Leroy's Secret War Journals: Exams

Showing posts with label Exams. Show all posts

A Levels Results

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Secret War Journal[2 March 2012]

Today, I left home with a feeling of dread. My future is about to be sealed by a single sitting of a major examination. It is none other than the "A" Levels examinations, Singapore edition.

To calm ourselves, we arranged to meet at White Sands for lunch first and catch up with another since the last time we met. As I have a library book to return, I reached the shopping centre earlier than the agreed time. On my way to the library, I spotted familiar faces. One of them was Laura and we checked out at the Popular stationery store to buy files for Laura. Apparently, the stationery store there do not sell the files that Laura wants.

After some time browsing through books which I probably would not have the time to read, we met up with Cynthia. At their insistence, we are going to eat at McDonald's. I guess, girls Do win all arguments after all. Hahas!

As it turns out, Pei Shi, Debbie and Lai Yin were going to be very late. Being bored from waiting for Pei Shi to arrive, we decided to play a prank on her. We got Laura to sms her that we are at Popular when we were already in McDonald's. Well, technically, we did not lie as we were at Popular. As a result, Pei Shi went to the top floor to look for us to no avail, only to be told of our current location. Evil me, oops?
When Pei Shi (finally) found us, we had lunch as Debbie would only be joining us but not eating lunch with us. Lai Yin, on the other hand, only took a half-day off and would likely be late in collecting the results, much less join us for lunch. (Don't ask me why she did not take a whole day leave.)

The official release of the A Levels soon came and you could feel the tense atmosphere in the school. Some are numb, maybe confident of their results, some appear nervous, some just want to ignore the coming storm and just want to catch up with one another.

As we gather in the hall, there are periods where they are chattering and when there are complete silence. After what seemed like an eternity, the Principal came and announced that our school had done it again. Upon hearing that, the whole school cheered. However, as the Principal continued to show the statistics of our performance, I could not help but feel that we did not do well with only 50.7% of the cohort achieving more than 70 rank points, it means that about half of the cohort would have difficulty entering university. That is definitely not a good sign. I believe my class thought so too because everyone looked so gloomy.

The Results
Without further ado, here are my results:

H1 General Paper - C
H2 Chemistry - A
H2 Economics - C
H2 Mathematics - A
H2 Physics - A
H1 Project Work - A
H1 Mother Tongue - D

Rank Points: 85

I guess that means I got to shake hands with the Principal after all. While it was a nice feeling to shake hands with the Principal, honestly I was not very satisfied with my results. Yes, I know people would think that I had already done very well and that I am unable to emphasize with people who did not do well. I know I did a decent job but I, too, have expectations for myself. While I had seen it coming for economics, I was hoping that my General Paper would do better. Of course, one part of me wasn't expecting myself to have such good results. Thus, I find myself in a dilemma in choosing which course to pursue and which scholarships to apply for.

Decisions, decisions
I suppose I should go read up on what each courses offered by University entails. I blame myself for not allocating time to research on my future career. Lack of time is just an excuse, I suppose.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby

Aftermath Prelims

Friday, September 30, 2011

Secret War Journal[30 September 2011]
Really apologise for the lack of long posts recently.

Due to the examinations coming nearer with each living breath, I often find myself hard-pressed to even post a short post nowadays.

I guess you people just have to bear with the shorter posts in the meantime. :)
(I know some of you prefer the shorter posts but forgive me when I write abstract topics because I tend to do that for short posts to relay what I cannot express unless I write longer. :)
--
Well, Prelims just ended a week ago. In case none of you realised, it's been a long time since I wrote about school. It had been duly noted and I would try to write a post-mortem for the examinations, for you and of course, myself.

I figured it would be prefer since the Prelims would be the last major internal school examinations before the real deal. Hahas. It would probably be published next week but keep your fingers crossed, I might have to postpone the publish date if I am unable to type finish my reflections and thoughts. :P
--

Sometimes, I feel as though I just bought it just to put a face onto the people whom I had grown to loathe.

The veil of falsehood, most of the time amuses me, granted but that does not mean it was not masking my feeling of being irritated.

Seriously, they are just testing my patience.

Of arguments and philosophy

Monday, March 14, 2011

Secret War Journal[14 March 2011]

Rare are the days I can finally post on the actual day itself. Rare, indeed. Hahas. Well, that is if I finish this post in half an hour anyway. :)

So I have been promoted to JC2 if you had not been following due to the recent chaos and today marks the start of the March Block Tests.

The first paper would be General Papers. Fancy attending for examinations during your holidays. How great is that?

The paper was tough, not a very bright start.

I did some essay question on space exploration. Not sure if I made the right choice...
Halfway through, I sorta end up writing philosophy though I went back on track (hopefully)
The comprehension was scary, especially the summary.

I hope I pass. I hope. O.o

Had KFC with Bao Lin, Cynthia, and Lai Yin. Tried this new Hearty meal (I think it's called that.)
Left for Simei where I meet with Darian and Johnston for Burger King. ^^

Thanks Darian and Johnston for helping me out for Physics! Much appreciated! :)

Didn't really want to blog about this but... actually, today is White Day, exactly one month after Valentine's Day.

This day is mostly celebrated by Japanese but I doubt that would be so this year with the recent earthquake (and its aftershocks) and tsunamis in Japan...

Not a very joyful day, or this period of time for that matter...

Anyway, be Strong, Japan.

Megamind and Résultats

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Secret War Journal[12 November 2010]

Official Promos Results

Ah, the verdict.

So yeah, I got promoted. For one reason or another, my economics was moderated up. So instead of a sub-pass (S), I have a E grade. Not bad, at least I officially pass...

But I'm still deciding whether I should drop though...I'm like at the opposite spectrum of distinction right now, dropping would be much more wise right now. Hmm....family ain't that much help since they don't even know what advice they giving when they don't even know what JC is... =.=|||

Maybe...

Megamind: The movie

Moving on, I recently watched the often-mentioned movie called Megamind!

This was organised by Lai Yin though I doubt she intended to watch a movie. Hahas!

Here's a bit of background information: XD

Well, originally Lai Yin wanted to organise a trip to Jurong Bird park (I still not very sure why...) with Jun Yong, Shi Min, Cynthia and I.

Well, obviously a lot of people didn't want to go there and Shi Min was not free (not very hard to figure, hahas) so she suggested going to Zoo (don't look at me, I don't know) or Shopping(I don't think Jun Yong will want to go that...)
To cut the story short, she decided to ask the 4D clique for shopping. Since it was so last minute, the couple couldn't make it, and Lai Yin actually didn't ask Guan Hui(so smart of her....=.=). Well, I figure she thought Guan Gui got lessons so she never asked (but we never know....)

Vanessa came and when we met up, (for the record, I tag along because I wanted to buy something, hahas!) she was wondering why a shopping outing out of the blue. (I agree on that but that's because no one wanted to go Bird Park or Zoo. XD)

Vanessa was thinking why not just catch a movie instead which I agreed straight away. (Note: Lai Yin was away during our planning. Heehee.)

We went to discuss what movies were on show right now. Vanessa wanted to watch the Social Network. I was fine with that.
Thus, that was our new plan to hijack Lai Yin's plan:

Go to Cinema
See the timeslots
Buy tickets, regardless of whether Lai Yin approve or not
Go watch movie
Continue Shopping

Did I mention Lai Yin was on a media fast? (Another queer thing about her.)

That made the plan not as easy as planned. Hahas. Lai Yin was very against watching movie. (The media fast was so extreme, apparently she did not play PS3 at Laura's house. :O Wow.)

Wonder what prompted her annual media fast. But anyway, we're not going to let a simple media fast interrupt our plans! Hahas!

So began our conquest to drag her to the ticketing booth to buy the tickets. That was the easy part.

However, there was a slight change of plans, the Cinema at Bugis Junction was not airing The Social Network. Vanessa and I made a compromise and went to buy 3 tickets for Megamind instead.
Well, I have heard quite a lot about Megamind from friends and the feedback was rather positive so I figure it would be a nice movie. :)

Here comes the really crazy part, right after we bought our tickets, Lai Yin announced to us that she was going home, we can watch the movies by ourselves.

*Shocked*

At this moment, Lai Yin started some "hide-and-seek" game which was took us in circles in search for her. That made Vanessa sort of pissed. :O
Well, can't blame her, who could had thought there are people so opposed to a simple movie screening? :O

After all those craziness, we managed to convince her to stay at a shop called "Guess".

Guess what? Vanessa and I had no clue where that shop was. Hahas!
Best part? The shop was just near the entrance of Bugis Junction. So epic fail for me man, hahas. I never knew that bag shop there was called "Guess". =.=
--
Final compromise after negotiation with Lai Yin (we sort of did this at the Coffee Bean in Illuma):

She would go in with us since we already bought the tickets, don't want to waste that ticket. (and it would be awkward.)
Since she's on a media fast. We provided her with a solution: Just go in, and sleep. Hahahas!

We went for the movie. The rest of them was too full since we going for snacks after luncc but I ordered a medium popcorn with drinks since I felt strange to go into a cinema empty-handed without the usual eating(habits, I guess). They convinced me not to go for the large popcorn, hahas!

So, in the end, our plan succeeded hahas!
--
Well, the movie was definitely worth the money spent. :)
The plot was well-written but I'm a sucker for the subtle reenactment tactics(not sure if the rest realised that) so I could be bias, heehee.

Furthermore, Megamind belonged to my favourite genre of movies - Comedy so naturally, if it is able to give me a decent laugh, I would give it an above average rating. ;)
But I must admit, the beginning was like a joke drought, nothing funny happened there. :O Can't really blame them though, the technique they use for the beginning don't really have much room for jokes. But hey, once the jokes comes, the fun begins. ;)

Oh, and Lai Yin? She didn't manage to sleep in the cinema in the end. She ended up watching after skipping the first few parts. (maybe 30 minutes?)

We all knew she would end up watching the movie, no? >=D

Now, shopping resume. Hahas!

Shopping! (Again?!)

Well, that day, we bought presents for Pei Shi and Debbie (a bit late, but it's the thought that count. :P)

Lai Yin keep patronise this childish looking shop which Vanessa started to pull Lai Yin away after the third time we ended up at this shop. (Super funny I tell you.)

Vanessa? She spent all on food. Hahas! (P.S: Don't kill me! XD)

After heading home, I bought some stuff for myself. Another off the wishlist for this year. Yes! I think I spent a lot this year though, a bit broke. :(

MLS

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Secret War Journal[31 October 2010]
Rather pissed now.

Just spend the entire afternoon and night, and early morning to InR.

Now have minor bleeding at the forehead, hand pain and blurring of vision. Seirously WTF.
(and I taste blood at my throat too, must be due to spamming of vulgarities.)

Still have many things that needs to be done by this week. All thanks to InR, I'm rushing like some mad cow for the other assignments. Who InR think it is? Demanding that we allocate full-time to you. !@#$

Anyway, A Levels Chinese is coming(P.S: I typing without looking at the screen because I can't see the words already, vision blurring. So sorry if I mis-type anything. O.o). I guess my mood this weekend is rather bad is because of that. I really hate that subject.

Random, but I now have headache too. !@#$ Stupid InR..

Anyway, I think due to the fact that Chinese is on tis coming Monday, simple things can make me mad. I mean InR is supposedly the easiest component of PW yet I'm losing my anger over it even though the rest I did not. Screw Chinese. Screw PW. Screw it. Screw him. Screw her. Screw you. Screw me. Screw everyone.

Did I mention I'm in a bad mood? Probably not. Don't expect me to be in any better mood because it has been rising since yesterday and has not resided.

I suck at OP. Oh by the way, if you have no clue what is PW, InR, and OP, just ignore this freaking post. I'm not in a mood to explain it. It would take the best of one's mood to describe it and it would totally kill that joyful mood. So I guess you get the rough idea.

Hardly practised for OP so far, and it's coming the week after Chinese. Why is Chinese placed in the middle of nowhere? Why is Chinese even tested? No freaking clue.

I never revise for Chinese. Not that I care but I try to revise tomorrow though it's very unlikely now since InR just ruined my weekend. (Gee, thanks)
I don't know but either it's the school's fault for 'making' us work on PW full-time or the ministry's fault for putting Chinese before OP. Madness. I doubt those people up there (no, not heaven silly, not that high up) even care if we suffer. They're not affected anyway, they still get paid. Life goes on.

Meanwhile, we suffer. No one cares. No one ever did. !@#$

Unto this world, shall there be darkness.

When we were first born, there was darkness.

Trapped in a unknown land, our first emotion was fear.

Saved by our mother who brought life, explaining why our bond is so strong.

For when we were born, there was only darkness and fear.

Post-Promos 2010

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Secret War Journal[16 October 2010]

It's been some time since I talked about exams so I guess it is a suitable time to talk about one of the most critical examination in JC, apart from the dreaded A Levels of course.

Without further ado, let's discuss about my results first.

General Papers(GP) AKA English -- 55 (C)
Chinese, Mother Tongue Language -- 52 (D)
Chemistry -- 58.5 (C)
Economics -- 42.3 (S)
Physics -- 71 (A)
Mathematics -- 90 (A)

At the last day of Promos, I was sort of 'lectured' by Mr Goh which I sort of deserved because I did not have the motivation to study for Promos at all. As the above picture suggested, I think Promos robs students of social life and I sorta went to rebel against that notion and slacked during Promos. So I sort of deserve the poor results, I guess. But I must THANK GOD because I felt so sure I was going to fail Chemistry when the paper ended. Without God's help, I would had failed GP and Chemistry.

After Promos ended, I was primarily worried for my GP, Chemistry and Economics (as always). Though Econs I still failed in the end bcause it's a sub-pass, at least it wasn't a complete fail which would be ungraded.

Chemistry was difficult because there really wasn't enough time to finish the paper and my brain got cooked by mircowaves in 0.3 seconds when I saw the word "solubility" and my brain just melted on the spot. I could not even attempt another question after I saw that word. Haiz...

Physics was actually the first paper I got back and I was relieved that I secured an A because it was one of two paper I had confidence in. It made me slightly hopeful though it was a bit sad it was a borderline A. O.o

Mathematics was sort of well, I'm slightly disappointed with myself because I was hoping for a full marks. Hahas, arrogant me. Actually, it is partly because it was the paper that I had the most confidence on. I guess when you have too high expectations, it is easier for you to get disappointed.

So of great concern now is no longer about retaining but whether to drop Economics. It's a painful decision. I think my father hinted that I should not drop today when I told him that my Economics fared the worst. I am also worried if I decide to continue as a H2 Economics, would the struggle be for naught? So many insecurities, so little answers. If only I knew....

You know what is sad about my life? I had not officially had a post-promos fun activity yet. It's so sad. Everyone's busy even after exams because PW are coming at us at full speed ahead.

This is probably the first time I am doing school work right after examinations. It's totally insane.
I feel so sad, someone please cheer me up now. This instance! Anyway, never-mind because by tomorrow, I will be normal again. XD
(Updated on 18 Oct: I was wrong, got into a worse mood. =.=)

Yesterday, I went back to my secondary school to help out for juniors since their O levels are about to start in 1 weeks' time? Met Leroy, Yiting, Keller, Ian, CaiFeng, Wufong, and many others. Yeah, it was fun to be back there.

Apart from this, hardly anything significant happened after Promos.....

Sometimes, we just want you to be happy even if we don't like the outcome.

Leroy's Screwed definitions for Grades in JC

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Secret War Journal[7 July 2010]
Still working on the post for June Holidays. Meanwhile...

A - Abnormal / Alien-Grade
B - Boast-worthy / Beyond expectations or god-like
C - Crisis Insured / Crash Proof
D - Dominating
E - E for excellence
S - Survived
U - Ultima Death

"O" Levels Results!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Secret War Journal[11 January 2010]
First post about Year 2010! Woots!

Got my Results from School today!

L1R5: 9
English Language: A2 *Insert Evil Laughter here*
Comb.Humanities: A2 (Oh god no!...T.T)
Pure Geography: B3
E.Mathematics: A1 (yay!)
Add.Mathematics: A1 (yay!)
Pure Physics: A1 (YAY!)
Pure Chemistry: A2 (NO!!!!! *Emo face*)
Chinese: B3 (Rolls eyes)

>=D

Did I mention my target was 11? So obviously, I was hopping with joy because I scored better than expected.

Woots! Who's your daddy?

Okay, finally a happy post. Okay, not really finally but hahas...

(Turns heads to see if any friends are throwing eggs at him)

Okay...anyway...let's start from the beginning...

Class Meeting before Results

Organised a class meeting before the release of results, you know the sort of celebration since I doubt anyone would want to celebrate after the release of results.

Which was quite true(Duh?)

There was some confusion a few days ago during the planning, with the proper attire to get the results and spreading the message to the rest of the class.

Thankfully, with the help of Darren(thanks! ;), most of the class turned up(with the rest genuinely cannot make it)

Cool. Not bad for my first initiated class meeting (though I passed the natter over to Darren after Saturday.) Hahas!
--
Met early on that day to return books. Chanced upon Bao Lin who sneaked up behind me. Met up with Wei Ting and went shopping around for Yvonne's Birthday Gift.

HAPPY (17th) BIRTHDAY YVONNE! ;)

The class sang happy birthday to Yvonne. Wonder if it's a good thing if your birthday falls on this day though. Oh well.

Had lunch at Mac's

The taking of Results

After lunch, we headed for school.

We went looking for teachers(which were kind of a bad move)

Mr Goh and Mrs Hay played a cruel trick on us. (and it was so obvious!)

Gahh!!!

Oh well, most of us did well for Os with our school becoming Band One school this year.

Average L1R5: 10.9

Epic-ness! So sad I lost to Lai Yin and Jaytii. (!@#$)

Anyway, tomorrow, I am going to meet up with 6/5 clique to discuss our options. See ya!

Epic Walking Day 2009

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Secret War Journal[11 November 2009][2nd Post]
Let's pray this won't be a long post. (I doubt it)

Leo's Birthday

Woke up very early today. In fact, this is first time I woke up so early when there is no school on that day. I woke up at 8am! Woots!

Of course, to be able wake up so early without getting wasted early in the morning, I slept rather early yesterday.

As you people probably know from reading the heading, today's is my little brother's birthday. That pretty much the reason I woke up so early. (Of course, there's another reason but let's talk about that later...)

The plan went rather well but I don't know where the birthday cake part went. (I think my mother didn't buy for her son. :o)

Lera made a Birthday Card. *Mother got semi-surprised*
I gave Leo an educational book as a present (My parents don't like toys so I can't give him toys or else I will get scolded. :p)
*Mother got very surprised*

Reason being? I seldom buy presents for anyone. See, those people who got my presents must appreciate. :p (LOLs!)

Well, my little brother is now a year older. I hope he can eats by himself soon. :p

Morning Tour to Orchard

One section down and it's already very long. So yeah, kiss "short post" wishes goodbye and move on to the next section on my agenda!!!....

Another reason why I woke up so early is that I need to help my stepmother do some errand. A customer is coming to collect the goods at 10:30AM and...my parents are busy(they took leave today)

Since I have no examinations, I was asked to go.

Why not? It's been some times since I visited the shop. :p

So I left home at 9.00AM with my stepmother using the computer searching for nearby hotels.

Another eternity taking the train to reach Orchard.
This time, I did not get lost. Landmark: Tang Plaza. O.o

Apparently, I reached there slightly early. In fact, the entire plaza is hardly even open!

F.Y.I. I reached there at 10AM.

So I had breakfast.

Oh! Did I tell you I almost got freaked out when I opened the shop?

I saw human figures in inside. (Bear in mind that it's dark inside without the lights on)

Actually, they were just mannequins. =.=

Shows you how long since I went to the shop, right?

Anyway, the goods sold were a pair of shoes, size 38. And it looks so small!

Really wonder how girls' feet can fit into them.
Girls are really a mystery...

Morning Tour around Sengkang

After passing the goods, I headed home.

Saw Darren, Angeline, Alexia, Ponti, Bernice...@ Compass Point when I came back.

Forgot to wish Ponti a happy Birthday(it's her birthday today too.)

Oh well, must had forgot about it when I was scaring her. :p

Went home and brought Lera to school.

After that, I went for lunch. =]
(My grandparents thought I was staying at the shop so they did not cook lunch for me. =.=)

Then, I head home. I swear, I walked so much that I could practically walked the entire Sengkang. Talk about marathon. LOL!

"O" Levels Examinations

Physics Paper 1
I got two questions wrong. T.T

Suggested Answers: Click here[By Miss Loi][PDF]

NEXT: Chemistry

I'm so severely mugging for Chemistry Paper right now.

The last stone wall to be torn down before Democracy is back in my world!
(Sorry for the obvious reference to the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall)

Leo's Birthday Celebration

Here's something unexpected. I was not informed that we were heading out at night for dinner at a restaurant!

My family and I went to Plaza Singapura for Dinner.

We went Western@The Cafe' Cartel.

I had Crispy Chicken with Sausage. Mmm! Had I mentioned that I like chicken? :D

Tonight, I realise that my family eats more than me. *Shocked*
You know, normally I eat the most at home...

Not tonight, my father practically just ate 3 person's worth of meal.
He ordered for seconds. O.o

When my family ate almost half of the food, I hardly even started because there were so many SMS-es and phone calls today. I really wonder why.

Jaytii and Co was informing me about the postponing of the Shopping Event followed by Marcus and Johnston(and later Emelia) trying to re-schedule our outing as a result.

Busiest night since October. I swear!

That dinner cost close to $100. T.T
I think my dad is responsible for around $30, he ate so much!

My siblings still have the appetite for deserts. OMG! I was so bloated by then to have the ice cream. T.T

Watch me! I buy myself! LOL!

After dinner, my family went home while I stayed in Plaza Singapura to do some personal stuff. After that, I head home.

Okay, I'm now super full.. Good night!

Hectic Week Ahead

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Secret War Journal[31 October 2009][Week 1 Of Os]

Last day of October...

I just realised that my Mathematics Paper ended at the eve of Halloween.

Spooky or what?

Right now, I'm at my Grandmother's house. Woots!

Okay, I admit, that wasn't part of my plan and by right(or left :D), I should not have the time to post at all.

But today, you're in luck!

By 2PM, I had memorised the points for 3 Topics of Social Studies!

Topics Memorised:

Healthcare in Singapore [Keeping Healthcare Affordable]
Healthcare in Britain [Managing Govt.Spending; Improving Efficiency; Providing Quality Service]
Rise of Venice [Political, Economic, Social Factors]
Fall of Venice [Internal VS External Factors]
Globalisation [Key Driving Forces of Globalisation]
Globalisation [Impacts: Economic, Social, Environmental]

Topics Read up but probably will be memorising:

Bonding Singapore [Managing Perceptions]
Bonding Singapore [Meeting the challenges]
Diplomacy and Deterrence

Wohoo! All this in 4 hours! I must had gone overdrive-d!

Next stop, I went to read up(yesterday, I realised I almost finish my entire Chemistry TYS! So I'm saving the last few questions for tomorrow. :p) on some Chemistry Chapters that I had not touched for a long, long time.

Hey I'm curious, why does having a mercury cathode causes Sodium to be deposited instead of Hydrogen gas evolving from Aqueous Sodium Chloride? O.o

Great, I sort of forgot why. (seriously hope it was a typo on my notes. LOL)

Meanwhile, I am going to either to revise on History or Physics. (most likely History since that's nearer...then again...)

Hahas...now you know why I made a "Cloud of Doom" Picture?

No? Aww...

Next week(or rather the first three days of next Week) will be a disastrous week.
Why? Because tomorrow will be a week of Sciences and Humans!

Monday: Social Studies and Chemistry
Tuesday: Elective History
Wednesday: Physics and Pure Geography

Serious, which manic combines Humans papers with Sciences on the VERY same day?
Why not split it evenly into five days? [I think that would be WAY less stressful though more tiring]

(Pst. I think they're out to kill us. You know, fry our brains. :o)

So...chances are, I'm not going to be online until Wednesday(after the papers, of course)
LOL, I bet my teachers who read this post must be saying, "YES! Finally Leroy is not using computer!"

LOL...Me and my silly notions.

Okay, time to go. (Save me from the Cloud of Doom!)

~Runs away from Cloud of Doom.

Memo to Self:
Remember to memorise Experiment/Process Conditions for

Haber Process
Manufacturing of Iron
Catalystic Cracking
Esterification
Bromination
Fermentation
And other Addition Reaction for Alkenes like Hydrogenation (lazy to type all)

Remember to read up on Mole Concept Formulas to make sure I do not remember incorrect formulas PRIOR to the start of Examinations.

Day 5 of Os

Friday, October 30, 2009

Secret War Journal[28~30 October 2009]

6 Papers down! 10 Paper more!

Elementary Mathematics

Paper 2 [28 Oct 2009]
I'm super confident about this paper! Should be only roughly three(or four) questions wrong. [which means 3(or 4) marks!] :D

Suggested Answer: Click Here[By Miss Loi]

Additional Mathematics

Paper 1 [29 Oct 2009]
Suggested Answer: Click Here[By Miss Loi][PDF]

Argh! Paper 1 was screwed up!

I wager I lost around 10 marks(10! Ahh~!)

To think I can lose around 5+ marks on careless. *Slap face*

Moving on...
Paper 2 [30 Oct 2009]
Suggested Answer: Click Here[By Miss Loi][PDF]

Paper 2 was (MUCH) easier than Paper 1.

As usual, I think I lost around 1 mark to careless.

Instead of writing point of inflexion, I wrote 'Point of Reflexion". =.=

I think I read too much about Physics (It sounds like Refraction!)

Hahas, I'm laughing at my own stupidity(and I think you're too ;)

Sincerely hoping that I get A1, :p

Home Alone

From the last post to now, I had been living by myself.

My family had went on a holiday. Obviously, I can't join, I'm having examinations right now!

Watch me, I'm going on my own holidays after my examinations ends! Ha!

LOL, that sounded childish. :o

Anyway, it was a short holiday, and they came back today.

I can't say what happened during the holiday, about me or the rest of the family.

Firstly, I have my own private life(shh!) LOL...

Secondly, I did not ask about how the holidays went from my parents. I mean, why should I get myself more depressed than I have to. :p

It's late, unless things do not go as plan tomorrow, I should have time to blog! Hahas.

au revoir!

Day 2 of Os

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Secret War Journal[26~27 October 2009]
Three papers down, God-knows-how-many-more papers left!

English Language [26 Oct 2009]

Paper 1 Section One
I wanted to attempt Question Three which was about an occasion where someone helped and brought unexpected consequences on him.

Well, I'm always weak at such "consequences" questions, so I ended up attempting Question 4: Power.

Basically, I'm happy to say I used my senior's plot as an reference for this topic.

But I'm a bit worried that my modified plot may not answer the question directly and may go out of point.

Let's hope it won't come to that. :o

Paper 1 Section Two
This is the section where there is a controversy over the format of the Situational Writing.

Some say it is a formal letter (which is supported by me because I wrote formal letter)

Others say it is an informal letter...

Another camp says it is an open letter (which includes me because I wrote in Open Letter style)

Personally, I still believe that it is an Open Formal Letter(which means that there is no need to write writer's address and recipient's address) because how could an Invitation to a past Pupil be an informal letter?

Until someone could convince me how, I'm quite confident I wrote in the correct tone and format for the Question. =]
Paper 2
Summary was weird. I wrote exactly 150 words on my first draft. (HOLY COW!)

That's seriously rare. Though I doubt I got all the points (very unlikely)

This year's questions are filled with 'Quote the word' Style, which is good for me. :D
Did I mention I like such questions? >=D

Elementary Mathematics

Paper 1 [27 Oct 2009]
Generally, this paper was easy. Kind of tell you how difficult tomorrow's paper would be. :o

No confirmed errors from me so far. (which is good news)

However, I have doubts on some questions.

Which reminds me, if the question asks you to correct the answer to a reasonable degree of accuracy, how far to you round off to?

3 Significant Figures?
5 Significant Figures?
1 Decimal Places?
2 Decimal Places?
3 Decimal Places?
Others?

I have no absolute idea. Just to play safe, I followed the cover page's instructions and correct to 3 Significant Figures. So could anyone with a clear reason why inform me the correct degree of accuracy?

That should be all. As usual, wish me luck! ;)

Cooked up!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Secret War Journal[25 October 2009]

When I went out of my house today, I felt I entered a oven.

I was like, "woah, who switched on the global oven?"

LOL!

Since my National Examinations are so near(tomorrow, in fact), I'm taking this chance now to revise on Global Warming. ;)

Before I start, had I mentioned that I thought tomorrow would be the last day of examinations and the start of holidays? (Yeah. Silly me.)

...

Judging by the silence, I take it as a no. Hahas...Anyway...

Physical Geography: Global Warming

Effects

Melting ice and rising sea levels
Extreme Weather Conditions

Severe Storms |-> Increases rainfall in regions with wetter climate and may cause floods in those areas
Heat waves and droughts |-> Causes water bodies to dry up quickly and prevent clouds from forming, causing little or no rain.

Impact on plants and Animals

Changes in the flowering patterns of plants and breeding patterns of animals
Causes rapid breeding of insects such as mosquitoes

Measures to reduce impact of climate change
Not exactly specified on Global Warming, which is a effect of climate change, but it fits. =]

Mitigation

Kyoto Protocol |-> Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases on a International Level
National Level: Laws passed to reduce impact.

In Singapore, NEA made it compulsory since 1978 for all vehicles to pass a smoke emission test to ensure that the gases they emit are within acceptable limits.

Adaptation

Suggested by many scientists and researchers that countries take steps to prepare and adapt to the possible effects of global warming. These include relocating people form low-lying coastal area(to reduce impact on rising sea levels and melting ice) and prohibiting new construction in these locations.

P.S: Hope you like the cartoon. ;)

Source: http://scottthong.files.wordpress.com/

Meanwhile...

Been doing quite a lot of mathematics this week.
Yes! Fulfilled my commitment to do a mathematics paper everyday. Wohoo!

So sorry for the other subjects which I did not make commitment. But I will make up for it next week. ;) Promise. (to myself.)

Meanwhile... I hope the upcoming mathematics papers are not as difficult(and definitely not more difficult than) as the November 2006.

For both Elementary and Additional Mathematics papers on 2006, I did rather badly.
*Tsk* *Tsk*

Perhaps I'm not used to not using calculator for the papers(yes! Can you believe it? We can't use calculator in 2006!)

Using a calculator became a habit, huh? Thankfully, I can still use in the examinations. Hee. ;)

Okay, tomorrow's my English Language Paper. The subject I'm most nervous about(for now)

I read some nice essays written by my seniors and I peculiarly like one that was filled with betrayal but the teacher said it is not recommended to write such a plot.

Aww..

Anyhow, wish me luck for tomorrow! :D

Reality

Friday, October 2, 2009

Secret War Journal[2 October 2009]
Note: I will post about today's Graduation Party when I get most the pictures of those including me.
--
Let's be realistic. I think my L1R5(most probably) be around 14 though my target is 11.

Why? Simple.

Physics - A2
Chemistry - A2
Maths - A1, A1
Combined.Humans - A2
English - C6

L1R5 - 14

So, what should I do about it?

Combined.Humanities: Manage Time to have time to write conclusions.
Physics: Attempt more questions.
Chemistry: Attempt more questions.

Given the time constraints, I believe this should be the best option available.

Signing off here, I'm tired from the scannigna dn getting of pictures. *Yawn*

Pathetic Miracle

Friday, September 25, 2009

Secret War Journal[25 September 2009] -- Second Post
Hidden the first post for today for the time being.(It's a bit too sensitive and personal. Just some family issues.)

Anyway...

Prelim 3 Part 3

This should be the last part before I know the overall prelim grades.
English Language

Paper 1 Section One - 18/30
Paper 1 Section Two - 18/30
Overall for Paper 1 - 36/60 [40%]
Overall for Paper 2 - 25/50 [40%]
Oral Marks for Prelim 3 - 24/40 [20%]
Overall for Prelim 3 - 56/100 [C5]

Yeah(in a bored tone), I passed. Shucks.

Paper 2 was very badly done. This greatly pulled down my overall marks for English Language.

I wager my Paper 1 is rather average so I have no comments about this one. :o

It's a miracle because I thought I would get extreme borderline pass (or even fail). So yeah, I got C5 grade and not C6 grade. Woohoo!(lacks enthusiasm)
L1R5

English Language - C5
Additional Mathematics - A1
Elementary Mathematics - A1
Combined.Humanities - A1
Chemistry - A2
Geography - B3

L1R5 - 13

Surprisingly, I have to resort to using Geography for my L1R5. Well, at least that proves that my Geography is improving. (I think)

Had a blast at self-study today.

It was a great balance between fun and study(something I missed from my Primary School days)

Celebrated Donavan's Birthday. Did Bukit Panjang Additional Mathematics Papers(because tomorrow have test :o)
Chatted with Keller.

Tricked Donavan with our "magic re-kindling candles"
*He kept on trying to extinguish the fire on the candles :D*

Semi-talked with Ms Tan.

If only school is like this everyday...

Glimmers of Hope

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Secret War Journal[22 Septmember 2009] -- Second Post

Prelim 3 Results[Part 2]

Hmm, I have not got back for some papers yet so there's definitely a Part 3(which would be rather short, I think)

Moving on...
Combined.Humanities

Social Studies Paper: 36/50
History Paper: 39/50

Prelim 3 Overall: 75/100 [A1]

This is amazing! I can't believe I can get A1 for Combined.Humanities despite the fact that I totally did not manage to start on a 7m Question in source-based.

The best part is...I got full marks the rest of the Source-based questions for Social Studies. (Wow!)

And yes! I'm getting L4/10 for Essay Questions again! Wohoo!

Clearly there's a god. :D
--
Note: Additional Mathematics Paper 1's marks have been amended [Refer to Post dated 18 September 2009]
--
Elementary Mathematics

Paper 1: 60/80
Paper 2: 85/100

Prelim 3 Overall: 80/100 [A1]

My third A1 for Prelim 3! Which effectively makes my results better than Prelim 2. Woots!

Geography

Paper 1: 35/50
Paper 2: 30/50

Prelim 3 Overall: 65/100 [B3]

Though Mr Quek had not gone through the paper with us, I believe the marks written here are pretty much fixed. Even if I did improve my marks, the grade would most likely still remain at B3.

Chemistry

Paper 1: 30/40
Paper 2 Section A: 35/50
Paper 2 Section B: 21/30

Prelim 3 Overall: 71.7/100 [A2]

Massive improvement! Woots! A1, here we come! LOLs, despite saying that, lots of hardwork still need to be put in to get my A1. :p

English Language

Paper 2: 25/50

Shocked. Wow, this is as bad as Chinese. :o

This boy is praying for good marks for Paper 1, pray for him too! :D

Yep, that's it for today. Goodnight! ;)

Expected Doom

Friday, September 18, 2009

Secret War Journal[18 September 2009]
How long has it been since I last posted?

*Took out hands to count*

Oh! Let's forget it.

*Throws up hands in disgust*

Okay, let's stop wasting your time(and holding the suspense)

Prelim 3 Results[Part One]

Before I start, I'm sincerely sorry for splitting into parts. (hey, you can't blame me! The school just showed me only these few subjects for this week and I'm bad at memory, if you recall, so I have to post ASAP anyway. Okay, fine, blame me for being impatience *rolls eyes*)

Brace yourselves(okay, maybe that's meant for me... T.T). My results ain't pretty.
Chinese

Paper 1 was mixed. Section A failed with (11-2)/20 Section B passed with 28/50.
Paper 2 was badly done, as expected. [Refer to post dated 4th September 2009] I got 34/70. Official mark is, as of posting, 33.5/70. I have not registered the change of mark to my subject teacher yet.

Not that that 0.5 marks makes a difference in my current grade.(But I think it helps in the overall...will tell you like..now)

Prelim 3 Chinese Overall Marks -> 50.8/100 (yeah, I passed miraculously.)
Prelim Chinese Overall Marks -> 54.8/100 (not counting that 0.5 marks. Now you understand why?)

Well, Chinese is not my strong point subject anyway(saying Chinese is the most pathetic results all along would be more accurate) so no hard feelings for such pathetic results. ;)
Physics
Not much expectation for this one. Similarly, refer to the post dated 4th September 2009 title"Encounter with Mr.Goh".

MCQ was went through. 31/40. Borders of A1. =.=
Paper 2: 45.5/80. Considered badly done.

And the truth is, I have not idea why. Okay, some were genuine mistakes like I have no idea how to convert 1cm³ to m³(turned out to have used the wrong approach) and wrong directions of the arrow due to misinterpretation of the question(which I did not realise even during checking of paper until Mr Goh specifically pointed out to me. O.o), Lastly, this includes my missing two lines 'of magnetic fields' since I remembered wrongly. *Slaps face*

Which accounts for roughly 6 marks?

Some errors I understood when the teachers explained but some still seems a grey area to me. As in, why can't I write in another perspective? It's logical. :p (opps?)
Maybe that's how I got killed, using too much of common sense. Haiz...Ironic, huh?
Additional Mathematics
This was returned sometime ago. Perhaps the only first piece of good news for Prelim 3 I had received so far. (The first sign that God had so generously bestowed me. *Grin*)

Paper 1: 70/80 (Edited@22 Sept'09)
Paper 2: 90/100

Thank the gods I'm not first in class. (That would be so embarrassing when I had already two subjects close-to-fail type. But I got second in class which is good enough for me. :D)
--
Oh well, I'm pinning on Chemistry now, and Combined.Humans, as usual.

Chemistry felt easier than Prelim 2 (and definitely now as stressing as Physics). Then again, Chemistry is notorious for giving false hope, giving you false impression that it was easy and when you have high expectations, it crushes you with a weight of a blue whale. =.=

Like I said, "Hope is a disease.". How many times must I suffer bad grades to learn these lessons of getting too hopeful? (hopefully, it ends at Chinese and Physics Prelim 3...)

Hope I learned that by the time "O" Levels Examination comes...

Self-Treat

Well, after checking of papers, I went Chris and Co. to KFC to drown my sorrows. (with a lighted-hearted front, of course)

I ate my heart out there.(lols, exaggeration here.)

It's been so long since I ate out in a decent fast-food restaurant.
Want to know why? I over-spent for the last few weeks.
Don't believe? I had been really thrifty this week and managed to save $6.90 this week. This meant that I saved 39.43% of weekly allowance. (Personal Best so far)

Even with the surplus of $6.90, I still have an -$8.60 this month. Judging by the statistics, and if I saved as much as this week(which is close to impossible), I have to save 2 weeks more. *Moan*

Wish me luck on this 'saving money' business to remove the "-" sign from my monthly financial report. ;)

Shocked Revelation

I found this morning, someone in my house had been trying to forge my signature. *Grasp*

I singled it out to either Lera or my step-mother. But I still need more concrete evidence to find out who(and why)

Thankfully, given the fake signature that she drew is obviously different from mine(due to my creativity when I first changed my old signature to this ;), it's still safe for now. Of course, I have to stop this forgery or this person can just withdraw money on behalf of me. *Grasp*

Now, ain't I glad that my signature is so complicated and unique. :D (unlike my previous one which was too common and any school kid would know how to forge it with ease)

Contact, at last

Marcus's Prelim ended this Thursday! I bet his results would be way better than mine, as always. During primary school times, he's always better at me, as is Johnston.

Hahs, I'm so pathetic and useless, ain't I?
Yeah, need to buck up to be on par. But it's so difficult. They're smart people! Unlike me, lols.
But friendly competition would be welcome(right? Hahas).

Hey, I don't mind we all getting the same people, maybe we can go to the same Junior College as planned! ;)

Johnston's case would be a tad difficult because he lives at the East side. (Aww..)

So, let's play by ear for now. Until the results return. Until the results returns, then.

Last day of Holidays

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Secret War Journal[13 September 2009]
Oh great,it's the last day already. I hardly did anything. If it weren't for my previous posts during the holidays, I wouldn't even remember what I did during the Holidays.(okay, maybe not that serious but then again...)

Revision Progress

Well, since last Thursday, I had stopped revising on Elementary Mathematics and Chemistry and focused greatly on Combined Humanities.
Sad to say, I can't remember them in great detail. Okay, so my memory sucks, I thought everyone knew that?

Memorised Points for(may not be correct because I'm using my memory on this):

Rise of Venice

Political Reasons:

Leadership -> Establishing Control in Adriatic Sea
Leadership -> Building Venetian Empire
Leadership -> Expanding Venetian Empire in the Mediterranean Sea

Reforms in the Government

Meeting the challenges of a growing city-state -> Creation of the Great Council
Meeting the challenges of a growing city-state -> Specialisation of duties -> The Senate
Maintaining checks and Balances -> Effective Checks on power
Maintaining checks and Balances -> Preventing concentration of power

Economic Reasons:

Trade development and expansion -> Attitude intowards trade
Trade development and expansion -> Trade Monopoly
Trade development and expansion -> ~~Advances~~Innovations in Maritime Technology
Trade development and expansion -> ~~Efficient~~Efficiency in planning Voyages
Trade development and expansion -> Overcoming trade ~~rivals~~competition
Innovative Practices -> Giro-Banking
Innovative Practices -> Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Almost forgot this(can't finger what it was earlier)

Industrial Development -> Manufacturing Industries
Industrial Development -> Trade-related Industries

Social Reasons:

Loyalty-> Venetians have sense of belonging to Venice
Attracting Foreign Talent

Fall of Venice

Internal Reasons:

Incapable Leaders
Corruption -> Due to war, salaries of civil servants were suspended, encouraging bribery to but entry into leadership posts
Over-dependence on mercenaries > Mercenaries are not loyal to Venice
Social Aspect -> Complacency and Indulgence in luxury

External Reasons:

Involvement in Mainland -> Struggle to maintain control
The Ottoman Empire -> War
League of Cambrai -> An alliance of countries which were jealous of Venice's success
Discovery of Sea Routes -> Challenge Venice's trade Monopoly
New Trade Rivals -> E.g. Spain, Britain

Lessons Learnt from Venice

Nation-Building -> Building a sense of identity?
Relations with other countries
Government
Sustaining Economic Growth

Key driving forces of Globalisation

Advancement in Communications -> E.g.Internet, phone
Advancement in Transportation -> E.g. Containerisation, Planes
Role of Transnational Corporations

Impact of Globalisation

Positive

Economic -> Increased standard of living
Economic -> Increased competition among nations
Social -> Increased awareness of foreign culture
Environmental -> Awareness of Environmental Management

Negative(adverse)

Economic -> Increased competition
Economic -> Brain Drain

Case Study: India

Economic -> Widening Income gaps between the rich and poor
Social -> Loss of culture
Environmental -> Environmental Degradation

Example: Global Warming, Deforestation

Strategies taken by Singapore in a globalised World.

Diversification of Economy
Venturing aboard
Nurturing growth of SMEs
Expanding Market reach through economic co-operations

Example: FTAs

Managing Resources Efficiently

Developing People

Entrepreneurship
Upgrading workers for continuous working

Attracting Foreign Talent
Managing Environment

Public Education
Managing limited land resources
Co-operating with regional and international agreements

War on Pacific(read below)
Cuban Missile Crisis
Korean War

Topics that I only have a rough idea on:

Managing Healthcare(Singapore and Britain)[No idea what's NHS 2000 and 2004!!!]
Deterrence and Diplomacy
War on Europe
Nazi Germany
Fascist Japan
Communist Russia

The rest, I pretty much did not even touch. I accidentally gave away my Secondary 3 Social Studies Textbook which pretty much explains why most the chapters in it are not touched or not well prepared. :o

Note: Words in Orange are added later.

Oh boy, I had not done the Chemistry TYS on Macromolecules (I forgot!) and it's due tomorrow. Hmm.. which to do first?

F.Y.I. Yes, I'm concentrating on Social Studies today, yesterday was History.

War on Pacific

Why was peace threatened?

Japan's Foreign Policy (To build an empire in South-east Asia, Free Asians from Western control, Living space for Japan's Population, to control resources)
Military Aggression(Growing influence in Manchuria, Military acted without Government Permission, Marco Polo Bridge Incident)
Poor Relations with the West -> western bias
League of Nation -> Too weak to stop Japan

Why led to the outbreak of war?

War with China -> Japan with few resources
International Situation -> Neutrality Agreement with Russia; Colonies were left unprotected due to war in Europe
Worsening Relations with U.S. -> Embargo on Japan; Increasing naval presence in Asia-Pacific
War Minister Tojo became Prime Minister of Japan -> Made war more likely.

What were the reasons for Japan's Defeat?

~~Japan stretched its army~~Japan resources thinly stretched
Dropping of Atomic Bombs
Island Hopping Strategy by Allied Forces
Not all ships were destroyed in Pearl Harbour during Japanese Attack.
There were resistance against Japanese Occupation in captured colonies.

If you find any information incorrect, please inform me! Thanks!

Update @14 Sept 2009:

Just realised that I missed out the reasons for the fall of the Diet Government this morning...=.=

Thank god, no serious adverse effects occurred. ;)

Start of Sept Holis

Friday, September 4, 2009

Secret War Journal[4 September 2009][2nd Post]
Boy, what a day...

I'm back from teaching my younger siblings simple mathematics. Actually, just simple addition. :p

Chinese Paper [Prelim 3]

Paper 1 was manageable but Paper 2 was just alien to me.

Even so, Paper 1 was not without difficulties. Great.

For starters, I'm writing formal letter for situational writing and I have no absolute idea what's editor in Chinese, much less write it. So I figure I would lose around 1 mark or so for format-wise.
--
Paper 2 was a real tough one. I have no idea what the passages were talking about!!! At all!!!

It's like I took the wrong paper.(which I really thought, it seemed so Higher Mother Tongue-like Style)
I mean, I could not even understand more than 10% of the words on it! (okay, so maybe I exaggerated..)

So yeah, another subject screwed up. Woots! Shucks...

Encounter with Mr.Goh :o

Out of the blue, Mr Goh appeared. He was initially looking for Yi Cheng, Dylan and Lloyd. But as if an afterthought, he wanted to talk to me.
For some reason, I kind of know that he was going to talk to me about Prelim 3 Physics Paper that I took. And guess what? I was right.(then again, it's like Duh, he's my Physics Teacher. What else could he talk about?)

He said my Paper 2(the section that he marked anyway...) were not exactly well-answered. I can't grasp the key words...
Not to mention that my Paper 1 was not up to my prior standards. Haiz..

So that means my Physics is classified 'Gone Case'.

Goodbye A1...T.T

Had a nice chat with John again. Still haven't found the time to contact Marcus...:o

Just realised that my father's dial tone now has a song.(instead of the monotonous dial tone) but I'm pressing for him to terminate that service since that incur charges on the phone bill. Marcus's phone used to have that too, and he said the service provider charges for that service.

So yeah, as the title of my post suggests, my 'holidays' has begun. It will last one week and it could be well be my official first holidays in my four years in this school! Woots, though at a rather bad time but yeah...

Hmm...maybe I should go revise on the next paper now...

Until we meet again then. Adieu!

27, Day of Geography Exam

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Secret War Journal[29 August 2009]
Weekends! Ahh! Really miss them. I'm kind of in a rush right now, so expect this post to be rather short(or rushed).

Geography Papers

Well, it seems that my mugging focused too much on Human Aspect of Geography and too little on the Physical Aspect of Geography.

Result? Both papers could not be completed. Haiz...

The first paper was on the Physcial Aspect of Geography. It was very demoralising for me because I did not study much on them.
On the other hand, the second paper, which was on Human Aspect of Geography, I was able to answer. Heck, I know the content, the examples, the evaluations, but I had insufficient time. Guess I wrote too much. Zzzz..

So yeah, Geography is now officially wasted for Prelim 3. Wohoo! Geez...

English Papers

Paper 1 was unique in the sense that the situational writing requires us to boast(in a way...) about our strengths and achievements.

The situational writing is about an application to some scholarship. (That's all I'm gonna see without revealing too much. :p)

My main worry for that section would be that I'm afraid the markers thinks mine is too cocky. (LOLS...) Hope not.

For the essay section, I wrote on the theme: Weight. For this, I wrote on imaginary weight(For example, burden, responsibilities, commitments)
Hopefully, I am able to get across the idea to the marker and would not go out of point. ;)

Paper 2 was difficult. The passage was not hard to understand but the questions were a challenge to answer. This paper is as difficult as Prelim 2, if not harder.

Next up would be my Additional Mathematics but before that, there's Teacher's Day!
(no worries, there will be a post about that in a few days)

Alright, have to go prepare going out now and revise, of course.

Leroy's Secret War Journals