writing exercise 2

WRITING EXERCISELE 0520

Name: _________________ Date: _____

Instructions: Circle the best option.

1. What is a ‘thesis statement’?

A. a sentence that supports the whole essayB. a sentence that reflects a paragraphC. a sentence that defines the whole essayD. a sentence that ties all the supporting details or a paragraph

Answer the following question based on the text below.

A midwinter vacation at Club Tropic has its good points and bad points. The beaches are clean and uncrowded. The surrounding countryside is lush and soothing to winter-weary eyes. Furthermore, being able to take sailing and scuba diving lessons, while friends back home shovel snow, makes the outdoor activities extra-enjoyable. On the other hand, several features of Club Tropic are substandard. The food is poor, and, because the club is isolated, eating elsewhere is impossible. Security could also be better, as thefts from several guests' rooms indicated. So for some vacationers, nice scenery and fun activities may not be enough to offset the possibility of poor service and lax security. (Leggett, 376)

2. Which of the following statements is the topic sentence for the given text?

A. Several features of Club Tropic are substandard.B. A midwinter vacation at Club Tropic has its good points and bad points.C. The surrounding countryside is lush and soothing to winter-weary eyes.D. So for some vacationers, nice scenery and fun activities may not be enough

to offset the possibility of poor service and lax security.

Answer the following question based on the text below

The first is the wear-and-tear hypothesis that suggests the body eventually succumbs to the environmental insults of life. The second is the notion that we have an internal clock which is genetically programmed to run down. Supporters of the wear-and-tear theory maintain that the very practice of breathing causes us to age because inhaled oxygen produces toxic by-products. Advocates of the internal clock theory believe that individual cells are told to stop dividing and thus eventually to die by, for example, hormones produced by the brain or by their own genes.

3. Which of the following topic sentences best fits the text given?

A. There are two broad theories concerning what triggers a human's inevitable decline to death.

B. Some scientists believe that humans contain an "internal time clock" which forces them eventually to die.

C. We all must die some day.D. My biology professor gave an interesting lecture on Thursday.

Answer the following question based on the text below.

The strictest military discipline imaginable is still looser than that prevailing in the average assembly-line. The soldier, at worst, is still able to exercise the highest conceivable functions of freedom -- that is, he or she is permitted to steal and to kill. No discipline prevailing in peace gives him or her anything remotely resembling this. The soldier is, in war, in the position of a free adult; in peace he or she is almost always in the position of a child. In war all things are excused by success, even violations of discipline. In peace, speaking generally, success is inconceivable except as a function of discipline. (from H.L. Mencken, "Reflections on War" [edited]).

4. Which of the following topic sentences best fits the text given?

A. Soldiers need discipline.B. We commonly look on the discipline of war as vastly more rigid than any

discipline necessary in time of peace, but this is an error.C. Although soldiers are not always disciplined, they serve an important social

function in wartime.D. In times of peace, soldiers often convert easily from wartime pursuits to the

discipline necessary successfully to compete in even the most competitive marketplace.

Answer the following question based on the text.

The tragic hero is typically on top of the wheel of fortune, half-way between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky. Prometheus, Adam, and Christ hang between heaven and earth, between a world of paradisal freedom and a world of bondage. Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning: Milton's Samson destroys the Philistine temple with himself, and Hamlet nearly exterminates the Danish court in his own fall.

5. Which of the following topic sentence best fits the text given?

A. Prometheus, Adam, and Christ hang between heaven and earth, between a world of paradisal freedom and a world of bondage.

B. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.

C. The tragic hero is typically on top of the wheel of fortune, half-way between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky.

D. Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass.


Closing the Generation Gap

We adore cute children but cringe at the sight of wrinkled, toothless elders. We excitedly welcome babies into the family but are displeased when an elderly person plans to move in with us. Why do we act like this? Many people shun the old due to prejudice, ignorance and a fear of ageing and dying. Young people do not like to be around the elderly until they reach the age when it dawns on them that they will soon be part of the ‘unwanted generation’. Previously, family members looked after their aged with such filial piety that an old folks home was an alien idea. Extended families of a few generations lived together and helped take care of one another. Sadly, the extended family is now a dying culture.

6. Which of the following is the thesis statement?

A. Young people do not like to be around the elderly until they reach the age when it dawns on them that they will soon be part of the ‘unwanted generation’.

B. We adore cute children but cringe at the sight of wrinkled, toothless elders.C. Sadly, the extended family is now a dying culture.D. Many people shun the old due to prejudice, ignorance and a fear of ageing

and dying.

The Pilgrims who arrived in Massachusetts in 1620 came to find religious freedom. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, large numbers of African men and women were brought as slaves to work on large plantations in the South. Immigrants from northern and southern Europe came in the early nineteenth century to escape poor economic conditions at home. Later in the nineteenth century, the first immigrants from China came as contract labourers to build the railroads connecting East and West. In the twentieth century, political and economic refugees arrived from Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Indeed, the United States has seen immigrants come from many different parts of the world, and they have come for many different reasons. Their ability to adjust to life in their adopted land has depended on several factors.


A. Indeed, the United States has seen immigrants come from many different parts of the world, and they have come for many different reasons.

B. The Pilgrims who arrived in Massachusetts in 1620 came to find religious freedom.

C. Their ability to adjust to life in their adopted land has depended on several factors.

D. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, large numbers of African men and women were brought as slaves to work on large plantations in the South.



A. This is reflected in the way in which the programme is conducted, academically and administratively.

B. There is also another university that makes it a compulsory component with industrial training carrying 16 credit hours and students’ performance in the training contributing towards CGPA computation.

C. Malaysian institutions of higher education adopt diverse approaches for industrial training programmes.

D. none


9. Which of the following options of transitions best fits the text?

Malaysian institutions of higher education adopt diverse approaches for industrial training programmes. This is reflected in the way in which the programme is conducted, academically and administratively. In the case of engineering, for example, there is a university that makes industrial training an elective component of the programme. There is also another university that makes it a compulsory component with industrial training carrying 16 credit hours and students’ performance in the training contributing towards CGPA computation.

(-), the organizations surveyed are willing to continue accepting students for industrial training because of the benefits of such programmes to the students and organizations. Organizations provided allowances to the majority of the respondents in this study, indicating their support for the industrial training programme. (-), several areas needing improvement have been identified. These include clearer industrial training guidelines, improved coordination between institutions and organizations and better preparation of students for industrial training.

A. nonetheless / thenB. however / overallC. overall / howeverD. then / nonetheless

writing exercise 2

Education