FRONTLINE UPDATE:
It was a rare windless day when Miss Loi made her way to the salon.
Miss Loi! The paper was OK!
She felt as if the weight of the world was lifted from her little shoulders as she settled down on the comfy bed.
The paper was very easy but scared of moderation.
After agreeing to use the ‘latest’ brand of collagen mask whom her favourite facial aunty just recommended, she relaxed and closed her eyes …
Hey! OMG it was alright. I’m kinda happy I managed to prove my quadratic equation, a lot of my friends couldn’t 🙂
At this moment, a gentle breeze blew through a window that was unintentionally left opened, carrying with it two pieces of paper that eventually landed flat on Miss Loi’s face.
Under the illusion that the ‘latest’ collagen mask had just been applied on her face, Miss Loi fell into deep sleep and began answering the questions contained within the papers, with the same notorious handwriting even in her dream:
4016 (left) & 4017 (right) – click to download
The shift in the wind was discernible as many now begin to sense the imminence of their Mathematical Salvation, as we gaze upon the twilight of this long campaign.
Already, those who bothered to look up during that dark Day of Mathematical Armageddon claimed to have seen a sliver of light from the sky, from whence the clouds parted momentarily to reveal a vision …
A vision of endless bonfires of burning ShingLee textbooks. A vision of you on a date with the guy/gal you like. A vision of you shopping without a care in the world. A vision of you resuming you saved computer game. A vision of Miss Loi frolicking in some remote beach.
A vision that revealed itself differently to the different ones who had seen it.
But before these visions become reality, a couple of E-Maths topics (plus the small matter of your Humans and Science papers) stand before you and your post-O-Level Paradise, and now’s the worst possible time for complacency to creep in.
As the last mathematical joss stick (Science ones are still burning BTW) is extinguished for the season and the last of those fluffy piggy-headed farewell gifts gets snapped up, as students exchange hugs, camwhore and run amok on their last day at The Temple, Miss Loi, like last year, shall leave you with some last-minute pointers amid a cheong hei list of topics that you’ll expect to face at dawn tomorrow:
Algebra – Factorization, normal solving of equations & changing the subject of a formula e.g.
Given that
, express g in terms of π, T and L.Quadratic Equations – the kind where you need to form a quadratic equation from a ‘story’ e.g.
A boat can travel at a speed of 12km/h in still water. If it takes 3 hours to go 15km upstream and back, find the speed of the current.- Don’t give up the entire question just because you can’t form/prove the quadratic equation! Skip and plug the ‘proven’ equation directly in the next part and solve using
if needed!
- Don’t give up the entire question just because you can’t form/prove the quadratic equation! Skip and plug the ‘proven’ equation directly in the next part and solve using
Trigonometry (Sine/Cosine Rule, angles of depression/elevation (3D diagrams) etc.
Know the difference between angle of elevation (looking up) and angle of depression (looking down).
If you really can’t ‘see’, trying holding a ruler upright on the relevant spot in the diagram!
- The largest angle of elevation/depression occurs when the distance between the two points is the shortest.
- The ONLY time you need to change your calculator to RADIAN MODE is when you’re performing a , or on an angle that’s given in radians e.g. in your sine/cosine rule or area of triangle calculation.
Geometric Properties of Circles
- You DON’T NEED to change your calculator to RADIAN MODE when calculating your arc length, area of sector etc.
Mensuration (Arc length, area of sector, volume/surface area of sphere, pyramid, cones etc. etc.)
- 1 m3 ≠ 1000 cm3!
1 m3 = 100 cm x 100 cm x 100 cm = 106 cm3 - 1 litre ≠ 1 m3!
1 litre = 1000 ml = 1000 cm3 - 19.2 mins ≠ 19 min 20 sec (DUH!)
- Always double-check the unit the question requires you to express your final answer in. Is it m2? Or cm2? etc.
- 1 m3 ≠ 1000 cm3!
- Don’t leave blank if you really can’t prove! Miss Loi shouldn’t say this but marks may be given even if you just write something that ‘looks’ logical e.g. ∠x = ∠y 😛
- Number Pattern (anything can come out – 听天由命吧!)
Graphs (don’t forget your curve ruler!)
- Please check your value again if you discover that your plotted graph has a ‘kink’ and is not smooth.
- Remember to label your y-axis, x-axis and the equation of the curve itself – they carry marks.
- The ‘tangent’ that you draw to find the gradient of a curve only cuts the curve at one point (not two -_-)
Statistics/Data Analysis – Cumulative Graphs / Histogram / Standard Deviation etc.
- Don’t blindly plot your histogram against class frequency (WRONG!), you need to plot it against your frequency density – especially when you see data with unequal class widths.
- Know thy difference between a histogram and a frequency polygon – you can draw the latter only after drawing the histogram!
- Be prepared to calculate mean, median, mode and/or probability anytime in your statistics/data analysis question.
- Probabilities (this may appear as a standalone or within a statistics question)
- Coordinate Geometry
The maybes (since they have already appeared in Paper I but in very small parts):
- Vectors
Matrices – those questions where you may be required to form matrices from a table of data e.g.
The table shows the daily production of two types of sweets X and Y, and the percentages of ingredients A, B and C required to produce them.
Sweet Type A B C Daily Production (kg) X 60 30 10 300 Y 50 40 10 240 Given that the costs per kilogram of A, B and C are $4, $6 and $8 respectively, use matrix multiplication to obtain the total cost of daily production.
- Sets & Venn Diagrams (Note: a very minor ‘shading’ qn has already appeared in Paper I)
Simple interest/compound interest, taxes/GST etc.
- Know how to compute interest that’s compounded monthly i.e. monthly rate = (p.a. rate)/12 etc.
Missed out anything?
Rest well tonight and fight well tomorrow 😉 Once again, for the very last time this year,
*Pulls the lever to shut the Temple Gates*
