MUET SPEAKING 2013 Sample Scripts

One of the questions that came out for this end of the year MUET
speaking exam is :

(Submitted by a candidate)

How to attain happiness?

A. have a goal
B. good relationship with others
C. good health
D. positive outlook
Here are my sample scripts... take note that these r just samples that I'm
going to 'hantam' write now... haha.. just for fun n to show you how to
answer the speaking question as best as you can.

Task A
Candidate A
A very good morning to one and all. The issue at hand
today is how to attain happiness. I believe that this issue
has been on the forefront for as long as man existed. In
fact, I believe even animals and other beings strive to
achieve this wonderful state of happiness and
contentment. It is therefore my honest opinion that in
order to achieve happiness we must have a concrete and
measurable goal. Let us analyse a few reasons to justify
this point.
First and foremost, to aspire towards happiness is not
enough. Just wanting is only half the battle won. To
attain it there must be some kind of action involved and
this most certainly begins with setting goals. The most
important reason for setting aims or goals is to provide a
way to measure if you have achieved it or not. For
example, my aim is to be happy. In order to be happy I
must have enough money and job security as well as a
stable and happy family. Therefore the next logical step
is to provide a timeframe to achieve this goal. If we set a

goal based on a timeframe, happiness will be more easily

achievable. A young person could aim to get his degree
before he turns 25, get a stable high paying job by 30
and get married before he/she is 35. Thus, having a goal
or goals will help discern the level of our happiness.
Secondly, we can attain happiness when we have a goal
because it gives us something to work towards or aim
for. However, please note that the beauty of having goals
is that it can be modified to suit ourselves and our
situations. And once we have achieved it, we can create
new goals. Conversely, if we cannot attain it, we can
modify them to be more realistic. For instance,
Mahatma Ghandi's goal in life was to achieve peace
through peaceful means. Furthermore, he was happiest
when there are no wars and people can live in peace.
Even when he was sent to jail, he still held on to his goal
which was to solve things through peaceful means, not
war. And even in jail, he could attain happiness - Ghandi
is a truly inspirational man.
As time is running out, let me reinstate that a key
method to attain happiness is to set reachable goals for
ourselves. It also brings to mind a quote, 'Aim for the
sun so that if you fail, you will still be amongst the stars'.
Thank you for listening.
Candidate B
A very good morning I bid to the examiners and my
fellow candidates. As the saying goes, 'No man is an
island'. Therefore we thrive on good relationships with
others in order to attain happiness. It would be quite
strange to achieve ultimate happiness yet have no one of
consequence with whom to share it with. Hence, good
relationships with others are some of the fundamentals
of achieving true happiness. Allow me to describe this
issue further by presenting a few points.

On the one hand, happiness is maximised when

happiness is shared. In general, everyday we interact
with the people closes to us be they family members,
spouse, children, best friends or colleagues. In fact,
sometimes, happiness comes from external sources and
we may not even know them personally. But it is these
very relationships with others that will build the
foundation of happiness brick by brick. When we need
help, and a friend offers it, or when we just need to
spend some quality time with our family and every
member of the family shows up, well, these instances
feed happiness to our souls. Imagine if you received
really good news like a scholarship to study abroad but
had no one to tell. Indeed, our happiness would fade a
little, or we might even end up depressed!
On the other hand, happiness diminishes when we have
few or no good relationships with others. In times of
need, it is human nature to reach out for help especially
from our closest and dearest. As a child, when we fell
and hurt our knees, we would call out for our mom or
dad. When a friend backstabs you with nasty gossip, we
call our best friend to unload our unhappiness. In the
workplace, when our colleagues treat us unfairly, we go
home to our spouses and use them as sounding walls to
express our anger or disappointment. Thus, the human
race is fragile, and we depend on good human
relationships to keep our happy odometer high.
In short, it would be pointless to attain happiness yet be
so lonely with no one to share the good times with.
Hence, each of us should work on improving and
bettering our relationships in order to attain unlimited
happiness in life. Thank you and have a nice day.
Candidate C
A marvelous morning I bid to one and all. As the popular

saying goes, 'Health is Wealth'. There is indeed a whole

lot of truth to this age old adage as I am sure everyone
will admit that without health, we would live a poor
quality and even substandard life hence marring our
ability to attain true happiness! Allow me to further
elaborate by providing a few different perspectives on
this issue.
First and foremost, the level of our health will determine
how happy we are. Surely there is not a single soul out
there who rejoices in being unhealthy and unwell.
Basically, being healthy is crucial to our happiness
because if we cannot do even the simplest of things such
as brushing our own teeth and going to the toilet
unassisted then it would be a very sad day indeed. There
can be nothing joyful about waking up every morning to
face blood transfusions or chemotherapy or surgery after
surgery. In fact it would be downright depressing and it
isn't any wonder that these people would suffer
depression and even contemplate committing suicide.
Conversely, when we have optimum health, happiness is
easily attained. When you wake up in the morning and
stretch and take big lungfuls of fresh air, it makes us
ready to face the challenges in the day ahead. We are
able to play our role in society well be it as a student
with a sharp mind to study better, or a worker in this
industrious world, doing our job well. Or when our
health is maximised, athletes all around the world break
records and cry in jubilation as when Usain Bolt does
when he literally flies down the track or when Micheal
Phelps or even Lin Dan lifts the Olympic gold medals
high in victory.
Needless to say, in conclusion, happiness is easily
attainable when we are healthy because it is one of the
pillars of the basic necessities in life in order to truly
achieve a state of bliss. Thank you.
Candidate D

To the examiners and my fellow candidates, a wonderful

morning I bid you. The topic given today is rather
interesting as it brings to mind a commonly asked
question, "Is the glass half empty or it is half full?" A
person with a positive outlook would surely answer 'half
full' and this colours his or her life with positive energy
therefore making happiness truly easily attainable.
Allow me to elaborate what I mean about a positive
outlook.
Firstly, a positive outlook gives us a means of inventing
options. What does this mean exactly? Well, people who
are positive do not give up easily, in fact, they make it a
point to inspect every avenue and come up with
innovative ways to overcome any obstacle. For instance,
after studying so hard a student fails due to a death in
the family during exam time and she could not
concentrate. Rather than surrender to her fate, she takes
it as a challenge to get back up on the horse and find a
job. After a few years of working, she collects enough
money to do her degree on a part time basis and after 3
or 4 years, she finally graduates. This is because she has
a positive outlook and looked hard for other options to
change her fate. At the end, she has managed to attain
happiness when her goals are achieved.
In addition, a person with a positive outlook seem to
draw positive energy into her radius and somehow good
things start to happen to her. Even when bad things
happen, like an accident that messes up her car, she
would still find the silver lining in the sense that she is
thankful to be alive and more grateful still for not having
harmed anyone else. Therefore, a positive outlook is
crucial in attaining happiness because it is a wonderful
ability to find the good in any bad situation.
In short, people with a positive outlook with find
happiness under every stone, at every corner because

they are better able to be happy and content with their

lot in life. Thank you for lending me your ears.

MUET SPEAKING 800/2 TIPS - SAMPLE

ANSWERS
Candidate A
Instructions to candidates:
Task A: Individual presentation

Study the stimulus or topic given.

You are given two minutes to prepare your responses.

You are given two minutes to present.

Listen to the others while they are making their presentations and take
down notes for the group discussion in Task B.

Task B: Group discussion

You are given two minutes to prepare points to support or oppose the
other candidates views.

After you have listened to everyone, try to come to a decision as to which

of the four suggestions is the best.

Your group is given ten minutes for the discussion.

Task A and Task B will be carried out consecutively.

Situation
Your brother has been given the opportunity to study in England on a
government scholarship. You and your family are very proud of him. Decide on a
special gift for him to prepare for his trip abroad.
Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why.
Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful.
i. cash
ii. a computer
iii. some suitable clothing
iv. some Malaysian foodstuf
Candidate A
Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why.
Good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. Im very happy that my brother
has just received a scholarship to study in England. My relatives and I would like to give him
a special gift. We all think that the best gift is money because it will be very useful for him.
The first reason is with cash he can buy the things that he needs when he gets there.
There will me a lot of things that he will need like new books, stationery, clothes and food.
He will also need to pay for transportation like taking the bus or train to go to the university
campus. As we know, it is very expensive in England so any money we give him will be very
useful.
Secondly, my brother can use the money to buy a mobile phone when he gets to
England. I think this is very important in case of emergencies so we can contact him easily.
Furthermore, he can sms us and keep us updated with his progress in his studies there.
Hence, if we really miss him we can just give him a call.
Finally, I also think giving him money is the best choice because it is light and doesnt
take up a lot of space. If we were to give him a computer, books or winter clothes it will be
very heavy and bulky for him to bring to England. Therefore, I think that it is much easier to
bring money and buy those things when he gets there.
In conclusion, these are some of the reasons why I think giving him cash is the best
choice. To me, it is the most useful gift we can give him. Thank you.

Candidate B
Task A: You suggest that they give him a computer. Say why.
A very good morning I bid to one and all. My relatives and I are very proud of my
brother. He has just received a scholarship to study in England and so we would like to give
him a special gift. We believe that the best present for him is a laptop computer.
Firstly, as a university student, my brother will have to do many assignments. If he
has a laptop computer he can bring it everywhere and consequently, do his work anytime
and anywhere. Thus, he will not have to share the computers at the computer room with
other students and he will be able to do his work more quickly and efficiently.
Another point is that when he boards the plane from KLIA to London, he will be able
to bring the laptop with him easily because it is compact and light compared to a desktop
computer. Hence, it will not be too much trouble to transport it to England.
Last but not least, if he has a laptop he will be able to connect to the internet. This
has two main advantages as firstly, he can do a lot of research online. The world wide web is
a fountain of information so it will be very useful for him to make full use of this technology.
Furthermore, he can keep in touch with friends and family here in Malaysiaby e-mail.
In short, a laptop computer will prove to be very useful to my brother. He can do his
assignments, research for information and keep in touch with us using it therefore it will
make the best gift. Thank you for listening.
Candidate C
Task A: You suggest that they give him some suitable clothing. Say why.
To the examiners and my fellow candidates, a wonderful morning I bid you. My
brother was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to study overseas. We want to send him
off with a nice gift so we have decided to buy him some suitable clothing.
The main purpose for buying him some suitable clothing is because the weather
inEngland is very different from the weather in our country. There are four seasons there so
he will need to have different clothes for different situations. For example, we can buy him
some sweaters, cardigans, scarves, snowcaps, thick socks and gloves and many more.
These will definitely keep him warm in winter.
The second reason is we think that he should have clothes that reflect our Malaysian
identity. This is because he will be a young ambassador for our country so if he has a few

sets of traditional clothing like the Baju Melayu or formal Batik shirts, I am sure he will not
only look good but promote our culture overseas.
Lastly, neat clothes make a good impression. For instance, if we buy him some
everyday clothes like jeans and trousers with nice shirts and matching ties, this will give him
a good feeling about himself so he will walk a bit straighter and talk a bit wiser. Moreover,
people will look at him and have a good impression about Malaysian students.
To conclude, I think that the best present to give him is some suitable clothing
because it will be very useful and will reflect positively on him. Thank you very much.
Candidate D
Task A: You suggest that they give him some Malaysian foodstuff. Say why.
I would like to wish everyone here a very good morning. As we all know, my brother
has won a scholarship to study in England. Therefore, some relatives and I have decided to
give him some Malaysian foodstuff as a going away present.
First and foremost, one of the main problems Malaysians face when studying
overseas is that it is hard to find Halal food. We feel it is a good idea to give him some
Malaysian foodstuff because it will take time for him to get used to the place and find out
where to buy Halal food. Thus, in the meantime he can enjoy the Malaysian foodstuff that we
have given to him.
The next reason is because some of the foodstuff we are used to having here
in Malaysiais quite hard to find in UK. Most students studying overseas really enjoy eating
Maggi Mee and sambal belacan. For instance, it is also hard to find the right spices
for curryand rendang and so on so if we supply him with enough Malaysian foodstuff, he can
eat it whenever he misses home.
The final point I have is that he can use the Malaysian foodstuff we give him and
cook it for the Westerners there. Sometimes, universities organise events like Malaysian
Night and so he and his friends can cook some Malaysian specialities for them to taste a bit
of our way of life. Hence, the Malaysian foodstuff will be very useful to promote our culture.
In a nutshell, giving my brother Malaysian foodstuff to take with him to England is a good
idea. This is because he will have some familiar food to eat when he misses home and he
can also share it with his new friends. Thank you for listening to my opinion.

Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful.

i. Cash
ii. A computer
iii. Some suitable clothing
iv. Some Malaysian foodstuf
* Work together in your respective groups and complete the following
discussion.
A: Good morning once again to everyone. We are here to focus on the issue at
hand which is __________________________________________________________. I
would like to invite anyone of you to kickstart this discussion by giving us
your point of view.
B: Allow me to begin. First of all, Im happy that our brother has won the
scholarship to study in England. Therefore, we must decide what would be
the most useful gift for him. In my opinion, I strongly believe that
_______________
_________________________________________________________________. This is
because I think he can _________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
For example, ______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
C: I see your point but how about getting him ______________________________. In
this way, he can use it to ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
D: I dont quite agree with you because ____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________. I think it
would be more useful if we bought _______________________ for him. Does
anyone agree with me?
A: Yes, I agree with you. To add to your point, I feel that ______________________
_________________________________________________________________.
This is so he will ___________________________________________________.

C: Im afraid I dont see eye to eye with both of you. Buying that as a present for
him is not the most useful gift because __________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Moreover, ________________________________________________________.
Can you all understand what Im trying to say?
B: Indeed, I do see your point of view but I still feel that the most useful gift is
__________________ because it can ___________________________________.
Another reason is ___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________. For
instance, _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
D: Thats an interesting perspective and I agree with you that ___________________
_________________________________________________________________.
However, I think we should consider other points. We should also think
about buying him _______________________________________________________.
If he gets this as a present, he can ______________________________________ and
____________________________________________. Wouldnt you agree?
A: Im not sure I understand what you are saying. Can you explain it again,
please.
D: What I mean is we should buy him _____________________________________
because it will me more useful for him when he is studying in England.
This is because ___________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
A: Aaah I see. Yes, I think it would be a very useful gift too. This way, he can
_________________________________________________________________.
C: Thats a good point, but dont you think if we gave him _____________________ it
will be the most useful for him as a student. I still believe that this is the
most useful because _____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Remember, we need to think of the best and most useful choice.
B: I agree with you, Candidate C. In addition, he can use this gift to _____________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________. So candidates A & D, what do you guys think?

D: Now that youve explained it like that, I also agree that it will be the most
useful. In fact, he could also use it to
_________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
A: As for me, I feel that it is also the most useful. When he arrives at his
university inEngland, he will be able to
____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
C: Thats right. Well, after listening to all the points on the four choices we have, I
think it is time to make a conclusion.
D: Yes, I think so too. Does everyone agree that we should give our brother
_______________________________________ as a special going away present?
All: Yes, I agree.
B: In a nutshell, we all agree that _______________________________ is the best
choice because firstly, he can _________________________________________,
secondly, ________________________________________________ and finally
_________________________________________________________________.
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The
End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to conclude if after 10 minutes of discussion.

A) AGREE = 3, DISAGREE = 1
Conclusion: To conclude, MOST OF US agree that ______________________
is the best choice because ________________________________.
___________________________________________. Thank you.

B) AGREE = 2, DISAGREE = 2
Conclusion: In conclusion, we were unable to make a solid decision
because
SOME OF US stongly believe that the best choice is
__________ because
_______________________________________________ whileTHE
REST OF US think that giving him _______________ is the most
useful because _________________

___________________________________________. Thank you.

C) ALL DISAGREE
Conclusion: In a nutshell, we were unable to come to an agreement on
which of the four options is the best choice. It seems ALL OF
US strongly believe in our own points so as we have run out
of time, we think that we should each buy him a gift
individually. Thank you.

Introduction:
It is often said that...
Many people claim that..
In this day and age of (topic)..
We live in an age where many of us...
(Topic) is a hotly-debated topic that often divides opinion.
(Topic) is often discussed yet rarely understood.
It goes without saying that (topic) is one of the most important issues facing us
today.
The following essay examines both sides of the coin, its advantages as well as
disadvantages.
In this essay, I will focus on ____________, ________________ and ____________.
There are many facets to this issue, namely ___________, ________________ and
_____________.
Expressing Opinion:
In my opinion,../From my point of view,../From my perspective,../Personally
speaking,../In my humble opinion,../If I may be so bold as to state that../
As far as I am concerned, I truly/totally/absolutely/completely/wholly
agree/disagree/think/believe/feel/consider that...
I agree that../I am in agreement with this issue../I concur that...
I disagree that../I am in disagreement with this issue because../I beg to differ
that..
I can consider that../consider both sides of the coin../I partially agree../ I agree to
a certain extent../I somewhat agree but have obvious misgivings about..
Introducing Points:
Firstly, let us take a look at...
To start with...
First of all, it is worth considering that..
Secondly,.. Thirdly,.. Next... Another point is... Another contributing factor is..
In addition/Additionally/Moreover/Furthermore / What is more../On top of that
Another point worth noting is../Another factor to consider is...
Lastly,..Finally,.. Last but not least,...

Presenting Ideas & Giving Examples

According to experts/the website/the author of the article/book/journal etc...
Based on the research/survey/study/case study by (who) in (year) on (what)...
he/she/it/they found/discovered that...
Research has found that...
The study concluded that...
There are those who argue that..
When it comes to this issues.../In terms of this issue../With respect to this issue../
With regard to this issue..
For example,../For instance,../As an example,../To illustrate,../As an illustration,../
..such as.. /..namely../..which are../..in terms of it is..
..and so on./..and so forth./..and many more./..and others.
Contrasting:
However,../In contrast,../On the contrary,../Conversely,../Even though...
To counter that argument.../Despite../In spite of that../On the other hand,..
..but../..although../..while..
Expressing Reason & Result:
As a result,../ As a result of this study/research/finding..
This theory/result/finding/study/case study has led to.../has resulted in...
This means that.../This is because../This could be due to../This can be attributed
to../This could result in../This proves that../This is concrete evidence that..
In lieu of this../Consequently,../Subsequently,../Therefore,../Thus,../Hence,..
Concluding:
In conclusion,../To conclude,../Conclusively,../In a nutshell,../To sum up,../
In short,../In other words,../In summary,../All things considered,..
Taking everything into consideration,..
After weighing up both sides of the argument,..
The benefits of (topic) far outweighs the drawbacks of..
The advantages of (topic) far outweighs the disadvantages of..
The pros and cons are quite balanced and it is up you to decide which side of the
fence to lean on.

Sample question:
A person's character is often influenced by other people around
him/her. Who has the greatest influence on a person's
character? Discuss which of the following has the greatest
influence on a person's character:
Candidate A: Parents
Candidate B: Teachers
Candidate C: Friends
Candidate D: Famous Personalities

Task A Individual presentation

Given the situation, you now have:
2 minutes to prepare your responses
2 minutes to present

Tips:
Study the scenario or topic given carefully
Double check which candidate you are (A, B, C, D) to make sure
you dont prepare another candidates speech
Make sure you dont run out of topic
Prepare 2 to 3 points to present on
You MUST agree with the point that is given to you (you can
disagree or favor another point in Task B)
Make full use of the 2 minutes that you have. Dont go less than 1
minute 45 seconds / more than 2 minutes.
If you dont have as many points to speak about, talk slower.
Dont relax after your turn! Keep an attentive ear to what the other
candidates are talking about.
Write down the other students answers as they present their 2minute speech (to prepare yourself for Task B)

Sample answer: Candidate A

Hi, a very good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends.
As we are talking about how a persons character can be influenced
by another person, the persons whom I think have the most
influence in a persons life are parents. There are three reasons
why I think so.
Firstly, parents are the people whom know us since birth. We
become like the person whom we spend the most time with.
Parents are the people whom we see every day from the moment

we are born, till the day we are adults. Hence, very naturally, they
become the people whom we look up to and start imitating the way
they talk, act, and even think.
My second reason is because parents are the first educators to
their child before anybody else. Table manners and basic etiquettes
are taught at home, by the parents. This gives an influence so vast
that we ourselves fail to recognize it sometimes
Thirdly, parents are the ones who impart values into our lives.
Values are assets which we hold on to for the rest of our lives and
this is the greatest influence of all. Values are what we make our
decisions upon, and it is what shapes our character.
In conclusion, I think that though there may be many others who
can influence a persons character ultimately, parents are the
greatest influencers of all. With that, I conclude my speech. Thank
you very much.

Task B Group discussion

You are given:
2 minutes to prepare your points to either support or oppose the
other candidates views
Decide on which of the 4 points you think is the best (Note: it is
perfectly fine to agree with another candidates points just as long
as you explain why and how it is the best point)
Example: I think that parents play a big part in influencing their
childs character, but after listening to Candidate D I would have to
agree that famous personalities have more influence in a persons
character. The reason is because (add on one point to Candidate
Ds answers).
The entire group is given 10 minutes for this discussion

Good morning to examiner and other candidates. Today Im going to talk about
the violence against women has increased steadily over the years. I would like
to suggest that mass media could play an effective role in curbing this problem.
Firstly, the mass media should limit the aired of violent movies. This is
because the violent movie can affected the mind of public in their daily life.
Then, the public will copy the actions in movies. For example, the men raped
the women because of the influence by the violent movies.
Secondly, the mass media may increase the TV programmes that containing
the good moral values. So, public can learn about the moral values from the
movies or TV shows. For example, the leisure TV programmes like cooking
recipe shows and travelling.
Lastly, the mass media also can invite the professional personal to give a
talk on TV shows. So, the professional personal can advise the public to be a
good behaviour in their daily life. At the same time, the public also can gains a
lot of experiences and information about the life from the professional personal.
For examples, the radio invites the psychologist to give a talk on the air.
In conclusion, I believe that mass media could play an effective role in
curbing the violence against women. The mass media can limit the aired of
violent movies, increase the TV programmes that containing the good moral
values and invite the professional personal to give a talk on TV programmes.
So, the violence against women can be reduced through the mass media. On the
other hand, the women can enjoy their life without the violence. Thank you.
The Role of Mass Media