Boys of class O-II are busy practising Descriptive Narrative here. Description of situations and feelings is deemed as one of the most challenging jobs when it comes to writing skill, but see our brilliant Ahmar Siddiqui has fully succeeded in that. Well done, boy! :)

A time I experienced something spooky

The pungent smell of perspiration in the air entered my nostrils as I entered the newly constructed jogging track. Already, there were runners left and right racing enthusiastically. One side of the track was lined with tall hedges that separated the track from an educational institution whereas the other side afforded a view of the park. I had caught wind of the establishment through a friend who also exercised routinely. I did a quick warm up and began to run at a brisk pace. After successfully completing two laps around the track, I stopped and sat down, leaning against the towering hedge. I looked up to find the sun hidden behind thunderous clouds that rumbled above. I made a silent prayer for it not to rain otherwise I would be unable to visit the open air gym.

Unfortunately, my prayer went unanswered, and it started raining heavily – that they call ‘cats and dogs’. So, I briskly made for the exit. On the way, I jumped over a black cat. Though I continued onwards, but was internally aghast. I bit my tongue as I recalled the superstition that walking past a black cat is a bad luck sign. I dismissed the thought as an old wives’ tale and got back to the task at hand.

Hardly a minute had passed when an oddly shaped object caught my eye. I neared the tall hedge where the unidentified object was. To my horror, I found a severed finger! I yelped and ran home faster than a speeding bullet.

When I lied down in my bed that night, my wild imagination began to conjure multiple scenarios regarding the severed finger. The scenario that my mind deemed most likely was that a man had been chopped up into miniscule pieces by a serial killer. Realizing how close to my residence the heinous act had been committed, I found sleep escaping me. I recalled the black cat I had jumped over and concluded that bad luck was responsible for my current predicament.

The following day, I set off towards the jogging track to procure the finger to submit it to the police. Trying to appear inconspicuous I casually jogged over to the spot where I had discovered the finger. To my utter disbelief, I found several severed body parts littered beside the hedge. The horrific sight made me queasy.

A stranger approached me and inquired about my obvious distress. I responded by pointing to the body parts. The stranger laughed and told me that the body parts were fake; they were used to teach first aid classes at the school that was on the other side of the hedge. Dubious, I reasoned how lifelike the parts looked. The stranger who had introduced himself as a regular runner, named Ahmed, showed me the insides of the objects, proving that they were made of plastic.

I took a sigh of relief. My belief in superstition disintegrated as swiftly as it had formed.

Written by:
Mohammad Ahmar Siddiqui

Ahmar

Yet another ‘blast’ by Umar Khan of class O’ Levels final year! Same is the setting here: a snowy day weather condition. Even though amount of vocabulary related with snowy day is not as per our requirement, yet see the way he engaged us right from the first word he dropped onto the answersheet; the power of dragging us along till end; and a startling ending leaving you flabbergasted. A big thumb up, dear Umar! We all wish you an A* grade in your Cambridge Exam.

What she said next struck me like the blade of a sword......

I glanced out of the window and ran my gaze through the world now covered in a carpet of white. It seemed as if the earth had buried itself under blankets trying to resist the cold which had now taken over the world.  My breath clouded the window. Kids gave life to the dead world. They darted here and there, kicking mounds of snow into the air. Small and delicate crystals could be seen falling from the sky.

Knowing that today would be the perfect day, I quickly grabbed the ring and slid it into my pocket. The door creaked as I slowly opened it. My eyes pained as a sudden gush of light sprang into the room. After a brief moment, I stepped out onto the porch.

My heartbeat sped up when I saw her and thundered in my chest. She sat silently on the bench. Her face was as radiant as always. The first time I had saw her, purchasing chocolate bars at the local store, I knew it was love. She did things to my heart that I had never experienced before. My steps got heavier as I approached her. My fingertips rubbed against the silver ring resting in my pocket.

Seeing me, she abruptly stood up. Snow lightly showered on us. The chilly breeze pounded my face. Before I could say anything, she started to cry. Tears slid down her cheeks. I couldn't anticipate what was happening. A part of me wanted to rush to her and take her into my arms, while the other part made me stay where I was- dumbfounded. "I have to tell you something ," she whimpered. A chill ran up my spine as I heard the words- there was pain in them. What she said next struck me like the blade of a sword, piercing through the heart. She uttered, "I'm carrying a child."

Umar Khan
O' Levels Final Year
PakTurk International School & College
Chak Shahzad Campus
Islamabad

O’ Level students are fully clear on this point that when getting hold of a topic for story writing, and intending to use first person pronoun ‘I’, they can pose to be anybody, like a mom, a baby, a shopkeeper, an elderly person or a young man etc. See the way Muhammad Abubakar Mian seized the topic, triggered/prompted his imaginative explosive to cause this ‘big bang’ you call ‘a short story’. Intensely engaging right from the first word he dropped onto the sheet, the story is compellingly believable. With crispy, punchy sentences most naturally gushing out like a water spring, and well-connected like pieces in a chain, the story itself unfolds all information, the background, the present scenario and a likely future. You’d feel as if you were watching this incident with your own eyes. It’s like a Hollywood movie scene.

Muhammad Abubakar Mian was asked to generate a short story using the following two sentences anywhere in the text.

“Blood was still oozing out of his nose…”

“I had never expected her to betray me like that.”

Blood was still oozing out of his nose as I slammed him against the wall and continued to beat him to a pulp. His tattered shirt was red all over, but no amount of bleeding would stop my onslaught. My fury of punches continued to rain down on him as I blocked out the screams of my wife. She pleaded me to calm down, but that was like asking a bull to stop and wait as an entertainer tied his shoes - impossible. In retrospect, I’m not exactly sure where all that intense energy had come from, but come it did, and when it came, it was violent. 

The stranger had touched my wife in the privacy of my home. I use the word “stranger” lightly as he was a stranger to me but might not have been a stranger to these walls. My wife could have let him in on a number of occasions. This was a possibility that I did not want to believe, but was forced to at least consider. I had never expected her to betray me like that. These thoughts raced through my mind as my one-sided offensive continued. 

There was one thought that resonated throughout my body more so than the others: ‘This was my fault. It was my neglect that had led my wife to what she has done.’ She was not to blame, and neither was the man at the receiving end of my fists. The latter was only taking advantage of the former’s unfortunate situation. The thought of this magnified my anger ten-fold, but it was through this anger that I realized the man before me was now motionless. His whimpering had subsided and his body grew cold. The next sound I heard was that of a police siren going off somewhere in the distance as two men in blue jackets kicked down the door.

"Letter to the Principal" is Muhammad Abu Bakar Mian's answer to the question on directed writing in the Grand Test held in February this year (2014). It was found an excellent piece of work. Other students from O' Level stream can have exposure into 'HOW TO DO' a formal letter by concentrating on both the content and quality of the text here..

Letter to the Principal

Dear Sir,

I am filled with great pride and honor having been selected for recommending this year’s “Student of the Year” award. This is a high task as one must be a good judge of character in nominating another student for the certificate. For better or for worse, I am quite the social butterfly and am well acquainted with almost everyone in our school. It is only after many hours of consideration that I have come to choose Muhammad Ali as my nominee for this award.

Muhammad Ali deserves being the student of the year more than anyone else for countless reasons. He serves as an excellent role model for not just his classmates, but those that he surrounds himself with outside of school. I can say it with confidence that if you ask anyone about him, you will hardly hear anything negative. Ali has worked hard all his life – which is something that is really starting to pay off as he nears graduation and is about to enter college.

My nominee’s academic record is spotless; Straight As is the name of the game here. Apart from this, Ali is heavily involved in extra-curricular activities taking place in and around the school. He led the school’s Lego Robotics team to victory this year, and helped secure first place in the district-wide debate competitions. While serving as our basketball team’s captain, he has also managed to find the time needed to be part of the Student Council. His role in the Student Council has been especially important since he has helped resolve much of the bullying problems that were present earlier.

I am not nominating Ali on the basis of his academic achievements and extra-curricular participation alone. It is my firm belief that more important than any of this is his gentle and very caring nature. While he is not afraid to speak out and challenge the status quo, he has also never delayed himself in helping other individuals as much as possible. This is something I can personally vouch for as he has spent a good portion of his free time tutoring a few of my friends and I in math and physics.

I hope I have done well in portraying Muhammad Ali as the perfect candidate that he is and I pray that your make the right decision.

Yours faithfully,

Muhammad Abubakar Mian

O’ Level Final Year

PakTurk International School

Islamabad

Boys of O’ Level Final, the other day, were challenged by their language teacher to produce a story within 40 minutes time, in a way that the ending must have some sort of surprise. Here is what our writing genius Muhammad Abubakar Mian ‘blurted out’. Witty and amusing stuff!!

I had practiced saying it a hundred times, but when the moment came, I just couldn't open my mouth.

“I had practiced saying it a hundred times, but when the moment came, I just couldn’t open my mouth!” Wasiullah wailed.

Upon hearing this, the entire room burst into a thunderous roar. It was hard not to laugh at Wasiullah’s misfortune. Wasiullah, the shy gentleman in our group of friends, was retelling his failed attempt at befriending the pretty girl living across the street from him.

“And what happened next?”

I questioned while trying to conceal my smile as best I could.

“Absolutely nothing.” He murmured. “She stood there looking at me expectantly with those soft pearly eyes of hers. She waited a few seconds for me to say something, but I guess she gave up as the next thing I saw was the small of her back and her golden-brown hair.”

“Soft pearly eyes? What the hell have you been smoking, man?”

“I smoke only the sweet fumes of love.”

Wasiullah replied as a smile quietly stretched across his face. His mood seemed to have been improving. It was clear, however, that Wasiullah had something special brewing in his heart for this girl, and that it was up to us to get the job done.

It was decided that I would be the one to accompany our lovestruck knight on his next expedition. Wasiullah seemed to be having an issue with introducing himself. For this reason, my task was to take care of the introductions before quickly leaving the two of them to themselves. Wasiullah informed me that the girl went for a stroll through Central Park every day at around three in the afternoon. We decided that this would be the best time for making contact with her. The next day both of us made our way to a bench near the entrance of the park and began waiting patiently. After about an hour of sitting around, Wasiullah let out a nervous squeal.

          

“There she is!” he yelped.

 Mustering as much suave as I could, I slowly made my way towards her.

 “Hi there.” I hollered.

The girl, however, walked right past me. Befuddled, I caught up with her and put my hand on her shoulder. Once she turned around, I told her my name with an inviting smile. This is when the girl pointed to her ear and I made a harrowing realization. The girl, who our dear Wasiullah had so quickly fallen in love with, was deaf.

Muhammad Abubakar Mian, O’ Level Final Year
PakTurk International School
Chak Shahzad Campus, Islamabad

A short story by our intelligent Armughan Aslam, a hard working boy in my O’ Level class. True that some areas and some of the sentences need improvement here, this still is worth reading a text. Armughan, as you will see, can successfully incorporate vocabulary words. His imaginative ability is also commendable. I’m sure he will most certainly be doing lots better in his future attempts.

“I realized that the man walking down the street had done something abnormal…”

I had never been so anxious in my whole life. My blood pressure had skyrocketed, and I was in a state of anguish and confusion. I could never have expected that the new Mercedes, which I had bought less than a week ago, would be stolen so effortlessly.

It was a sunny afternoon of November. I was driving back home after a hectic day in the office in my brand new Mercedes Benz. After years of promotions, hard work and savings, I was finally able to afford this luxury, and it made me extremely jubilant. As I rolled into my street, I noticed a tall, hairy man worriedly searching for something. In the span of a second, I realized that the man walking down the street had done something abnormal: he took hold of a garbage bag near my home and started pacing in my direction. I had to brake hard in order to save the man, who quickly came up to my door. Then, darkness!

When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on the lopsided sidewalk, with a faint pain in my head. I remembered the man squealing “Please forgive me” before landing a blow on my head with a rod. Worse, he had gotten away with my up-to-date Mercedes, which made me angry as a charging bull. Without a second to waste, I headed to the nearest police station and registered an FIR against the culprit. During the while, I overheard policemen conversing with each other.

“Have you heard the news? A bomb cleverly hidden in a garbage bag is out there somewhere in the city.” yelped one policeman to the other. “If we don’t find it soon, it can surely wreak havoc.” Before I had time to think, a sudden newsflash illuminated the LCD mounted on the wall: A bomb had just set off a few miles away from town. Soon the news spread like wildfire, and footages from the scene where being broadcasted live. All of a sudden, I felt a jolt within, because the dilapidated automobile damaged by the explosion was actually mine!

Just then, it struck my mind: the man, who apparently had robbed me of my car, had actually tried to dispose of the bomb as far away as possible from the city. I could not help tear at the fact that he had sacrificed his life to save the lives of hundreds. I informed the policemen of my story, and they too couldn’t help but praise the bravery of that man. That day, my faith in humanity was finally restored.

Name: Armughan Aslam

Student of O’ level Class

PakTurk International School, Islamabad

“He could never resist the temptation” was the topic given to our O’ Level final year students in their monthly performance test for November, 2014, and here is what Muhammad Sohaib Shahid blasted off for us to enjoy. See the engaging style. Words and sentences in his writings shape in a way that they keep you dragging till the end. You feel like finishing the story and then attend anything else in your life. Well done, Sohaib!

“He could never resist the temptation”

Like always, he did not see it coming. His over-weight soccer boots did not balance him which made him skid across the wet floor. Alan had slammed into the fireplace resulting in a bad bruise. To his fortune, Henry had just put off the fire but Alan, strained in excruciating pain, gave a high pitched moan.

 Mum and Henry hurried downstairs and on finding Alan severely hurt, gave him some aid. Wiping charcoal off his leg, Alan tried to walk but with each stride, he doubled the pain. It turned out that Alan had to miss a vital game for his team.

Alan and Henry, being twins were passionate in soccer. Although Henry never played since he froze due to nervousness in an equally important game, he was just satisfied watching his gifted brother play. He would recall the moments  he played together with Alan and always wanted to relive them but Alan, who was the heart of the team, would suggest him not to.

“Tell the coach about my leg……argh …, you…have gotta make it there” Alan insisted.

It did not take much before Henry hit the road. On arriving at the field, he missed the presence of his brother in the squad. Saddened, he grabbed a bench and impatiently waited the team’s recruitment. The coach was shouting the names of the starters when Henry heard him say “Alan”. It was time for Henry to innovate, since he could never resist the temptation.

As Henry seemed totally identical to Alan, he decided to fill his space.

“Just a moment, coach “, he blurted out quickly and then crept into a room where he got strut in the kit. Soon he was among the players and “The Hull Tigers” were all set to attack.

This newly born “Alan” felt overjoyed as the match progressed. It seemed he had overcome his nervousness completely. The crowd would appreciate his every effort, considering it to be Alan’s regular game though it was Henry who had managed to play like him. It was the last moment of the match when out of nowhere, the football bolted into the net. Henry who had barely played a month had scored the winner for his team.

Hull Tigers had won the cup!

Henry, extremely jubilant, rushed back home and beheld before his brother the trophy. Alan on having already received the victory news by a text message chirpily exclaimed, “well, there’s been a while we haven’t played together”.

Muhammad Sohaib Shahid
O' Level Final Year
PakTurk International Schools & Colleges,
 Chak Shahzad Campus, Islamabad

Tips and Techniques for Summary Writing in Passage 1 in GCE O' Level English (1123)

Tips and Techniques for Summary Writing

Instructions	Examples
1.        By holding a pencil, underline all vocabulary words in the points box. Next, write a synonymous word close to each word.	Fixing      Enough   The idea of installing sufficient number of lifeboats was contemplated but rejected. Thought of            discarded
2.        Incorporate more than one point in each of your sentences.	The idea of fixing enough lifeboats was considered by the manufacturers but was discarded to avoid needless expense, thinking that Titanic would not sink.
3.        Avoid using passive voice wherever it is possible.	Passive: The captain was not listened to by the owner. Active: (The owner did not listen to the captain.)
4.        Do not write the obvious.	Steve started eating healthy food I love to wear a cap She drank a glass of water Father took his medicine regularly		OBVIOUS to be able to gain strength. on my head. to quench her thirst. to be able to get rid of the disease.
5.        Use single word adjective or adverb rather than adj. clause and adv. clause	Adj. Clause A man with gigantic height came close to him. A tall man came close to him. Adv Clause They played football showing lots of energy. Adv They played football energetically.
6.        Never write superfluous and pointless text.	Superfluous Text There are many benefits of reading books. Some of them are simply superb with which you can excel others around. For example, you enhance your knowledge on finding solutions to a variety of issues. Another benefit is that reading helps you improve your expressive power.			Smart Reading books helps you enhance your knowledge and expression.
7.        Do not write synonymous words.	Each and every player was equally interested. Every boy was interested. Michael called him over and over again. Michael called him repeatedly. Or Michael called him again.
8.        Do not use an adverb to describe an adjective to emphasize the significance of something.	·          …but that was absolutely useless. …but that was useless. ·          Mother told him it was unavoidably important. Mother told him it was important. ·          It was highly appealing. It was appealing.
9.        Do not use ‘that’ in reported speech.	·          Mother told him that it was important. Mother told him it was important. ·          Sami suggested that we should relax for a while, but we were so very excited that we rejected the idea. Sami suggested to relax, but we rejected the idea.
10.     Avoid giving reason where it seems unnecessary.	Sami suggested that we should relax for a while, but we were so very excited that we rejected the idea.
11.     Shrink clauses to phrases and phrases to single words.	The man who was wearing a big, blue coloured cap came forward. The man wearing a cap came forward. It was a lecture that covered every aspect of the topic. It was a comprehensive lecture.
12.     Precision: Be precise and write single words instead of definitions.	I realized its importance was more than usual. I t was doubly important. She had a whole collection of documents that contained detailed information about the event. She had a dossier on the event. A person who is too curt in his or her dealing abrupt For years dreadful memories of the crime she had committed kept coming to her mind. For years she was haunted by guilt. A situation that does not allow any viable solution Complicated Sami was feeling extremely irritated and he dropped the idea of attending his cousin’s birthday party. Frustrated, Sami changed his mind.
13.     When showing contrast, use connectors.	On the other hand, on the contrary
14.     Sometimes, you can show a list of so many points in a single sentence.	She had many different chores to do before moving to the market. She was to cook food as per her husband’s desire. She had a pile of washable clothes waiting for her to finish. Next, she wanted to make a couple of important phone calls that seemed unavoidable. Also, she was planned to reading a book review on her laptop. Cooking, washing, making phone calls and reading a book review were the jobs to be finished before her moving to the market.
15.     Your summary must be continuous prose, and not in points form.
16.     Do not paragraph. Your summary must appear as a single paragraph.
17.     Use formal language words.	Informal About Guy Mind-blowing Nuts	Formal Concerning/pertaining to Man, boy Astounding/astonishing Mad/absurd
18.     Keep having a look at the list of serious errors and minor errors. SERIOUS ERRORS 1.        Wrong verb forms. 2.        Serious tense errors. 3.        Serious errors of sentence structure, especially in setting up subordination. 4.        Omission or obvious misuse of prepositions. 5.        Wholesale misunderstanding over the meanings of words used. 6.        Serious errors of agreement. 7.        Ingrained weakness of punctuation, i.e. the habitual comma replacing the necessary full stop. 8.        Mis-spellings of a minor nature. Count as a serious error when the form of the word is severely mangled. 9.        Obvious slips of repetition or omission. 10.    Breakdown of sense.	MINOR ERRORS ·         Minor errors of punctuation, i.e. the failure to complete pairs of commas in parenthetical ·         Phrases/clauses, omissions of stops after introductory words like 'however'.