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OPEN ACCESS COLLEGE
Course code: EAP7308 Course Name: Academic Reading and Writing
SAMPLE Test in Academic Writing
Examination Period: Semester X 20XX Examination Duration: Three (3) Hours
Total examination marks: 20
Examiner: Ian Yin Moderator: Heejin Chang
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This examination consists of 1 part to be answered:
Part A: Essay worth a total of 20 marks Answer Booklet
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PART A
Use the information in the paragraphs below to write a 600 word academic
essay. This examination does not require end-of-essay references.
Essay Question
Discuss the impact of technological tools on everyday lives.
Readings
Page 55
Even for those who are up to speed with technology, the very nature of modern
communications may prove unappealing. Email, instant messaging and social
networking may make communication quicker, but is there any soul?
Innovations, such as blogs, enable us to communicate with a virtual community
of strangers. Social networking encourages many to share both meaningless
and meaningful activities with ‘friends’ who may never be seen in person. Yes,
all this communication is quick and easy. Yes, it is convenient. But, it is also
disposable and forgettable. Handwritten letters, postcards, telephone
conversations, may take time and effort, but it is that effort that makes this kind
of communication significant. Modern communications are supposed to help
people make the best use of their time, but taking time to communicate
meaningfully is what people will value in the future.
Source:
Doherty, T 2009, Technology and its Outcomes, Gateway University Press, Melbourne.
Page 18
We cannot exaggerate the advantages of using the Internet for communication.
Access to the Internet gives power through the knowledge it contains. Most
people accept that the Internet provides hope for developing countries, as easy
communication and access to information may provide assistance with health
care, education, and even the economy. Internet access for all may be a few
years away, but it could be life-changing. Think back to a world without the
Internet. Without the Internet, there was no easy way to share knowledge.
Communication was time-consuming and unreliable. A secure internet
connection results in high-speed communication and access to the latest
information, which could help to make the world a more aware and connected
community.
Source:
Jones, M G 2010, ‘The internet and its possibilities’, in R Bilby & X Simpson (eds), An Introduction
to Communication Technology Bramford Press, Melbourne.
Page 321
While spam is still an enormous time waster, the amount of time dealing with it
seems to be decreasing. Respondents reported spending six per cent of their
communication time dealing with spam (last year’s number was seven per cent).
For internet users, this amounts to more than five workdays per year assuming
daily use for 50 weeks out of the year. The decrease in time dealing with spam
while browsing the Internet went from eight per cent in 2004 down to 0.1% in
2005, which may be due to the improvement of spam preventive technology
(e.g. advertisement filter, pop-up blockers) embedded in the newest browsers.
The figure for respondents who reported ‘having used the Internet that day’ was
higher – twelve minutes per day (two minutes less than the previous year), or
about nine days per year, assuming daily use for 50 weeks. Clearly there are
significant productivity consequences of dealing with spam and computer
problems.
Source:
Su, H 2004, ‘The challenges of spam’, The IT Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 100-101.
Page 1
Many adults argue that adolescents are becoming more antisocial because of
computer technology. They criticise teenagers for sitting at a computer all day
instead of going out and talking with their friends face-to-face. Evidently, the
nature of a computer is antisocial. People who sit at a computer hour-upon-hour
will be isolated and may not have any real-life interaction. The more you sit at a
computer playing games, the less you want to do anything else. Some people
suggest that you do not need the real world when you have a virtual world, and
teenagers are less likely to make the effort to maintain real friendships if they
have virtual playmates.
Nevertheless, computer technology can really help teenagers who live far from
their friends, or those who do not like to socialise, perhaps because they are
shy. Teenagers can play computer games with their friends who live in other
towns, while talking to them through a headset. And, crucially, shy people can
make friends through the monitored use of approved social networking sites.
Jenkins (2007) highlights the Internet can improve the social lives of some of
the shyest teenagers, and help them to make new friends.
Source:
Riley, B & Mattheson, S 2000, ‘The Internet as friend’, Journal of Society, vol. 33, no. 3, pp..90-
101.
Page 15
When an email is sent or a browser is used to get access to a website, the
chances of communication being intercepted by hackers among the millions of
other similar communications travelling in cyberspace are infinitesimal.
However, when an email is sitting on a server, it can be accessed more easily.
Hackers keep trying different combinations of characters in the hope of hitting
upon a password that works. Making a correct guess is not impossible. In
August 1999, even Microsoft itself had to shut down its own free Hotmail service
because of hackers’ attacks. In this instance, the hackers created websites that
allowed anyone unrestricted access to any Hotmail account. As a result, the
password protection was destroyed.
**infinitesimal = adjective = extremely small
Source:
Evans, T 2007, Encryption methods in the 21st century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Page 6
The technological era has created access to information to all. Any contributor
to Wikipedia may provide information in highly specialised fields. However, this
strength is also arguably its greatest weakness. The fact that anyone can edit
Wikipedia may make the contributions from experts less important. Individual
contributors cannot be compared to an expert in a particular field merely by
having access to it. For information to be considered reliable and authentic, it
must come from one who has spent much of their time on a particular topic and
who is an authority in their field.
Source:
Wong, K 2004, ‘Open access’, Scientific American, vol. 301, no. 5, pp. 6-13.
END OF EXAMINATION
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