UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2017/2018
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
APPLIED COMPUTING
BAC2207 PROFESSIONAL WRITING
FULLTIME/PARTTIME
ORDINARY EXAMINATIONS
DATE: APRIL, 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE [30 MARKS]
a) Clear writing begins with clear thinking. Identify TWO ways that a professional writer can
evaluate his thoughts when writing (4 Marks)
b) Distinguish between the following words and write sentences to illustrate their usage:
i) Principle and principal (3 Marks)
ii) Comprise and compose (3 Marks)
iii) Among and between (3 Marks)
c) Identify any FIVE attributes that can make a story newsworthy. (5 Marks)
d) Rewrite the following sentences to be in active voice (6 Marks)
i) An elaborate supper for the miners was prepared by Mr. Patel and his children.
ii) The allegorical novel Animal Farm was written by British author George Orwell
during World War II.
iii) It was decided by the court that the contract was invalid.
iv) The first commercially successful portable vacuum cleaner was invented by a janitor
who was allergic to dust.
v) After Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Mona Lisa was purchased by King Francis I of
France.
vi) The allegorical novel Animal Farm was written by British author George Orwell
during World War II.
e) Explain THREE cases where passive voice is preferred (6 Marks)
QUESTION TWO [20 MARKS]
a) A proposal describes your proposed plan of work. Outline FIVE main issues that are
addressed in a proposal. (5 Marks)
b) Identify which of the two sentences is grammatically correct: (5 Marks)
i) A. Reading the book violated her principles.
B. Reading the book violated her principals.
ii) A. He accepted the compliment without a word.
B. He accepted the complement without a word.
iii) A. Red and green are complementary colors.
B. Red and green are complimentary colors.
iv) A. A number of HIV-infected patients die from complications of diabetes.
B. A number of HIV-infected patients die of complications of diabetes.
v) A. She told Bob and me that the end was near.
B. She told Bob and I that the end was near.
c) Why is it important to cite and reference sources that a writer uses for his own academic
article? Discuss (6 Marks)
d) A professional writer should remove all “unnecessary” words from a sentence. Identify
FOUR features of an unnecessary word in a sentence (4 Marks)
QUESTION THREE [20 MARKS]
a) Describe FOUR ways of nurturing good writing skills (4 Marks)
b) The following passage contains TEN errors. Identify and correct these errors and re-write the
passage (10 Marks)
Haziq is a 27 year old engineer. He never knows his parents. He was raised in an orphanage in
Kuala Perlis. His parents were sending him to the orphanage when he was three years old, as
they were too poor to give him proper care. He was brought up with other orphans who he fondly
considering as his siblings.
He won a scholarship to study engineering at the University of Cambridge. In London, he is
attending a course in genealogy which sparked his interest to find his parents. He vows he
would track his parents as he wanted to know more about himself. When he had returned to
Malaysia in 2009, he went back to the orphanage and started his journey of looking for his
parents. He empathises with other people who are looking for their long-lost relatives. This is the
reason why he started his new company called Reunited-to reconnect people with their lost
loved ones. He believes a lot of people are interested in reconnecting with their past.
Reunited has been successful in reuniting clients with their loved ones. However, Haziq was still
searching for his parents. He knew his journey will not be an easy one and he may end up at a
dead end. Nevertheless, he has determined to keep tracking his parents and will not give up
easily.
c) Identify the circumstance under which either of the following can be used and give an
example (6 Marks)
i) Who vs. whom
ii) Fewer vs. less
QUESTION FOUR [20 MARKS]
a) i) Distinguish between “bibliography” and “reference” (2 Marks)
ii) Literature review allows one to understand several things. Outline any FOUR of these
things (4 Marks)
b) Once a writer has summarized, synthesized, compared, and critiqued material from external
literature sources, he/she can begin to organize it. Discuss any FOUR ways of organizing
this content for presentation (8 Marks)
d) The sentences below have wrongly placed modifiers. Re-write these sentences to correct
them:
i) By accident, he poked the little girl with his finger in the eye. (2 Marks)
ii) I heard that my roommate intended to throw a surprise party for me while I was
outside her bedroom window. (2 Marks)
iii) After the wedding, Ian told us at his stag party that he would start behaving like a
responsible adult . (2 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE [20 MARKS]
Read the news excerpt below and answer the questions that follow:
a) Identify and briefly describe the sections of the news article above (5 Marks)
b) Discuss the following features and explain how they have been used in the text above:
i) Inverted pyramid style (8 Marks)
ii) Direct quotes (2 Marks)
iii) Paragraphs (2 Marks)
c) Suggest any THREE ways in which the news article could be improved (3 Marks)
