Question Analysis + Comments from Miss Tann

UE 2004 Section B: Question 1

1. Your school has received a donation of HK$1,000,000 and
can spend it EITHER on one more MMLC (Multi-Media
Learning Centre) OR on employing one more NET (Native
English-speaking Teacher) for two years.
As Chairperson of the Student Association, you have collected a variety of
opinions from your schoolmates. Write a letter to your principal summarizing
their different views for and against each option and making a recommendation
on their behalf. Sign your letter ‘Chris Wong’. Do not write an address.
Our analysis for UE 2004 Section B: Question 1
Type: Argumentative
Language: Formal
Format: Letter to Principal
From Miss Tann: I told you the Examinations and Assessment Authority will try to trick you by
using different wording. In this case, making a recommendation means you have
to express your view or give your opinion. It is just a simple piece of
argumentative writing. If you got tricked by it, you failed to 活學活用. Also, you
should be very familiar with the mechanics of such writing type as you are tested
very often in your PSWS. But the most crucial point and unusual part to this
topic is that you need to touch on ALL 4 AREAS of the topic or you will be
missing out on some part of the content.

UE 2004 Section B: Question 2

2. Your school has decided to take part in a voluntary work project in one of two
major areas: helping EITHER poor elderly people OR primary schoolchildren
newly arrived from the mainland. Your class teacher is collecting opinions
from the class in the form of essays written by the students.

Write your own essay, outlining your personal preference and stating at least
three reasons to support your choice. Give your essay a title.
Our analysis for UE 2004 Section B: Question 2
Type: Argumentative
Language: Formal
Format: Essay (a title is needed)
From Miss Tann: Again, don’t be ticked by the different phrasing. Outlining your personal
preference simply means giving your personal opinion. Don’t forget to back up
your view with at least 3 reasons and don’t forget you have to write your
opposing view.
 UE 2004 Section B: Question 3
3. Your friend, Lucy Lau, has won a major singing competition and has been
offered a recording contract. She has also been offered a place at the police
training school to become a policewoman. She cannot decide which offer to
accept and has written to ask your advice.

Write a letter in reply advising her to accept the place as a police cadet and
giving reasons why you feel that this would be a better career choice for her.
Sign your letter ‘Chris Wong’. Do not write any address.
Our analysis for UE 2004 Section B: Question 3
Type: Persuasive
Language: Informal
Format: Letter to a friend
From Miss Tann: Remember we did an exercise on writing Persuasive Letter to a friend in early
November? We wrote about giving advice on whether he should continue to
study at university or pursue his career as a rock band member. You are very,
very well equipped to write about this as there are loads of vocabulary and
phrases as well as different appeals (logical, emotional, ethical) that we had
taught you that would be extremely useful for this question. Did you do your
revision?
 UE 2004 Section B: Question 4
4. Many teenagers have been strongly affected by advertisements promoting
slimming products and programmes. Some now believe that they have to be
slim to be beautiful and go to extreme and unreasonable lengths in an attempt
to lose weight. You have just attended a talk on ‘Health and Beauty’ organised
by the Department of Health. At the talk, a medical doctor, a social worker and
an ex-patient recovering from an eating disorder spoke about the issue,
drawing on their expertise and experience.

Write an article for your school newspaper sharing what your learnt from each
of the three speakers. Give your article a title.
Our analysis for UE 2003 Section B: Question 4
Type: Discursive
Language: Formal
Format: Article (with a title)
From Miss Tann: If you just wrote about telling people or your friend the bad effects of losing
weight in an INFORMAL way, you just fell into the trap of another
“model-essay-tipping”. As I’ve mentioned in your last few lessons, ‘Slimming’
will be a hot topic but you have to be careful of ‘Which Aspect’ of ‘Slimming’
they want you to write about. In this article, you have to know enough about
‘eating disorder’ and you need to write about what you have learnt from:
3 experts ~ medical doctor
Æ expertise Æ what advice?
Æ experience Æ why give advice?
~ social worker
Æ expertise Æ what advice?
Æ experience Æ why?
~ ex-patient
Æ expertise Æ what advice?
Æ experience Æ why?

If I were you, I wouldn’t rush in and write a discursive piece of writing cutting
in at such a demanding aspect and requiring such specific information even if
the tip came from the Examinations and Assessment Authority itself, never
mind if Miss Tann did tell you how likely ‘Slimming’ will come up in your
Section B. ‘Hot topic’? It sure is! Dangerous and untouchable? Definitely!