Some misfortune fell on Plato this week. First, he was fired by his boss. Then, he broke up with his girlfriend. Worst of all, he even had his wallet stolen yesterday. Distressed and distraught, he wanted to know how many terrible things would happen to him in the future. So he decided to seek advice from a fortune teller. The old man read his palm and told him that he might be sent to the hospital in the near future. Plato was scared and felt nervous, but he dismissed the predicton as nonsense and turned to a different fortune teller. This time Plato found a witch-like woman who told fortune with a crystal ball and tarot cards. She told Plato that he would get lots of money in the future. Plato was excited after hearing this predictin. He thought to himself that good luck would finally fall on him! Singing his favorite song, Plate rode his motorcycle and fotgot all the bad things which had happened to him that week. Suddenly, a piece of paper flew to him and stuck on his face. Plato couldn’t see the road and crashed into a tree on the roadside. Unfortunately, Plato broke his leg and was sent to the hospital. However, Plato discovered that the paper was a latest lottery ticket and the result would be announced that evening. Recalling what the second tarot master said, Plato beamed. He might win the first prize. Who knows? (243 words) (31130 蔣亞彤) (15)

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Source: 96 SAT English (CEEC)

As usual, Lucy went to the park in her neighborhood for fun last Sunday afternoon. Unexpectedly, there came a little furry thing—a kitty. To attract its attention, Lucy crouched down slowly, took out a ball, and tried to imitate a meowing sound. “Meow,” it seemed to respond to her, gradually getting close. Shortly, they played together as if they were good friends. As a matter of fact, Lucy had always wanted to keep a cat as a pet so she decided to bring it home. To her surprise, there came more cats, following Lucy on her way home. Hardly could she leave these lovely yet wretched stray kittens behind. Thus, out of compassion, Lucy turned to her mom. 

At home, Lucy begged her nom to take the poor kitties in, and her mom agreed on condition that Lucy would take the full responsibility for them. Hence, that night, Lucy went to bed, feeling contented and blissful. However, the next morning, Lucy rose, finding something bizarre and putrid. There were five cats in the living room! Much to her astonishment, excrement was splattered everywhere and on the ground was an abominable mass. Abruptly, the ceiling began to revolve and everything in her eyes became vague. Soon, the topsy-turvy sight vanished and Lucy truly awoke from her slumber. In truth, what she saw had been a nightmare. Then, Lucy came to realize that it could mean a hard time looking after the kitties. For this realization, Lucy changed her mind about keeping them. Nonetheless, neither should she accommodate nor forsake them. She sent them to her friends who also wanted to have a pet according. Hopefully, the kittens would never be abandoned again. (282 words ) (302黃勁惟) (19)

Unable to bear the agony of losing his wife, John drove on the highway and hoped that the road could lead him to a place which could help him sense a little bit of peace. He drove absentmindedly. It had been three months since his wife passed away, but he was unable to pull himself out of the sorrow. Finally, he pulled over at barren place. With nobody in sight, he sat calmly in the car, letting the breeze comb through his hair.

With tons of memories which were composed by his endearing wife Eva nd him, he felt pain on deciding whether to lot go or to stay in the same mood. Eventually, he got out of the car and stood still by it. He shouted his words hysterically into the air with tears rolling down his cheeks. All of a sudden, a wave of wind swept over and brought his words and tears away. He knelt down to the ground with relief. A beam of sunlight caressed his face, as his wife used to. He then knew that his wife had got his message and he was set free from his bereavement. (195 words)

ASK AUNTY 

Sep. 2009, RD 

Dear Aunty, 

I have a good friend who’s a foodaholic. When the front door opens, he heads for my fridge and eats whatever is in sight. He weighs over 130 kilograms. I never raid his kitchen. I have told him his behavior bothers me, but he laughs it off. What can I do to keep from getting angry each time?

                                                                                                     Buffet Buddy

 Dear Buddy,

If you can’t change him, then change yourself. Just let him eat. And put only vegetables and fruits in your fridge. It will be healthier. So next time he pays you a visit, have a “light diet” with him.

(31103) 

Dear Buffet Buddy,

Tell him that this behavior really offends you. If he still cast your warning to the winds, next time he comes to your home, put nothing but a toy pig in your refrigerator. When he opens it, you say, “I’m sorry. All my food has been eaten by this pig so I have nothing to feed you.” He will feel very embarrassed and won’t even dare to open your refrigerator any amore.

(31117) 

Dear Buffet Buddy,

This is really annoying. Here is a suggestion for you. Stop buying food for a month and then see what would happen. Maybe he will realize that his behavior really makes you mad. IF this doesn’t work, I think you should move to a new place. (31115)

Dear Buffet Buddy,

You can try and clean the food out of your fridge every time before he steps into your house. IF you think this way too troublesome, then you can put a scale in front of the fridge. Ask him to stand on it before he opens the fridge; meanwhile, threaten him telling him he is unlikely to get a girlfriend if he keeps eating.

(31133) 

Dear Buffet Buddy,

Calm down! There is no need for you to get angry about this. Getting angry can’t solve the problem. First, you can avoid bringing him to your home. Second, if he insists on going to your home and eats up all the food, then you should put as little food as possible in your fridge and tell him again that his behavior “really” bothers you. Last, since he is your good friend, why not help him get rid of this bad habit? Take him to the gym on weekends. I’m sure he’ll get healthier and won’t raid your kitchen anymore.

(31120) 

The advice from the RD: 

Dear Buddy,

Imagine if your friend was an alcoholic instead. Would you keep the booze where he could so readily get to it when he comes to visit? Slip your friend an article about the effects of obesity on heart disease and diabetes and then post a “Family Members Only” sign on the door of the fridge.

One rainy day, Lisa was walking on the street. She was excited because she had a date with her pen pal. They were going to watch a movie at a newly-opened theater. “I can’t wait! I hope he is a handsome guy,” she thought to herself. Since they had never seen each other before, both of them had to bring a red umbrella so that they could recognize each other.
About three blocks from the theater, something happened. All of a sudden, a strong wind broke Lisa’s umbrella. Lisa had no choice but to abandon the umbrella. To shelter herself from the rain and help her pen pal find his right date, Lisa decided to find an umbrella store to buy a new one.
Holding her handbag over her head to block the rain, Lisa rushed across the street. Without looking, she bumped into a handsome man. The man yelled at Lisa furiously for her carelessness. Lisa apologized to him and explained that she was in a hurry. However, the man still left angrily. Lisa stared at his back and found that the man was holding a red umbrella!
Standing in the rain, now she had a tough decision to make, to go or not to go for the date.

(210 words) (30323) The rater’s comments: “You got an interesting plot.”

1.

It was a rainny summer, which made the seed of love growing. Crystal didn’t like a raining day at all because she thougth it was a trouble to take an umbrella while walking . That day, Crystal was walking aon her way home with a bad ood because she had just broke up with her ex-boyfriend due to he had fallen in love with another girl. However, it never rains but pours, a strng wind roared by, which made her umbrella broken and blowed it away. Feeling embarrassed and upset, Crystal really wanted to cry, but he chocked back her tears finally. Then she put her purse on her haed to avoid the rain fell on her and started dto run as fast as she can that she could go back to her home as soon as possible But she was running too quickly to see a man walkign toward to her, she bumped into the man’s chest and fell down on the street. Crystal felt extremely hurt both her body and heart, so burst out crying on the site immediately.

“I am sorry,” the man, Mark, said to Crystal. It was not until Crystal see Mark’s face util she raise her head up. Crystal was s oshocked! Mar’s handsome was beyond desciption and Crystal fell in love with him at the first sight. Mark old Crystal hat he was sorry for leting she cry so he waned to buy a cup of coffee for she for apology. Ten years after that, Mark become Crystal’s husband! Now Crystal loves rainny day very much. She always looks at the view outside the window on a rainny day, memorying the day that she met Mark at the first time. (287 words) (13.5)

2.

It was a raining Saturday. Sandy walked on the street alone with her favorite umbrella. Since she was going to have a job interview, Sandy had a nervous expression on her face.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew through. Thus, Sandy walked back a few steps and, even worse, her umbrella, which couldn’t withstand the severe wind, turned inside out. No matter how hard Sandy tried to fix the umbrella, it just didn’t work out. With her umbrella totally broken and her beautiful dresses completely wet, Sandy couldn’t help crying out loud. However, there was not much time left for her interview; therefore, Sandy wiped her tears and kept on waling with her bag on her head. She walked as fast as she could, lest she should be late. Unfortunately, she accidentally ran into a man. Both of them fall down on the ground with a loud “Bang.”

Sandy apologized and much to her surprise, the man said it was fine and he asked Sandy to share the umbrella with him.

The man was very gentle and humorous. They talked delightfully. However, something strange happened. The man said he was going to a place where Sandy had her job interview.

Out of Sandy’s expectation, the man was her job interviewer!

In the end, Sandy got her job. She thought it was extremely lucky for her to broke the umbrella. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have the job and meet a handsome man by chance. (241 words) (15)

3.

It was one of those rainy days that Benna hated the most. Rain drops poured from the sky as if they were bullets trying to get to their targets. Benna’s new Dior skirt was soaked, and she couldn’t help but swearing out loud. To keep herself calm, she made herself imagine that she was embraced by the warm sunshine. Indulging in her own thoughts, she didn’t notice that the rain were gaining stronger, and the wind were blowing franctically around her. Suddenly, a strong wind hit her, and blew up her pink umbrella. Not wanting to buy a new one, she just ran as fast as she could in order to get home immediately.

While running on the street, rain drops shot into her eyes, and made her sight go into a blur. Ignoring those rain drops, she kept on running. Too exhausted to see who was in front of her, she bumped into a man mistakenly. When she was about to apologize for her reckless behave, she couldn’t stop but to gaze at the attractive figure in front of her. The man had dark-blue eyes, and a lovely smile that could kill nearly all the women in the world. She let her words out separately, since she was so nervous that she couldn’t speak properly.

After apologizing, she thought she had better start running home. However, the handsome man grabbed her arms when she was going to walk away. HE said that he could walk her hoe, since he had an umbrella. Surprised by the sweet act, contentment radiated from her expression. “Maybe it wasn’t so bad to have a rainy day!” she thought to herself, since anything could happen after suffering such a misterious day. (288 words) (16)

It was such a beautiful day despite the fact that it was raining outside. I was on my way to work, and everything seemed to be perfect. Nevertheless, a strong gust of wind changed my thought immediately. My lovely and only umbrella had just broken due to the severe wind. I was helpless on the spot, but didn’t want to be soaking wet and then be scolded by my strict boss. Consequently, with only a purse on my hand, I didn’t care about whether it was a brand-name collection or not, I just held it up high and onto my head so as to block the heavy rain. “It was only ten blocks away,” I tried to comfort myself. Then, I crossed the street with all my mind thinking about if my stern boss would be furious at me or not; therefore, I didn’t pay attention to the people on the crosswalk. “Bang!” A loud sound woke me up from my thinking. I was embarrassed and didn’t force myself to look who it was. My face turned red, and my heartbeat quicken. I didn’t dare to look at the person at all.

Then a masculine voice shocked me. The guy politely asked if I was okay. I said “Yes!” and was about to leave the embarrassing sight. He then quickly added if he could walk me to wherever I was heading. I slightly nodded. As we arrived at my work, I thanked him sincerely for what he had done, and he told me he just loved to help people.

I was grateful and moved, and from then on, I decided to help others as long as I could. Thanks to him, I learned a great lesson fo life which had benefited myself a lot ever since then. (297 words)  (Score: 17)

Some students just jotted down a few words; others told about their recent life; still others wrote about the song. The following are words about the song:

“An angel in the sky flying high, A paradise without pain comes into my mind. My sweet, old memory. I wish I were a kid.” (30114)

“It speads hope into humans’ minds, beautiful voice.” (30117)

“It empowers me. relax. Believe me, I can fly.” (30135)

“Be who you want to be. Everyone has their sky. A beautiful song.” (30104)

“…I love this song! THere is one with the same melody in Chinese.” (31132)

“lulluby, comfortable, relaxk enjoy, good song, meaningful, brave, elegant, encourage, inspire.” (31115)

“smooth, peaceful, lovely.” (31121)

“happy, great, comfortable, wonderful, so good.” (31137)

“The song is great and it can soothe a person. It’s a perfect song to play while we are sleeping. There is also a good song entitled “firework” The lyrics inspire mje a lot.” (31127)

“I want to sleep. This song is great.” (31113)

“This was one of the songs we sang in the English drama when I was in junior high school. I love the song so much! And we won the 1st prize. Those great memories sprang to my mind!” (31116)

“Perfect.” (311)

“So soft, warm, good.” (31108)

“I love loved it since I first heard it when I was little. Believe in yourself. Be proud of yourself. fly…fly and fly…” (31107)

“I love the song very much! I like the smooth melody and lovely lyrics. Beautiful songs relax me and makes me happy. Thank you, teacher!” (31124)

“There is a picture in my mind. We graduate from this school and we all get into good colleges. We are happy and laughing.” (31122)

“The song makes me feel warm, entirely free from the stress.” (31103)

“It is really soft. The voice of the child is sweet and innocent.” (31131)

“Comfortable, cozy, warm, elegant.” (31123)

“Sleepy, enjoyable, comfortable.” (31118)

“When I heard this song, I thought of getting into a college I like, and the new college life. I will have a beautiful smile on my face every day.” (31133)

Here I’d like to thank Annie (詹麗馨老師) for introducing this song on FB yesterday. In fact, I’ve heard this song dozens of times for it was played at almost all the wedding banquets I have attended since two years ago. However, I didn’t know its title until yesterday. A beautiful song, indeed.

Summary

Mr. Whitson, the author’s science teacher in his sixth grade, gave his students a lecture in the first class about a creature called the cattywampus. All of the students took notes without a doubt. However, this creature had never existed on the earth. So everyone got a zero on the quiz. Definitely, Mr. Whitson outraged the students, but he taught them a lesson. After that, his students were used to using their brains instead of taking everything they learned from the authority as the truth. (85 words) (30129 劉又嵻)

A good teacher…

cuts through problems.
teachers in an energetic fashion.
imparts knowledge from lives as well from books. (30103)

should correct his students and let them know why they are wrong.
should teach not only knowledge but also a positive attitude.
should be patient even if his students are stubborn. (30107)

must answer students’ questions.
doesn’t get angry if he is wrong.
can discuss with students as good partners. (30112)

has a lot of knowledge.
should always show an inquisitive mind as a role model.
should know what students really should learn.
should have good relationships with students. (30114)

never gives up on his student.
knows what is the best for the students.
teaches his students how to make themselves a useful person. (30123)

not only teaches but also plays with students.
gives students firmness when they fail.
teach not only the subject, but good personality. (30124)

needs to enjoy teaching.
should care more about students’ attitude than grades.
is called God of math. (30126)

teaches not only knowledge but also a right attitude to life.
values attitude, not scores.
can encourage and change his/her students. (30127)

points out students’ mistakes.
retains his/her passion for teaching.
is happy about students’ progress. (30129)

should help us to figure out something is wrong.
tells us how to support what we said.
tells us not to let our minds go to sleep. (30302)

not only gives us many formulae but also makes us think of solutions to problems on
our own. (30309)

should let students understand, not just teach them the formulae.
I don’t think a good teacher should have special characteristics, but if he or she
can touch my heart and inspire me to work hard, I think he is a good teacher.
(30310)

gives many useful supplementary information in class.
teaches students patiently rather than scolding them.
gets along with students. (30318)

helps me enhance my grades.
guides me to broaden my horizons.
is passionate. (30324)

should teach students a positive attitude to life, which can’t be found in textbooks.
has a great friendship with students.
never gives up on his students whatever they are. (30329)

should teach well and be patient.
should give the students a hand when they face a problem whether it is about schoolwork or about life.
should have a positive effect on students. (30331)

gives students useful advice.
teaches students patiently.
listens to students patiently and lead them to the right direction. (30336)

is like a friend, more than a teacher.. This is an important part.
has good ability to solve all the problems of the students. (31107)

should teach his students to be innovative.
should tell his students to be suspicious of what they are learning. (31111)

has a kind heart.
has passion for teaching.
always wears a big smile. (31112)

 1st mock exam essay samples.doc

Here are three of the nine.

1.

It was a cloudless night, but Lucy gave up the chance of having a good dream in order to burn the midnight oil to study for the exam which would be held next Monday. Tired as she was, she drank up cans of coke to restore her energy around two o’clock. She was all nerves that she could scarcely focus on the textbooks. With not much time left, she could only roughly review the dominant concepts of the chapters. Twenty minutes passed, she found it was all in vain because she was so sleepy that she could barely remember anything; therefore, she lay herself on the bed and fell deep in the sleep with a blink of an eye, then she started to snore loudly.

Next morning, she turned over as she opened her eyes, she was stunned. On the clock it showed eight thirty. She got up from the bed instantly, eating breakfast and had her tooth brushed as quick as possible. Finally, she got out the door within two minutes. While she eventually got to the school, she was jaw-dropped shock again. It was Sunday and the exam was scheduled on Monday. Although feeling embarrassed, she was relieved. She then took her time went back and rescheduled her plan. After all of this, she had a really good sleep and was ready for the exam in the end. (230 words) (18)

2.

It was a starry night, Jane’s family was all asleep, but Jane was still awake studying for the endless tests. Afraiding of waking her family, Jane read under the moonlight instead of the light. Though she made every effort to concentrate on her text books, she suffered from fighting against the desire of sleep. Therefore, she decided to drink coca-cola to keep herself awake. Thanks to the result of drinking coca-cola, Jane stayed up until two thirty in the morning. Then she went to bed with her tiring body.

Upon hearing the birds singing outside the windows, Jane woke up and looked at the clock that said eight thirty. “Oh my god! I am going to be late for school!” thought Jane. She darted out from her home without brushing teeth or eating breakfast. Meanwhile, she heard her mom shouting at her, but she couldn’t care more since she was already late. Finally, she arrived at the school. She ran so fast that it only took her five minutes to get there. When she waked into the school, she saw her classmate John, who she had a crush on. She saw him wearing a T –shirt and a pair of jeans with a basketball in his hand. John greeted her, and asked her why she came to school in pajamas on Sunday. It was not until then did it dawn on Jane that it was Sunday; her face blushed like an apple. Jane felt too embarrassed to speak, so she ran away crying.

After making this embarrassing mistake, Jane swore that she would never go to bed so late, and ignore her mom when she shouts at her. (278 words) (16)

3.

As a student, Jessica was the lazy one. She always stayed up late before the test. One day as usual, before Jessica was about to go to bed, she noticed that there would be an important test the next day. Feeling a great regret as she spent the whole day playing computer games, Jessica studied.

After she studied for three hours, the desire of sleep surged in her mind. She kept dozing in front of her desk. Finally, Jessica went to bed at 2:30am . She had a nightmare. Teachers shouted at her due to the bad grades she got in her dream. Books even chased at her. Jessica didn’t sleep well.

Getting up late in the morning, Jessica rushed to her school. On her way to school, the dream she had few hours ago haunted her. After she arrived at the school’s gate, she found it was Sunday! Couldn’t believe her eyes, Jessica felt a great embarrassing herself.

Jessica decided to develop a habit of studying every day after she got home from school. Were it not for her bad attitude for the test, the ridiculous mistake wouldn’t had happened. She chose to be a hard-working student instead of the lazy one.

(203 words) (14)