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

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'.

'Natural Disasters' - An Essay By Muhammad Awais of O' Levels Final Year at PakTurk International Schools, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters happen all over the world, and just as their names suggest, their outcome can be disastrous. Although there is no known way of stopping a natural disaster, there are numerous ways by which we can minimize the destruction and save more lives. A greater awareness about their causes can often result in better preparation.

One common natural disaster is “flooding”, which occurs when the water level of a certain river is raised more than the banks or the river and the water spills out onto the nearby areas. This is far more likely to happen when there is a great deal of heavy rain, so during wet periods, flood warnings are often displayed near areas with a risk of flood. There are other factors that increase the risk of flooding as well: steep-sided channels cause fast surface runoff, while a lack of vegetation or woodland to both break the flow of water and drink the water means that there is little to slow the floodwater down. Drainage basins of impermeable rock also cause the water to run faster over the surface.

Earthquakes are another common natural disaster that can cause many fatalities. Earthquakes are caused when tectonic plates rub against one another. These plates do not always move smoothly and can get stuck, causing a build-up of pressure. It is when this pressure is released that an earthquake occurs. Thus, an earthquake under the water can also cause a tsunami, as the quake causes great waves by pushing large volumes of water to the surface.

Tsunamis can also be caused by underwater volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are another natural disaster, and they are caused by magma escaping from inside the earth. An explosion takes place, releasing the magma from a confined space, which is why there are often huge quantities of gas and dust released during a volcanic eruption. The magma pressure builds up inside the volcano, and pours out over the surrounding area as lava.

One of the most common natural disasters, but also one of the most commonly forgotten, is wildfires. These take place in many different countries all over the world, particularly during the summer months, and can be caused by a wide range of factors. Some of the things that can start the wildfires can be totally natural, while others can be man-made; however, the pace at which they spread is entirely down to nature. The two natural causes of wildfires are the sun’s heat and lightning strikes, while they can also be caused by campfires, smoking, fireworks and many other things. The reasons for the speed or their spread is determined by prolonged hot, dry weather, where the vegetation dries out, which is why they often take place in woodland.

By:

Muhammad Awais                  

O’ Levels Final Year

PakTurk International Schools

Chak Shahzad Campus,

Islamabad

‘The Dino Surprise’ has really come as a BIG SURPRISE. By the by, I had least expected someone would go for this uphill task, that is, giving topic number 04 a try (from that list of 30 topics showing variety of prompts we’ve already published here). Not only Muhammad Abubakar Mian turned out to be the one who took the lead, but also (see for yourself) he has fully proven his imaginative ability. A touch of humour is already a regular characteristic of Abubakar’s writings. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this stuff.

The Dino Surprise

My alarm clock sprang to life exactly at 9:30 A.M. The previous night’s rest seemed to have done little for my body, as I was still feeling very lethargic. Shaking off the sleepiness, I crept out of my bed and headed for the bathroom.

I had gone just a few steps into the hallway, however, when a thunderous roar threw me against the wall. The entire house began to shake violently. Human instinct took over, and I braced myself for an earthquake. But that earthquake never came. The shaking subsided as quickly as it had started, and soon enough all was back to normal. With my heart still palpitating to a furious rhythm, I made my way to the living room. Anxiously walking past the fireplace, I peered out the window.

It was at this very moment that I had the surprise of my life.

Standing just a few feet from my window, there stood a dinosaur. I was flabbergasted. It took me quite a few seconds to get back to my senses. Taking note of its stout tail and extensive neck, coupled with the distinct shape of its head, I immediately recognized it as being a Brachiosaurus. Perplexed by the enormous beast and what it was doing in my time period, I knew I had to get a closer look. Without a second thought, I slipped into my sneakers and ran for the backyard.

The Brachiosaurus had a mesmerizing gray coat, something that I could not appreciate from behind a glass pane. Standing just a few feet away from it now, however, I began to question my lack of better judgment. Is it really safe to be standing next to an animal that weighed several tons more than me, and was considerably larger? The Brachiosaurus seemed to be mostly calm; it stood relatively still while scanning the horizon. But what was it looking for? Suddenly, the Brachiosaurus let out a piercing cry and ran right through the picket fence.

The Earth trembled under the beast’s heft, and tossed me to the ground. Laying on my back, I caught sight of a Tyrannosaurus Rex lurching towards me from across the street. I attempted to scramble back up onto my feet with as much vigor as my body could muster, but all efforts proved to be futile. The ground was now shaking with so much force that I couldn’t even maintain balance. Fear reached up from the darkest depths of my heart and began to cloud my mind. With no escape in sight, I had lost all hope. As the T-Rex grew closer and closer, my body folded into the fetal position and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, however, I did not find myself in the repulsive abyss that is the stomach of a T-Rex. In fact, I found myself in a much pleasanter place: home. Wrapped comfortably under layers of blankets, I was relieved to be far away from that nightmare. Who needs dinosaurs, anyway? Giraffes are so much cooler.

Muhammad Abubakar Mian

Class O’ Level-II

Our Online Learning Resources for O' Level Students & Teachers

The following 08 websites stand in our online learning resources for O' Level Students & Teachers (For the subject of English) as per recommendation by The Cambridge University. (humayun)

1. http://www.edufind.com/
2. http://www.onestopenglish.com/
3. http://www.dawn.com/
4. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
5. www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
6. http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar
7. http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/longfellow.html
8. http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/

What left me in awe, and happens to be the most impressive feature of Ahmed’s present story, is its ‘set up’. Only a boy with wide range of reading can rise to this height of imagination. Next, he’s successfully kept his reader’s interest alive till the last word he dropped here. Hence, the story is brimming with suspense. A big Kudos for a job well done! (Humayun)

Despite my devoted care, I couldn’t save that boy from dying.

It was the year 1942.

World War II was at its height. My country Poland came under Nazi control. Being a fast Roman Catholic, I was exempted from the inhumane atrocities being perpetrated against the Jews. But the sights and memories of them still haunt my mind. This memory, like many others, has stuck to my mind ever since. Even today, it makes my heart bleed. And it bleeds profusely, because despite my devoted care, I couldn’t save that boy from dying.

The nazis had arrived with their hideous tanks. They destroyed our beloved city, Warsaw. Any building suspected to belong to Jews was immediately pulled down. A huge ghetto was built in the heart of Warsaw where once our lively marketplace used to exist. Jews from far and wide were dragged out of their houses, women and children alike, and put in the dirty ghetto, without proper clothing, food and shelter. From there they would be transported in bulk to extermination camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz, where they would be executed using the latest mass-murder methods.

May those Nazis burn in hell forever. And may my dead Jewish brothers and sisters rest in peace.

One night, I was about to eat my porridge when I heard a child’s painful moaning outside. I quickly wore my jacket and rushed to the nearby garbage dump where I perceived the sound to be coming from. In the dim light that my lamp emanated, I saw a child; perhaps 10 years old, lying among the waste, which now mainly came from the Nazis. I lifted him up, wrapped him in my jacket, took him inside my house and laid him on the hearth where I had a crackling fire.

When I looked at his body, for once I turned away with shock. He had been shot three times; once on his shoulder and twice on his legs. Blood was oozing out from his wounds. I cursed the Nazis for the millionth time in the day, and at once became resolute to save the poor boy.

I anesthetized him, plucked out the bullets and applied disinfectant on his wounds to prevent infection. Already there was pus in them, so I was afraid it might get worse. In the little Hebrew I knew, I began chatting with him. He certainly was a smart kid as I sensed from his talk. His name was Shalom. His parents were gold traders, but were now in the ghetto. I comforted him saying that he would soon meet them. Later, I bathed him with hot water, dressed him in my nephew’s clothes after which he fell asleep.

In the days that followed, we developed a strong bond. I liked him due to his cuteness, wit and thankfulness. I especially remember him thanking me repeatedly and his eyes reflecting gratitude. We would talk for hours like small kids. I thought of him as my own son. I knew that if Nazis knew about this, they would shoot me for hiding a Jew. So I kept him concealed at all times.

However, his wounds got worse than ever. I could only pray for him, because I couldn’t consult a doctor fearing leak of news. One day, he asked for strawberries. Seeing that utterly innocent but weak face, I set out right away determined to get them. They were unavailable mostly due to food rationing by Nazis. I did get them finally, though at a high cost. Feeling immensely jubilant, I returned home.

“Shalom! Here you are! Farm fresh juicy strawberries!” I shouted out with joy.

Soon, I saw his expressionless face. Shocked, instinctively, I checked his pulse on the wrist, but then dropped it instantly. Tears swelled up in my eyes.

He was dead.

Ahmed Ali
O' Level Final Year
PakTurk Schools
Chak Shahzad
Islamabad