Essay topic: Fruits I like to eat

I like to eat fruits. They are sweet, juicy and rich in vitamin C. I believe in the saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Therefore, I always have a slice of fruit after every meal.I love to eat honey-dew melon. As the name suggests, the fruit tastes honey sweet. It comes in two types; the green melon and the orange melon. Both taste just as good but usually only the former is used or making dessert. I can’t help but long for a bowl of icy cold honey-dew sago on a hot day.I also like eating papaya. My mother says it helps digestion because it is a natural mild laxative. I love to drink papaya milk too. It is easy to prepare and it tastes so good when it is chilled. Each time my uncle visits us, he will bring us lots of papayas and other fruits form his orchard.Mango is also one of my favorite fruits. It has a very sweet smell. Mangoes can be made into very tasty mango puddings or cakes. However, too much mango can cause constipation.These fruits that I like can be bought from fruit stalls in wet-markets or at the supermarkets. Luckily, they do not cost as much as fruits like durians or strawberries.

Essay topic: An unlucky day

I woke up with a pain in the back of my neck. I could hardly turn my head. I strained to look at the clock on the table. It showed six fifty. My goodness, I must have overslept. It looked like I would be late for school.Quickly I ran to the bathroom only to find it occupied. I waited impatiently for another five minutes before my sister appeared. I dashed into the bathroom to have a shower. My goodness, the water was freezing cold. Those who had their shower before me had used up all the hot water. So I had no choice but to have a really quick cold shower.After washing up I felt a bit better. I returned to my room to dress up for school. It seemed to take such a long time to dress up when I had to hurry. Finally I managed to and hurried downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to eat.There was nothing but cold coffee and bread crusts left. My greedy brothers and sisters had eaten everything. My mother told me it served me right for getting up late. I sighed and got out of the house. I mounted my bicycle and moved two meters before I realized that I had forgotten my school bag. I dismounted and hurried upstairs to get it. I moved another two meters after remounting the bicycle before I realized I had a flat tyre.It was so infuriating I wanted to scream. My neck hurt, I took a cold shower, had no breakfast and now the tyre had to be flat. But I calmed myself, got down and pushed the bicycle to a shop half a kilometer away.As though expecting things to turn out wrong, I was not surprised to find the shop closed. I was late for school but was too early for the shop to open. So I left the bicycle in front of the shop. They would know that it was my bicycle.I walked to the bus stand and waited. The bus came at eight. I was really late for school.When I finally arrived at school, classes were in full session. In fact the first period was over. The headmaster caught me coming late and gave me a terrific scolding, but I was in no mood to argue. I just wanted to get to class.I entered my class when the mathematics teacher was there. I received another scolding for being late. Five minutes later I received yet another for forgetting to bring my instrument box. Of all days, we were having geometry and I had no instruments. So I spent the period watching the others to do their sums.The rest of the day in school was one big mess. I could not concentrate. I sort of went through the lessons half-aware of them. When the bell finally rang to signal the end of the day I was so glad to go home.However that was not the end yet.After lunch, I wanted to take a nap, but I could not get to sleep because of the pain in my neck. So I tossed and turned which made the pain worse. Finally I gave up and went into the garden to relax.Evening came and I did not even bother to go and play games. I just wanted to have dinner and go to bed.After what seemed to be a long wait my sister told me dinner was ready, I had a quick dinner as I did not have an appetite. After dinner I rested for a while, had a shower and then went to bed. It was not even nine but I was so glad to get into bed and let sleep embrace me. It had been a hard day when nothing went right.

Essay topic: Talk about a robbery you witnessed

It happened on one Saturday evening. My mother and I went shopping to buy a gift for my father. After much thought my mother decided to buy a gold ring.We went to a goldsmith’s shop. The Sales Assistant showed us a lot of gold rings in various designs. My mother was enchanted by a ring with a sparkling diamond on it. As we were admiring the ring, four men wearing ski-mask rushed into the shop. They ordered all the people to stand up against the wall with their hands raised above their heads. The four robbers were armed with guns. They were dressed in black and wore gloves on both hands. One of the men placed a brief case on the counter and ordered one of the Sales Assistants to empty the trays of jewelries into the briefcase. The Sales Assistant was shaking with fear, and quickly started to do what he was ordered to do.I notice that the burglar alarm was not far from where I was standing. I slowly moved towards the alarm, and tried to reach it without being noticed. After much difficulty I managed to get close to the alarm. I cautiously lifted my right leg and pressed the button. The alarm started to ring loudly. The robbers panicked, they grabbed the briefcase and rushed to a waiting car and drove away. I rushed out of the shop to see the number of the car. I quickly memorized the number of the getaway car.A few minutes later the police arrived. I told them the number of the robbers’ car. They immediately informed headquarters to put up road blocks. They questioned us before letting us go. Photographers took photos of the scene of the robbery.Next day my father read in the papers that the robbers were caught and the stolen goods recovered.

Essay topic: Talk about a pickpocket you witnessed

I hate to travel on the MRT train in the evening because it is very crowded. I have to compete with other students and adults going home from work for seats.This evening, I just managed to squeeze into the train. There were no seats available, so I stood by the door and looked at the people around me, trying to forget my discomfort. I looked at some of the passengers. One was sleeping, one was staring blankly into space and another kept putting his right hand in and out of his pocket. This last person has small shifty eyes and he kept looking around. I turned away immediately when he caught me staring at him.Out of curiosity, I looked at him again some minutes later. At that instant, I saw him withdrawing his hand from a lady’s handbag. In his hand was a purse! Straight away, I pointed at him and shouted, “Pickpocket! Pickpocket!” Everyone was alerted, including the pickpocket.As the pickpocket tried to get away, a few men quickly grabbed hold of him. He was caught and sent to the police station. I was praised for my quick action and was glad that I had helped the lady get back her purse.

Essay topic: Talk about a burglary you witnessed

It was a peaceful afternoon. I was doing my homework in my room when I heard a strange grinding noise coming from next door.Out of curiosity, I looked out of my window. I was shocked to see my neighbor’s metal gate lying on the ground and the door ajar. As no one else was at home, I called up my father at his office. He told me to stay at home and wait for him to come back. I went back to the window and peeped out. After a while, a burly man came out of my neighbor’s house with a big bag and quickly ran away.Just then, my father came back with four policemen. I told them what I had seen. Immediately, two of the policemen went after the burglar. The rest of us went into the neighbor’s house. The whole place had been ransacked. Drawers were lying all over the place and the bedrooms were in a real mess. My neighbor happened to come back at that time and she was most distressed to find her house broken into.The next morning, I saw the following headline in the newspaper: “Boy helps police catch burglar”. I felt really proud of myself.

Essay topic: Talk about your two interesting classmates.

Prefects are driven crazy by our mischief, teachers are perplexed by the lack of consistency in our work, but the principal is always impressed by our angelic behavior every time he enters our “little home”. It may seem, from this description, that we are actors or professional deceivers. We are, however, a group of teenagers who spend most of our time together in our cramped but cozy classroom.Our school is an all-girl school. Thus where behavior within the classroom is concerned, we are completely uninhibited. It is no wonder that an observer can often see unusual manifestations of peculiar behavior. There are two particular interesting characters in my class who, I am sure, I will remember for a long time.The first one is “Hero” as we call her. She is a pretty girl, with dimpled rosy cheeks. However, her build does not suit her lovely face. She has straight shoulders that swing from side to side when she walks, and she even walks like a man. She is tall and has strong muscular legs. She has earned her title justly as she always defends us when big boys from the neighboring schools bully us. She even fights for us. She does not have to worry about revealing too much of her legs while fighting as she perpetually wears knee-length shorts under her skirt.The funny thing is that none of the girls envy her beautiful face, instead, her masculinity is the object of their admiration. Some girls will even slip little gifts into her bag. I have heard that girls are having a crush on her. Well, whatever it is, I always feel that our “Hero” will one day be a beautiful lady, admired and courted by many men.The other character is a highly respected one. We call her our very own “Computer” as she is so good at solving mathematical problems. While most of us spend hours trying to solve a difficult sum, she does it while walking to the canteen during break. There was one instance when she solved a problem that our Senior Maths teacher could not solve.The most interesting thing about her is that she does not look intelligent at all. She does not wear thick glasses which is typical of the intelligent ones in our school. She is also not the quiet, inhibited and serious type. She mixes freely with all of us. In fact, her closest friends are those who are weak in their studies. She chooses them to be her friends; and she never hesitates to help them with their problems with such clarity that our maths teacher often uses her skill and help in the classroom to advantage. I think “Computer” has great potential and one day she will make it to the ranks of the great mathematicians and may even win a “Nobel prize”. As time and space does not allow for a description of a few more characters in my class, I conclude with the satisfaction that I have written about the two most interesting ones. I am sure these will be remembered by all of us for a long time

Essay topic: Talk about a favorite interesting cat.

Melissa is a glossy, midnight-black cat, arrogant as a tyrant of old, fierce as the most ruthless savage, or affectionate as the most loving child. Whenever arrogance is her role, she gives her whole heart to it. Roused from soft sleep and feeling a vague need for a lap of milk or a mouthful of liver, she will move toward her dishes unhurriedly and gracefully like a duchess. No calls to play, no rolling balls, no tantalizingly twitched strings will divert her determined progress toward the kitchen. From the gentle stroke along her back or a soft scratching under ears and chin, she will ooze away as elusively as quicksilver. With tail at a proud angle and with haughty dignity, she will quietly and persistently pursue her way.Even when just fed, with drops of milk or flecks of beef upon her narrow, triangular chin, she grows alert to the impertinent chatter of sparrows reminding her that hunting is one of her dearest sports and a test of her greatest skills. Then the countless ages that separate her from the forests and jungles of the Far East dissolve. Standing on the doorstone of a twentieth-century house in the middle of a great city, she became again the savage hunter. The dusty, feathery smell of the sparrows fighting for crumbs comes to her sensitive nose. A few blades of grass and a discouraged city bush may be Melissa’s only cover. Nevertheless, she snaps her tail purposefully, steps off the doorstone, and by a series of running, fluid steps reaches the bush. In these steps her body elongates and her legs contract tensely holding her close to the ground. In the shelter of the bush she watches fixedly her still unwary prey. Now by flattening her ears, she gains great confidence, for all cats know that thus protected they become invisible. Crouched and delicately poised for her deadly pounce, she moves not a whisker. A tiny breeze ruffles the soft fur of her sides. They very tip of her long graceful tail twitches with very passing decision to leap, to wait, to watch. Thus she savors in anticipation the delightful instant when her steel claws will slide through crisp feathers, clutch tender flesh, and hold her excitingly lively prey until she can snatch it in her strong, razor-sharp teeth. Birds are too messy for her to eat except for a mouthful or two to prove that she knows a toothsome morsel when she finds it. But to catch well, there is something Melissa can not explain; every so often she just has to prove that she is a good hunter.Back inside her home, no more than minutes later in time but several aeons later in civilization, Melissa looks for appreciation and affection. She is a great and skillful hunter home safely and successfully from the chase. The descendant of ancient gods in Egypt, still goddess in her own home, she unbends now to seek not only applause, but also a chance to express her affection. She hunts a warm, secure lap that she can happily knead, a pair of hands that are firm, soothing, and trained to tickle the right spots, scratch others, and softly smooth the rest. Melissa raises sleepy eyes and a gently prodding head to rub the length of her cheek and neck against the wrist behind her head. The proud cat in search of food and the cruelly persistent sportsman have been momentarily forgotten in the sleepy, gently purring companion.