MUET PAPER 4 WRITING TRIAL 1 TEST 2022

MUET Extended Writing/SMK Kidurong/Mdm Jessie U-2022

MUET PAPER 4 WRITING TRIAL 1 TEST 2022
ANSWER SCHEME AND WRITING TIPS

QUESTION 2
You are advised to spend 50 minutes on this question.
During a recent forum in school, one of the guest speakers claimed that today’s young adults lead a
protected and pampered life. The following comment was made at the end of the forum:
“Young adults today lack survival skills”
Write an essay expressing your opinion on the comment. Write at least 250 words.

STEP 1: STUDY THE QUESTION

During a recent forum in school -recently, there were people talking/discussing about this issue in

school.

one of the guest speakers claimed that -there were a few speakers there, but one of them made a

statement/said that…

today’s young adults lead a protected -nowadays, young adults (people aged 18 to 39 years old),
and pampered life have a safe, comfortable, privileged, and well-off life.

STEP 2 INTERPRET THE KEY WORDS

Today’s – this era, this generation, recent generation, lately, recently, nowadays, in this modern society.

Young adults – above the age of 18, considerably mature, around the age of 18 to 39. -youth, young
people but not including young children below 18.

Lead a ______life – live, have, own, bask in, luxuriate in, inherit, undergo, pass, spend

Protected – safe, shielded, sheltered, secured, away from danger, unthreatened, peaceful, blissful,
comfortable, secure, unbothered, unburdened.

Pampered -blessed, spoilt, indulged, privileged, loaded, prosperous, easy, effortless, wealthy, rich, well-off.

The following comment was made at the end of the forum : -the speaker said this at the end of the his/her
Young adults today – People aged 18 to 39 today… speech. “Young adults today lack survival
skills”-

Lack -do not possess/have enough/do not demonstrate enough/ are in shortage of/have insufficient

MUET Extended Writing/SMK Kidurong/Mdm Jessie U-2022

Survival skills – the skills to survive/the knowledge and the ability to continue a life, the skills to stay alive

Write an essay expressing your opinion on the comment.

-write 1 suitable type of essay to share/tell/express what you think about the comment.
-whether you agree or disagree with the speaker’s comment about how young adults today lack survival skills.
-do you agree with this comment or do you not?
-If you agree, explain why? Write an argumentative essay.
-If you disagree, explain why? Write an argumentative essay.
-If you think the comment is only applicable to some groups of young adults but not all, explain why and how
so? -Write a discussive essay.

Write at least 250 words. -write your essay in minimum/at least/not less than 250 words.

STEP 3 – DECIDE ON THE ESSAY TYPE AND STRUCTURE TO USE
Choose whether to write an argumentative essay or a discussive essay

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY STRUCTURE

All in support of your 1 stand/opinion & thesis statement

Introduction/Opinion & Thesis Statement + ( PEEL 1+PEEL2+PEEL3+Conclusion )

DISCUSSIVE ESSAY STRUCTURE

Introduction/Opinion& Thesis Statement + PEEL 1 (The first side ) +PEEL 2 (The
second side of the argument) + Conclusion (offers balanced observation of the
issue).

MUET Extended Writing/SMK Kidurong/Mdm Jessie U-2022

RECOMMENDED ANSWER OUTLINE

QUESTION 2

You are advised to spend 50 minutes on this question.

During a recent forum in school, one of the guest speakers claimed that today’s young adults lead a
protected and pampered life. The following comment was made at the end of the forum:

“Young adults today lack survival skills”

Write an essay expressing your opinion on the comment. Write at least 250 words.

Argumentative Essay

- In my opinion, in general, young adults today do lack survival skills.

Reasons to support this opinion

1. Young adults today lack many survival skills especially the traditional survival skills that were once
valued and sought after in the past such the skills to survive a traditional village lifestyle and the skills to
survive in the wilderness.
-many young adults today do not know how to swim, how to make fire without a lighter, how to forage
for edible plants in the forest and how to hunt for wild animals.
- many young adults don’t even know how to set up a camping tent let alone to build a shelter in the
wilderness.
-many do not know how to check the wind speed and direction, to estimate time and distance using
the sunlight and they do not even know how to walk safely in the jungle.
-Many young adults (except for those who have joined the Boys Scouts) don’t even know how to
choose safe camping site. They do not know how to use a sharp cutting knife to cut down branches to
make a hut.
-Young adults do not have these skills because there is no immediate need for these skills anymore.
-Our society has developed so drastically and we have moved away from these hunter gatherers skills
because most young adults today live in towns and cities area where almost all the infrastructure and
amenities are provided and made accessible to them.
-There are supermarkets for them to buy all the food they need.
-They live in comfortable, warm, and cosy houses.
-For weather, tides, and seasons, they can always access the Meteorological Department’s website
anytime.
-They do not need firewood for cooking or to keep warm at night as they have electricity to light up
their homes and to power up all their electrical appliances.
-They live a relatively protected and pampered life because their parents have already gone through
the struggles needed to establish themselves economically and socially.
-As a result, their children no longer need to go through all the hardships that their parents had gone
through.
-Thus, the traditional survival skills become less and less important to the young adults as they spend
their time on more current life activities and skills.

2. Even in urban areas and in relatively affluent families, parents often lamented about their young adult
children lacking the skills needed to survive and thrive in this modern life.
-These skills include interpersonal skills like communication and relationship skills with family members
and other people in school or in the workplace. -they spend a lot of time on their phones chatting to
others but they complain of having social anxieties when asked to socialise in real time.
- These skills also include time management and money management skills that are needed the most in
this modern society. – they tend to struggle with showing up to work on time and struggle with living pay
check to pay check.
-Some young adults also do not have the skills necessary to survive in a competitive workplace, they
complain and whine a lot about their bosses as being toxic.

MUET Extended Writing/SMK Kidurong/Mdm Jessie U-2022

-They also have problems to bounce back from failures in personal life and to manage stress. -they get
easily discouraged and unwilling to work hard but always feel entitled to rewards and recognition.
-there are many factors that lead to this scenario such as overdependence on technology,
overprotected parents, and the young people’s unwillingness to move away from their own comfort
zones.
-overdependency on technology where communication is mediated via short messages, personal
messages and direct messages on various social media has changed the way young people approach
communication.
-They become so good at online communication but so awkward in face-to-face conversations.
-Overprotected parents, who well-intentionally wish to protect their children from the pains and
hardships they went through unknowingly enable their children over dependence on the assistance
and solutions that they provide.

CONCLUSION

It is true that young adults today lack survival skills. This is because our society has developed so
drastically and there is no longer a need for many traditional survival skills since most young adults
today live in towns and cities area where almost all the infrastructure and amenities are provided and
made accessible to them. Even in urban areas and in relatively affluent families, parents often
complained about their young adult children lacking the skills needed to survive and thrive in this
modern life because of overdependence on technology, overprotected parents, and the young
people’s unwillingness to move away from their own comfort zones.