Diagnostic Writing Task_For Upload_2013.pdf

8/13/2019 Diagnostic Writing Task_For Upload_2013.pdf

1/20

Core University EnglishDiagnostic Writing TaskPage 1

CAES1000 - Core University English

Diagnostic Writing Task

AIMS OF THE DIAGNOSTIC WRITING TASK

This is a learning activity. The aim of this task is for you to:

experience writing the same kind of academic text that you will be asked to write in thefinal exam for the CUE course

identify strengths and weaknesses in terms of your academic writing ability

THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS TASK ARE ALMOST EXACTLY THE

SAME AS THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FINAL EXAM BUT THE

TIME GIVEN IS SHORTER

COMPARISON OF TIMING FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC WRITING TASK AND THE REAL EXAM

Diagnostic Writing Task Timing Real Exam Timing

1 hour and 30 minutes 3 hours

COMPARISON OF TASKS FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC WRITING TASK AND THE REAL EXAM

Diagnostic Writing Task Real Exam Task

Read 3-4 texts of around 1,500 words

Write 500600 words

Read 6 texts of around 3,500 words

Write 1,0001,200 words


2/20


Write an essay OR a report

INSTRUCTIONS

1. You MUSTwriteEITHER an essay (Section 1) ORa report (Section 2).

PAGE NUMBERS

Section Page Numbers

Section 1Write an essay Pages 3 to 9

Section 2Write a report Pages 10 to 19

DO NOT WRITE ON THIS DIAGNOSTIC WRITING TASK.

*Texts shown in this document may have been adapted for the purposes of this task.


3/20


SECTION 1WRITE AN ESSAY

TASK DESCRIPTION

Write an academic essayabout the controversy surrounding the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong

Express Rail Link. Your essay should discuss the following:

I. what the controversy isII. whether the Express Rail Link should have been built

INSTRUCTIONS

1. On the following pages you will find the reading texts for the essay. Read these texts anduse the ideas / data in the texts to write an academic essay.

2. Include ideas / data from the reading texts THROUGHOUT your essay to support your stance.3. You should NOT use ALL of the ideas / data in the texts. YouMUSTselect the most

appropriate ideas / data that support your stance.

4. You have been given a separate A3 sheet of paper. Use this sheet of paper for taking noteswhile you are reading.

5. You must include CITATION throughout your essay, where appropriate. You must also writea REFERENCE LISTat the end of your essay. Follow the guidelines in the Citation and

Referencing Style Guide. You can download this from the CUE Course Moodle in the Course

Documents Section.

6. Your essay should be NO SHORTERthan 500 words and NO LONGERthan 600 words.7. DO NOT PLAGIARISE. You will lose marks if you do.

SUGGESTED TIMING

Task Timing

Choose whether to write the essay ORthe report 5 minutes

Analyze the question 5 minutesRead the texts and take notes on the A3 sized note-taking paper provided 30 minutes

Write the essay ORthe report 40 minutes

Proofread your writing 10 minutes


4/20


-Beginning of Reading Texts for the Essay-


5/20


Text 1The Hong Kong Government / Press Release / Tuesday, October 20,

2009 / Published by the Hong Kong Government

The Hong Kong Government approves the implementation of high-speed rail link

The Chief Executive in Council today (October 20) approved the implementation of the Hong Kong section of

the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) project and the Government's recommendation

to seek funding approval from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council so that the construction of

the project can start before the end of 2009.

A Transport and Housing Bureau spokesman said the XRL would help reinforce Hong Kongs status as a

transport, financial and commercial hub of China. The whole alignment of the XRL, between its terminus at

West Kowloon and Shibi in Guangzhou, is about 140 kilometres with intermediate stations at Futian,

Longhua and Humen. "Apart from providing high speed shuttle service between neighbouring cities and the

regional rapid transit systems of Guangdong Province, the XRL allows Hong Kong to tap into the 16,000-

kilometre national high-speed railway network. The through-train services to major Mainland cities at an

average of 300km will enable travellers from Hong Kong to reach Xiamen in four hours, Wuhan in five hours,

Shanghai in eight hours and Beijing in 10 hours," the spokesman said.

The XRL will play an unparallelled role in fostering closer economic ties between Hong Kong and the

Mainland, which will inject momentum and create new opportunities for the future development of Hong

Kong in the medium and long term. In addition to injecting impetus for the economic activities mentionedabove, there will be substantial benefits arising from time saving to passengers, cost savings to operators

and enhanced road safety.

It is estimated that over its 50 years of operation, the quantifiable economic benefits of the XRL mainly

attributed to time-savings by travellers would amount to $87 billion in 2009 prices (4% discount rate per

annum). Induced benefits such as additional expenditure and investment in Hong Kong, which are difficult

to quantify, have not been assessed. In the near future, the construction of the Hong Kong section is

expected to create 11,000 job opportunities during the peak period. When completed, the high-speed rail

system, together with related business establishments, is expected to employ 10,000 people," the

spokesman said.

Subject to meeting certain eligibility criteria, households with special rehousing needs will be offered an ex-

gratia cash allowance of $600,000, or an allowance of $500,000 and an opportunity to purchase a flat in the

New Territories under the Home Ownership Scheme without being subject to the Comprehensive Means

Test. All affected households will be eligible for a domestic removal allowance, ranging from $3,000 to

$10,000," he said.

[Text taken out]

-p.1-


6/20


Text 2C. Lai and A. Lam / South China Morning Post / 16 September 2009

Most trains will stop short of new mega hub

While officials keep stressing the importance of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link inconnecting to the high-speed national rail network at Shibi, Guangzhou, an internal MTR report shows thatnearly 80 per cent of the trains are not intended to stop at Guangzhou but will end in Shenzhen.

According to the study on the greater Pearl River Delta's railway development obtained by the Post, only 25trains, or about one fifth of the 114 trains to run between Guangzhou and Hong Kong, will stop at the newstation in Shibi by 2020 - five years after the HK$39.5 billion link begins to operate. The vast majority oftrains, 78.95 per cent, will terminate at either Futian station or Longhua station, in Shenzhen.

'Why would 70,000 passengers want to take the much more expensive high-speed rail link to Shenzhenevery day, while they now have coaches, ferries and at least two cross-border railways, all much cheaper

means, that serve the same purpose?' said Chu Hoi-dick, an activist of Local Action, which has been helpingvillagers of Tsoi Yuen Tsuen, who have to make way for the link.

As of June, a daily average of 6,607 passengers took the MTR's Hung Hom-Guangzhou through train tocross the border. A further 278,960 crossed the border on the city's two cross-boundary rail lines at Lo Wuand Lok Ma Chau.

In response to the MTR report's projection, the government official said the figures were more an illustrationof passenger demand than a final train schedule. 'Everything depends on the actual passenger demand whenthe link opens. Many of the trains now thought to terminate at Shenzhen, may actually only stop there as a

middle station, and then move on to Guangzhou.'

But the official admitted engineers always minimised stops for a high-speed network. The latest finding willalmost certainly raise more controversy at a Legislative Council panel meeting tomorrow, during whichofficials are expected to be asked about a compensation plan for villagers who will have to move because ofthe rail.

Some may also raise questions about the link's terminus at Shibi. Although it will take only 48 minutes toget there from Hong Kong, passengers heading to Guangzhou city centre at Tianhe will have to transfer tothe Guangzhou metro and ride another 18 stops. This will take about 45 minutes, which means there will not

be much of a time saving in comparison with the through train.

The Transport and Housing Bureau said the new Guangzhou station, although now located on the city'soutskirts, would become the largest passenger railway station in Asia when it started operating early nextyear. It also connects to more than 10 high-speed national railways, highways, urban metro lines and inter-city links.

-p.13-


7/20


Text 3T. Holland / South China Morning Post / 19 January 2010

The problem with fast rail networks

On Saturday, the Legislative Council finally approved HK$66.9 billion in funding for the

government's proposed high-speed rail link to Guangzhou, but only after the allocation wassteamrollered through in the face of considerable popular resistance.

Opposition to the new rail line focused on its planned route and the project's astronomicalcost. Relatively few people questioned whether a high-speed rail link to Guangzhou is adesirable thing in the first place.

The new line's proposed price ticket is certainly mind-boggling. At HK$66.9 billion, the 26-kilometre track will cost about HK$2.57 billion for each kilometre, which, as a clutch ofcommentators have pointed out, will make it the most expensive railway ever built for itslength. Astonishingly, it will be more than twice as expensive per kilometre than the undersea

Channel Tunnel between England and France.

Part of the reason the new project will be so expensive is because the line will run throughtunnels under Kowloon, and as recent experience has shown, tunnelling under busy urbanareas is both enormously expensive and fraught with engineering problems.

Ominously, urban tunnelling projects tend to run badly behind schedule and heavily overbudget. But the supporters of Hong Kong's new rail link claim it is worth the cost. They arguethat the new line is crucial to the city's future, and warn that if Hong Kong doesn't build aconnection to the mainland's new high-speed rail network as quickly as possible, its economywill somehow be left behind.

This argument exposes some very confused thinking. The government projects that about100,000 people a day will use the new line when it opens in 2016. At first, this figure soundsplausible when you consider that average visitor arrivals hit 80,000 a day in 2009, whilenearly 97,000 Hong Kong residents a day left the city by the Lo Wu border crossing.

But on closer examination, the government's forecast looks less realistic. High-speed railwaysare very expensive. As a result, they compete not with existing conventional rail networks,but with airlines. And they only compete effectively with airlines in a specific sector: journeysbetween cities less than 1,000 kilometres apart.

There's a good reason for this. To travel fast, trains have to overcome air resistance, andbecause air resistance increases with the square of the train's speed, to double a train'sspeed, you have to overcome four times the air resistance, which takes four times as muchenergy.

As a result, although modern high-speed trains can hit speeds of well over 500 km/h, runningthem at more than 300 km/h is prohibitively expensive. Because they travel at high altitudeswhere the atmosphere is less dense, airliners don't face this problem.

As a result, taking the train only makes sense on journeys of up to 1,000 kilometres. Muchfurther and it is worth spending an hour at each end getting to and from the airport; you will

still reach your destination more quickly.


8/20


And your flight may well be cheaper. For example, you can fly between Tokyo and thesouthern Japanese city of Fukuoka 900 kilometres away in just two hours at a cost of 12,000yen (HK$1,025). Japan's much-vaunted bullet train will get you there in five hours, at a costof 21,000 yen.

Clearly, if you look again at Hong Kong's arrivals and departure data and attempt to gaugethe numbers of travellers voyaging to or from cities within 1,000 kilometres who would beprepared to pay airline-type prices for their journeys, then the likely number falls far below

the 100,000 per day projected by the government. For much shorter distances, people willuse the existing cheaper rail networks. Any longer, and they will take a plane.

Of course, the government could make the high-speed link more attractive by heavilysubsidising tickets. But then the all-in cost would end up much higher than the projectedHK$66.9 billion construction cost, which would make the project even less attractive than it isalready.

-p.9-


9/20


-End of Reading Texts for the Essay -


10/20


SECTION 2WRITE A REPORT

TASK DESCRIPTION

Write an academic reportabout obesity in Hong Kong. Your report should discuss the following:

I. the main reasons for obesity in Hong KongII. preventative measure that can be taken

INSTRUCTIONS

1. On the following pages you will find the reading texts for the report. Read these texts anduse the ideas / data in the texts to write an academic report.

2. Include data / ideas from the reading texts THROUGHOUTyour report to support yourstance.

3. You should NOT use ALL of the ideas / data in the texts. YouMUSTselect the mostappropriate ideas / data that support your stance.

4. DO NOTinclude a table of contents, a summary or appendices in your report.5. You have been given a separate A3 sheet of paper. Use this sheet of paper for taking notes

while you are reading.

6. You must include CITATION throughout your essay, where appropriate. You must also writea REFERENCE LISTat the end of your essay. Follow the guidelines in the Citation and

Referencing Style Guide. You can download this from the CUE Course Moodle in the Course

Documents Section.

7. Your report should be NO SHORTERthan 500 words and NO LONGERthan 600 words.8. DO NOT PLAGIARISE. You will lose marks if you do.

SUGGESTED TIMING

Task Timing

Choose whether to write the essay ORthe report 5 minutes

Analyze the question 5 minutes

Read the texts and take notes on the A3 sized note-taking paper provided 30 minutes

Write the essay ORthe report 40 minutes

Proofread your writing 10 minutes


11/20


-Beginning of Reading Texts for the Report


12/20


Text 1 - Hong Kong Department of Health / From a report called Tackling Obesity:

Its Causes and Preventative Actions / Published by Hong Kong Department of

Health / 2009

[Text taken out]

Chapter 3How Common is Obesity?

[Text taken out]

3.2 Obesity in Hong Kong

The severity of the problem of obesity in Hong Kong has not yet reached that of developed

countries such as the USA. A telephone survey commissioned by the Department of Health (DH)

was conducted in early 2003 to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as related

health behaviours. Among 1,700 subjects aged 20 to 64, 19.7% of men and 13.8% of women were

overweight, while 23.4% of men and 12.7% of women were obese. A Population Health Survey

2003/2004 commissioned by the Department of Health (DH) estimated that 17.8% of the

population aged 15 and above were overweight and 21.1% were obese. Overall, overweight was

more common among males than females (20.1% vs.15.9%). A similar trend was found for the

obesity prevalence (BMI130.0) in both sexes (males 22.3%, female 20.0%).

[Text taken out]

-p.12-

_________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 4 - Who are at risk?

4.1 Nutrition

The modern diet has changed from one consisting of more complex carbohydrates, whole grains

and fibre to one with high animal fats and proteins, refined carbohydrates, sugars and few

1BMI stands for Body Mass Index and it is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.


13/20


fruits and vegetables. Taking into account all developing countries, the per capita consumption of

meat and dairy products rose by an average of 50% per person between 1973 and 1996. Traditional

cuisines and homemade food are increasingly being replaced by high-fat, energy-dense fast foods

and soft drinks.

People choose energy-dense, nutrient-poor fast foods because they are cheap, tasty, widely

promoted and readily available. Energy-dense foods tend to be high in fat (such as butter, oil and

fried foods), sugar or starch, while energy-diluted foods have high water content (such as fruits and

vegetables). There is convincing evidence that a high intake of energy-dense foods induces weight

gain, whereas a high dietary fibre intake helps protect against weight gain.

4.2 Physical Activity

Studies have revealed an inverse relationship between BMI and physical activity. People indeveloped countries lead a more sedentary lifestyle because of increasing use of public transport

coupled with affordability of cars, automation of work, use of labour devices both at home and at

work, and more sedentary leisure pursuits such as TV viewing. The global estimate for the

prevalence of physical inactivity among adults is 17%. Estimates for prevalence of some, but

insufficient physical activity (


14/20


machines are increasingly available in schools. A study has shown that excessive consumption of

high-sugar soft drinks is associated with obesity in children.

4.3.3 Fast food restaurants

Fast food outlets which provide high-fat, energy-dense foods and soft drinks are increasinglypopular throughout the world. An average fast food restaurant meal provides 1,000-2,000

kilocalories, i.e., up to 100% of the recommended daily intake for adults, and the portion size is also

increasing. Their popularity is further enhanced by mass advertising and low price.

4.4 Macro-environments

4.4.1 Socio-economic environment

Obesity is more prevalent in individuals with high socio-economic status (SES) in developing

countries than individuals with low SES in developed countries. In developed countries, high SES

protects people from becoming obese as these individuals are better educated and live in a lessobesity-promoting environment with more physical recreational facilities and less fast food outlets.

They are thus more likely to follow dietary guidelines, eat healthily and engage in physical activity.

4.4.2 Urbanisation

With urbanisation, food is more abundant and TV penetration is increased. With more women

working, the demand for high-fat, energy-dense and low-nutrient ready-to-eat food and labour-

saving devices such as washing machine is increased. Also, less time is allocated to cooking. All

these have profound effects on the dietary habit and physical activity level of the population.

-p.18-


15/20


Text 2 - C Ko and J Chan / From the International Journal of Obesity/ 2007 /

Volume 31 / pages 254 to 260

Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in

Hong Kong Chinese

Abstract

Objective:To study the inter-relationships between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in subjects

from a working population.

Subjects:4,793 subjects (2,353 (49.1%) men and 2,440 (50.9%) women). Their mean age was 42.4 years

(range 1783 years). Subjects were randomly selected.

Results:The mean daily sleeping time was 7.06h (women vs men: 7.14h vs 6.98h). Increasing body mass

index (BMI) was associated with a reduced number of sleeping hours and an increased number of

working hours. Those with short sleeping hours (6 h or less) and long working hours (>9 h) had the

highest BMI and waist in men. Based on multiple analyses with age, smoking, alcohol drinking, blood

pressure, mean daily sleeping hours and working hours as independent variables, BMI was associated with

age, blood pressure in women, whereas waist size was associated with age, smoking and blood pressure.

In men, blood pressure, sleeping hours and working hours were associated with BMI, whereas waist size

was associated with age, smoking, blood pressure, sleeping hours and working hours in men.

Conclusion:

Obesity is associated with reduced sleeping hours and long working hours in men among Hong Kong

Chinese working population. Further studies are needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of this

relationship and its potential implication on prevention and management of obesity.

[Text taken out]

-p.254-


16/20


Text 3New York City Department of Health / from a report called Preventing and

Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults / 2007 / Published by the New York

City Department of Health

[Text taken out]

Table 4 describes steps patients can take to reduce daily caloric intake. Addressing simple

issues such as beverage choice can be an important first step. If appropriate, refer patients to a

dietitian for more in-depth dietary counseling and support.

Table 4. Lifestyle Modifications: Diet and Physical Activity

Physical

activity

To lose weight and to prevent weight regain, work up to at least 40 to 60 minutes of

moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity 5 or more days a week. Daily physical activity can

be broken down into 10-minute segments. Every minute of activity burns calories.

Avoid injury and build endurance by starting slowly and increasing physical activity over time.

Include as much brisk walking as you can in your daily routine.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.

Walk for10 to 20 minutes after every meal.

Look for ways to get more physical activity.

View household chores (vacuuming, raking leaves, running errands) as opportunities to get more physical activity.

Limit time spent in front of the TV and computer.

Regardless of weight, everyone should get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical

activity at least 5 days a week, preferably every day.

Diet To lose weight, cut 5001,000 calories/day.

Eat a healthy diet. Look for ways to reduce excess calories.

Drink water, seltzer, 1% or skim milk, or other low- or no-calorie beverages. Limit or avoid

non-diet soda, fruit drinks and juices, high-calorie coffee beverages, alcohol, and 2% or whole

milk.

Limit high-calorie foods

Eat less fat

Eat foods high in fiber

Snack on fruits and

Read food and beverage labels to identify products that are low in calories and fat.

Pay attention to how you eat.

Control portion size by using smaller plates and bowls.

Avoid eating in front of the TV.

Dont skip meals, especially breakfast.


17/20


Prepare more meals at home.

Everyone should eat a moderate, healthy diet to prevent weight gain over time and reduce

the risk of chronic disease.

[Text taken out]

-p.3-


18/20


Text 4Hong Kong Department of Health / From a report called Fighting Obesity in Hong

Kong / Published by the Hong Kong Department of Health / 2005

[Text taken out]

Chapter 5Initiatives to Prevent Obesity

[text taken out]

5.5 Community-wide campaigns to reduce risk factors of noncommunicable diseases (NCD)

Over the last 20 years, several large-scale, community-wide and multi-component programmes aiming atreducing the risk factors for NCD like cardiovascular diseases were conducted in many developed countries

including the US, Denmark, Finland, and so on. The initiatives used in these programmes adopted a

multidisciplinary approach and required multisectoral collaboration. Campaign messages were

disseminated through mass media including TV, radio, newspaper, billboards and advertisement to reach

the target population.

Results showed that these campaigns were successful in increasing the level of physical activity of

participants and changing their diet towards healthy eating.

Community-wide educational campaigns may produce additional benefits of increasing social networkingin the community. These campaigns, however, require careful planning and coordination, well-trained staff

and sufficient resources for smooth implementation. Poor planning and insufficient resources generally

result in ill developed messages and weak campaigns that are inadequate to achieve the dosage

necessary to change the knowledge, attitude or behaviour of the people.

The Department of Health (DH) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong jointly

launched the Healthy Exercise for AllCampaign in 2000 to promote regular exercise to the public. This

campaign comprised both health education and a mass media publicity programme.

In 2001, 55% of the respondents of the Healthy Living Survey reported to have exercised in the month prior

to the study. This figure is significantly higher than that found in 1999 (47%). However, whether the

increase is related to the Healthy Exercise for AllCampaigncannot be ascertained.

The DH has also conducted other physical activity campaigns of smaller scale targeting special community

groups, such as the Exercise with Your Neighbours project. The short-term results, such as increase in the

proportion of active participants, were found in the campaign.

-p.33-


19/20


-End of Reading Texts for the Report -


20/20


-End of Diagnostic Writing Task -