General Paper Guide

Traditional arts and crafts, which are a part of our culture, reflect our lifestyle. So, we should create, promote and maintain them for our future. However, manpower is essential to perform such tasks and thus some people get employment. This in turn, attracts more tourists from all over the world which again creates new set of employment opportunities because now the services and facilities needed for tourists are to be created and maintained. Once again, the availability of better services and facilities in a touristic place attracts even more number of tourists. Therefore, traditional arts and crafts provide work as well as promote tourism at the same time.

This post is meant to provide you with the resources from other places in the web to help you get exposure on diverse topics and areas of knowledge including the writing styles and ideas for content which is necessary to meet the expectations of the GP syllabus. You are expected to broaden your mind as much as you can and for that reading contents from a single source and relying on the instructions of a teacher only is not enough. You must see the world beyond that too.

Original Question: In recent years, life has become more stressful than it has ever been. As a consequence, more and more people are suffering from stress related problems. What factors are contributing to this increase and what do you think can be done to overcome the current problems? Source: Handout from GP instructor Mr. Kamal Pandey Stress and stress-related illness seem to be unavoidable in the life most people lead nowadays. For many years now, it has been recognized that increasing levels of stress in the workplace not only increases the risk of disease but also reduces people's ability to respond flexibly to the demands of their job. This stress results from a variety of aspects of our modern life; there are, however, several things that can be done to reduce the problems caused by stress.

The A Graded Essays from Cambridge University are the best resources an A level student can have. I recommend all the General Paper students to read these essays at least once prior to attending the CIE board exams. These essays are the most appropriate sample essays for GCE A Level students as these essays have scored "Grade A" in the CIE exam itself.

First something about Sample (or Model) Essays and CIE comments The essays listed under the Sample Essays section are the essays checked or examined by Cambridge International Examination board (CIE) and these essays have been credited ‘A’ grade. These essays along with the comments on each of them are made available to the teachers and students by Cambridge as educational materials. Since, these model or sample essays are the examples of ‘A’ scoring essays, these resources (Essays and comments provided by the Cambridge) are very important in understanding ‘What is expected from the students in GP examinations?’

Read this essay side by side with CIE comments Learn why you should read CIE comments Vegetarianism may be defined as a dietary style which completely excludes meat. Eating vegetable sans meat may be the result of personal preference or religious injunction. Jainism and Buddhism, religions which contain the belief in reincarnation, argue that since each human is reborn (often as a lower animal) eating any animal or insect would be tantamount to cannibalism. However, most vegetarians have no such profound theory besides their individual liking of vegetables.

Read this essay side by side with CIE comments Learn why you should read CIE comments In recent years, almost all countries have witnessed a gradual disintegration of the family unit. The concept of the ‘nuclear’ family, often living together and sharing resources, has been given up in favour of a single-unit household. Since large, extended families often served only to contribute to agrarian earnings, they dissolved to cater to the needs of the urban-industrial era.

Read this essay side by side with CIE comments Learn why you should read CIE comments ‘Words are all we have’ – Samuel Beckett. According to an eleventh century Arab writer, Ibn-e-Hazm, in the beginning there existed a single language given by God, thanks to which Adam was able to understand the quiddity of things. Over the chequered history of mankind, the fragmentation of this unique tongue that existed abinitio gave rise to a multitude of diverse languages. An integration of all these, or a reversion to a single language would have several repercussions.

Read this essay side by side with CIE comments Learn why you should read CIE comments The world today has taken on a form in which guillotines and public hangings are a thing of the past. The modern man has sought to sugarcoat handing out of punishment to criminals. However, as the barbarian of yesterday is replaced by the civilised man of today, delivering of punishment becomes subtler than ever but does not lose its essential sadistic touch.

Read this essay side by side with CIE comments Learn why you should read CIE comments Medical studies suggest that smoking can lead to serious health problems for both the person smoking and the person sitting next to him. Keeping these statistics in mind, governments all over the world have implemented bans on smoking tobacco in public places, to the joy of non-smokers and the dismay of those for whom a cigarette is a permanent extension of the lips.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the combination of computer science, physiology and philosophy. It includes capacity to learn, store and maintain the knowledge, utilize commonsense reasoning, apply analytical abilities, discern relationships between facts, communicate ideas to others, perceive and make sense of the world and imagine new situations and events. The machines aided with the technology of Artificial Intelligence, therefore, will have their own thinking and deciding capabilities. As a result, they will be operating automatically and responding to any situation intelligibly. Thus, they will be mobilized in every possible field of human endeavour.

Has law ever been successful in stopping people from abusing drugs? Drug abuse, seen among the youths, is a serious problem even in developed countries just because it cannot be prevented by means of legal procedure. Education, on the other hand, gives us light, sight and insight and hence makes us aware of the health hazards caused by the abuse of drugs. Since education is the path shower to healthy life, it directs people for a drug free life. It makes us understand that drug costs health, wealth and time. Education, therefore, is the only measure to prevent drug abuse.

As the sporting events are becoming popular worldwide, a high competition among the countries to host such events has been noted. This clearly hints us of the benefits a country can get by hosting international sporting events. A country can boost its economy through the rise of trade and advertisement during such sporting events. In the meantime, the country gets an opportunity to display its culture and hospitality to the world which, in turn, will boost its tourism industry. However, the host countries face different hurdles to successfully accomplish such events. The chances of spread of disease like HIV and other pandemics; difficulty in the management of crowds and various other problems are noticeable at such occasions.

When we hear the term technology, devices in sophisticated looks and designs, which are highly expensive to buy comes in our mind. This definition of technology in our imagination is incomplete. The technology not only aims at improving the performance and design but also at reducing its cost. In general the sleek designs and beautification are the factors which multiply the cost of such devices. Therefore, technology is viable and within the reach of poor and middle class people.

Both human beings and animals are the creation of nature. They depend on nature to get whatever they require for their survival. Nature may exist without us but we cannot survive in the absence of nature. Then, why do we deplete the nature to quench our never satisfying thirst of pursuit of development? Why are we not aware of the fact that all these developmental works would deteriorate our environment and bring imbalance in nature which will eventually secure our extinction? Nature is our need; wealth and luxury are our wants. Why cannot we sacrifice our desires for the welfare of all of us?

A nation does not belong to a person alone; but to all its citizens who want to lead their life in the way they want, that is, freely and independently. A need therefore arises to make a governing body which makes and amends laws as well as implements them for the benefit of the people. Democracy is one such form of governance which tries its best to address the needs, wants and preferences of the people.

What is WordWeb? WordWeb is a digital dictionary available in both free and pro versions. It is handy and quite fulfilling for our current needs. It occupies less space in memory as it is small in size, it has easy interface and it can be easily downloaded from the internet. So, I recommend you to use it.

Here are the guidelines to enhance your vocabulary and to learn whatever you read more effectively and efficiently. Use these methods to gain more knowledge and a robust vocabulary. Select the materials First you need to select or get the reading materials. Whether it may be a paperback book or a digital eBook it must be a matter of your interest. I recommend you to read digital materials because you can look up the meanings easily in a dictionary like WordWeb .

"Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." Sir Francis Bacon Reading and writing are the best ways to improve your vocabulary. Reading unveils new words and using that word in some kind of writing makes that word unforgettable. Therefore, if you want to improve your vocabulary then you should start to read and write from today onwards. I have listed some sources which you can read and some topics on which you can write something using your newly learnt vocabularies. Read them carefully and follow them promptly.

You may say if there are books which can help us improve our vocabulary in just 30 days then why read other things? Yes, I don't say that they won't help but in just 30 days or so? I doubt. And moreover, creativity and usefulness may not be the concern of those types of books. Therefore, even if you learn some new words you won't be able to remember them forever or use them on your own.

Why I emphasized on vocabulary and worked hard to improve it? I wanted to become able to read fluently and quickly, understanding the text fully. I had love towards knowledge and I realised that its key lies there on vocabulary. I love reading novels and stories. To be able to read smoothly good vocabulary is extremely necessary. I had strong desire to be able to pen down my feelings and opinions in the proper and correct way, so that I can share them with others. For example, I want to write down my hilarious experiences and memorable events. Moreover, I have been successful in making this website live because of my vocabulary and language skills. I know that language is important because communication, which is important in every aspect of our life, depends upon the language.

Why is omitting information necessary? Some sources of information are not reliable, and provide you with outdated or fake data. Some lack quality, thus making reading a waste of time. Reading all the information causes information overload because there are a lot of texts even on a single sub-topic of a broad topic and reading all of them is neither possible nor necessary. Therefore, determining the quality, relevance and validity of the information source is extremely important to get just the necessary information.

The problem with general paper and a need for a research General Paper doesn’t have a textbook; neither does it have an elaborate syllabus. The topics given in the syllabus are suggestion only and these are not exactly the content of the syllabus. Perhaps, this is why it is called general paper, and not specific paper! Thus, without specific guidelines and syllabus it’s obvious for you to get frustrated about what to read, how to get the educational materials, how to get better grades in exams, etc. In this article I will try to soothe your frustration by explaining you what and how to research for GP essays to get relevant content, facts and examples.

Selecting a question to attempt can be a tough task for you because of many alternatives given in the GP exam papers. In General Paper 8004, you'll get 15 questions categorised into 3 sections and you have to choose only two of them, each from a different section. (It is quite similar in General Paper 8001; you get 12 questions to choose only one from the list.) Whichever, the paper you are going for, you should evaluate the given questions on the basis of your knowledge of the subject matter. You need to know what you are good at, at first. Then, you need to evaluate which questions best match your capability and conscience. You should go for those essays which you can write better than any other ones. However, you need some practice to be good at selecting questions, at first point. You will excel more at this with some experience, knowledge and other skills like good interpretation and language skills. Good language skills will help you understand the question better and thus yo

The questions of General Paper are asked in such a way to incorporate as many variations possible. For example, you get questions on all sorts of disciplines such as arts, humanities, anthropology, sociology, science and technology and so on, ranging from historical events to the most recent happenings. Therefore, it is not easy to figure out and provide you with some guessings about which question is probable. However there are some ways you can get helped on this.

As far as my concern goes, I myself had chosen 8004 and had felt that this syllabus is quite easy. Similarly, this paper is available in both examination sessions however, 8001 is only available in November session. Considering these benefits and my personal experience I would recommend you to go for it. However, making a good choice depends largely upon various factors including your ability and nature. I recommend General Paper 8004 for the students who are:

While doing a research don’t take a very strict approach. Instead make a flexible plan and seek for various alternative sources of information. To draw knowledge from various sources you should know about the benefits of each of them first. For example, internet is a huge source of information but the information found there may not be reliable. On the other hand, books (not eBooks) have information only on a limited topic and all the necessary information may not be included in them; however, they are quite reliable.

First thing you need to know about paragraphs is that one paragraph contains one and only one idea. This is the most important concept that you should understand prior to writing any paragraphs. This concept explains us why some paragraphs, we encounter in books and magazines, are very short, with only 1 or 2 sentences, and why some paragraphs are very long consisting of many many sentences. As you will learn below, you can contract a longer paragraph into a shorter one, even confining the whole paragraph within a single statement, and expand a shorter paragraph into a longer one by adding various supporting details to the main idea.

In the words of Cambridge: The AS General Paper is multi-disciplinary, its subject matter drawn from across the curriculum. The syllabus encourages in candidates the ability to make cross-curricular links; to develop a maturity of thought appropriate to students at this level; and to achieve an understanding and usage of the English language which enables them to express arguments, ideas and opinions in a reflective and academic manner.

Reasoning is the skill to give your arguments or opinions in a logical way so as to convince your audience that your opinion is the most appropriate one in the given circumstances. It is also your ability to argue on a given topic and prove it by means of logical ideas and relevant examples. Below is an interesting example of my reasoning. Read below and infer what reasoning skill is by yourself!

Thinking rationally means to think logically or justly, that is, your arguments must be based upon your reasons and logic. Use your intellect and give your arguments such that they are valid in most of the circumstances and that most of the people can agree with them that you are a rational thinker. The main theme of rational thinking is that your arguments should be supported by sound reasoning or logic in a justifiable and convincing (persuading) manner. Therefore, you should be cautious with the use of language and put your opinions in the least debatable way. Your GP questions are mostly based on controversial subject matters and you have to give your assessment about which side is better along with sound reasoning and justification.

Maturity of thought means the ability to take decisions wisely in difficult circumstances. General Paper poses the questions of philosophical nature, probably with two or more options, and asks you to choose the best among the alternatives. It tests your maturity level from your arguments and reasoning skills. Here, I will discuss how you can prove that you are mature in your opinions and views.

Interpretation is the ability to read meaning along with the reading of the text. If you are able to exactly understand what the author conveys then you have good interpretation skills. If not then you need more knowledge about the various rules of punctuations and grammars to understand them better. This article covers these grammatical conventions and the meaning they imply in the text.

1. Applying to Colleges and Universities Let's begin with university application. Immediately after completing A Levels, you need to apply for the Universities and Colleges to pursue your higher studies. What do they demand? Application Letters Personal Essay TOEFL or SAT or Both All these requirements have one thing in common and that is good and grammatically correct English and sound vocabulary. How? Let me explain:

Here are some guidelines for you to perform better in General Paper: 1. Visit CIE Website Regularly Visit the official website of Cambridge University regularly. Download the available resourse materials such as syllabus, past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports from the students section. In the same way, conduct research in the internet on the topics mentioned in the syllabus and read.

As a GP student you are expected to evaluate the different aspects of the topic, such as its pros and cons, merits and demerits, advantages and disadvantages, benefits and losses, and so on in your general paper (GP) essays. Evaluation means to juxtapose the arguments, weigh them and decide which one is stronger and more credible. For a good evaluation you should allocate weight or the rank the points on the basis of their importance and relevance. Discuss about the most important point in the beginning, a little less significant below it and so on.

General Paper is a multi-disciplinary subject and therefore, it gets its content from the other disciplines. You may be a management student but if you want to appear for General Paper exams then you will have to face questions from faculties like science, arts, humanities, politics, social sciences, history and geography and so on. (To believe me, just peek into the syllabus!) Thus, as a GP student you will have to keep knowledge on wide range of subject matters.

Analysis ability is the ability to look into the subject matter from different perspectives (point of view/angles) to achieve a better understanding of the text. It requires you to be imaginative and creative to observe a single object from multiple dimensions. This skill is required to GP students while analysing questions to understand the exact meaning of the question to decide how to approach writing an essay on that question.