A Complete Guide

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE
ISBN: 983 7439343
In this COMPLIMENTARY CD to
MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE,
you will find these helpful sections:
A. What is MUET?
B. Specific Objectives of MUET
C. Test Format
D. Brainstorming Activities (Paper 2)

i.
Activity 1: Re-angling Your Thoughts!
ii.
Activity 2: Looking at the Big Picture
iii.
Activity 3: Improvising!
E. Speed Reading (Paper 3 & 4)

i.
Activity 1: How Fast Do You Read?
ii.
Activity 2: Speed Reading
F. Short Forms for Note-Taking

i.
Activity 1: Creating Short Forms
ii.
Activity 2: Using Short Forms
G. Links to Interactive English Language Games
PEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006
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ISBN: 983 7439343
A. What is MUET?
MUET is the Malaysian University English Test, an English

competency test administered by the Malaysian
Examinations Council.
MUET is open to Sixth Formers who wish to enter university

as well as to pre-university students.
The MUET syllabus aims to equip students preparing for

tertiary education with the appropriate level of proficiency
in English. It also seeks to develop critical thinking skills.
Students level of proficiency is measured based on an

aggregated score of zero to three hundred. Candidates are
placed on an aggregated score range, which is based on six
levels of proficiency, i.e. Levels One to Six, where Level Six
signifies a Very Good User while Level One denotes an
Extremely Limited User.
MUET tests the four main language skills of Listening,

Speaking, Reading and Writing.
Below are the time allocated for and weightage of the four
components of the test.
PAPER
CODE
PAPER
TIME
WEIGHTAGE
(%)
800/1
Listening
hour
15
800/2
Speaking
hour
15
800/3
Reading
Comprehension
2 hours
45
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800/4
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Writing
25
1 hours
B. Specific Objectives of MUET

These are:
Listening and Speaking
o To improve students listening, speaking and

note-taking skills
o
To enable students to interact proficiently and

efficiently in English in a variety of formal and
informal situations
To develop students ability to respond critically to

information heard
Reading Comprehension
o
To enable students to understand texts beyond the

literal level
o To enable students to understand the

interconnectivity of text content from a variety of
genres
o
To develop students ability to respond critically to

various texts
Writing
o
To write accurately and appropriately for a particular

purpose and audience
o To organise materials logically, coherently and

cohesively
o
To develop writing skills specific to academic genres

such as formal essays, term papers, reports and
summaries
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C. Test Format
Paper 1: Listening
Candidates listen to recorded texts and answer questions

based on these texts.
A total of 15 multiple-choice questions are given.
Paper 2: Speaking
Candidates perform two tasks: individual presentation and

group discussion.
Candidates give their opinion on a given topic, justify or

defend their point of view, agree and disagree with ideas
presented and draw their own conclusions from the facts
presented.
Paper 3: Reading Comprehension
Candidates answer 50 multiple-choice questions based on a

cloze passage and texts which may be in the form of
journals, reports, articles and reference from books.
Questions may involve information transfer from linear and

non-linear forms, and vice versa.
Paper 4: Writing
Candidates are given two writing tasks. One is to write a

summary and the other is a piece of extended writing. The
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stimulus may be in the form of linear and/or non-linear

texts.
D. Brainstorming Activities (Paper 2)

(Adapted from Management for the Rest of Us at
www.mftrou.com)
Getting lots of speaking practice is the norm in preparing for Paper 2

(Speaking) of the MUET. This is of course the right way to go you will
need ample practice in thinking on your feet and coming up with ideas
in just a few short minutes. But instead of the usual mock discussions
with classmates and friends, why not try a different method of
preparation?
Care to know what this different

method could be?
Well, it is simply a method that helps you learn to think out of the box,
so that you will eventually be able to generate fresh ideas quickly.
The following are three activities that challenge conventional and
routine ways of thinking. There are many, many brain-galvanising
exercises out there -- look them up on the Internet.
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ISBN: 983 7439343
May these activities help you churn out fresh ideas for
your presentations!
Activity 1: Re-angling Your Thoughts!

Make a list of common words, e.g.
fast, strong, big
Then, for each word, list the words of opposite meaning that
immediately come to mind, e.g.
slow, weak, small
This will help you omit the words that do not fit your context, or
words that are used too often.
Next, challenge yourself to come up with at least three more
words that mean the opposite for each given word:
E.g.
fast
slow, dull, inefficient, time-consuming,

etc.
strong-
weak, sickly, fragile, lethargic, etc.
big
small, little, petite, puny, pint-sized,
etc.
Dont worry if you find words with similar meanings creeping into
your list. Keep going, as these can generate more words that
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ISBN: 983 7439343
mean the opposite. Bear in mind that ideas breed ideas and this
helps to keep critical and analytical thinking going.
Limit the time spent on this activity to 10 to 15 minutes in order to
keep it fresh and focused.
Key in your words here:
Common
words
Opposite words
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Activity 2: Looking at the Big Picture

Look at these shapes and write down what you see.
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ISBN: 983 7439343
Your answer might have been:

three coloured shapes
OR
a green
circle with a diagonal line
Key in your answer
here:
a red hexagon and a yellow thought bubble
OR
OR
something else. You may have made a small leap in creativity and seen
the top-left figure as a green forbidden road sign. You may also have
made a bigger leap and deciphered the combination of shapes as a
winking bearded face or an imminent solar eclipse on a cloudy day!
It doesnt matter if you could or could not see more in these shapes
there are no right or wrong answers. The main purpose of this activity is
to guide you to look at things from a different perspective. When you do,
you will trigger off an exciting new train of thoughts which will give you a
multitude of ideas. Just sift through them to see which you can work with
and which you cant.
Now you know the essence of effective

brainstorming!
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Look at the shapes again and see if you can come up with new
descriptions the second time round. Have fun!
ISBN: 983 7439343
Activity 3: Improvising!

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Collect any five items e.g. a belt, paper clip, toy dog, post-it notes,
anything. Put them on your table and challenge yourself to come
up with different uses for each, e.g. use the belt as a Japanese
warriors headband or the paper clips as ear rings.
Similar to the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the
principle of this activity is simple improvisation!
Now that your creative muscles have been warmed up, try coming
up with some fresh ideas for these topics:
Q1. If you were the Prime Minister of Malaysia, what would you do
to improve
a) The education system?

Key in your answer here:
b) National integration?

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c) The civil service?

d)
The mindset of Malaysians? (i.e. road
ethics, civic consciousness, work ethics, etc)


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Q2. What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Donate to charity
Go jet-setting around the world


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c)
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Learn a new skill
Invest, invest and invest!


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Q3. If you are a person of high authority who could have done
something to:
prevent the terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Centre in New York on September 11, 2001;
contain the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2003 more
effectively;
deploy aid to the countries that were hit hard by the
Tsunami disaster in December 2004 more efficiently;
prevent the massive flood that hit Taman Tun Dr.
Ismail Jaya in Shah Alam in February 2006;
what would you have done?
a)
September 11 attacks
SARS outbreak
Key in your answers here:

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ISBN: 983 7439343
Tsunami disaster
d) Shah Alam floods


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Q4. In February 2006, Malaysians faced an overnight hike in fuel

prices after the government decided to reduce petrol and
diesel price subsidies. As a Malaysian who is affected by this
move, how would you deal with this situation?
a)
Optimise the use of public transportation
b) Inculcate good spending habits


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ISBN: 983 7439343
c) Car-pool
d) Plan your route before travelling


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E. Speed Reading (Paper 3 & 4)

(Adapted from - www.learning-tech.co.uk)
Many students do not allocate ample time for editing and rewriting
their summaries because they spend too much time on reading
and rereading the passage and then writing out the summary.
What does this mean? Only that they lose precious marks for
careless mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation.
To solve this problem, why not cut down on the time spent reading
and understanding the text? Want to know how? Well, it is a little
secret that isnt really a secret to people who have to read a lot of
text in a very short time, and it is called yes, you guessed it:
SPEED READING!
The following are some handy tips on speed reading, a very useful
technique you can use for Paper 3 (Reading) and Paper 4 (Writing).
First though, try assessing your current reading speed by reading
the following passage at your normal pace. Of course, youll need
a stopwatch to time yourself.

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Activity 1: How Fast Do You Read?

Time yourself as you read this passage.
Patients suffering from liver, heart and lung failure often die because
they are unable to procure organs for transplantation. According to
the National Transplant Resource Centre in Kuala Lumpur, there is a
demand for some 500 hearts, 600 kidneys, 350 livers and 700 corneas
annually in Malaysia.
What is Transplantation?
It is an operation that involves the replacement of diseased and
defective organs and tissues with healthy ones from donors. This
treatment often saves lives.
What are the organs and tissues that are commonly donated?
The commonly transplanted organs are kidneys, liver, heart, lungs
and pancreas while transplantable tissues are eyes, bone, bone
marrow, skin and heart valves. Thus a single donor can save the lives
of a number of people.
What is an organ?
An organ is defined as
that part of a human body consisting of a structured
arrangement of tissues which, if wholly removed, cannot be
replicated by the body
This means that blood, semen, bone marrow and hair are examples of
regenerative parts of the body and are therefore not considered as
organs.

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ISBN: 983 7439343
On the other hand, the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas and lungs are
examples of non-generative parts of the body and can be regarded as
organs.
The liver, for example, straddles both aspects. The whole of a liver
can be considered an organ as the removal of it in its entirety will
not allow the body to regenerate another one. A segment, on the other
hand, would constitute tissue since the liver has the power of
spontaneously regenerating itself.
What are the sources of donation?
Organs may be obtained from two sources: live donors and cadavers
(corpses).
Organs from live donors may be used for kidney transplantation and
transplantation of a part of the liver. The live donor is usually the
spouse or a living relative of the patient. Sometimes a stranger who is
not genetically related to the person who needs the organ or tissue
selflessly comes forward to donate. This was the case with Wan
Hafizan Wan Ismail who donated part of his liver to Mohd. Afiq
Muhammad Zaini in 1999.
Generally, live donors are discouraged for various reasons: the fear of
coercion to donate; the fear of long-term complications for the live
donor; and the scarce availability of donors who are truly physically
fit individuals.
Cadaveric donations are more common as this involves the donation
of an organ of an individual after his death. Organs from cadavers
include not only kidney and liver but also the heart, lung, cornea and
pancreas. Generally, organs from cadavers are preferred as the
problems that crop up with live donors do not surface with cadaveric
transplants.
Current practice

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ISBN: 983 7439343
The lack of organs for transplantation has led many Malaysians to

purchase organs abroad. At the end of 1995, it was reported that some
6000 Malaysians had been to India and China to purchase kidneys for
transplantation. As at December 31 1995, the National Renal
Registry of Malaysia (confined to kidney transplants only) registered
56 cases of commercial procurement of cadaveric kidneys (55 from
China, one from Russia). In addition, it was reported that there was a
further 526 recipients of commercial transplants (not necessarily
kidneys) mainly from India.
The organs procured for transplantation in these countries were often
extracted from persons who had been executed or who were the
victims of extreme poverty.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has produced a set of guiding
principles on human organ transplantation. It is clearly stated that
consent must be obtained before transplantation is carried out
(Guiding Principle 1). Guiding Principle 5 states that the human
body and its parts cannot be the subject of commercial transactions
and that the giving or receiving of payment is prohibited.
What is required?
Before organs are recovered or harvested from cadavers, the law
requires that the consent of the donor has to be obtained before his
death. The donor has to state in writing or orally to two witnesses that
he is willing to donate his body or any specified part of his body for
transplantation purposes.
The donor also has to be pronounced dead before any body part is
removed. Traditionally, a person was considered dead when he or she
had no pulse or was not breathing. Today, however, death can also
occur when there is a loss of brainstem function (the brainstem is the
last part of the brain to die). The brainstem is necessary for awareness
(the upper brainstem) and for spontaneous reflexes such as
respiratory (lower brainstem). This concept of death is also known as
brainstem death or simply brain death.
To ensure there is no abuse, the potential donor, who may be in his
last hours of life, receives care from a health care team that is

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separate from the team that has been charged with the duty of
extracting organs after the patient dies.
Appeal for donors

The living need help from the dead. If more people were to pledge
their organs after their death, a lot of hope is given to people who are
living half a life. A kidney, a liver, a heart, or a cornea will go a long
way to ensure that a 10-year-old, an 18-year-old, or a 30-year-old
gets another chance at quality life.
Timothy (21 years old) dies in an accident. He has pledged

his kidneys and liver for transplantation. His kidneys go to
Pragasam and Chan. His liver goes to Azian.

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To work out your speed, you need to calculate, in minutes, the
time it took you to finish reading the text.
Divide the number of 'leftover seconds' by 60 and add to the
number of whole minutes (e.g. if it took you 2 minutes and 24

seconds, then you divide 24 by 60 and add to the 2 i.e.
24
/60 = 0.4;
0.4 + 2 = 2.4 minutes).
The text contained 901 words, so to calculate the number of
words per minute, divide 901 by the number of minutes (e.g.
901
/2.4 =
375 words per minute or wpm).
Remember or jot down your speed for later comparison.
Average readers read texts word for word. Such readers also tend to
skip back (consciously or sub-consciously) while reading and may even
wander off a page.
Speed readers, on the other hand, are able to take in groups of words
with each fixation and are constantly moving forwards while reading.
Hence, in order to improve your reading speed, you should:
have LESS fixations (you should take in words by groups
rather than by the word)
make fixations quicker
stay on the page (don't allow your eyes to wander off)
only go forwards (don't skip back, even if you thought you
missed
something)
PEARSON
MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006
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Now, time yourself again, and this time, apply the four tips above as you
read. Compare your new time against the previous time to check if
there is an increase in speed.
After youve done that, answer the following questions to ensure that
ISBN: 983 7439343
Activity 2: Speed Reading

Read the passage again, then answer these questions.
1.
Based on the information given in the box at the end of the

passage, who is the donor?
A. Chan
B. Azian
C. Timothy
D. Pragasam
2.
What specifically would you term Azian, Chan and
Pragasam?
A. Donors
B. Patients
C. Sources
D. Suppliers
3.
What is the difference between organ and tissue?

A. An organ can be donated while not all tissues can be
donated
B. An organ degenerates while tissue does not
C. An organ cannot regrow while tissue can
D. An organ can regrow while tissue cannot

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4.
ISBN: 983 7439343
Which of the following charts is correct?

Human parts donated to people
A. Organs
kidney
liver
bone
lungs
5.
C. Tissues
D. Organs
skin
kidney
kidney
liver
bone
heart
bone
lungs
marrow
B. Tissues
skin
cornea
bone
lungs
Donations from live donors are accepted for the following

reasons unless
A. they are physically fit
B. they are not forced to donate
C. they are blood relatives of the recipient
D. they might have complications after the surgery
6.
The meaning of the word procure in the text means

A. obtain
B. supply
C. extract
D. purchase

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7.
ISBN: 983 7439343
Two requirements are necessary before a dying patient can

give up his/her organs. They are:
A. his will and his wish
B. his written and oral statement
C. his expression and the certainty that he is dead
D. his written or oral consent and the certainty that he is
dead
8.
Why are there two teams of doctors attending the dying

patient who has pledged his organs?
A. If the procedure of transplantation takes a long time, the
other team continues the operation.
B. One team is to care for the health of the donor and the
other to transplant the organs.
C. This is to ensure that maximum care given to the dying
donor remains objective.
D. The donor deserves the full attention of the doctors.

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Answers:
1. C
5. D
2. B
6. A
ISBN: 983 7439343
3. C
7. D
4. D
8. C
F. Short Forms for Note-Taking (Paper 2)

The following is a brief list of short forms you can use for Paper 2
(Speaking), which requires you to take notes. Oh yes, you can use
them to send SMSes too!
1) Linkers
a) To show additional information is forthcoming
And
& /n
Also
oso
Another
anthr
Moreover
m/ovr
Furthermore
fthrmor
Even though
evntho
Firstly/secondly/etc 1stly/2ndly/etc
Finally
5nally
b) To indicate a change of direction in sentence
Though
tho
However
hwevr
Although
although
On the other hand OTOH
Nevertheless
nvrdless
c) To further develop an idea by illustrating
For example
e.g.
That is
i.e.
Such as
sch as/sas

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d)
ISBN: 983 7439343
To show a cause-and-effect
relationship
Consequently
Therefore
As a result
Because
e)
cqly
thr4
AAR
bcz/bcoz
Others
To
For
Are
The
2
4
r
d
With
Between
Before
After
That
Those
This
These
Was
Were
Can
Could
Will
Would
Shall
Should
Each
Every
Just
Something
Anything
Everything
While
Whether
Whenever
Wherever
Whichever
wif
btwn
b4
aftr
dat/tat
thoz
dis
thz
ws/wuz
wr
cn
cld
wil
wld/wud
shl
shld/shud
ech
evry
js/jz/juz
sth/sumthg
anyth/anythg
evryth/evrythg
whl
whthr
whnevr
whrevr
whcevr

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By the way
What
Where
Which
When
Why
How
2) WH questions
-
3) Days in a week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
ISBN: 983 7439343
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Today
Tomorrow
Yesterday
btw/BTW
wat
whr
whc
wen
y
hw
Sun
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
2day
tmr/tomoro
yday/ytday
Here is an example:
In writing an essay or a report, it is important to remember the rules

of punctuation. There are about twelve different punctuation marks
that are commonly used in writing. Most of you who have reached a
level of proficiency in the English Language are already familiar with
the more basic punctuation marks such as capital letters, full stops
and question marks. However, there are five punctuation marks
which students are often confused about. They are explained as
follows.

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Answer:
In writg an SA or a rport, it is imprt 2 rmbr d rules of punct.

Thr r abt 12 diff punct marks dat r commonly used in writg.
Most of u who hv reached a level of prof in d Eng. Lang. r
alrdy familiar wif d mor basic punct marks such as cap.
lettrs, full stops & Q marks. Hwevr, thr r 5 punct marks whc
stus r oftn confusd abt. They r explained as fllws.
Activity 1: Creating Short Forms

Come up with your own set of short forms for words you use often.
Words I Use All the Time
My Own Short Forms

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Activity 2: Using Short Forms

Copy this text using the short forms you just learnt.

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Lets look at five attitudes. First is self-esteem. Thats the way you feel about
yourself. That feeling of your own worth influences every facet of your life.
The second attitude is love, which is your attitude towards others. Love real
love always thinks in terms of what is best for the other person.
The third attitude is faith. Faith is your attitude towards God. It will influence
your attitudes toward your fellowmen and members of your family.
The fourth attitude is hope, which is your attitude towards your future. Alfred
Adler, the psychiatrist, said, Hope is the foundational quality of all change, and
it is the great activator. It gets people moving towards an objective. Hope is the
realistic expectation that something good is going to happen.
The fifth attitude is forgiveness, which deals with your past. Your ability to
forgive others for any wrong-doing will have tremendous bearing on your
future. The person who damaged your past is negatively impacting your
present, and will negatively influence your future unless you forgive him or her.
Forgiveness is the wisest choice.
Maintain these five attitudes in your life, and you will be well on your way to
the top!
(Extracted from You Can Reach The Top by Zig Ziglar)

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Bored with traditional exercises? Then try out some fun interactive
English Language games from these links to improve your
grammar and vocabulary:
www.english-online.org.uk/games/gamezone2.htm
www.lapasserelle.com/lm/exercices/games.page.html
www.manythings.org/
www.englishpage.com/games/games.html
www.world-english.org/games.htm
www.abroadlanguages.com/al/la/english.asp
www.onestopenglish.com/
www.englishclub.com/
www.eslcafe.com/
www.nonstopenglish.com/
www.bellenglish.com/courses/freegame/introduction.asp
www.languagegames.org/la/english.asp
www.eltweb.com/liason/Games/
owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html
www.bellenglish.com/
www.ukstudentlife.com/Ideas/Fun.htm
www.orbislingua.com/ekai.htm
www.english-at-home.com/

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MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

D. Brainstorming Activities (Paper 2)

Activity 1: Re-angling Your Thoughts!

Activity 2: Looking at the Big Picture

E. Speed Reading (Paper 3 & 4)

Activity 1: How Fast Do You Read?

Activity 2: Speed Reading

F. Short Forms for Note-Taking

Activity 1: Creating Short Forms

Activity 2: Using Short Forms

G. Links to Interactive English Language Games

PEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

MUET is the Malaysian University English Test, an English

MUET is open to Sixth Formers who wish to enter university

The MUET syllabus aims to equip students preparing for

Students level of proficiency is measured based on an

MUET tests the four main language skills of Listening,

PEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

B. Specific Objectives of MUET

Listening and Speaking

o To improve students listening, speaking and

To enable students to interact proficiently and

To develop students ability to respond critically to

To enable students to understand texts beyond the

o To enable students to understand the

To develop students ability to respond critically to

To write accurately and appropriately for a particular

o To organise materials logically, coherently and

To develop writing skills specific to academic genres

PEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

Candidates listen to recorded texts and answer questions

A total of 15 multiple-choice questions are given.

Candidates perform two tasks: individual presentation and

Candidates give their opinion on a given topic, justify or

Paper 3: Reading Comprehension

Candidates answer 50 multiple-choice questions based on a

Questions may involve information transfer from linear and

Candidates are given two writing tasks. One is to write a

PEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

stimulus may be in the form of linear and/or non-linear

D. Brainstorming Activities (Paper 2)

Getting lots of speaking practice is the norm in preparing for Paper 2

Care to know what this different

PEARSON MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. 2006

MUET A COMPLETE GUIDE

ISBN: 983 7439343

Activity 1: Re-angling Your Thoughts!

slow, dull, inefficient, time-consuming,

weak, sickly, fragile, lethargic, etc.