Environment: How Green Are You?

Try to do this quiz to see how environmentally friendly you are:

1. While you are actually brushing your teeth, you
a) leave the tap running.
b) turn off the tap and turn it back on to rinse your mouth.
c) only use a glass of water.

2. When you leave the room, you
a) turn off the light.
b) leave the stereo on but turn off the light.
c) leave everything on.

3. What do you do with empty bottles?
a) Take them to the recycling bin.
b) Return them to the market.
c) Throw them in the rubbish bin.

4. What are CFCs ?
a) Aerosols.
b) Dangerous gases that deplete the ozone layer.
c) A rock group.

5. When you buy eggs, the boxes are
a) polystyrene foam or clear plastic.
b) cardboard.
c) either ‘a’ or ‘b’, but you return them to the shops.

6. When you buy something at the supermarket, you
a) take a plastic carrier bag.
b) reuse an old plastic carrier bag.
c) use your own bag.

7. When you eat a chocolate bar in class, you
a) drop the wrapper under your desk.
b) put the wrapper in the litter bin.
c) save the wrapper for recycling.

8. Which products do you keep in your bathroom?
a) Biodegradable shampoo and cosmetics.
b) Aerosols.
c) Any kind of products from the supermarket.

9. In school, you use
a) refillable pens.
b) throwaway plastic pens.
c) refillable pens and solar-powered calculators.

10. If you were asked to contribute money to a Save the Environment project, you would
a) refuse to give.
b) give generously.
c) give a small amount.

11. Which of the following do you use?
a) Only recycled materials.
b) Recycled materials if someone gives them to you.
c) The cheapest ones.

12. Tropical forests should be
a) cut down so that we can profit from natural resources.
b) protected because they are beautiful.
c) protected because they produce oxygen.

Writing Blog

Dear students,

I have started a writing blog to develop your writing ability. You are welcomed to visit this blog.

I hope you will find this blog useful.

Human Body

Your heart is really a muscle. It's located a little to the left of the middle of your chest, and it's about the size of your fist. There are lots of muscles all over your body - in your arms, in your legs, in your back, even in your behind. But this muscle is special because of what it does - the heart sends blood around your body. The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away the waste that your body has to get rid of.

Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: it receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body. By the time you're grown up, your heart will be beating (pumping) about 70 times a minute.

How does the heart beat? Before each beat, your heart fills with blood. Then it contracts to squirt the blood along. When something contracts, it squeezes tighter - try squeezing your hand into a fist. That's sort of like what your heart does so it can squirt out the blood. Your heart does this all day and all night, all the time. Every day, an adult heart pumps 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of recycled blood by filling and contracting. The heart is one tough worker!

Now, try to answer these questions.

1. Where is your heart located? _________________________________

_________________________________

2. Where else can you find muscles in your body besides the heart? __________________________________________________________________

3. Why do we need a heart? _________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

4. Which organ(s) directly works with the heart? _________________________________

__________________________________________________________________


Taken from this website.

Here are some activities that you can do.

School Life : What to Do IN Class

Hi Students, the month of Feb is almost over and the PMR exam is getting nearer. You can't afford to waste time any longer. To help you make full use of your time, here is a piece of advice:

Make the most of your time in-class. It may be hard to believe it, but you can save yourself some serious studying time and help earn great grades by making the most of your time in-class. Instead of falling asleep or passing notes to your friends during class, here are a few suggestions for making the most of your class time:


Be There Physically & Mentally

Missing class will get you into a lot of trouble, because you then have to spend a lot of time trying to catch up with everyone else in the class who got themselves out of bed on time. You have to actually be there PHYSICALLY. But once you're there, it's just as important to be there MENTALLY by focusing on the class and paying attention. If for some reason you just can't be in class, get the notes. Talk to another student who was there. Or even better, plan a meeting with your teacher so you can sit down and talk about the things you missed.

Bridging the Gap: Family

Read the following text and pay attention to the use of possessive adjectives:

Jack is married to Alice. She is his wife and he is her husband. They have a daughter and son. The son's name is Henry and the daughter's name is Lisa. The live next to Alice's parents, Harry and Marjorie. Harry is Alice's father and Marjorie is her mother. Harry is Jack's father-in-law and Marjorie is his mother-in-law. Henry is Harry's grandson and Lisa is Marjorie's granddaughter. Alice has a sister and brother. Her sister's name is Mary and her brother's name is Frank. Frank has two children, David and Sherrie. Sherrie is Alice's nice and David is Alice's nephew. Alice is their aunt and Jack is their uncle.

Now, try to do this exercise.

Bridging The Gap: A Struggling Teenage Boy

Below is a story about a boy who is having a tough time for not being appreciated by his parents.

All of my life, I have been living in my brother's shadow. My parents always say, "Why can't you do _______ like your brother?" I am not nearly as good in sports as he is. I am doing well in school but not as well as he is. (He got several A's where I got A-'s). My brother is a great tennis player. Since I didn't join any sports until secondary school, my parents forced me to join tennis this year. I hate tennis. I'm terrible at it. I try to practice, and I learn new things. I'm getting better. However, I can only practice when my brother's not around. When my brother is nearby, I feel like a fool and I end up being hopeless on the courts, hitting the ball completely out of the boundaries, etc. Pressure, pressure, pressure.

Well, people of the web, I write this story to ask you one question: How can I deal with this problem? It's impossible to tell my parents about it; they will keep punishing me since they are really fond of my brother. I am sick of being an outcast in my family; even though I have a good social life at school and keep in touch with people through the internet. I feel something is missing in my life. Recently, I've been having one or two thoughts about hurting myself or committing suicide. Why? Not because I'm "emotional" or anything. I just want to know if anyone would even shed a tear if I wasn't here. Unwanted.

shed a tear - cry

Now, try to answer the following questions

1. Do you really think that his parents hate him?

2. Do you think his parents are aware of the way he feels towards his brother?

3. If he were to tell his parents, do you think his parents would punish him?

4. If you were this boy, what would you do?

To Serve, With Love

Hello Students,

This is some information on Yayasan Salam Malaysia, an organization actively involved in volunteer services at home and abroad. The passage below was taken from the Yayasan Salam Malaysia Website:


YAYASAN SALAM MALAYSIA, SALAM in short, is an independent, non-profit organization formed to promote a spirit of volunteer service among Malaysians and to provide opportunities for them to work as volunteers with communities in need at home and abroad.

SALAM organizes volunteer service programmes in various fields, focusing particularly on education, health and community development work.
Our activities are funded by contributions from individuals, corporate bodies and the government.

Mission

SALAM BELIEVES THAT PEOPLE IN ALL SOCIETIES are entitled to live in an environment that is socially just and equitable, and pursue a life of dignity and fulfillment.

SALAM regards volunteer work as a meaningful and effective way to help people lead better lives. To this end, SALAM provides volunteers to work with people and communities in need, sharing with them their knowledge and skills and building capabilities. Voluntary work, Volunteering ... if this is what you're looking for, you've come to the right place. Volunteer Today! Contact us at:


Yayasan Salam Malaysia
No 22 Jalan Changgai (6/22), 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 7958 4021
Fax: (603) 7958 4031
(Next to Asunta School)


Now, answer the following questions by filling in the blanks.


What kind of organisation is Yayasan Salam Malaysia?

Yayasan Salam is a__________________________organisation.

What are the fields that Yayasan Salam programmes involve in?

The Yayasan Salam programmes involve in the fields of ____________________________.

Where do Salam volunteers work at?

Salam volunteers work at____________________________.

Where is Yayasan Salam Malaysia located?

Yayasan Salam is located at________________________________.

Famous People: The Cartoonist, LAT

Read the following passage on LAT, the famous cartoonist and try to do the exercise that follows:

Lat, Malaysia’s kampong boy cartoonist and Malaysia’s son, is well-known to millions of Malaysians and Singaporeans. Since the appearance of his first drawings in the late 1960s, Lat has been honoured as a national treasure, cultural hero and a Malaysian institution.

Lat’s cartoon characters have always been ordinary people – a villager in his checkered sarung, a money lender in his white dhoti, and a Malay government servant in his bush jacket. Sometimes, he features himself: a character with a flat, round face, nose slightly off centre, the untidy mop of dark, curly hair and constant toothy grin.

His cartoons show the everyday life of the community he lives in. In other words, he shows all the best qualities of a kampong boy with an open, cosmopolitan mind. Lat relates naturally to the Malaysia man in the street. But, he has not forgotten the other nationalities living in Malaysia and they are portrayed with joyful appeal in a highly individual style. Lat believes strongly in originality as this strengthens the cartoonist’s identity.

Fill in the blanks with the words found in the passage or your own words.

1. Lat is popular among_____________________________.

2. The characters in Lat's cartoons are normally portrayed as___________________such as___________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________.


3. At times, the character would be himself: a boy with_______________________

______________________________________________________________________________.

4. To Lat, ___________________enhances____________________________.

Famous People: Linda Mc Cartney (Writing Skills)

Now, try to follow the following instructions:

1. Read the following passage on the late Linda McCartney about an ordinary day in her life.
2. Take note of the past tense verbs in bold.
3. Figure out the present tense form of the verbs.

Linda McCartney was the wife of Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles. She was with him from 1967 to 1998 when she died of breast cancer at the age of 56. She contributed her voice in The Beatles' title song of Let It Be in January 1969. She had four children. In an interview, she said that she liked going for a ride on her horse, Lucky Spot because horse riding is a marvellous form of exercise. Both she and Paul had the same interest which was football. They rarely got to see matches but they always watched it on television. Since Paul is a great Liverpool fan, they supported Liverpool. Being a photographer, she said that she got a lot of offers to take photographs. However, since she hated leaving the children, she just stayed home and took pictures of them instead. Before she went to bed at night, she always went to the kid’s bedroom and gave them each a kiss.


The following is what she said in an interview for a feature article which appeared in the Sunday Times newspaper. Fill in the blanks with the present tense verbs.

“I _______four children. I ______like going for a ride on my horse, Lucky Spot because horse riding is a marvellous form of exercise. Both Paul and I _______the same interest which ______football. We rarely_______to see matches but we always_______it on television. Since Paul _____a great Liverpool fan, we ________Liverpool. Being a photographer, I _______a lot of offers to take photographs. However, since I _______leaving the children, I just _______home and _______pictures of them instead. Before I________to bed at night, I always_______to the kids bedroom and______them each a kiss.”

Welcome

Hello,

Welcome to this blog, started especially for Form Three Students. I intend to provide some kind of guidance for the form three students in preparing for the PMR English paper.

For the Kedah State, the results for English for PMR 2008 had declined. Therefore, this blog is formed with the intention to help students improve their proficiency in English. I'll try as much as possible to adhere to the topics specified in the Form 3 syllabus and at the same time gear the activities and exercises towards the PMR exam format.

The English PMR paper consists of Paper 1 and Paper 2.

It is hoped that this blog will contribute to the students' learning experience in addition to the teaching and learning activities in the classrooms.

Regards,
Pn Sharifah
SMK Air Merah

"Stiving for Excellence"