Model Essay – 2015 DSE Part B (Developing Hong Kong’s harbour front)

Learning English through Debating structures of text types

cohesive devices
Many parts of Hong Kong’s harbor front are still undeveloped. Some sentence patterns
suggest using these areas for housing and commercial use, while others useful expressions
Forceful languages
argue that such areas should be left as open space for public use. Write to
the editor of the Hong Kong Daily stating your opinion either for or against leaving these areas open for
public use. Justify your point of view with three reasons.

Formal salutation Dear Editor,

Introduction: State the issue
you want to discuss
State clearly your position/
stance of your letter.
B8. In order to / So as to ...
a. In order to finish the task
earlier, he works form
morning till night.
b. He works from morning till
night in order to finish the
task earlier.
Grammar:
1. In order to can be placed at
the beginning of a sentence
or after the main clause
while so as to can only be
placed after the main
clause.
2. The two phrases must be
followed by infinitives.
Many parts of Hong Kong’s harbor front remain undeveloped. The land
use of those areas has always been a controversial top issue. It is
suggested that the land should be used for housing and commercial use,
while some suggest that the land should be used as open space for
public use. While it is true that Hong Kong lacks open space for leisure
and different public activities and uses, it is no jokes that the
overcrowding problem and housing problem in Hong Kong are depriving
our quality of life of an unbearable amount. Land for housing is an
extreme urgency now.
According to a survey, Hong Kong has the highest land prices and house
prices in the world. However, sarcastically, Hong Kong residents have
the highest life-spans in the world, even higher than Japanese residents.
In order to have a stable retired life in the last twenty-some years of
their lives, Hong Kong people have to strive for the first payments for
numerous years due to the extremely unreasonable house prices. Even
though they don’t plan to buy a flat, the crazy rents also make them
overloaded. The expense for housing accounts for the largest part of
Hong Kong people’s total daily expenditure. Hong Kong citizens’ living
standard is surely greatly reduced by the housing problem. By turning
the harbor front areas into land for housing, a large amount of flats and
public housings can be provided to Hong Kong residents, which can help
solve the housing problem and relieve our heavy life pressure.

A9. In spite of/ despite …
a. In spite of/ Despite his
numerous attempts, he
failed.
b. He is an efficient worker
in In spite of/ Despite
what he said, I would not
believe him.
Grammar:
In spite of/ Despite must be
followed by a noun, a noun
Despite the positive effects to relieve the housing problem, building
more houses in the harbor front land can also relieve a lot of social
problems brought by the housing problem. As the residential land in
Hong Kong has always been inadequate, overcrowding is a serious
problem in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is too densely populated which
means that Hong Kong residents are having limited living space and a
poor living condition. Not only are the living conditions bad, but the
pollution problem is also serious because of overcrowding. Cars and
phrase, or a noun clause. vehicles are flooding in the streets. Shops and malls are near to
residential areas. All these lead to serious air pollution and light
pollution which exacerbate our health. By having more residential, all
the above problems can be relieved.

In spite of residential use, the land can also be used for commercial
use. Hong Kong’s economy is stuck in place in the recent years. By using
some of the land for building new commercial buildings, not only can
A 13. Not only...but also...
Model: more job opportunities be created, it can also bring some new blood
a. Not only was he unwilling to into the local economy, thus increasing the living standard.
give any money but he also
hoped to increase his profits.
All in all, developing the harbor front land for housing and commercial
b. Not only is Hong Kong use can bring a lot benefits to Hong Kong people. Not only can our load
famous for its natural
harbour but it is also reputed be reduced and our living conditions be improved, but we can also be
for its cheap goods. provided with more job opportunities. Therefore, I support using the
Grammar: The sentence has land for housing and commercial use.
inversion of the verb and subject
Chris Wong
Ending: summarize your main
points and state your position
again. Some may make
suggestions.

Linking Ideas – Use of Connectives

We can link the ideas that we introduce in different sentences and paragraphs using a variety of adverbs
and adverb phrases as connectives. We usually put these adverbs and adverb phrases at the beginning of a
sentence. The type of connective that we use depends on how the sentence or paragraphs relate to each
other.

We can use… to… Example(s)

first/ firstly/ second/
secondly/ next/ then/ finally
also/ besides/ furthermore/
in addition/ moreover
for example/ for instance
as a result/ consequently/
therefore
however/ nevertheless/
nonetheless/ on the other
hand
alternatively/ instead/
otherwise
all in all/ in short/ overall/ to
summarize
In conclusion/ to conclude
indicate time or sequence
make additions or reinforce
ideas
give examples
indicate results
indicate contrast
suggest alternatives
summarize
conclude
First, we cleaned up the beach. Second, we
cleaned up the car park.
I refuse to buy overpriced fruit. Besides, I
only eat locally grown fruit.
Many animal are affected by polluted
water. For example, a lot of fish die.
The trails are getting busier nowadays. As a
result, there is more litter on them.
Our carbon footprint is quite large.
However, we have started to reduce it.
Mike doesn’t use air conditioning at night.
Instead, he sleeps with a thin blanket.
All in all, Lisa learnt a lot from the eco-tour.
In conclusion, we need to work together to
reverse the effects of global warming.