider driving to college together. This saves on petrol and parking. In addition, when you shop for household items, compare prices from one shop to another before making your purchase. If you can, wait for sales when you can get better discounts. However, sales where prices are marked down incredibly can sometimes tempt you to buy things which you don't really need. Therefore, be careful and don't give in to temptation.   Your summary must :   * not be more than 60 words, including the 10 words given below * be in continuous writing ( not note form ) * be written in one paragraph Use your own words as far as possible without changing its original meaning. Begin your summary as follows : To manage your money sensibly, you must first start with ... ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING  Additional Practice:  https://nextsteptuition.blogspot.com/2020/09/csec-english-september-26-2020.html Past Papers:  https://www.csecpastpapers.com/eng-a-1  Text 1: Online Article About social media for pre-teens and teenagers Popular social media apps among pre-teens and teenagers include Instagram, Messenger or Messenger Kids, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube Kids. Online chat in multiplayer video games, like Fortnite, League of Legends, Clash of Clans and The Sims is also a popular social media option for pre-teens and teenagers. Social media: benefits Social media is a big part of social and creative life for pre-teens and teenagers. Pre-teens and teenagers use social media to have fun, make and maintain friendships, share and learn interests, explore identities and develop relationships with family. It’s an extension of their offline and face-to-face interactions. For older teenagers especially, it’s often a key part of how they connect with friends. Social media can connect pre-teens and teenagers to online global groups based on shared interests. These might be support networks – for example, for young people with disability or medical conditions, LGBTIQ+ teenagers, or children from particular cultural backgrounds. Or they might be sites for commenting on and sharing content about particular interests like games, TV series, music or hobbies. Your child can get many other benefits from using social media: Learning: your child can use social media to better understand, extend or share what they’re learning at school, either informally or in formal school settings. Hobbies and interests: your child can use social media to follow their interests and learn new ones. Creativity: your child can be creative with profile pages, images, video and game modifications. Mental health and wellbeing: connecting with extended family and friends and taking part in local and global online groups can give your child a sense of belonging. Social media: risks Social media can also pose risks. For your child, these risks include: being exposed to inappropriate or upsetting content, like mean aggressive, violent or sexual comments or images uploading inappropriate content, like embarrassing or provocative photos or videos of themselves or others sharing personal information with strangers – for example, images, date of birth, location or address cyberbullying being exposed to too much targeted advertising and marketing being exposed to data breaches, like having their data sold on to other organisations. Could your child use a child-friendly social media app, like YouTube Kids or Messenger Kids? These have stronger safety settings and age-appropriate content. Text 2: Report from Teen Treatment Center Research on Social Media and Teen Depression: Why Social Media Can Be Bad for Mental Health Is social media part of the reason that teen depression has drastically increased over the last decade? Surveys of US adolescents show that teen depressive symptoms and suicide rates showed marked increases between 2010 and 2015, especially among females. Some researchers theorize that the increase in social media and overall screen use between those years could account for these changes. The adolescents surveyed who spent more time on social media were more likely to report mental health issues. Those who spent more time on real-life activities, such as in-person social interaction, sports, exercise, homework, and print media, were less likely to report these issues. Over the last decade, this theory has been borne out by a large body of research linking teenagers’ use of social media with increased teen depression. These studies show that the frequency of a teen’s use of social media has a clear correlation to their mental health. For example, in a 2018 study, 14- to 17-year-olds who used social media seven hours per day were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with depression, treated by a mental health professional, or taken medication for a psychological or behavioral issue during the last year. This was compared to those who used screens only about an hour a day. Many experts believe that the constant overstimulation of social networking shifts the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode. As a result, this makes disorders such as ADHD, teen depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and teen anxiety worse. However, some research on social media and teen depression shows that the causality goes the other way—i.e., when teens are depressed, they look at social media more often. In one study of 600 teens, researchers found that social media use did not predict depressive symptoms, but greater depressive symptoms predicted more social media use over time. Text 3: Poem Tell me I'm pretty Buy me something silly That'll never be of use Just an excuse To capture and to post See what I like the most Playing it off like I don't care When for hours I stare Awaiting that satisfaction Of being the main attraction Thinking I'm above it But I'm really caught in it Scrolling and refreshing Tends to get depressing But it's hard to let go When your subconscious came to know That your greatest conviction Is a social media addiction Questions 1. Outline the main issue addressed in EACH of the two texts. (6 marks) 2. For any ONE of the texts given assess the appropriateness of that medium for the purpose of communicating the specific issue. (3 marks) 3. For any TWO of the texts given, choose ONE language technique used in EACH and explain its effectiveness.   (Language techniques: analogies, repetition, hyperbole, similes, metaphors) 4. State THREE features that distinguish an oral presentation from a written presentation. (6 marks) 5. You have been asked to make an oral presentation on ONE of the issues identified in 1 List THREE points you would discuss in the oral presentation. (3 marks) 6. Identify THREE features of the group to which the presentation would be made and THREE techniques that you would use to hold the attention of the group. (6 marks) 7.