Test for Executive Writer

Name:
Maham Nehal Khan
Max Time: 60 minutes

(Note: The entire test is to be attempted keeping British English requirements under consideration.)

1. Summarize the following passage in a concise and to the point manner. (200 words)

Most people live in a reactive-responsive mode. When something happens around them, they react and
respond immediately, automatically, unthinkingly, becoming slaves to the moment or to the latest ring on
their Smartphone or computer. The key to taking full control over your time and your life is for you to
stop and think before you react and respond. It is for you to identify the kind of time and behavior that is
required of you at each moment, and then for you to respond appropriately to that situation. British
historian Arnold Toynbee won the Nobel Prize for his masterful twelve-volume work, A Study of
History. This series of books traces the rise and fall of twenty-three great civilizations or empires over
twenty-five hundred years. Toynbee found that there was a predictable cycle that an empire would go
through, from its early beginnings through to its collapse. Toynbee proposed the idea of the “challenge
and response theory of history.” He showed that each great civilization started small, sometimes as a
single tribe or village, and by repeatedly responding effectively to external challenges, usually from
warring tribes and other human enemies, the group continued to grow and expand until it dominated large
landmasses. The Mongol Empire, for example, the largest land empire in history, started with three
people—Temüjin; his mother, Hoelun; and his young brother—after another Mongol tribe had wiped out
their village. From that humble beginning, Temüjin, who later became known as Genghis Khan, “The
Perfect Warrior,” spread the Mongol Empire from the Sea of Japan across China, India, much of Russia,
and the Middle East, all the way to the Mediterranean and the Danube.

Summary:
If you take a moment out to notice the world around yourself, you might find frustration, disappointment,
and exhaustion very common. The reason for it is that humans have started living our lives in the auto-
pilot mode also referred to as reactive-response mode. To illustrate the term: it is a state of mind when
under any unfortunate situation you see only three possible reactions, fight, flight, or freeze. To think
about it, neither of these approaches are healthy. To transform this toxic habit, the only thing you need to
change is that reactive approach into proactive approach. Training your brain to analyze every aspect of
the situation before going into the high-alert mode.
To further justify our claim British historian Arnold Toynbee will help us with his Nobel Prize-winning
work on the rise and fall of twenty-three of the mightiest empires in the time-spam of over twenty-five
centuries in the history. In his study, he unveiled the pattern of the world's largest civilizations leading
themselves to their fall. The gist of the whole cycle is that with a proactive approach a civilization that
had been started with only 3 people can be as big as of Genghis Khan, the greatest land empire in history.

2. Make an abstract of the following passage? (100 words)

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Sometimes I need to buy new clothes, new shoes and other new bits and pieces. I like the idea of new
things. I like the idea of looking at new things and, lately, I have actually liked to go out shopping for new
things. However, coping with the potential change that this might mean is often difficult. Just this week I
have been wearing the new shoes that I bought over a year ago. For more than a year these shoes sat
neatly under my bed. I looked at them now and then; I realigned them, when, after vacuuming the carpet
they sat upon, they got moved about. I even bought insoles for them, but I never wore them. Eventually
my beloved ancient trainers became just too ‘tatty’ and let the water in when it rained. I felt very
uncomfortable about wearing my new shoes. I tried them on and just walked around the house with them
on. Then I said to myself ‘It’s time to let the old shoes go. It’s time to wear the new shoes now’. It wasn’t
easy or comfy to do this, and at first the new shoes felt strange on my feet. They were not uncomfortable,
just different. Now, however, over a week later, the new shoes don’t feel so strange and I am very happy
in them!

Abstract:
The dilemma of change is avoided most of the time. In times when changes are inevitable, then
delaying what will eventually happen seems like a good option. The idea of things changing is quite
overwhelming, mainly because of the correlation of your comfort with your habitual routines or
patterns. To unfold the outlook further, think of an item you hold dear to yourself just because you
are used to it. Thinking about not having that item with you and replacing it with something else
can seem daunting but once you give new things a chance, they can be the new normal.

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 3. Read one of the following texts and write what you learned from it, in bullet points.
(Minimum 3 points - Maximum 6 points; depending on the story)
The Ants & the Grasshopper
One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the
grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came
up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.
"What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world
were you doing all last summer?"
"I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that
before I knew it the summer was gone."
The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.
"Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the
Grasshopper and went on with their work.
There's a time for work and a time for play.

1- Looking out for yourself should be your priority, as each man stands for himself.
2- Always be prepared for rainy days.
3- If you do not have your priorities straight, you are in it for a very tough run.
4- Sometimes people even after having all the resources will not give you a helping hand.
5- Life teaches you the toughest/most real lessons in the most unpredictable ways.

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4. Write a creative blog of 150 words on any of the following topics:
- Best Biryani spots in your city
- Top 5 Vacation spots in Pakistan
- The daily use of AI
- Top Pakistani vloggers
- Benefits of Ketogenic diet
- What are Bitcoins?

The daily use of AI

These days, I see movies telling me that tomorrow some AI integrated robot is going to take over
the world, and end humanity. Quiet an intriguing idea if you think about it. I sometimes even
question Siri on my iPhone, "Will you be the end of this world?". To which, my Siri replies, "I
was made to assist you not to end you". This makes me realize that AI is so deeply embedded in
our lives that we do not even realize it. I talk about certain shoes with a friend of mine and 5
seconds later my facebook is recommending ALDO to me? Some might take it as Google spying
on them but to think about it our lives are not half as interesting to spy on. In contrast, for me, AI
is magic like innovation, breaking all the boundaries of imaginations and all the realm of
possibilities, mastered to serve us with what we please.

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