How to answer the MUET Question 1 examination task

You have to write four [4] parts or sections for Question 1.

1] The Title

2] The Introduction

3] The Overview or the Overall Trend

4] The Analysis or the Synthesis

No. 1  - The Title

What you need to do:

a)      The title can be obtained from the given task of Question 1.

b)     Write the title. Place it at the centre.

c)      Do not count the title as ‘number of words’.

No. 2 – The Introduction

What you need to do:

a)     Get the title from the question itself.

b)     You need to introduce the report.

c)      You need to answer ‘What’, ‘When’ and ‘Where’. These answers can be obtained by studying the given tables, charts or graphs.

d)     Introduction phrases:

                       i.    The graph shows / Figure 1 shows …while Table 1 shows…

                      ii.   The charts depict…

                      iii. The first table illustrates…and the second table shows
              while the third graph depicts…

No. 3 – The Overview / Overall Trend

What you need to do:

a)     You need to write generally the overall trend* / pattern / movement of the given graphs, charts or tables. These are also called visuals.

b)     For now, do not write any details or data.

c)      If there are 2 or more visuals, you need to find something common between or among these visuals. Then, link them together.

d)     You need to answer ‘What’, ‘When’ and ‘Where’. These answers can be obtained by studying the given tables, charts or graphs.

*The trend, pattern or movement refer to ‘something that increases or decreases’ or ‘something that becomes greater or higher’.
For example:
i)    Overall, the sales among the three supermarkets fell

between March and July.
ii)  Generally, there has been a decline of visitors to Asean

    countries between 2006 and 2010.
iii)   The overall trend shows an increase in discipline cases in SMK

       Sungai Siput from 2011 to 2013.

No. 4 – The Analysis / Synthesis

What you need to do:

In order to score good marks for Question 1, you have to include the following features:

i)                     Key feature [KF] – (You state the ‘top’, ‘highest’, ‘best’, ‘worst’, ‘lowest’, ‘most expensive’, ‘cheapest’, ‘highest income generator’ or ‘the worst performing index’ of a given topic) For example: Tesco supermarkets achieved the highest number of sales among its nearest competitors…[so the (KF) is: Tesco supermarkets…]

ii)                  Trend word [T] – (You need to memorise and use ‘vocabulary or words’ such as ‘rise’, ‘soared’, ‘declined’, plummeted’, ‘plunged’, ‘dipped’, ‘increased gradually’, ‘remained constant’ or ‘remained unchanged’ to describe the given task. These are known as trend words.

iii)                Data [D] – (You need to write the percentage or ranking of the given task. For example: City Clothing Sdn. Bhd. accumulated an overall increment of 25 per cent in sales… / Market share for Dong Zhao Industries (55%) appeared to remain unchanged for… /

iv)                Time Frame [TF] or Duration – (You need to include the ‘day’, ‘month’, ‘year’, ’date’, or ‘period’ for the given task) For example: Tesco supermarkets achieved the highest number of sales among its nearest competitors for the third quarter months / Automobile sales among the three industries fluctuated between 2010 and 2013. /

v)                  Comparison [C] – [The word comparison means to compare or ‘membandingkan’. After introducing the ‘given topics’, you need to make a comparison among the given visuals. It is compulsory to link all given visuals. Then, you have to tell the examiners that you can spot or see the differences or similarities of the given features in your given task.]

For example: Among the three supermarkets, Tesco recorded the highest sales (RM35,000) in July compared to April (RM15,000) as it had organized more promotional activities in July (7) than in April (3).

Note: the [7] and [3] denote or show ‘ranking’ which is given in the table.

vi)                Conclusion - [This is the final part of your report. You need to restate your ‘overall’ or ‘overview trend’ of the given task. You should come up with an answer as to ‘why did sales increase?’, ‘how come discipline cases dropped after 2 years? or ‘what did air passengers think about air hostesses from different airlines? Remember, you cannot take a wild guess or add your own assumptions.

For example:

a)     In conclusion, it is obvious that promotional activities offered by supermarkets influence the shoppers’ patronage.

b)     In conclusion, truancy among secondary students showed a decrease as schools introduced more innovative learning programmes.

c)      In conclusion, it is evident that the number of tourists visiting these countries is influenced by the stability and economic prosperity of the respective countries.

d)     In conclusion, the airline customer approval ratings are influenced by the number of training workshops that air hostesses attended.