Tips and guides for Section C

This is the second part of the guides for PT3, with a focus on practising PT3-style questions. In this week’s worksheet, we shall be covering Section C of the PT3 English paper. You can refer to last week’s worksheet for the structure of the whole exam paper.

Tips & hints

1. This section is comprised of two questions, based on two stimuli in the form of a passage and a poem.

2. The questions test your language proficiency, analytical and reasoning skills.

3. The total marks for this section is 20: 15 marks for Question 4 and 5 marks for Question 5.

4. You are advised to spend only 20 minutes for this section.

5. Study the given passage and poem to understand the general idea of the texts.

6. Take note of the details in the passage and poem.

7. Scan the text to find key words that will help you to find the details needed to answer the question. You can try the following strategies:

(a) read the question carefully and work out exactly what you are looking for

(b) skim the text to find out where the information is likely to be

(c) scan those parts of the text by highlighting or underlining keywords

8. Answer the questions in the order they are set.

9. Be mindful of the questions that test your creativity. Here is a sample of Question 4 on linear texts in Section C. Read the opinion letter carefully and answer questions (a) - (j).

“Kepada rakyat Malaysia yang tidak tahu Bahasa Malaysia, anda tidak layak menjadi warganegara Malaysia!” (To those Malaysians who do not know the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, they should not call themselves Malaysians). Is this a fair statement?

The above statement was purposely put as a Facebook status to provoke opinions from Malaysians. I must say that as much as I have anticipated some of the responses, I also felt surprised that Bahasa Malaysia has not been put in a dignified position in the minds of many Malaysians. It has been put on “optional” mode where even if they do not know the language, these Malaysians do not feel that their lives will be affected.

One of the comments that I received is this: “Even though you are good in Bahasa Malaysia, have you done enough for the country? What about those who prefer to express in other languages, but yet give their all to the country?”

There are many truths in that series of comments and I agree with all. However, do we just forget Bahasa Malaysia altogether even if we are good citizens? Do we not care about our heritage and culture? To be honest, I am in a dilemma because I have many Malaysian friends who are good citizens but do not know how to speak or write in Bahasa Malaysia.

For me, you must know how to read and write the national language but not necessarily at a superb level. When a foreigner asks a Malaysian, “Do you know how to say (certain words or phrases) in your national language?”, surely you cannot say, “Sorry, I do not know my country’s national language”.

As mentioned earlier, I do agree that Malaysians who cannot speak or write in Bahasa Malaysia are not less of a Malaysian than those who can speak Bahasa Malaysia. It is, of course, what we do that matters to show our support for the nation. Nationalism or patriotism can be measured in other ways apart from the use of language. However, we must not ignore it totally. We must at least put in the effort to master the national language. We may not be really good at it on the proficiency scale, but at least we can tell foreigners that, “Yes, we do know how to speak and write our national language”.

While we put in an effort to maintain the dignity of the national language, we are commercially pushed to master the English language for the sake of globalisation and internationalisation of the professional work that we do. There is no harm in learning many languages but it is the national language keeps us together just like how a nation’s flag or a national anthem does. It is a sense of belonging, a point of reference to remind us that we are Malaysians.

Finally, I would like to remind Malaysians that our nation is a young one. We have just celebrated our 61st independence anniversary on Aug 31. What does a developed nation have if we are to benchmark? A developed nation has a strong identity.

What are the building blocks of identity? I must say, culture. What is a culture of a nation without common elements for all citizens to grab hold onto? We need that common element. I say, let us start with strengthening the acceptance and appreciation of our very own national language, Bahasa Malaysia.

Suggested answers and tips:

The answers for (a) to (f) can be lifted directly from the text. The answers to the other questions, however, have to be inferred.

(a) Facebook

(b) The writer has many Malaysian friends who are good citizens but do not know how to speak or write in Bahasa Malaysia.

(c) They are sent to English-medium schools./ They don’t feel their lives will be affected if they do not know Bahasa Malaysia.

(d) (i) Bahasa Malaysia is our heritage and culture (ii) to show our support for our nation

(e) (i) nationalistic (ii) citizenship (iii) globalisation (iv) benchmark

(f) To provoke opinions and responses on from Malaysians

(g) Unity and a sense of belonging

(h) A strong identity made up of culture and a national language.

(i) Appreciation of our national language

(j) Be loyal and adhere to the rules and regulations./ Speak and write well in Bahasa Malaysia.

Now you give it a try:

Read the text on Manixia Thor carefully and answer questions (a) - (i).

As a mother and demining technician, Manixia Thor is helping to change the landscape of Laos, one dangerous item at a time. After completing high school in 2007, Manixia joined the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) as a UXO (unexploded bombs) clearance technician. Now at age 26, Manixia has worked her way up to become the Deputy Team Leader of one of MAG’s all-female UXO clearance teams, funded by the U.S. Government.

She loves working alongside the other women and believes they are a shining symbol of the great changes in current day Laos.

“Our team can show that women can do anything! I want people to know that Lao women are as strong as women from other countries,” said Manixia.

Manixia, who is a Hmong from Xieng Khoang, Laos stays at her work site for three weeks, where she works alongside her team to clear bombs from a local village.

Her all-female UXO clearance team has proved to be just as capable if not harder working than the other teams. Occasionally, some men doubt whether women can work as well as them, but Manixia and her team love to prove them wrong!

Manixia says UXO are a particularly big problem for farmers in Xieng Khoang, as they are in real danger of becoming the victim of a UXO explosion every time they go to the fields. Manixia is proud that through her work she is able to make life safer for farmers, their families, and other people living in the province so that they can develop and build better futures.

Manixia’s family is very much committed to supporting her, looking after her two year old son while she is working. Her husband is the Operations Support Officer, assisting the international technical manager and providing technical support to the UXO clearance teams.

Manixia and her family have personally experienced the dangers of UXO. Her uncle was involved