It's optional but most people choose to get vaccinated for seasonal flu. H1N1 flu shot is coming up in October. The picture's a bit blur but if you observe carefully, you can see that his face showed 3 expressions --> fear, pain and acceptance.
We're having a sit-down dinner and they called out tables by tables to get the flu shot. While waiting, TEACHERS perform for the whole school. My biology teacher was the lead singer (they were playing another song when this photo was taken so my biology teacher was off-stage). He sang so well. It's kind of nice that teachers set up a band and perform. They perform fortnightly (about there).
I got my flu shot and it hurts. I rather get it in Asia cos the nurses are more gentle. The last time I got a vaccination was in Thailand and the nurse was so gentle. She slowly insert the needle at an inclined angle and I could hardly feel any pain. Yesterday, the needle went in my arm 90 degrees from my arm at breakneck speed.
Oh, and I just got back my 3rd biology test today. Ok, firstly, in Singapore, we don't really care about MCQ cos they're usually worth just 1 mark. But on my biology test, you get 5 marks just by answering one MCQ and 5 marks for answering a structured question. For the structured questions, I got 23.5/25 which is EXCELLENT but my MCQ --> 5/15 (one out of three correct). So I got 28.5/40. If I get all of my MCQ right, I would have topped the class but most people get around 31/40 for this test so I'm below average AGAIN!! ARGH!!! And most people got their 15 marks for MCQ. After so much experience in taking examinations in Singapore, it's so hard to believe that MCQ is worth 5 marks. And some structured questions goes like this:
"A victim is poisoned by cyanide. In what organelle would you most likely find high levels of cyanide?"
My Answer: Mitochondria
Marks awarded: 5 marks
Meanwhile, there are questions like:
What are dehydration and hydrolysis reactions? Which one creates smaller molecules?
My Answer: Hydrolysis requires water. It splits polysaccharides into monosaccharides by adding water molecules, thus creating smaller molecules. Dehydration involves the loss of water from monosaccharides which will create chains of molecules, forming polysaccharides.
Marks awarded: 5 marks
Yes, you and I both find it hard to believe. What I learnt in Singapore is that you have to write long essays to get 5 marks. 5 marks = 5 point, but not here. So long as you understand, you get the marks. Just answer to the question (no matter how long it is), and you'll get 5 marks.
Things here are so weird....
And I got another biology test this morning. This time, I spent 3 minutes double-checking each MCQ. Isn't it amazing how 1 little letter can award you with 5 marks?
I'm having a precalculus test this thursday. Wish me luck... The way of answering is very different from Singapore. In Singapore, when we solve inequalities, we just write:
x > 4 or x <-2 OR 5 <-x-<10>
HERE, we need to write
x (- 
, -2) U (4, ) OR x (5, 10)
I hate that minus infinity and infinity thing, I'm so not used to it.
