Supp class this Saturday!

Dear Pupils from my class

I hope you have done your best in your EL papers today.

Keep up with the momentum for the remaining papers!

This Saturday's class is on from 0800 to 0930. Consent forms will be given to you tomorrow morning before 0715. Please get your parents to sign and return the forms to me on Friday.

Cheers
Mdm Toh

Maths Problems 7 October 09 (updated)

1. In May, 40% of the people who visited a park were children and the rest were adults.
75% of the adults were women.
In June, the number of children who visited the park increased by 1/5 and there were 336 more children than adults.
The number of adults who visited the park in June remained the same as that in May but only of the adults were women.
(a) What was the ratio of the number of children to the number of men to the number of women who visited the park in May ? (1)
(b) How many people visited the park in June ? (4)

2. At 7am, a car started travelling from Town A towards Town B at an average speed of 64km/h. At 10am, a van started travelling from Town A towards Town B at an average speed of 56km/h. By then, the car had already covered 2/5 of the entire journey.
(a) What was the distance between Town A and Town B ? (2)
(b) How far from Town A had the van travelled when the car reached Town B ? (2)

3. Ali, Ben and Charles shared the cost of a present.
The ratio of the amount paid by Ali to the total amount paid by Ben and Charles was 2 : 3
Ben’s share was 20% of the total amount paid by Ali and Charles.
Given that Charles paid $84 more than Ben, how much did the present cost? (4)

4. Tom and Jerry have some stamps. If Tom gives 160 stamps to Jerry, the ratio of the number of stamps he has to the number of stamps Jerry has is 3:2. If he gives 40 stamps to Jerry, he will have 4 times as many stamps as Jerry. How many stamps does Tom have? (3)

5. John had 600 stamps in his collection of which 20% were from Malaysia.
How many Malaysian stamps must his brother give him to increase the percentage of John’s Malaysian stamps to 36%? (3)

6. A box contained some twenty-cent and ten-cent coins in the ratio 2 : 3.
When 10 twenty-cent coins were added and 5 ten-cent coins were
removed, the ratio became 6 : 7 .
Find the sum of the money in the box at first. (3)

Maths Problems 5 October 09

1. At 9.30 a.m., Train A which was 200 m long, pulled out of Nanas Station and travelled towards Dadas Station at a uniform speed of 80 km/h. Half an hour later, Train B which was 150 m long, left Dadas Station and travelled towards Nanas Station at an uniform speed of 90 km/h.

(a) How far has Train A travelled when Train B left Dadas Station? (1m)
(b) The two trains met each other in a tunnel. Both trains took 15 minutes to be completely out of the tunnel. Calculate the length of the tunnel. (4m)

2. There were some sweets in Boxes X, Y and Z.
Box X contained 20% of the total number of sweets in Boxes X, Y and Z.
The ratio of the number of sweets in Box Y to the total number of sweets in Boxes X and Z is
2 : 1.
If there are 24 more sweets in Box Y than Box Z, find the total number of sweets in Boxes X, Y and Z. (5m)

3. John shifted the decimal point of a number twice to the left to obtain a new number. The difference between the new number and the original number was 136.62.
(a) How many times of the new number is the original number? (1m)
(b) What is the sum of the 2 numbers? (3m)

4. Mrs Kee baked some cookies and packed all the cookies in 12 small boxes and 5 big boxes.
There were equal number of cookies in each small box and equal number of cookies in each big box.
Each big box contained 14 more cookies than each small box. 18/29 of the cookies baked were packed in small boxes.
How many cookies were there in each small box? (4m)

5. Tricia has some pink, red and yellow ribbons.
1/3 of them are pink ribbons.
Four fewer than 1/3 of the remainder are red ribbons.
The remaining 24 are yellow ribbons.
How many pink ribbons does Tricia have? (3m)

6. Alice, Beth and Claire had 600 stamps altogether. After Beth had given 30 stamps to Alice, Beth had twice as many stamps as Claire and Alice had 20 stamps more than Claire. How many stamps did Claire have? (3m)

7. Last year the total age of Mr Tan and his wife is p years old.
His wife is 1 year younger than him.
What is his wife’s age 2 years from now? Express your answer in terms of p. (3m)

8. Tracy counted the number of 10-¢ coins, 20-¢ coins and 50-¢ coins in her piggy bank. The number of 10-¢ coins was 24 more than the number of 50-¢ coins. After spending 3/5 of the 10-¢ coins, 1/4 of the 20-¢ coins and 18 50-¢ coins, she had an equal number of 10-¢ and 20-¢ coins. The number of 50-¢ coins now formed 40% of the remaining number of coins
(a) How many 10-¢ coins did Tracy have at first? (3m)
(b) How much did she spend in all? (2m)

9. Ahmad and Halim together took 5 days to paint their house. If Ahmad and Halim work together for 2 days, followed by Ahmad working alone for 8 days, Halim will take 1 more day to complete the remaining work. How long will Ahmad take to paint the house all by himself? (5m)

10. Mr. Tan had 130 durians and mangosteens. After he sold 2/3 of the durians and 2/5 of the mangosteens, he had 36 more mangosteens than durians left. How many fruits had he left in all? (4m)

CW by Jing Jie (unedited)

“Hey! There is something I need to tell you about.” My closest friend Jay whispered to me as he sat beside me in the canteen.
“What?” I asked.
Jay said, “You know about the abandoned house beside our school, right? Well… today, my classmate Jackson said he saw a shadowy figure looking at him from an open window in that house.”
I nearly choked on the minced meat noodles I was eating.
“Please do not tell me your crazy idea is to….go into that house?” I stammered, pushing away my half eaten bowl of noodles.
“Well, I was going to try…but now that you know, how about this? You come along with me into the house!” He exclaimed, a foolish grin on his face. I was dumbfounded, normally kids our age would be horrified the moment they heard about the abandoned house, but Jay was as cool as a cucumber.
“Come on, it will be fun!” He coaxed. In the end, I agreed to come along with him, not wanting to be called a coward.
The wind howled and the dead leaves rustled as we walked to the abandoned house after school. Standing at the gates towering over us, I smiled weakly “ Are you sure you want to enter, no second thoughts?”
Jay scoffed, slowly pushing the gates open. Creaking, the gates shifted, groaning with each inch it moved. The terrible sound sent shivers down my spine. Stealthily, we made our way to the front gates.
Jay took a deep breath and flung the doors open, expecting to see someone, or something, only to find an empty corridor, with piles of dust everywhere. “Hello? Is…is someone there?” Jay stammered.
There was no reply, all we heard was the soft howling of the wind in the absolute silence of the house.
After exploring the first floor, we groped our way to the second floor, fascination and fear filled our hearts. We then split up to search the rooms for any sign of the figure Jackson saw.
Slowly, I made my way to the room at the very end. To my surprise, the room was spotless, with not a speck of dust present. “Strange…it should have been as dusty as others?” I muttered.
Then, a small gleam near the window caught my attention. Walking over, I saw a small stone, one that looked like the gleaming stones on Jay’s watch.
I spun around, to see Jay, grinning at me, my eyes transfixed on Jay’s watch in horror.
One of the stones was missing. Then it hit me. I stated at him and stuttered, “you…you are not…not J…. Jay.”
Jay’s grin turned into a silent smile. His smile was the only thing I saw, and the last. As I lost consciousness, and as darkness claimed me, I could swear I thought Jay was changing his form.

CW by Jiayi (unedited)

One day, the canteen was filled with the usual crowd from stall to stall. I was eating at the school canteen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw May, my best friend, rushing towards me.

"Hey, June, I want to talk to you. It's urgent," May sat down beside me and said hurriedly. I gulped down my soup and asked, "Ok. What's the problem? "

May began her story, "Just after Mrs. Lim released us for recess, I went to the washroom and to my disbelief, I saw Linda smoking there. I tried to stop her and told her that smoking is bad for her health but she told me to stay away from her affairs and warned me not to tell anyone or else I'll pay for it. I've been worried about her. She hasn't been looking the best of health these few days."

Thinking back, Linda looked worn out and had been coughing non-stop for days. Sure enough, after recess, Linda walked past us and growled to May saying, "You better keep quiet!" May shot me a 'you-see' look and i finally believed May as Linda breath reeked of cigarette smells "Shouldn't we do anything to help her?" I asked May as soon as we sat down on our seats.

"Maybe we could confront her after school and advised her to stop smoking," May suggested. Thinking that it was the only choice we had, I agreed. Throughout the whole day, May and I were very unsettled, fearing that Linda might not listen to us. After what seemed like an eternity, the school bell finally rang. We bought our time by packing our bags slowly, waiting for Linda, as Mrs. Lim and the others went out. "Linda may be staying back to smoke again!"I whispered to May.

"Hey Linda wait!' May stopped Linda as she walked past her.

"What?!" Linda demanded,Linda looked at me and said,"You must have told her haven't you?"

"Linda,please! You've got to stop smoking! please!" I pleaded.

"I don't need your concerns!" Linda snapped at me.

"Linda please! What happened to you? Please stop all this madness! You could tell us! We will be there for you! We would help you in anyway we can!" I tried to talk some sense into her.

"I have no choice! All of you simply ignored me! I tried to ask you for help but you ignored me too! I have no choice but to resort to smoking to calm my nerves!" Linda finally spilled everything out .

A pang of guilt struck me. I thought to myself, feeling very sorry "What a failure friend I am!"

"Linda we are so sorry! We never know that we have been ignoring you!" May said to Linda. Linda smiled through her brimming tears showing that she forgave us. Because of this incident our bond with Linda became as strong as steel.

CW: Nadiah's Writing (unedited)

While I was munching on my biscuits during my break-time, I pondered about the behaviour of my best friend, Jamie. She was usually chirpy and enthusiastic but strangely today, she was very quiet and she looked as if she was guilty of doing something. She did not even want to sit with me during break-time. How weird!

All of a sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I nearly choked on my biscuits. I swiveled my neck only to see a panic-stricken Jamie. At that moment my mind was clouded with many questions.

“I need to talk to you now,” Jamie whispered, there was a sense of urgency in her tone.

“Sure,” I replied with a quick nod.

Jamie pulled my hand and took me to the library, where not many students were. I was really puzzled. Why must Jamie talk to me in the library? Why not in the canteen?

“Bella, promise me you won’t tell anyone about this,” Jamie whispered again into my ears, sounding very anxious.

I nodded and gave Jamie a you-can-trust-me look.

“Bella, I…actually…stole…Rayner’s handphone…” Jamie stammered, her lips quivered a little.

I was too shocked that my mouth just flung open, but no words came out of it. My best friend just did something terribly wrong! What was I supposed to do?

“Are you sure you stole his handphone?” I asked again, still stunned by Jamie’s confession.

Jamie just nodded her head gently.

I could not believe my ears! I just could not come to terms that Jamie was a thief. Jamie, my one and only best friend, was a thief.

“Please help me! I know I’m in the wrong. I feel so guilty now…” Jamie pleaded with me, letting her tears flow down her cheeks.

I was in a dilemma. If I were to inform my teacher about this, Jamie would certainly be dealt with a severe punishment. But if I just ignored this matter, Jamie might not learn her lesson.

“Where is the handphone now,” I asked Jamie softly.

“In my schoolbag,” replied Jamie as she wiped her tears away.

I assured her everything would turn out alright and soon she stopped sobbing. Then, both of us ran back to class and we went straight to Jamie’s bag.

Jamie took out the shiny, blue, latest Nokia handphone out of her bag. I remembered that Jamie longed to have that handphone. Maybe, that was the reason Jamie stole it from Rayner.

“But, Bella, I don’t want to confess. I’m scared,” cried Jamie, trembling in fear.

But, confession was the only solution I could think of. I really pitied Jamie and I did not want to betray her. But what could I do?

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my vexed mind!

“I have a brilliant idea! Why don’t we put Rayner’s handphone back to his bag? In that way, after recess, he would find out that his handphone was actually in his bag all along!” I explained my plan excitedly to Jamie who was all ears.

After explaining, Jamie instantly got to her feet, her face brightened up. I was delighted to see Jamie back to her normal self.

When I was about to put Rayner’s handphone back into his bag, I heard a loud, creaking noise. I turned around only to see Jamie and no one else.

“What’s wrong?” Jamie asked completely puzzled.

“Wait here,” I instructed and I slowly walked to the back of the classroom, making at least no noise.

When I turned to my right, I saw Rayner squatting down behind the back door of the classroom! I nearly jumped out of my skin!

“Aha! I heard everything! I know what’s going on! I know Jamie is the one who stole my handphone! I’m going to tell Mrs. Jennifer now!” shouted Rayner at the top of his voice and glared at us.

Then, he sped off, leaving Jamie and me all alone in the classroom. Jamie broke into tears. I tried to console her but to no avail. I had assured Jamie everything would turn out alright, but it did not. But, whatever it is, I would always stand by you, Jamie. Always.

Maths Problems 3 Oct / 4 Oct 09

1. A rectangular tank with dimensions 130 cm by 100 cm by 210 cm was
30% filled with water. 8 identical pails of water, completely filled,
were scooped out from it and this resulted in a drop of the water level
to 38 cm. The remaining amount of water was transferred into a
cubical tank containing 39b of water. The water was then drained
out through a tap at the bottom of the cubical tank at 13b per minute.
(a) What is the capacity of each pail? (2m)
(b) How long did it take to drain the water from the cubical tank completely? (3m)

2. At Carpark P, the number of lorries to that of vans was in the ratio 3 : 7.
At Carpark Q, the number of lorries to that of vans was in the ratio 8 : 9.
When 40% more lorries from an industrial park entered Carpark P, and
20% of the vans at Carpark Q moved to Carpark P, there were 76 fewer
lorries at Carpark P than at Carpark Q. How many vehicles were there
altogether at the two carparks finally? (5m)

3. A bullet train took 5 hours to travel from Patient Town to Honest Town while
an electric train took 4 hours longer to travel from Honest Town to Patient
Town. Both trains set off at the same time and moved towards each other.
Two hours later, they were 255 km apart. What was the speed of the electric
train? (4m)

4. Korey's allowance to Skyler's allowance was in the ratio 10 : 11. Both of
them spent an equal amount. Then Korey’s remaining allowance was 7/9
of Skyler's remaining allowance. What percentage of Skyler's allowance
did she spend? Leave your answer correct to 2 decimal places. (4m)

5. Mrs Ker had a bag of brown sugar. After she used some of the brown sugar,
she had 2/3 of the brown sugar left. Then she distributed 1/4 of what she
had left equally between her neighbours, Mrs Dee and Mrs Bheem. Finally,
Mrs Ker had 437.5 g of brown sugar more than Mrs Bheem. How much
brown sugar did Mrs Ker use? Leave your answer in g. (4m)

6. Shop A sold a party dress for $600. This was 20% more than the price of a similar dress in Shop B. During a sale, both shops offered the same percentage discount on the dress. Mrs Goh bought the dress from Shop B and found that she had paid $70 less than the discounted price in Shop A.
a) Find the price of the dress in Shop B before the sale. (2m)
b) What was the percentage discount given during the sale? (3m)

7. A fruit seller had some oranges, pears and durians. After selling some of them, there were 6 pears for every 5 oranges left and 7 oranges for every 3 durians left. He sold 168 oranges. He had 456 pears and oranges left. The number of pears sold was the same as the number of durians sold.
a) How many oranges had he at first? (2m)
b) If the number of pears was twice the number of durians at first, what was the
total number of pears and durians sold? (3m)

8. Tom and Gary ran in a race. When Gary had completed the run in 20 minutes, Tom had only run 5/8 of the distance.
Tom’s average speed for the race was 75 m/min less than Gary’s.
(a) Find the distance of the race. (2m)
(b) What was Tom’s speed in m/min? (3m)

9. After spending part of his salary on transport and 4/7 of the remainder on food, Ali saved $840.
a) If his salary was $2100, what fraction of his salary did he spend on transport? (2m)
b) If he had the same salary and he had to spend the same amount on transport, what fraction of his salary could he spend on food to save 3/5 of his salary? (2m)

10. Minghua and his sister had 25 stickers altogether at first. After their mother had given them some more stickers, Minghua had 5 times the number of stickers he had before and his sister had 3 times the number of stickers she had before. They had a total of 95 stickers in the end. How many stickers did their mother give each of them?

Ans: Minghua:________________(2m)

Sister:________________(2m)

Nominating Sulin Wong for the Junior Kindness Award

I am writing in with delight to nominate Sulin Wong, a pupil of Punggol School for the Junior Kindness Award (1m).

Last Monday, 7 July 2008, which was Youth Day, a school holiday (1m), I was on Bus 851 (1m) with my mother. As it was at the peak hour at 5.30 pm (1m), the bus was very crowded (1m). At the bus-stop opposite Ganghou Mall, an elderly woman boarded the bus bound for the Punggol Interchange. On seeing the elderly's plight in getting a seat, my mother and I witnessed before us a Samaritan at work. Sulin Wong, who was also on board, readily rose from her seat and offered it to the old lady (1m).

Not only did her act of kindness touch the heart of the old lady who was generous with her praises, it also taught all who were at the scene how Singapore can be a more pleasant and gracious society through simple but selfless gestures.

Sulin Wong's act is exemplary and her kindness definitely deserves to be recognised.

Harry Tan
Passenger of Bus 851

Maths Problems 1 October 09

1. Elaine’s mom gave her money to buy some markers of the same price.
If she bought 8 such markers, she would have $8 left over.
If she bought 12 such markers, she would have $6 short.

(a) How much money did Elaine’s mom give her?
(b) How many markers could she buy if her mom were to give her another $14?

2.
A librarian counted the number of adults in the library and found that 2/5 of the number of women was equal to 2 times the number of men. When another 12 men entered the library and 45 women left the library, the ratio of the number of women to the number of men became 5 : 2.

(a) What was the ratio of the number of women at first to the number of men at first? Give your answer in its simplest form.
(b) Find the number of women in the library at first.

3.
Cinema admission tickets for children were priced at $8 each. There were 20 more boys than girls in the cinema for the first movie. For the second movie, the number of boys decreased by 10% but the number of girls increased by 5%. If there were 408 children at the second movie, how much money was collected from the sales of admission tickets for the first movie?

4.
A van travelled from Town A to Town B at an average speed of 55 km/h. A car started its journey from Town B to Town A at the same time as the van, travelling at an average speed of 90 km/h. The two vehicles passed each other 70 km from the middle of the whole journey. Find the distance between the two towns.

5. At first, 25% of Kumar’s money was the same as 33 1/3% of Lily’s money.
Lily’s father gave her $80 later, while Kumar spent $325.
In the end, Lily had 2 1/2 times as much money as Kumar.
(a) How much money did Kumar have at first?
(b) How much money did Lily have in the end?

Picture writing by Jin Hao (unedited)

Johnny and Ravi were both police officers. It was their first day at work and they were patrolling the neighbourhood at Bedok.
“Headquarters told us that there has been a lot of vandalism done by school children,” said Ravi.
“So, that means we have to watch out for any vandals,” said Johnny.
As they turned around the bend of the carpark and were about to leave the carpark to patrol other carparks, they saw a group of boys. The boys were in their teens, and were holding spray cans in different colours. A grin appeared on each of their faces as they started defacing the walls on the void deck.
Johnny and Ravi then knew that they had to step in and take control. Stepping out of their police car, the two men walked towards the boys.
The policemen placed a hand on one of the boy’s shoulder. The boys spun around. The grin on his face was gone and there was only utter shock when he saw both men.
The three terrified boys were under the stern eyes of both men. As Ravi turned his back around to call for assistance, one of the boys took out a sharp knife.
Immediately, the boy charged forward and tried to stab Ravi. Johnny saw what was happening. Without thinking of his own safety, Johnny ran forward and gave the boy with the knife a flying kick.
Shouting for Ravi to keep an eye on the other two boys, Johnny quickly handcuffed the boy he had kicked. The boy turned around and grinned. Slowly Johnny realized that blood was on the boy’s knife. He fell to the floor, with a deep pool of blood surrounding him.
Ravi bent down to check on his partner. The other two boys took the opportunity and ran away. Ravi felt like punching the boy, but he took control of himself. He forced the boy into the patrol car.
Carefully lifting up his partner, he requested for an ambulance.
“Johnny ! You are going to be all right ! You hear me ! You are going to make it ! “ Ravi shouted.
Johnny was admitted to the operating room. Hours later, the doctor came out, shaking his head. Johnny did not make it.
The other two boys were caught and the three were sentenced to four years in the boy’s home. As they were too young, they could not be hanged. The boy who killed Johnny was given six strokes of the cane.
Till now, Ravi always remembers Johnny. His one and only partner.

Maths Problems 29 Sep 2009

1. Shoes and belts are sold in Mr K's shop. The ratio of the price of the shoes to the price of the belts is 5 : 2. The price of each belt is $22. Mr K sold 1/4 of the items in his shop on Sunday and collected $1056. 1/3 of the items sold were belts.
a) How many belts were sold on Sunday?
b) If the number of belts left is 3 times as many as the number of shoes left, how much would Mr K colllect if he sold all the remaining shoes and belts in his shop?

2. There were some white and black marbles in a bag. When 20 black marbles are removed, the total number of marbles in the bag left was 7 times the number of black marbles left.
When 50 white marbles were removed, the total number of marbles in the bag left was 5 times the number of black marbles. Find the total number of marbles.

CW by Meng Yu

l was always a responsible class monitress and a good student in the teacher's eyes and l also get along well with my classmates.But there was once,l had disappointed my teacher and lost her trust in the end.
That day,l sat on my usual seat in the canteen while l was eating.My best friend,Tinghui came to me,her expression was full of anxiety and worries.
"l thought you were supposed to be in Mrs Tan's office,helping her carrry books?"l asked wandering why she was so anxious.
"Um...You did not tell anyone about it right?"She asked,looking around.
l nodded and looked her suspiciously,wandering what she could have done.
"Well,you must promise me no tto tell the teacher about it,"she paused,scanning around,"l accidentally spilt Mrs Tan's coffee on her work,accidentally,"She accented the word 'accidentally'.
"Oh!"l choked,"you are going to get it from her if she knows that!" She quickly covered my mouth and put one finger on her mouth.
"You are going to help me,aren't you?You are my best friend right?l'm sure the teacher will ask all of us who have seen this incident or something like that,you just need to keep quiet and sit there,okay?"She whispered in my ear.
"If you are going to let the cat out of the bag,l am not going to talk to you forever,not a single word!"She warned me.
l sat there,still like a statue.Still thnking through what she had told me.l was not used to lie to people but she was my best friend and l could not betary her.That was the most difficult decisionl have ever had to make.Between friendship and honesty,l needed to choose either one,but both were important to me.l sighed and decided to put them a side,and see what would happen next.
True enough,Mrs Tan was frustrated but she wanted the person to own up.Maybe,l thought,she would give the person a chance.A sweat rolled down my cheek and l realised that l was nervous,very nervous.l saw Tinghui blink at me and put a finger on her lips.l knew she wanted me to keep quiet.
"This is nothing big.Just be quiet.The teacher will not know.Just shut mouth."l told myself in my heart while l felt butterflies in my stomach.
"If no one is going to own up,l am going to find out on my own."Mrs Tan announced and stormed out of the classroom.
Soon,the students were murmuring about this incident and Tinghui smiled at me.l did not feel happy or relieved but just guilty.
"Shh...."As soon as we heard the teacher's footsteps,we kept very quiet.
"You have been to my office right?Tinghui."Mrs Tan asked,arms arcoss her chest. All of us turned to her and some were murmuring under their breathe.Shocked,Tinghui stood up and nodded.
"You come to me,"Mrs Tan said.
l felt more nervous,afraid that Tinghui would say anything related to me.l tried to calm myself down.After a few minutes,l was also called by the teacher and l knew that was the end of me .Standing in front of Mrs Tan, l prepared for the worst.She did not shout or scream at me,that made me relieved.But,all she said was,"l am really disappointed in you."
That's when l felt the real pain,the thing which was so important.l had lost it,the trust.

Picture writing by Belinda (unedited)

The void deck was utterly quiet. It was quiet, so quiet till you could hear a pin drop. It was four in the afternoon when most adults would be working and most students would be doing their homework or revising. However, the silence was broken when thundering footsteps could be heard. Three boys appeared, panting. The trio looked all around them, as if they were making sure that not a single soul was in sight.
The three boys, Bala, Alan and Wei Ming threw their bags on the concrete floor. Their hair was unkempt and their uniforms were tucked out. Next, they pulled out a stack of CDs from their bags they had stolen just now from a shop.
“We’re going to earn big bucks when we sell these CDs to our classmates!” Bala said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he sat down on the cool, concrete floor.
“Yeah,” Alan agreed. “Think of what we can buy with all those money!” Alan added, as a slow, silly smile started spreading on his face.
“Also, the shopkeeper was such a fool. I swear he didn’t even realise that we entered the shop. He really knows how to take care of his shop by talking on the phone all day!” Wei Ming sniggered.
Next, Wei Ming reached to his bag and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He laughed when he saw the looks of shock on Bala’s and Alan’s faces. Wei Ming lit up a cigarette and started smoking. Bala’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets while Alan stood rooted at the same spot, gaping with obvious disbelief.
“C’mon, don’t look so shocked. I stole this pack of cigarettes from my older brother. Want to try?” Wei Ming offered.
Bala was the first one to recover from his shock. Without thinking twice, he reached for a cigarette from the pack and copied how Wei Ming had lit up the cigarette and stuck it into his mouth. However, Alan remained hesitant.
“What… what if somebody saw us? Anyway, we… we’re underage!” Alan stammered nervously.
“Chill, there’s no one at all. Come on, don’t be a chicken! Just take one and try!” Wei Ming snapped, annoyed.
“But… but…” Alan started to say, but was silenced by Wei Ming’s icy glare. Shrugging, Alan reached for a cigarette. However, Alan’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper, like he’d seen a ghost. Alan pointed a trembling finger behind Wei Ming and Bala. Puzzled, Wei Ming and Bala turned around and got the shock of their lives!
The cigarette in Wei Ming’s mouth dropped on the concrete floor. They were face-to-face with two burly policemen! Wei Ming drew in a sharp breath as Bala shifted uncomfortably. Alan’s lips quivered. “Smoking, eh? You three are underage!” Once of the policemen shook his head.
With that, the trio hung their heads in shame. Apparently, someone had caught sight of them smoking and reported it to the police. The two policemen questioned the trio. They had no choice but to surrender. Wei Ming handed the pack of cigarettes and lighter to the policemen while the other two, Alan and Bala gave the stack of CDs to the policemen and explained how they had stolen them.
The two policemen shook their heads again. “You three have to follow us to the station!” the other policeman boomed.
Hobson’s choice, the trio picked their bags up and followed the policemen. They knew they were in hot soup and they braced themselves to face the music.

Picture writing by Juliano (unedited)

It was three in the afternoon .My partner Terry and I were making our routine patrol in the neighborhood .
The weather was just treacherous .The sun was blazing and the heat was unbearable .Terry and I wanted to finish up the patrolling and get back to the air-conditioned office
Just as we were about to finish our rounds ,something caught my eye .A wall was covered with graffiti .Normally I would just ignore the situations but I realized that the town council had just completed the paint job a few days ago and I could swear that the wall was spotless about fifteen minutes ago.
I told terry about the situation and we decided to head back .Getting off the car ,we examined the wall. A pungent odour filled the air .Newly used spray cans could be smelt .
Terry and I combed the area ,hoping to find the vandals .Out of the blue, terry spotted a group of boys in school uniform with their shirts tucked out .
The trios’ appearances gave us the impression that they were gangsters .Since the gang was a stone’s throw away from the scene ,Terry and I suspected that the boys were the vandals .
We went to confront the boys .As soon as the trio saw us ,they quickly stood up ,with anxiety written all over their faces .
“Boys, were you the ones who vandalized the wall ?”I said solemnly , pointing to the wall .
I could see that they were taken aback .
“N… no sir we didn’t do it, honest !” one of the three mentioned.
I had my doubts and threw more questions at them. I even threatened to send them to the home even though I knew that it was not possible. Nervously, they answered all of them. Terry was convinced after a series of questions my I was not.
As I was about to ask more questions , a voice suddenly interrupted our conversation.
“Ha ha ha ! Those police are so dumb! We vandalized the wall just recently and still didn’t catch us !” The voice laughed smugly .
Anger mingled with curiosity , Terry and I moved towards the sound with my fists clenched . It led us towards a group of teenagers ,with their hair dyed in all sorts of colors it almost looked like a rainbow was on their heads .
We eavesdropped on their conversations and we were sure that they were the vandals. Terry and I appeared from our hiding place and approached the youngsters .
After hurtling a few grueling questions the errant teenagers finally admitted to their wrongdoings.
Terry and I dragged them to the car. I apologized to the first group of kids and they told me that they only tucked out their shirts because of the heat.
That incident made our patrol more exciting and taught me to keep an open mind .It was one incident that I was sure would help me to become a better policeman by keeping an open mind and not jump to conclusions easily .

CW Wrong Bus by Navethira (unedited)

“Oh no! Not again!” I cursed under my breath while tying my shoe laces hastily.

It was already seven o’ clock. I was late for school for the fourth time. I knew I would be in hot soup for being late for times in a month. I then scrambled towards the staircase and then darted to the bus-stop. From a distance I could see the bus number twenty-seven turning towards the bus-stop. My strides got stronger and longer. I did not want to miss the bus once again.

Thankfully, I managed to board the bus in time. I scanned through the crowded bus for a vacant seat. Once I found the seat, I immediately sat down tiredly. Droplets of sweat trickled down my forehead. While I was catching my breath, I realized that the bus turned left instead of turning right. I was puzzled. Now the time was twenty minutes past seven. I knew that I was going to be late and adding on to my anxiety, the bus was travelling in a whole different route. My heart was beating faster than ever. Anxiety mingled with fear. Not only was I going to be late I was also going to be lost. What was I going to do? I wondered whether to I should ask any of the commuters for help.

Finally, I decided to check with the bus driver where the bus was going and why the bus route had changed. I was extremely sure that I had boarded bus number twenty-seven.i then hesitantly asked the bus-driver why the bus route had changed. He then stared at me and said that this was bus number twenty-seven A.

“What! 27A? But um…”I was totally puzzled.

How careless could I get! After a short pause, I asked the bus driver if the bus would go to my school. His answer made my heart sink.

“Well this bus will go to Senkang and probably reach Hougang in thirty minutes.”

Both relieved and worried, I carried my heavy school bag back to the seat. Time ticked by at snail’s pace. By the time the bus travelled around Senkang the time was already fifty minutes past seven.

The bus was now approaching Hougang, where my school was. I then got off and raced towards the school gate. There I saw my teacher with arms akimbo with a stern face. I knew I had to face the music so with crossed fingers, I greeted my teacher. Instead of being fuming mad at me, she put on a smile.

“Good morning Julia! You are early today! Keep up the good work! But why did you bring such a big bag?”

I stood there with a blank look. It then dawned on me that it was Teacher’s Day that day and that the reporting time was eight o’clock and that I did not need to bring my school bag. My mouth went agape. I felt so foolish I gave my teacher a sheepish smile and entered the school. Isince sworn that I should always read all the forms issued to me so that I would not make a fool of myself again.

SW Letter of complaint - Broken CD

Suggested response:

Dear Manager

I am writing in to request for an exchange of a broken CD (1m) purchased at your store. I bought the CD entitled Top 10 Children's Songs on 1 October 2007 (1m). Upon discovering that it was broken, I returned to your store on the same day at 5 p.m. (1m) with the broken CD and the original receipt to have it exchanged.

Your staff, Ms Jane Tan, declined my request (1m), disregarding the company policy that goods can be exchanged within 3 days of purchase with original receipt. I was totally frustrated (1m) by the entire experience and strongly feel that I should be given a new CD as per stated by the company policy (1m).

Please kindly look into and assist in this matter.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely
James Tan

CW: Wrong Bus by Jing Jie (unedited)

“Oh dear, I am so late!” I grumbled as I dashed towards the bus stop opposite my house.
In my hurry, I did not realise that I was jaywalking, drivers in the cars cursed and swore, but I took no notice of them.
I ran and ran, never stopping once to catch my breath, by the time I had reached the bus stop, I was drenched in sweat, face red and rosy. I then boarded the first bus that stopped at the bus stop.
I had no time to think, only act. By then, the bus had driven off. I took a seat, gasping. Strangely, the bus was going in a different direction. Then it hit me, I was on the wrong bus!
In my hurry, I thought I took bus eighty-nine, instead, I had been taking bus seventy-two.
I immediately checked my pockets. Even worse luck, I did not bring my wallet and had used up all my change.
I asked the passengers beside me for some spare change, only to be turned down and met by stares of disapproval.
Some people turned to the others beside them and started whispering, making all sorts of strange gestures.
I calmed down and composed myself. My plan was to alight at the bus interchange and call my father from there.
As I began to feel more confident about getting out of this mess, the worst happened. The bus engine emited a thick black smoke, and it came to a sudden halt, throwing me forward. I hit my head on the steel poles, moaning in pain as crimson blood oozed out from the deep cut on my forehead.
The bus driver tried starting the engine for a couple of minutes, but to no avail. He announced, “The bus has broken down, please alight the bus, I am sorry.”
Passengers moaned as they got of the bus, while others grumbled.
I took about an hour to walk to the interchange, on the verge of giving up. At the sight of it, I pushed myself past the limit and started running to the interchange.
Crashing on the bench, I took a breather while fishing out my phone to call my father. Then I realised something, I had left my bag on the bus!
Not giving up, I checked my pockets thoroughly, finally finding one ten-cent coin. I slipped the coin into the phone booth and called my father.
As usual, he gave me a good dressing down, droning on and on about how I should be more careful next time.
I sighed, as I waited for him to fetch me home, true enough, I hate Mondays.

CW: Wrong bus by Jin Hao

I was sitting on a bench, just outside my house, waiting for my bus to come. I saw a bus coming but could not see clearly what the bus number was as I had sent my glasses for repair. It looked like the bus service that I normally took, bus number 113. However I was not sure.

“Who cares?” I mumbled and straightaway boarded the bus without thinking of the consequences of my actions because I was going to be late for school!

“The journey to my school was only two stops away but why couldn’t I see my school after three stops?” I pondered to myself as I started getting a little worried. Only then did I ask the person sitting behind me what bus service it was.

“112” he replied, looking rather annoyed as he was suddenly interrupted of his sleep.

“Oh no! I have boarded the wrong bus!” I shouted as I pressed the stop button and hastily alighted from the bus. In my moment of carelessness, I left my bag in the bus without knowing it.

Only after I had run back to the bus stop outside my house did I realize my bag was missing. I must have left it on the bus!

“Not again?! What else can go wrong?” I moaned in exasperation.

At that time, another bus arrived at the bus stop. I squinted my eyes and found out it was 113.

So thus I decided to board it and retrieve my bag at the interchange where Bus Service 112 would terminate.

After endless riding on the bus, I got off at the interchange with a sore bottom. I went around looking for the bus captain that drove 112.

Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped and turned around only to find out that person was the bus captain of 112.

The bus captain held up my bag, smiled and said, “This is your bag, right?”

I nodded. “Keep it properly okay, boy? You may not be this lucky to get it back the next time! “ he added as a warm smile broke from his lips.

Ahh! My guardian angel! I thought to myself as he walked away.

Oh gosh! I’m going to be late! I thought as I stared at my watch. I immediately rushed back to my school. But it was too late! And of course, the predicted major scolding from the discipline master. And as though that was not enough, when I thought I could finally have some breathing space back in class, it was my teacher’s turn to breathe down my neck. She told me to stay back that day to write “I will not be late for school” a hundred times!

The whole class burst into laughter after hearing what the teacher had said. I thought they were laughing at the punishment I had to do. But no!! It was only then did I notice that my shirt was not tucked in, a few buttons were out and my hair was unkempt.

No one took pity on me. Not even my best friend, Benny, who was trying to stifle his giggles but to no avail.

After this mistake which cost me heavily, I decided to correct my bad habit of being too reckless and to be more careful. With or without my glasses.

CW: Robbery in a lift by Guan Min

Do you believe that a robber can appear out of nowhere at any time and rob you? Perhaps not. But I had cheated death when I had a close encounter with one.

It was a blistering hot afternoon. Jane and I entered the lift and chit chatted. As the lift door was about to close, a man whose singlet was tattered and torn dashed towards the lift and attempted to stop the door from closing. Sweat trickled down his face and he looked breathless.

“Quick! Press the button. I am chased by the loan sharks,” he said in an anxious tone. Anxiety enveloped me. Jane was startled.

I pressed the button and led him to my house as soon as I reached the floor I am staying in. My heart was thumping faster each time I took a step.

“Mum, a man is chased by loan sharks and needs to take cover in our house,” I said swiftly while opening the door simultaneously.

“Who is he? Do you know him? If you do not know him, do not let him in!” my mum declined at once.

But after a while of persuading and convincing, I managed to coax my mum to let him stay for the night.

That night, I heard footsteps and the creaking of my room door. Someone was creeping stealthily into my room and pulling out my drawer. Initially, I thought it was my father but after a moment of ponder, I mumbled, “Why would my father be in my room so late at night.”

I gradually sat up and saw the man I met today. He took my bag, hand phone, wallet and my savings. As soon as he left my room, I tailgated the man until he ceased at my parents’ room. He crept in my parents’ room and took their money and valuables.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked softly.

“Give me all your money!” the man demanded as he brandished a knife on his hands.

This was enough to send chills down my spine and make my hair stand on ends. The man fled through the window in a blink of an eye. I woke my parents up and hastily, we ran and tried to catch up with him. As we caught up with the man, he pulled my hands in his wet and clammy palms and on the other hand, he held the knife and put it next to my neck. Never did I anticipate to be taken a hostage.

“Do not try to be funny! Hand me all your valuables!” the man demanded in an insolent manner and thunderous voice.

Mum went up and dialed for the police and it was still oblivious to the man. The sirens of the police car were heard moments later.

“Did you call the police?” the robber asked as he punctuated his sentence with profanities,

“Slash,” the sound of the knife was heard. Moments later, I blacked out. The man threw in the towel and I was sent to the hospital.

As I opened my eyes, I pondered, “Am I in heaven?” Beside me stood my family members. A grin appeared on my face. I was relieved and jubilant.

From then on, I learnt to cherish my life and not to be so gullible again. As for my mum, she kept blaming herself for letting the man in. She undoubtedly regretted her moment of folly.

CW: Robbery in a lift by Belinda

“So what will we be doing at your house, Janet?” Kate asked her best friend.
“Well, we can either play computer games or watch television,” Janet replied as she jabbed at the button for the lift repeatedly, impatient for the lift to reach the ground floor.
Soon, the lift reached the ground floor and the duo stepped into the lift. Next, Janet pressed the button ‘12’ and the lift doors began to close. Just then, Kate caught sight of a man wearing a singlet and a pair of shorts dashing towards the lift at top speed. Kate’s mouth flew wide open. Luckily, the man used his hands to stop the doors from closing. Breathless, the man stepped into the lift and the lift doors began to close.
Jane and Kate caught each other’s eye and frowned as if they could read each other’s mind. The man seemed to appear out from nowhere! News of old ladies being robbed of their money in the lifts by robbers flashed across the two girls’ minds.
The two girls shuddered in fear. What if the man was a robber, ready to rob them? What would they do? Kate shifted uncomfortably as she nudged her best friend. Janet, too, looked as pale as a sheet of paper.
Much to their horror, the man spun around and whipped out a knife. A nasty grin started spreading on the man’s face. Janet’s face turned even paler and she looked ready to faint. She grabbed Kate’s wrist and held it tightly. Kate’s mouth flew wide agape and she quavered with fear. Her heart was hammering so loudly that she feared that it might just burst, sooner or later.
“Oh no…… we’re going to die…” Janet thought as beads of perspiration formed on her forehead despite the lift fans which were whirring away furiously.
“Give me all of your money now! Hurry, or else, I’ll kill both of you!” the man hissed as he brought the knife closer to them with its sharp teeth gleaming under the dim light of the lift. No words could describe the two girls’ fear.
Trembling, the duo reached towards their pockets for their wallets. There was nothing they could do anymore. They had to surrender their wallets.
Hands shaking, Kate almost dropped her wallet as her hands were damp with sweat. Janet reached her hand out, holding her huge and bulky wallet. Upon seeing Janet’s wallet, the robber’s eyes shone like jewels. He snatched away the two girls’ wallet just as the lift reached the twelfth storey.
Once the lift doors opened, the robber sped away like a bolt of lightning, leaving the two girls with their eyes wide with shock, not believing what had just happened.
The two girls managed to regain their shock. Janet pulled Kate towards the direction of her house. Running like mad, they finally reached Janet’s house and they pounded against the wooden door. Janet’s mother opened the door and the two girls immediately blurted out what had happened.
Janet’s mother gasped in shock and rushed to the telephone to report to the police what had happened.
As Janet’s mother reported what had happened, the two girls heaved a sigh of relief and thanked their lucky stars that they were not hurt by the robber. They hoped that the robber would be caught by the police soon and that history would not repeat itself.

CW: Wrong Bus by Hwee Hean

One gloomy and wet morning, I was on my way to school when I realised that the bus took a wrong turn. Panic-stricken when I knew that I had boarded the wrong bus, I immediately pressed the stop button and got off at the next bus stop. When I got off the air-conditioned bus with my umbrella in hand, my glasses became foggy and I had to wipe them clear before putting them on. After consulting the nearest signboard, I realized that I was a far cry away from my school. I tried to hail a taxi but to no avail in the unabated rain. Finally, after what seemed like twenty minutes, a taxi pulled up by me. Inside was an Indian man who beckoned me onboard. Then the Indian taxi driver said, “Where to, boy?"

I replied fluently in English, "At Rosyth Primary School’s front gate please, sir.”

The taxi driver drove off towards my school and I stared at the meter of the taxi, watching the steadily increase of the price of the journey anxiously as I knew that I only had six dollars in my wallet and did not know if it was enough for the transportation fee for the taxi.

After ten minutes of travelling in the taxi, I saw the bluish color of the school from a close distance away and told the taxi to stop at the entrance of the front gate of my school. The taxi meter luckily stopped at the fare of $6 at the school. Somehow, my predictions were wrong. At the entrance, a tall figure, who was Mr. Raja, stared at me with eyes as red as burning coals and roared at me, "Why didn’t report to do the duty this morning!”

I trembled in my socks when I heard Mr. Raja shout at me. Before giving me the chance to explain my plight, Mr. Raja boomed, "Come with me!”

Without a word, Mr.Raja dragged me towards the Principal’s office by the scruff of my neck.

When I reached the Principal’s office, I saw the slim figure of Mrs Tan, our school’s principal, sitting on a wicker chair. She asked Mr. Raja,” What has this boy done wrongly?”

Mr. Raja told Mrs Tan about the incident that happened because of my laziness. Mrs Tan asked me in her dangerous but sweet voice. "Hwee Hean, why did you report late to school? I told the school during assembly yesterday that if someone does not report to school for duty on time, they will be punished. Do you remember the consequence of not reporting to school on time?”

I stuttered, "Yess, I knooow, it is doinggg the cleaning of the toilets for a week.”

Mrs Tan snapped,” Then, what are you standing there for, get your lazy butt out of my office and into the boy’s toilet with cleaning necessities now!”

I replied,” Yes, Madam,” and I immediately got out of the principal’s room as Mrs Tan would not tolerate pupils who did not know how to listen to her orders and would chase them out of her office with a cane.

I sadly gathered up a mop, scrubbing necessities from the cleaner’s cabinet and began cleaning the toilet slowly. In my heart, I know that I must look out for the correct bus number as I had learnt by the hard way by losing six dollars and having to wash the toilet for a week.

CW: Wrong Bus by Tricia

I will never be so careless again to take the wrong bus. An unforgettable incident had left an indelible mark in my heart.

It was in the morning and I woke up quite late. Quickly, I changed into my uniform, grabbed my bag and dashed to the bus stop. That particular day was the day when I had an English Examination and I was late for it.

“Oh! I will be late! What am I gonna do?” I muttered under my breath, my heart pumping vigorously.

Just when I was thinking of all the possible consequences that I might bear, a bus arrived and I boarded it hastily without looking at the bus number. The bus was quite crowded and it was hard to find a seat. Fortunately, a man in front of me stood up and alighted from the bus. I sat down, drawing a deep and long breath to calm myself down.

“Why there are no students in the bus? It is only 7.05 am,” I thought, looking around the bus.

Just when I looked out of the window, I saw that the bus was driving away from the housing estate and to an unfamiliar place. I was shocked.

“Excuse me, where is the bus heading to?” I asked a lady sitting right beside me.

“Oh, to Jurong,” the lady answered, with a raised eyebrow.

At that moment, I felt faint. A fluttery feeling of panic overpowered me. How was I going to take my English examination? Where was this place? How was I going to get to school? I did not know what to do.

Immediately, I alighted from the bus at the nearest bus stop which was far away from???. Once I had alighted from the bus, I recalled what my mother said.

“If you had taken the wrong bus, do not panic. Be calm. Alight from the bus at the nearest bus stop, take the same bus back to where you were and board the right bus from there.”

I did what I was told, feeling butterflies in my stomach. Everything was in control. The only obstacle was time. I was running out of time! I looked at my watch and it showed, “7.20am”. The English examination would start at 7.30 am!

“Oh! What I am going to do? I was left with ten minutes before the examination started. It was entirely no one else's fault but mine!” I was very scared, scared that I would be barred from taking the English examination.

Seconds stretched into minutes. The seconds seemed like hours to me. At the eleventh hour, I made it to my classroom. The invigilator had written on the white board, “English Examination, Paper 2…” I put my bag outside the classroom and took out my pencil case. The invigilator gave me the examination paper. The clock struck 7.30am.

“You may start your examination now,” the invigilator said to the class.

There was no time for me to settle down. “I am not going to do well in this examination!” I said to myself, however, feeling quite relieved that I managed to make it in time to do my examination.

After the examination, my classmates asked me what had happened. Not only three or four but the whole class of forty-two pupils. Everyone asked me individually and I had to repeat my story for forty-two times!

“I had taken the wrong bus…..” I repeated.

This incident will forever be etched in my memory and I would not take the wrong bus anymore in future again, never ever!

CW: Wrong Bus by Xi Min

The sky was still dark when I boarded the Bus 88 which would take me to school every day, but a bus did not take me to school on time that morning. I woke up earlier than usual at five in the morning and got ready to head to the bus stop beside my house.

As soon as I reached the bus stop, the bus arrived and I boarded it. I did not see any of my fellow schoolmates that morning on the same bus. Strange was the word, I thought. At the fifth stop after I had boarded the bus, the bus did not turn to the right at the crosee junction for me to alight at the next stop. nstead, it just went straight, heading towards Hougang Mall.

Then I realised that the school was nowhere in sight and I had boarded the wrong bus! When the bus arrived at the next stop, I immediately alighted and ran back to school in a hurry. I quickly traced back the bus route as I strode towards the school.

In the end, I managed to reach my school a minute before the school gate closed, but class had started when I stepped into my classroom. Every other classmate was staring at me and some looked as though they were mocking me.

My best friend, Peter, was shocked to see an early bird like me to be late for class for the first time. I quickly wiped away all the sweat on me before approaching my form teacher, Mrs Lee, to explain things to her.

"What a careless boy you are! Boarding a wrong bus," Mrs Lee laughed after I explained what had happened to her. She was an understanding person who would forgive and teach patiently.

"By the way, where are your spectacles, John?" Mrs Lee asked me the minute after I apologised to her. I then jolted out of my skin and realised the root to my mistake. I had forgotten to wear my spectacles when I rushed out of my house in a hurry that morning!

Peter told me to be early that morning so that I could teach him a Mathematics question. I was late for our appointment and forgot all about my spectacles.

"Class, let this incident be a lesson to all that you should check that you have all the things you need before you are sure that you are ready," Mrs Lee advised the whole class in a stern tone.

When I got back to my seat, Peter apologised to me and I said, "Never mind, it's not your fault. It's my carelessness which has caused me to be late. Sorry, I was not early to teach you."

Indeed, from this incident, I did learn a lesson and this incident would be etched in my mind forever.

Thank you all for all the wonderful gifts, cards, cookies, chocolates, honesty, party and video clip.

love
none other than the most naggy MDM TOH
:)

CW Trekking by Jing Jie (unedited)

“Let me see, we do have everything we need, don’t we?” I said aloud. My classmates, Jerry and Jacob, had promised to go hiking in Bukit Timah hill with me.
We were at the foot of the mountain, getting ready to climb the hill. In a flash, we started off our journey.
The climb was tiring but fun as we had the chance to meet many cute animals such as monkeys, frogs and even a flying squirrel. Then, a sudden gust of air hit me like a sledgehammer. I felt that it was strange. I rarely felt such powerful winds like this.
Then, an object, too fast to be seen clearly, flew past us like a bolt of lightning. One thing that was clear to us was the sound. The sound that it made was terrible.
My ears had not stopped ringing for one minute or so. We gave chase. The object was still speeding ahead of us, making strange patterns in the air, then it stopped. Its pointed cone facing us.
My mouth was agape as I stared at the sleek, black, aircraft. It was not one I had ever seen. The bottom of the craft was a small opening. Suddenly, a pod-like object fell from the opening of the aircraft. Immediately after the object was released, the aircraft vanished in a blink of an eye.
I stood there, stunned and mystified at the same time. As Jerry and Jacob ran towards the direction of the pod-like object, I merely stood there, too stunned to speak.
“Check it out, this thing is absolutely awesome!” Jerry hollered. Jacob nodded in agreement and started meddling with it. I started walking towards them, that was when something strange happened. Another blast of air knocked me off my feet, almost taking my breath away.
Jerry noticed something was amiss, he ran back to me and asked, “Are you feeling okay? You seem out of breath.”
I sat down to rest, as I told them about the things that had happened when we first saw the craft.
We were so absorbed in our discussion that we did not notice the pod-like object rattling violently.
I was the first one to hear the loud, rattling noise. I took one glance at the object and shouted, “Take cover!”
As though it was answering my response, the pod hissed loudly and burst into flames and a green substance flowed out of it like a fountain. Jerry smelled it, thinking it was lime juice. He jumped back, disgusted by the smell.
We did not have to think twice before running off, with Jacob in the lead.
If only we had turned back to see a stunted figure emerging from the pod, glancing at our retreated backs with an expressionless face…

CW6 Accident on the bus by Belinda (unedited)

“Bye Joan, see you tomorrow!” I waved to my friend and boarded the bus.
It was a typical Monday after school and I was heading home. I slumped down onto the seat as the bus started moving off. I hummed a tune and glanced out of the window.
My eyes widened and I gasped when I caught a glimpse of a car speeding towards the bus. I glanced at the bus driver and saw that he was frantically holding the steering wheel. Within seconds, the bus swerved to the right and pandemonium struck.
Frantic shouting and shrieks of terror could be heard. People clung onto the poles for their dear lives and I held onto the poles so tightly that my knuckles turned white. From the corner of my eye, I could see a young schoolboy wailing as the back of his head had hit the pole. Another old lady was hurled from her seat and her bag of groceries landed on the floor with a loud thud. All her fruits and vegetables were scattered all over the place.
I looked ahead and my jaws went wide agape. The bus was heading straight to a tree!
“Oh no, bye everyone! I’m done for!” I closed my eyes so tightly that I could feel the pain on my forehead. I clutched the pole and prepared for worst.
A deafening “Bang!” could be heard and once again, chaos broke out. I opened one eye followed by the other. Everything seemed to be fine except for the bus and the bus driver. The driver was lying face down on the steering wheel, unconscious. There was a deep gash on his forehead and he was bleeding profusely.
Also, the glass pane at the front of the bus was smashed to smithereens and shards of glass were strewn all over the road.
Luckily, someone already called the ambulance and the police and they had arrived to the scene. The paramedics immediately sprang into action and sent the bus driver to the hospital.
As the ambulance drove away, I prayed that the bus driver would be fine I hoped that I will never experience another accident ever.

A Close Shave by Hwee Hean (unedited)

The sun cast a rosy hue across the sky. “It is a perfect morning for a hiking expedition”. Gene thought to himself. As it was the June school holidays, his usually strict mother had given him a free rein. Eugene decided to make good use of the opportunity by arranging a hiking expedition and invited some of his friends to go with him.

Gene set off towards his destination with his destination with his friends, Guan and Piggy, who was nicknamed as a pig as he was very fat. Piggy staggered after his friends as he was carrying a huge wicker basket containing their lunch.

The friends arrived at the forest and the air in the forest was crisp and cool. The dew on the leaves glittered in the sun like polished crystals of all shapes and sizes.

Swelling cumulonimbus clouds hung heavily in the skies and thunder rumbled heavily in the distance, portending a heavy downpour. Gene sat down on a patch of green moss, allowing himself to catch his breath before deftly scaling the mountain called K2. Piggy arrived shortly after, face red and panting heavily; trying to catch his breath before setting off with the large wicker basket he was entrusted to by Gene. The friends deftly scaled up the mountain but halfway, Piggy accidentally dropped the wicker basket he was carrying. A loud moan issued from the team but Gene told the team encouragingly that he had some food in his backpack.

After what seemed like eternity, a sudden shout from Gene was heard. They had reached the summit.

Shouts of joy erupted from the group. The friends rushed towards the summit and a beautiful scene awaited them. A magnificent sight of evergreen trees and lush green fields greeted them as they searched for a place to sit. When they finished unpacking the sandwiches from Gene’s bag, saliva drooled from their mouths and without waiting for Gene to say tuck in, the friends pounced on the sandwiches like a pack of wolves. Piggy complained that the food was too little. Gene severely scolded Piggy, as it was he who had dropped the food.

Before the two could argue any further, delicate raindrops from the sky fell. The rain soon grew into a downpour. The boys decided to seek shelter under an old oak tree nearby. They abandoned their sandwiches and ran towards the tree. Thunder played fitfully in the sky as they sat under the tree, huddled close to one another for comfort.

A sudden deafening crash of thunder tore across the sky, which blinded the boys with flashes of lightning. As the boys watched both in awe and fear at the threatening sky, a pulsing channel of lightning entered their bodies, throwing them off the ground. They lay on the ground, writhing like horse racers being trampled by their horses. Their muscles contracted violently and the electric current sent their blood vessels into spasms. The electric shock cut off the blood flow to their extremities. Their hair stood on their legs, searing their nerves and muscles tissues. An acrid smell emerged from them and it was like worst nightmare reverted in pure terror for Gene.

The paralyzing assault stopped and the group collapsed to the ground. An almost undectable cry of help issued from Guan Min’s lips. The others were out cold and to Guan Min’s relief, his friends were still alive but he knew they would not be if they did not get medical help immediately. The only action he could do was to crawl and inch on his stomach. He dragged his lifeless legs across great obstacles downhill, where he remembered there was a hospital where he could get help from.

His stomach muscles quivered painfully as he had to push on forward. His face was ashen. His body convulsed severely from his exertions and halfway, incredibly, his blood circulation resumed and he regained movement and sensation. He staggered and walked as fast as he could go towards the hospital. Helicopters were sent up to the mountain to transport the boys down and miraculously, they survived and lived to tell the tale.

The next day, the incident made the headlines and the news stirred great excitement. Guan Min, as usual, glowed with delight as he was basked with phrases. Since then, Guan Min has become an “idol” for children but the adults said that it is best not to try being struck by lightning as Guan Min could not guarantee if they were to be sizzled to a crisp or to survive the incident.

CW Accident by Jin Hao (unedited)

Ben earned a living by delivering LPG (Liquidified Petroleum Gas) to homes. It was a rainy day and Ben was as usual, driving his lorry. Suddenly, his cell phone rang. He answered it and did not notice that a tree had been uprooted and was about to collapse. Ben drove his lorry slower as he did want to be in an accident.

The tree at that time collapsed on the lorry, and pieces of glass cut Ben. He swerved the lorry and that caused it to fall on its side. Tanks of LPG were thrown on the road. Ben’s lorry started to leak fuel, and if it touched any of the LPG tanks, the whole lorry would explode.

Passers-by ran and tried to extricate Ben from the lorry. They eventually called the SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force) for help. The sirens reverberated through the air and the firemen quickly jumped out. They realised that by turning the lorry back on its wheels was a difficult procedure as if the gas tanks exploded in the process of turning the lorry upright, the lorry might explode.

The firefighters then evacuated everyone to a safe distance. They then used crowbars and chainsaws to cut open the door. Realising that Ben’s foot was stuck under the clutch and the driver’s seat was on the other side, the firefighters put a oxygen mask so he could breathe with more ease.

The eight-men crew the debated on what to do. They thought of using a chainsaw to saw away the clutch, but it would harm Ben’s leg and he might have to be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

Finally, they decided that one of the firemen was to squat beside Ben. Another was to go behind the driver’s seat and tried to lower Ben’s seat so they could make the rescue easier. The captain was going to free Ben and then pass him to another fireman.

It was a success ! But their joy was not for long. Ben was rescued, but when the captain tried to get out of the lorry, his vest was caught against the steering wheel. Just as he freed himself, the lorry exploded in flames. The captain was dead.

When Ben woke up, he saw a stack of newspapers on the table beside him. Taking it and reading the front page article, he soon found out that the captain that rescued him was dead.

Tears fell down Ben’s cheeks as he saw the captain’s face on the newspaper. And he would never forget how the captain gambled with his own life for his.

CW Accident by Edrick (unedited)

Rain pelted on the windscreen as I tried to manoevoure my car in the jammed and wet road. I stretched my neck as I thought that an accident had happened. “Grr! It’s getting late. What would happen to my job interview? Giving the people a first impression that I would be late might have a negative impact on my job!” I exclaimed as sweat trickled down my cheeks despite the low temperature.

My anxiety rose by the minute. I had yearned a job for almost five years as I was sacked five years ago! Now I was so close to getting a job with a high pay! Out of the blue, I saw a tree swaying from left to right. Suddenly, a strong wind blew past and the tree dropped slowly like matrix in my eyes! It hit the white Honda van right in front of me. My heart was in my mouth. I knew I had to do something but at that point of time, my mind was totally blank! I tried to shake out of my daze. I opened the car door and together with other passers-by, we tried to evacuate all the passengers in the van.

One problem was solved, but almost immediately, another problem arose. The driver complained about having aches and pain all over his body. He was ‘sweating’ red sweat all over. We pulled him out to safety slowly. It was a tough job for us as there was a gaping wound on his kneecap and we were shocked when we saw his knee bone jutting out! But, with our perseverance, we finally pulled the victim out to safety.

As I was in the Red Cross in my younger days, I knew how to help the driver. I ran to my car and took out the first aid kit inside. I bandaged other of his bleeding body parts. I did not dare to touch his legs. That probably explained why I never became a doctor. Also, as I was not experiences, I was terrified that instead of helping him, I would hurt him more. Other passers-by fished out their phones and called the ambulance while I gave the injured man some cream to ease his pain temporarily. The ambulance arrived in a speed of lightning and the driver was whisked to the hospital for treatment.

When I was back in my car, preparing to move off, I saw a double rainbow. “WOW! Double rainbow. Good luck is coming soon. Maybe the driver will recover quickly and I would get my job! WOHOO!” I shouted and sped off.

What is the difference between 'except' and 'expect'?

Please find out their difference if you are still unsure.

CW Accident by Jia Yi (unedited)

It was a terrible thunderstorm, lighning was striking in every direction and the rain pelted down against my whole body. My friend, James, and I were trying to find a shelter to escape away from the terrible storm after work from the hospital. We could see people running helter-skelter in every direction.

When we finally found one, we were soaked from head to toe. "How are we ever going to get home if the rain is so heavy.

"It's so troublesome!" I complained.

"Come on! Let's just wait awhile. It would soon die down," James, being the calm one, assured me.

As soon as he finished his sentence, "WHAM!" A thunderous noise was heard over the storm.

"What was that?!"I asked. But I got my answer a moment later, directly opposite of us, a big tree was uprooted by the strong wind from the storm and had crushed onto a van which was directly below it. The impact caused was so great that the rear of the van was obviously fiattened than before. James, who was standing frozen like a statue beside me, gasped in horror,

"Oh! I hope they are okay!" I did not know what made me do it but the next moment, I was racing towards the van with James right beside me. As a reflex, I immediately pulled open the nearest door which was the passenger's door. Pulling the lady out of her seat, my medical instinct kicked in. I checked her to see if she had sustained any serious injury. I relaxed a while when i can comfirmed that she did not suffer any serious internal or external injury except for some minior cuts on her arms.

But luck was not on our side. James shouted from the other side.

"Harry! Not good! Come over here!" I asked the man who was also helping to look after her while i ran to where James was. What greeted me was a gruesome sight. The driver, was covered in blood from head to toe even his legs were not spared, was gasping for air. I tried to rip some cloth off his shirt to stop his bleeding but i could not touch his wound as there are tiny twigs in his wound everytime I tried to pluck them out, he would wince in pain. I had never felt so hopeless in helping my patients. I could not do anything to help him.

"If help doesn't arrive, he might not pull through," I said to James. As though everyone could hear, the whole congested road fell silent except for the sob of the lady on the other side. As seconds ticked by, the breathing of the driver became shallower and shorter. Soon, the panting stopped, the once thudding heart weakened and stopped.

Till this day, I still blame myself, "If only I had helped the man by attending to him first when he was unconscious, because he won't felt anything at that time!" "Why didn't someone dialed "995" for some help?!" I would always think to myself. How I wish I can turn back the clock to help the man. One innocent life would not be lost like this.

CW Accident by Navethira (unedited)

“Oh dear! It is seven o’clock already! I am late!” I cried as I was in my void deck, under my block.
Just as I was about to dash to the carpark, huge fat Drops of rain pelted down. I was annoyed. Everything was going topsy-turvy for me that particular morning. I felt awful.

Without an umbrella, I scampered towards the carpark, only to realise that I had carelessly dropped my car-key in my haste. Then as I darted to pick up my keys, a strong gust of wind blew in my direction, messing up my neatly combed hair. Frustrated, I ran towards the car once again. By then, I was drenched. I was soaked to the skin. Feeling colder than ever, I sat in my car and headed for work.

As I was late, I started to drive quickly. Then a bolt of lightning caught my attention. This was the first time in my life seeing a streak of lightning so bright and near. That very moment, out of nowhere there was a car that did not move an inch. I then jammed hard on the brake pedals with all my might. My car then screeched to a halt. Thankfully my car did not skid on such a slippery road.

The sight that greeted me, left my mouth agape. I saw a large tree lying on top of the van before me. It then dawned on e that the streak of lightning that flashed across the cloudy had hit the tree, causing it to fall. Now there was a traffic congestion. There were several cars lined behind my car.

“Could my morning get any worst?” I cursed under my breath.

Many pedestrians and car-drivers were at the scene, lending a helping hand to the couple who were trapped in the van. Upon seeing this, my conscience bugged me. I knew I should help but did not want to make my morning worst. At the same time I knew that I would be in hot soup if I were to be late once again. My manager would definitely blow his top and possibly fire me . I did not want that to happen! So I remained in my car watching the horrific scene while biting my finger nails in anxiety.

Soon two male pedestrians managed pry open the door of the van and rescue the female commuter who looked rather familiar while the others’ attempts to rescue the man was fruitless. On seeing this, I realized that the man might kick the bucket if he was not rescued in time. I was about to fish out my cellphone to summon the ambulance. But I saw an on-looker the buttons as fast as she could. I knew that she was calling the ambulance and so I ran forward to the massive accident scene. After countless attempts of hard work, other passers-by and I managed to open the driver’s door which was squashed and rescued the driver.

To my surprise, the person whom I saved was my manager. Thankfully my manager and the female passenger, who was my manager’s wife suffered minor bruises and were in stable condition. I then gave Mr. Lee, my manager a sheepish grin as it was the third time I was late for work. Instead of being fuming mad at me, Mr. Lee thanked me whole heartedly as if not for me he might have suffered more severe injuries.

That very second, the ambulance arrived at the scene with its sirens blasting. But as no one was injured, the left not having a need to do anything. Mr. Lee’s van could never be salvaged again so it was sent to the car workshop. I ferried Mr. and Mrs Lee to work in my car. I was glad that my morning did not turn bad after all. I felt like a hero!

CW Accident by Mengyu (unedited)

The city was awashed with thick sheets of rain, howling with boisterous winds and robbed of all colours by the ashem skies. Vehicles were moving very slowly due to the heavy downpour. The traffic police officer was directing the traffic in the middle of the road.

The trees along the road were swaying left and right violently and were about to uproot themselves. While a van was driving in a slow speed on the road, a sudden lighting tore across the ominous sky and struck the tree. Soon, the tree was wobbling.

"Careful! It's going to fall!"shouted the traffic police officer while he pointed to the tree which was threatening to fall.

Just as the traffic police officer finished his last word, the tree fell with a loud bang. The sudden boom of the fallen tree alerted many pdestrians and motorists. The van under the tree was too horrible to look at. The top of the van was totally out of shape.

"Quick! Call the police!"the traffic police officer shouted while running to the scene.

Luckily, the trunk of the tree hit the middle part of the van but not the front. The driver and the front passenger were slightly injured but were too shocked to respond. Upon seeing that, many people came out of their cars and run towards the van. One of the pedestrians fished out her handphone and dialled 999. Some of the pedestrians were trying to open the door to rescue the victims inside while other people took umbrellas to shelter them.

After a few minutes, two police cars and an ambulance came to the scene. While the police tried to direct the traffic, the paramedics put them on the stretchers and sent them to the hospital. It was then I realised that how teamwork was important.

comments:
include details of the conditions of the accident victims.
Were they injured? If yes, what injuries did they sustain? Be as specific as you can.
Were they in shock?

SW: Report Writing

To: The Principal
From: Helen (6-2)

RE: Car Accident in School Car Park

An accident took place on 3 October 2008 at 10.00 a.m. A white van, license plate registration number GM4343P, from ABC Noodle Factory banged into a stationary car while reversing in the school car park. The van driver was talking on the mobile phone while reversing his van. He sped off after he realised that his van had hit the car.


Suggested answer

CW Accident by Juliano (unedited)

I always took everything for granted, my good health, my family, my career and everything. It was only after that very accident that I started to treasure things around me.
"Are we there yet, Dad?" my son asked me with excitement in his voice.

It was two in the afternoon. I was taking my family to the cinema to catch a movie. As we drove to the cinema, the sound of raindrops pelting on the roof of my car was heard. I was not bothered by the the rain, thinking it was just a light drizzle and nothing could go wrong, but as we drove on, I soon realized that I was gravely mistaken .The light drizzle soon grew heavier and not before long , heavy curtain of rain poured relentlessly on my windshield.
I turned on my wipers and drove on. Just as I was about to reach the cinema, a streak of lightning bolted across the gloomy skies, striking a 10-foottall tree. The tree wobbled unstably, threatening to fall unto the road.

Right at that moment, we were approaching the tree, oblivious to the looming danger. It was only when I heard the shrieks of fear then I realized that the tree was about to squash us. I tried to swerve out of the way in a futile attempt. The tree smashed unto us with a loud deafening "bang". The impact ofthe fallingtree had dented the car and even made a hole the size of a pumpkin.

I was sent jerking forward and hit my head on the steering wheel and blood was oozing ever so fast. The rain only made it worse . The rain flowed through the smashed windscreen and beat on myhead, stinging me. I feebly swiveled around and I almost fainted .My wife, Marie, was there hugging my son. She had borne the brunt of the impact from protecting my son and was now unconscious. Her face was drained of colors. Then the door burst open and there stood some people. They gently took us out of the car, which looked more like scrap metal, and put us at a place which I could not identify. The last thing I remembered was the ear-blasting wailing of the sirens. Then I blacked out.

The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital bed with relatives and a doctor around me. I got up from the bed, with a slight pain in my waist and asked anxiously, "Myfamily how are they?!" The doctor told me Jackson was still unconscious but out of danger. But as for Marie, she was still in a coma and it was unknown when she would wake up. This news was both relieving and hurting.

Till this day Marie is still in a coma and I am in a wheelchair .I am no longer a happy and rich man as I was before and now struggling to pay Marie's hospital bills and Jackson's school fees. But I learned to treasure things that are close to me and never take them for granted

CW Accident by Nadiah (unedited)

“Boom!” an ear-blasting thunder roared across the dark, gloomy sky.

I was jolted out of my skin. Quickly, I grabbed my umbrella and opened it. Soon enough, it began to pour heavily. I was glad that I was prepared for the heavy downpour.

“Boom!” another roaring thunder boomed.

In succession, a loud crashing sound could be heard. I spun to the direction of the sound. The sight which greeted me made my eyes widened in disbelief and my mouth hanging open.

There, right in front of my very eyes, I witnessed a huge tree crashed down on a blue van. The van was indeed crushed badly and the windscreen of the van was smashed to smithereens. Shards of glass were strewn all over the road. The van driver and the passenger was trapped inside. They wailed for help.

Panic bubbled inside me. I was so astounded that I did not know how to react. I just stood rooted to the ground, watching the driver and passenger crying for help.

Soon, four kind-hearted passers-by came scurrying to the blue van with their umbrellas. They attempted to pull the little girl out of the van and they were successful. The little girl broke free with tears of joy streamed down her cheeks.

“Call the ambulance!” shouted one of the passers-by loudly.

I fumbled into my pocket and fished out my handphone and dialed the number ‘999’ and ‘991’.

As I waited anxiously under my umbrella, I watched closely at the futile attempts of the four passers-by to pull the driver.

“Pit! Pit!” honking sounds of some cars could be heard blaring away.

Soon, the road was congested with vehicles and honking noises filled the air.

I knew I had to help out somewhere. I just felt I should. With much hesitation, I dashed forward onto the slippery road to help and free the driver. I tried with all my might to pull out the driver, but to no avail. Sweats trickled down my forehead and my arms turned jelly, but I continued pulling out the driver, not having the slightest feeling of giving up. The driver’s feet were trapped onto the pedal. I tried to pull him again but he shrieked in excruciating pain. I could not bear to see him groaning in unbearable pain, but what could I do?

I craned my neck, looking further down the pedal. The driver’s feet were soaked in blood. The driver sustained a deep cut on his leg. I had to take him to the hospital as he was losing too much blood. How should I send this driver to the hospital? How was it possible for the ambulance to arrive here when there was a traffic jam? My mind was clouded with unanswered questions.

“How about you clear this congestion?” I asked one of the passers-by.

The passer-by nodded his head in agreement and started diverting the vehicles by flagging his arms, just like a traffic warden.

About five minutes later, the sirens of the ambulance reverberated in the air. Then, the paramedics got off the ambulance and put the little girl on the stretcher.

“Daddy! Daddy!” the little girl wailed uncontrollably.

She struggled to get off the stretcher to go to her father but the paramedics pinned her down.

“I will save your father,” one of the paramedics assured the little girl.

When the paramedics rushed to the van driver, he had slipped into unconsciousness, his face drained of colours. As quickly as possible, the paramedics set to work. They pulled the driver out with all their strength.

Alas, the pedal budged and the driver’s foot was freed. The paramedics lay the driver on the stretcher and hurried to the hospital.

“Daddy!” screamed the little girl at the top of her voice as she was carried into a different ambulance.

I stared at the badly crushed lorry. I was puzzled that the little girl escaped unscathed despite the great impact of the crash. Nevertheless, I silently prayed that the driver would come into conscious soon as he had the little girl to take care of.

Making assumptions

1. Old Mac Donald had a farm. On his farm, there were only cows
and chickens which had a total of 41 heads and 100 legs. Find
the number of chickens and the number of cows on his farm.

2. Frank spent $216 on a total of 28 butter cakes. He paid $9 for
each large cake and $5 for each small butter cake. How many
large butter cakes did he buy?

3. On Tree Planting day, 40 pupils planted some trees. Each boy planted 3 trees
and each girl planted 2 trees. The boys planted 30 more trees than the girls.
How many boys were there?

4. 60 children took part in a Street Soccer Competition. If each girl scored 3
goals and each boy scored 2 goals and the girls scored 20 more goals than the
boys, how many girls were there?

5. Mrs Lee had some sweets to give away to her 50 pupils. Each boy received 5
sweets and each girl received 3 sweets. The boys received 90 more sweets
than the girls. How many boys were there?

Maths Problems 17 Aug 09

1. A certain number of chairs can be arranged such that there are exactly 13 chairs per row. If the same number of chairs is arranged in rows of 10 chairs each, there will be 5 more rows and 4 chairs left over. How many chairs are there altogether?

2. The petrol tank of Su Min's car was 70% empty. He went to a petrol station and topped up 25 litres of petrol. When he reached home, the petrol tank was 70% full. Given that he used 1 litre of fuel to get home from the petrol station, find the capacity of the petrol tank.

3. Kai Ling bought some stationery. 5/8 of her money was spent on pens and the rest was spent on rulers and erasers. The number of rulers was twice as many as the number of erasers. The prices of the stationery were as follows:
Ruler - $0.40 each
Eraser - $0.70 each
Pens - $1.25 each
She spent $20 on the rulers. How much money did she spend on the pens?

4. If Ahmad and Ben work together, they can complete a job in 12 days. If Ahmad and Ben worked together for 3 days, followed by Ben who worked alone for the next 5 days, they can finish 5/12 of the job. How many days will each of them need to complete the job if Ahmad were to work alone?

5. Tommy and Wilson jog on a hexagon track (6 equal sides) at 8am. Tommy starts at Point C while Wilson starts at point F. Both jog in the direction as shown by the arrows. Tommy's speed is 1.5 times Wilson's.
(a) At which point will they meet?
(b) If they meet at 8.20am, find Tommy's speed.

Diagram given in class

CW Accident by Belinda (unedited)

A dazzlingly bright streak of lightning flashed across the sky which was heavy with menacing storm clouds. Thunder rumbled, as if there were giants pounding hammers against the heavens. A cold wind blew.
Janet shivered as the honking of the cars on the road beside her could be heard. It seemed that everyone was impatient to get home, wanting to escape the approaching storm. Janet too, longed to lie on her cozy bed. However, she had to run an errand for her mother.
“It’s going to be a heavy downpour,” Janet mumbled.
True enough, as if on cue, the heavens opened. The rain splattered on the tar roads and each step Janet took, her sodden shoes squelched. As Janet opened her umbrella, the wind got stronger, whipping her hair about her face as she struggled to hold onto her umbrella. The wind was so strong that the rain was falling almost horizontally rather than vertically.
As Janet quickened her footsteps, she caught sight of a tree. The tree looked like any other tree, but it was shaking more violently than the other trees on the road due to the gusty wind. It was bending at an angle.
Suddenly, Janet gasped. The tree was about to fall! Horrible thoughts crossed Janet’s mind. The tree could hit anything, the pedestrians on the road or any car which was whizzing away on the road! “Gosh, what am I supposed to do?” Janet wondered out loud, her heart pounding.
Then, the most dreaded thing happened before Janet could even shout for help. With a huge ‘thwack’, the tree fell on a passing minivan, crushing the centre of the van flat. The cars behind screeched to a halt. Janet stood rooted to the ground in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Shaking her head, Janet recovered from her shock, fished out her mobile phone from her pocket and dialed for help. The operator ensured her that help would arrive in no time.
By then, a group of pedestrians were trying to pull the victims out from the minivan. Janet rushed over to the scene and was careful not to step on the shards of glass on the road. The driver, a man, was pinned under the steering wheel and there was a deep gash on the man’s forehead. Blood was splattered all over his shirt. The passenger, a lady, had only a few cuts. Luckily, both victims’ injuries were not serious.
By then, the storm had started to abate slightly. After what seemed like an eternity, help finally arrived. The paramedics were busy like bees. They rushed out from the ambulance and freed the victims from the minivan. Next, they placed the victims on two separate stretchers. The police also arrived and helped to regulate the traffic. As for the tree that had fallen down, the police used an axe to chop the tree into smaller pieces so that it would be easier when clearing the road. The minivan was then towed away.
Suddenly, Janet remembered something. “Oh no! I’ve totally forgotten about Mum’s errand!” Janet smacked her head. As she walked away briskly from the accident scene, Janet prayed that both victims would have a speedy recovery from their injuries and hoped that history would never repeat itself.