SECTION A – Guided Essay (25 marks)

Some of your friends have asked you for advice on how to prepare for the PMR examination. You decide to write an article in your school magazine. Using the notes below, write the article on how to prepare for examinations.

1.Plan ahead – have a time table
2.Study consistently – form a study group
3.Make short notes – draw mind maps
4.Be familiar with syllabus, examination format – try out past year questions

When writing the article,


-Give a title for the article
-Use all the notes given
-Elaborate on the given notes to make it interesting
-Make sure it is more than 120 words

How To Prepare For The PMR Examination

  Since we were in the grade school, we have been haunted by a nightmare which is known as examination among us. Sometimes we passed it with flying colours but sometimes we failed  to do so leading our parents to hit the roof every time it happened . Now, many of us think that being a third former will make us suffer eventually as we will be sitting for a very big examination which is better known as PMR examination. So, I would like to justify that examination will not make us suffer and I would also share some advice on how to prepare for the PMR examination.

  Firstly, you will need to plan ahead. This is indeed one of the most important steps in preparing for the PMR examination. Going to a war without having a strategy or some tricks up your sleeves will only cause you to lose in the end of it The same goes for examination preparation. You will need to plan of things such as what subjects that you need to revise on a particular day, how long the revision sessions should be and how to get the best out of each session. To make it simple, you will need to have a time table. Having a time table will help you to be a more organised student and for sure will aid you to do well in the PMR examination. The time table should consists of the things that I have mentioned earlier and should be placed at a strategic place location as your school bag. This way, you can always refer to it easily without having to break a sweat searching for it high and low in your dormitory or your classroom.

  Secondly, you must also study consistently. Doing little exercises on the topic that you are weak at is better than doing a lot of them rarely. That is why consistency is very important when we do something. It does not apply only to study but also other aspects of life such as praying and practising for sports. If you feel that studying alone is boring or hard to do, you can always form a study group to put an end to the problem. Find and get along with some friends that have good characteristics such as brilliant and friendly. This is to prevent you from playing during studying in a study group if you happened to choose the wrong type of people to study with as being alone is better than in a bad company. You must also make sure not to bring too many people for your study group as too many cooks will spoil the broth.

  Besides, you will need to make short notes for each of the subject that you will take during the PMR examination. You can write them in things such as notepad and cards because they are really portable. This way, you can always carry them with you whenever you go and read them whenever you have nothing to do such as when you are waiting for the bus or when you are waiting for the next class to start. The major benefit of making short notes is that you can revise the whole topic or even the whole subject only by reading some keywords or short sentences. For sure it will save your time. Next, you can also draw mind maps instead of sentence-structured notes. The great thing about mind maps is that you will be more excited and eager to study compared to when you study using the normal, typical sentence-structured notes. To make you mind maps look more beautiful, you can add something such as colours and decorations to them.

  Lastly, you must be familiar with syllabus and examination format. This is important as answering without following the examination format will not get you far. Try to refer to people such as your teachers or even your seniors as they are not half-baked people and can help you with the format. You must also try out past year questions. This is to ensure that you are familiar with the PMR examination level questions so that you can give your best shot when the time for you to sit for it comes. These questions can be found easily at the bookstores. You can even ask your teachers to get a copy of them.

  To conclude, I hope that the advice and the tips that I have shared above will help you to prepare for the PMR examination. Let us put out best foot forward and work our fingers to the bone in our preparation so that the PMR examination will be a huge success for all of us. This is to ensure that our school will continue to be the best school in the state and so that our whole family will be proud of us.

By: Achmad Bakhtiar M Yuni

(824 words)