situational writing eyewitness account - traffic incident-prep exam-t3w6.2012 at hscs .v3

1189/01 Section Two: Situational Writing W

REPORT WRITING (Mock Examinations 4NA Paper 1 on 30 July 2012)

Begin your answer on a fresh page. You are advised to write between 150 and 250 words for this section.

You were on your way to the post office when you witnessed a man on a bicycle accidentally knocking a pedestrian down. As a result, an argument which eventually led to a fight took place between them.

Fortunately, a few policemen arrived at the scene. You have been requested to write a police report describing what happened. You must include information about the following:

Where and when the incident occurred The reactions of both the cyclist and pedestrian

*reactions – responses to each other: Verbal abuse / hurling abuse or insults or accusations at each other / hurling vulgarities /Finger pointing / Tempers flew / Anger flared / Trading blows / Punching / Pushing and shoving / Ignoring passers-by who had tried to ask them to stop

The consequences of the fight

*consequences – this word is almost always NEGATIVELY nuanced - something bad happened.

Bleeding on the nose / gashes / bruises / holding one’s stomach in pain / losing one’s balance and falling to the ground – asphalt surface of the road or the grassy kerb / hyperventilating / loss of breath

What you or any other passers-by did next

NOTE: Singular word: “passer-by” versus Plural word: “passers-by”

What might have occurred if the police had not turned up

You should include any further information which you think would be helpful.

NOTE: 1. “should” here means “must”. 2. “any further information” means “the detailed information which an eyewitness gives to the police” – see my comments on this page. 3. Every bullet point needs to be attended to – meaning to say, “amplified” with your “details”. Use your IMAGINATION but in SITUATIONAL WRITING, provide only PRACTICAL and BELIEVABLE descriptions. This means you will have to be using examples which provide scenarios as close to reality as you can.

Question analysed by Kuronekosan – FINAL REVISION B4 N Level 1189 Paper 1.2012

Yeo Yam Hwee, 07/31/12,

A REPORT is always FORMAL because somebody needs to request somebody else to get something done or information needs to be convey from one party to another.

Kuronekosan.Sgp, 08/02/12,

LOCATION of INCIDENT - at the junction of Pasir Ris Street 12 and Drive 6, just twenty metres from the 24 Hour Express Coffeeshop And what makes you a reliable witness? How close were you to the scene? TIMING – At about four o’ clock in the afternoon of 2 August 2012 (Thursday) (Don’t give exact timing – always write “about five in morning “ / “approximately eight during the morning rush hour” and so on.


Which Post Office? Remember you are supposed to provide LOCATION information. White Sands Post Office


Description of the PEDESTRIAN – GENDER + PHYSICAL FEATURES + CLOTHING + ANY OTHER OBSERVABLE TRAITS = The whole idea is to help the police track down the man.


Description of the Man: PHYSICAL FEATURES + CLOTHING + ANY OTHER OBSERVABLE TRAITS= The whole idea is to help the police track down or identify the man. ETHNIC GROUP – Chinese man / Caucasian man / Malay man / Indian man APPROXIMATE AGE – young man of about twenty years old / a middle aged man probably in his late thirties / an elderly man with greying hair and a moustache CLOTHING – Singlet and Bermuda / Jeans / tee-shirt / White coloured shirt and so on Other features – a mole on his left cheek / freckles / straggly beard / matted grey hair and so on BICYCLE TYPE – Ordinary bicycle / traditional type / conventional model / mountaineering bicycle / BMX and so on


To: The Officer-in-charge Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre

From: Siew Ka Eng NRIC No: S9876543Z Date: 3 August 2012

Brawl over a Traffic Incident at Pasir Ris Drive 6

As requested, I am filing this information on the abovementioned incident to you which occurred on 2 August 2012 (Thursday) between 3 and 3.30 p.m. at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 6 and Street 12, just 50 metres away from the Drive 6 Post Office at Block 418. Across the road, I was about ten metres away from the scene whereby an elderly Chinese man probably in his sixties, wearing a white shirt and a pair of khaki pants was knocked down by another man – stocky, Chinese, likely to be in his mid-thirties, wearing blue working overalls on his bicycle.

Although the cyclist got down from his bicycle to help the elderly get up on his feet, they were soon pointing fingers at each other. Vulgarities in Hokkien were traded. I am not certain who started it but loud accusations were hurled at each other by both parties. It was the cyclist whom I saw raising his fist in anger at the older man on several occasions. There were no other pedestrians on the kerb besides them. The quarrel was so heated to the extent that the onlookers chose to keep their distance. From where I was watching, I saw the cyclist punching the other man thrice on his face. The elderly did not return any blows as far as I can recall.

When the older man fell to the ground, I decided to intervene. Together with a few others, we were about to dash across the street to stop the fight from escalating when Police Constable Tan Song Teck and two other officers from your Police Centre arrived on the spot to talk to the men. Even then, the two had refused to relent but your officers did finally pull them apart.

I would like to commend your officers, especially PC Tan, for his timely intervention and skilful persuasion which eventually brought the two men to their senses. Otherwise, the older one would likely end up severely hit in the face or even his body.

The above was what I can recall about the incident and I shall be glad to assist you in any other way I can. Should you need any further clarification on the incident, I am contactable at cell phone number 96751657.

Thank you.

Written by:

Siew Ka Eng



(395 words – Body of the Report Only)


situational writing eyewitness account - traffic incident-prep exam-t3w6.2012 at hscs .v3

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