WRITING SKILLS FOR FIRST CERTIFICATE

Topic Skills Exam practice Grammar10 The Environment developing beyond formal transactional preposition placing 58 11 Technology using complex sentences discursive composition participle

Malcolm Mann

MACMILLAl\

Macmillan Education

Betwee n Towns Road OxfordOX43PP

A division of Macmillan PublishersLimited

Companiesand representa tives throughout the world

Design development by Thomas Nicolaouat Polyplano

Illustrated by Micro Sympan

Cover design by Marc Theriault

Cover photoe Photoprsc

Malcolm Mann wouldliketo thankeve ryo ne at Macmi anandMacm illan Zenith

for all their supportandenco uragem ent duringthe writingof this series

SteveTaylo re -Knowleswould like tothankJ anne.Sue.Emma,Yanni and Georgeformaking it happenandkeeping it fun.Malc for puttingup withputting himup

Jo forjust putting upwith him and all hisFC studentswh se facesand voice swere constantlyin hisminda he wrote

The publisherswouldliketo thank Ann Gibson , ELl Consultant

ThanksalsotoJ inCoo k

Theauthors and publisherswould lke tothank thefollowingforpermissions to

reproducetheirphotog raphs:Corbis pp12, 16(a), 18, 22(b,c d),34, 40,46(b), 52,54

58 60 64,66, 70(a, c),76 82,88(b,c), 94: EyewirepplO(d), 16(a,c), 22(a): Ko balpa:

Sto nep78; Supers toc k pplO(a.b.c) 22{a) 46(c),70(b).88(a),

Commissioned photographyby Dean Ryanp46(a)

Printed and bound in Thailand

Topic Skills Exam practice Grammar

10 The Environment developing beyond formal transactional preposition placing 58

11 Technology using complex sentences discursive composition participle clauses 64

12 Health and Fitness using set phra ses letter of application formal conditionals 70

letter

15 Crime presenting an argument discursive composition expression of

Look at the p ictures In pa irs, as k and an swer the f o llowing que stion s.

• Ha ve y o u seen an y o f th es e f ilms? D id you en joy t hem?

• What do y o u th ink the one s y o u ha ven't s ee n are about ?

• W hat's y o ur f avo urit e film ? Why ?

Formal or informal?

R ead t hese ex t racts fr o m d iffere nt p ieces of w r it i ng about films , a nd decide

w hethe r the la nguage i s gene rally f ormal o r informal Circle the app ropriate word

a bove eac h ext ract.

A formal /informal

I saw a great movie last n ight with Helen.

You 'd have loved i t! It's called The Score and

it's abo ut a ro bbe ry De Niro is fab as one of

the robbers , and E d ward Norton - as u sua l

-is realty cool! Great tw-ist at the end , too 1

reckon it 's gonna win loads of Oscars

B formal / informal

I would be ext remel y grateful i f y o u cou ld

let me know how long I w ill ha ve to wa it

from the date of m y order until the sate llite

dish and programme de coder are i nst alled

w at ching a v io lent film , feel an increased

n eed to commit vi o lent a cts In f act possibl y

qu ite the oppo site.

D fo rmal / info rmal

As reques ted, I ha ve vi s i ed th e thr ee outdoor cin e mas c urrently t aking p art in th e film fes t ival I h ave co mpar ed th em in term s

of t icket pri cing, f acilities , comfor t , so und

q uality a nd p ict ure q ualit y My fin dings are

o utl ined bel o w.

E f ormal /inf ormal

T o conclude cin ema appears t o be

i ncreasing i n p opu larity am ongst yo unger

age gro ups despit e t he ava il ability of

h igh-quality vi deo an d D VD The ev ide nce

s uggests that t his i s due partl y to th e

social e lement i nvolved i n going to t he

cinema , and par t ly t o the benefits o f a

large screen and s t at e-of-t he-a rt sou nd

system

F Kyle' s l anguage: fo rma l / _iof9rma(

The w rit er's l anguage: fo rm al / info rma l

'Oh , I reall y d on't fancy going to t he

cinema t onight Can't we j ust sta y i n and

watch a m ovie on TV or something?' sa id

Kyle His t one of voice revea led t hat he

was hiding h is real reaso ns for want i ng to

remain at h ome.

G formal- /informal

-Furthe rmore yo ur a d vertisement state d that the

D VD cont ains interviews with the stars and t he dire cto r The cop y whi ch I received unfortunately

co nta ins the fi lm an d n othing more.

H formal / informal

A s y o u wi ll s ee from m y C V (attached) , I have

w orked as an e xtra on a number of films I bel ieve

that m y referenc e s from those films demonstrate that I am p rofe ssio nal, re liable and hardwork ing.

How did you know?

L oo k again at ext racts A, Band C.

Write a word or short phrase from t he ext ract s o n t he l i nes pr ovided.

extr act A

1 Find two examples of informal gram mar.

2 Fi nd an example of an informal verb.

3 Fi nd an example of informal punct uat i on.

4 F ind a sentence witho ut a v e rb

S F ind an example of V ERY informal spe lling

6 Which word is short for 'fa bulous'?

7 Which phrase means ' many'?

extract B

1 Which ph rase mea ns ' P lease te ll me : ?

2 Find o ne example of the pass ive.

extract C

1 F ind one example of fo rmal grammar.

2 F ind one example of informal grammar

3 F ind a mo re formal phrase fo r 'I t' s not tru e at all '.

4 F ind a more formal phrase for 'most'

1

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

Match the text types

Now loo k at all the extract s again Match ea ch e xtract with a t ext typebelow,b writingA-H on the linesprovided

1 letter of application

2 letter of complaint

4 letter t o a penfriend

5 compositionfor yourteacher

6 art icle fo r a youngpeople'smagazine

8 short sto ry

What do you think?

cont ractions (don't can 't it's etc) at all

1 O nly gramm ar is formal o r informal ; voc abu lary i sn't.

yo ur reader is.

6 Y ou onl y ne ed t o h ave paragraphs i n a formal piece of writ ing.

7 You can be quite chatty and co nversational in a lette r o f ap plicatio n

8 A co mposition fo r yo ur t eacher is mo re formal than an art icle for a

9 An art icle fo r a young person's magazine is the same level of formalit y

Study the model

ph rases that mean the same as these more form al words and phrases

Now find three examp les of informa l grammar and t wo examples of

Read th is c omposit ion q uestion an d do t he e xercises tha t follow

You saw an int eresting film at the cinema last night Write a letter to your penfriend

explaining why you enjoyed the film so much and recommending that they see it

Write yourletter

Brainstorming

Answer the followin g q uest ion s us ing y o ur imagination Dis cuss your an swer s w ith the cl ass.

Wh at w ill y o u refer t o fr o m t he ir l ast l etter or what w ill yo u a sk them , BEFORE

Th in k ab out f o rm a li t y

Circle the sentenc es which would be appropri ate f or thi s kind of l ette r.

Th ere might be m o re t han one se ntence in each group w hich i s ap pro priat e

Paragraph 1

a I am w riting to than k you fo r your letter.

b Th anks a lot for yo ur l ast lette r

e I 'm writing to thank yo u fo r your la st l ette r.

Paragraph 2

a An yway , a b unch of us we nt t o the cin ema

la st ni ght

b M y news - I went t o th e m ovies l ast n ight

wi t h Darre n and An gie.

c I wo uld li ke to de scribe an i nt eresti ng f ilm

I s aw a t t he cinema la st ni ght

Paragraph 3

a Bruce W illis w as gr ea t a s the b addie!

b Fur thermore, w e w e re all ex t re mely

i mpressed by b oth the q uality of the a cting

and the d irect i o n

e I 'd t he refore re co mmend that you s e e i t a s

soo n as you g et th e c hance.

a T o concl ude , th e f ilm was mar vellou s.

b W ell, I' be tter go now as I've go t t o d o some ho mework.

e T hat's all f rom me fo r now I'll be in touch

ag ain soon Closing expressions

1

Wordperfect

Plan your paragraphs

Complete t he f o llowin g par ag r a ph p lan,

mak ing notes o n wh at yo u are g oing t o

inclu de i n each p aragraph.

I",-Poy"",,,,,l let+ey pI""",

De"",., , P""' '('''B'"'''''Pl.- I

Read t his c hec klist W he n yo u ha v e

written y ur letter , tick t he b oxes.

• Jhave u sed info rmal g ramm a r

(includ ing contractions) D

• I ha ve use d i nfo rmal v ocabulary D

• I have u s e d so me i nformal

lette r expre ss i ons L

• I have menti on ed m y p en frlen d's

C lette r i n paragrap h 1.

• I ha ve re o m me nded that m y

'J penfriend s ees t he film

• I have used a t lea st o ne inf orm a l

closingexpression ::::J

• I ha v e w ritte n m y fir st name a t t h e

bottom o f the lette r 'J

Re ad t hese se nte nces and then u se t he wo rds in bold to co mplete t he s entences below

• Y o u ca n ge t your tickets a t th e box office at the cine ma.

• We d on' t w atch many v ideos these d ays; we ten d to wa tch DVDs - t he q uality is bett e r.

• Th e f ilm i s about a g uy who t ravels bac k in t me

to save t he plane t.

• T he Sco restars Robe rt De Niro, Ma rlon B rando

an d E dward N orton

• I n t he f ilm, De Ni ro plays a jazz dub owne r wh o

i s a lso a maste r t hief.

• Gon ewith the Wind i s set i n t he A me r ican Civil W ar

• Sh all w e go to the video store /club and get a

v ideo ou t for tonigh t?

• Mos t for e ign-langu age films h ave subtitles at the b ottom fo r you t o rea d.

• So me foreig n-language films a re dubbed , wh ich

me ans t hat t hey p ut all t he voic es i nto y o ur lan gu a ge.

• A twist in t he plot is w hen som ething ve ry

u e xpected happ ens.

1 I hate i t whe n f oreign films a re _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ; I li ke to listen to t hem in

th ei r o rig inal l ang u age.

p lanet bu t i t's r e lly a bo ut modern- day is sues

o n Eart h.

3 L et's ge t ou r t ickets from th e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ f irst a nd t hen ge t some

p o pco rn.

4 Ther e 's a very ne ar here b ut

it do esn 't h ave m any r ecent films.

En glish.

8 The re 's a g reat at t he e nd

-i t u rn s out th at he ' s a ctually a ghost !

9 As t h e p r ice of t he p layers com es down, _ _ _ _ _ _ a re going t o become mo re and m ore po pular

10 The fi lm B rad P itt, an d was

d irected by Ro bert Red ford

EXAM PRACTICE - INFORMAL LETTER

Exam know-how

• Whenyou are writingan informal letter(to

afriend,penfriend or cousin,for example)

reme mber to use a c hatty , conve rsational

style with informal gramma r and vocabula ry.

• Re me mbe r, h owever , t hat p aragraphs are s t ll

important in an informal letter

Eachof these informal letters shou ld be written in 120-180 words in an appropriate style

1 Youand your friends recently made a short film with avideo camera

Write a letter to a friend in an English-speakingcountry saying what the film was about

and describing the experience

Write your letter

2 Yourpenfriend is interested in filmand has asked you about your favouritefilm stars

Write a letter to yourfriend descri ing one or two of yourfavo urite stars,explaining why

you like their films

Write yourletter

You ' ve got tos ee this fil m ! (informal)

=You have to /must s ee t his film (more formal)

Rewritethesesent encesusingthe'have got to'form.Use contractions whereveryou can

I must get a DVD player.

2 H e has to under stan d that he can't go to the cinema unt il he's done his

homework.

1 'Do I have to d the scene again?' asked the actor impatiently.

4 D oes she have to do th e scene again?

5 T here's no need for you to pick me up I'll meet you at the box office.

6 D on't you have to be a professional actor to be an extra in a movie?

7 It isn't necessary for f ilm actors to learn the whole script.

8 The dubbing must be really accurate

U n t 2

Occupations

t8

e amanager inacompany

f amember of your family

g a fictionmagazineeditor

L ook at the p ictures I n pa irs, ask and ans wer the f o llow ing q uestions

• What d o peop le consi der when the y choos e a job?

• What's th e bes t age to decide o n y o ur c areer?

• H o w i mpo rt ant i sit to earn a lot of m oney?

Who reads what?

M atch th e followi ng k inds o f w rit ing t o th e peop le y o u th ink mi ght read them

1 a l etter descr ibing yo ur su mmer j ob a a teacher

3 an international student magazine art icle c so mebody i nt e rest ed in nat iona l op inion

on y oung pe op le and work d so mebo dy in te reste d in local news

4 a l o cal new spaper art icle on tra ining

op po rtunit ies

5 a national newspaper article o n j ob l osses

6 a compos ition written as a class pr oject

on careers

7 a story aboutofficeworkerswritten for a

competition

Choose the reader

Read these extracts from composition questions Fo r each o ne , decide w ho

the reader is going to be

1 Your colleague has made the foffowing notes.

Write your letter asking the Principal fo r per mission to

a your colleague b the Pr incipa l

2 The competition rules say that the story m ust begin with the following words

a a competition judge b your teache r

1 Your school magazine has invited yo u to write a n article about

a students at your schoo l b m em bers o f the p ublic

4 You have just received this letter from the o rganisers of the compe tition.

Write your reply , using the notes _

S Your teacher has asked you to write a story for yo ur schoo l's Eng lish language mag azine.

a you r teacher b stude nts at you r schoo l

6 You have been doing0 closs project on work in t he media

Your teacher hos osked you to wri te a composition giving your op inions

a yo ur teacher b the ed itor o f a loc al p aper

Choose the best style

Foreach reade r below, decide which s ty le would b e more ap propriate

when w riting for t he m Ci rcle t he co rrect answe r

1 an a rticle for stude nts at you r sc hool

a a formal style u sing academ ic English

b an informa l style usi ng everyday

E nglish

2 a d iscursive composition for yo ur

teache r

a a n in for mal, conve rsational sty le

b a f orm al s tyle p rese nt ing a cle ar

argument

3 a l ette r to an employe r who is of fer ing

a job

a an info rmat ive style present ing

pe rso nal in fo rmat ion clea rly

b an in for mal sty le s how ing your

f rie nd ly perso nality

4 a l ette r to a me mbe r of you r fa mily

a _ a di scursive s ty le pr esenting a cle ar argu me nt

b a co nversational style us ing inf orm al

la nguage

5 a n a rt icle for yo ung p eo ple a round th e

wo rld

a a formal, business style

b a n eut ral, int erest ing style

6 a sto ry fo r the j udges of a com pet it ion

a an i nteresting , d escr iptive sty le

b a simp le , in fo rmat ive s tyle

11

2

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

Match the follow ing se nt e nces to the re aders th ey a re in t en ded for

1 Sorry you were sacked Lis ten, wh y don 't

you call Bill and see i f t hey ne ed a nybody

at t he h ot el?

2 T his m eans t hat so mething li ke tw enty

pe r cent of you ng p eo ple are look ing f o r weeke nd jobs - a nd th at's a l ot of wai t e rs

a nd wait resses!

3 In concl usion,it seems clea r t hat the

advantages of wo rking d uring th e holidays ou tweigh the d isadvanta ges

4 The experie nce Igained working

par t -ti me in m y uncl e's h otel me ans t hat I

a m used to d ealing wit h th e p ublic.

S I wo uldn't h ave mu ch c hance of ge tti ng

i nto trouble wo rking at t his iso late d

h ot e l At le ast , t hat 's w hat I t old m yself.

a a teacher

b a s tudent

c a manager

d a m embe r o f you r famil y

e a f ict ion mag azine e ditor

Study the model

R ead m ode l com positio n 2 on pa ge 1 00 and an swer th e f ollowing questions

1 W ho is t he ar ticle ai med a t?

2 W hat k ind of style h as the w rit e r u sed ?

3 Why d oes th e w rit e r u se q uestion mark s w it hin t he tex t ?

D iscuss you r an swe rs w ith yo ur par t ner D o yo u b oth agree?

COMPOSITION DEVELOPMENT a!l ,

R ead th is co m p o s i t i o n quest ion and do the exerci ses t hat f ollow.

A nat iona l student magaz i ne has asked y ou to write an art ic le on how youn g peop le m ight

ch oose a c areer Write a sho rt article f or the magaz ine

• Brainstorming An swer th e f o llowi ng quest io ns .

Discu ss y our answe rs with t he cl ass

a rticle?

ill ad ults who wan t to ch ang e the ir job

b youngp eople in o t her part s of you r

count ry

c studen ts a round t he wo rld

2 W hat w o uld t he y ex pect fr om y ou r article ?

a ad vice a bo ut t he ir fu ture t hat i nte rests

4 Are the se statem e nts Tru e o r F alse ?

a Y o u s ho uld u se a fo rma l st yle to s how

h o w mu ch yo u kn ow

b You c ould s t art w it h a question to

i nterest yo ur reader s

c It wo uld b e a ppropr iate t o use

cont ract ions (is n't, do n't, e t c).

d Your st yle s ho uld be co n e rsat io nal

and f riend ly.

e Yo u ha ve to te ll t hem to b e goo d

s t ud ent s a nd wo rk ha rd.

S Whi ch of t hese might be a goo d t itle f or th is

a rt icl e

a B ecomin g a success ful profe ssiona l

b C o mbining a career w i t h a bus y hom e life

c Wha t d o y o u w ant to b e when y u g row

up?

d T h e dange rs of being too a mbitiou s

Match

Mat ch the pa r agraph c onte nt s o n the rig ht

w ith eac h paragraph 1 -4

1 a S ugges t so me o t he r th ing s you

4 d Suggest f irst s t eps y o u m igh t

t ake i n choo sing a c areer.

Starting your article

Ci rcle tw o sent en ces y u m ight u se t o

be gin yo ur art icle

1 I h ave been re quested t o w rit e a n articl e

b this magazine a nd her e it i s.

2 A re you still w onderi ng e xact l y w hat

y u ' r e go ing to d o w ith yo ur life?

3 I am wr iting to i nf o rm yo u abou t the

c aree r opt ions o pe n t o yo u.

4 I t can be prett y s cary tak ing de cisio n s that affe ct t he rest o f yo ur l ife.

Ending your article

Ci rcle two s entences y o u might u se t o

3 I hope these sugge st ion s ha ve given yo u

s ome thing t o t hink ab out

4 S o , goo d lu ck in your fut ure ca reer ,

w hat ever y ou d ecid e.

13

2

Plan your paragraphs

Complete the fo llow ing paragraph p la n

making notes on whatyou are going to

include in eac h paragraph

• Ithinkjo b satisfaction isfar more important

thanearning a lot ofmoney

• Dave's dad has been unemployedfor over a yearand c n'tfinda job

• Sally wasfired/sackedforsurfingthe internet

too muchat work

• I'd like to havemy own business and be my

ownboss

• Iget on ve ry wellwit h mycolleaguesinthe office

• Some workersare paidmorebecause of

dange rousworkingconditions

• TheMinisterwas forced to resign when the

truth cameout

• It canbe verydifficult not having a job and

trying toliveon unemployment benefit/the

No w writeyourarticle ~

Read thi s checkl ist When yo u have

written you r article , tick t he bo xes.

• I have written a art icle

• Iknow who my readeris

• I have use d a n ap pro pr iat e style.

• Ihave tried tomakeit inte rest ing

• I have checked fo r spelling

6 Idon'tthink is enough to

live onwhen you have children

7 Itcanbe hardto fillyo urtime when youare

8 Makesureyou read the _beforeyo usigni

dirtyand unpleasant

present when Ileft the office

EXAM PRACTICE - ARTICLE

• Don 't waste time co unting the number of words you have written l oo k at one of yo ur

comp ositions t o see how many wo rds you write on a lin e F or most people ,it i s about

seve n or eight This means yo ur compositions shou ld be about twenty to twenty-five

lines long, o r just less than one page of an e xe rcise book

Each of these articles should be writte n in120-180 words in a appropriate sty le

1 Your school magazine isrunning aseries of articlesunder the titl e 'Mydreamjob'

Write an articleto appearin the series describi ng your ideal ob

2 A localnewspaper has invited readers to writeshort articles about how they

imagine theworld of workwill ch nge overthenext decade.Thebest article s will

be published inthenewspaper

Write your article

Grammar focus

Som e verbs ar e followed by the gerund ( -ing) s ome by the full infinitive , and some by both , sometimes with a change of mea ning It is important that you know which form to use Read these exa mples

• T his job means gettingu early every m orning.

• Police work involves writingreports.

• Youneed to be ca reful in this lineof work.

• Frank threatened to resign ifthe plan wasn't changed.

• Did you rememberto postmyletterofapplication for the job?

In th e follo wing sentences , put theve rbi n brackets i nt o th e cor rect form

1 To be a pi lot y ou ha ve to en joy (l ive) danger ously

2 A n o ffice jo b i n En g l and u sually mea ns ( work) from n ine to fi ve

3 The w orkers a ll stopped ( have) a ten m inute bre ak

4 T axi drivers f ind themse lves ( wait) around a l ot

S M y brother works as a baker but he tra ined (be)a me chanic.

6 Working as a vet invo lve s (answer ) calls i n the m iddle of the night

7 I' ll a lways remem ber (bel l ate for my fi rst job i nterview.

S It wa s a w aste of t ime tr ying (g et) a j o b at that new company

9 I could n't a fford ( pay) a ll m y bill s w hen I w as fir ed

10 O ne day , I hop e ( be) o ffered a j ob as a m anager.

U n t

3 WARM-UP

Education

L o o k at t he pictures In pairs ask and an swer t he foll owing questions.

• What are the ad vantages of eac h way of st udying show n in the p hot ographs?

• Do you personall y l e arn be tter alone o r in a grou p?

• Do you like stu dying languages? W hy/Why not?

Read this question

You saw th i s ad vertisement fo r a co urse and contacted the co llege for mo re details, making the notes be low Read the ad verti sem ent an d th e notes carefully

Write a letter toyour penfriend,whoyouknow is interested in languages, elli ng

them ab out the course

Con fused? Do n't b e T hat's Es peranto f or ' H ello H ow are you?' E speranto is a n

a rtificial l anguage s poken by ma ny peop le around t he world How wou ld yo u l ike

to Je arn E speranto fro m ho me? Wit h ou r new h ome s tudy course

you could be com municating in E speranto w ith people from many count ries

I n j ust two mont bsol ute beg inners are welcome Low fee Call 01276 333451 , for f urther det ails Course dir ector: Mr H ope, Eurolingua College

h w e",,;'-e.J ; 1 8'87

'5 peO\~e s ;2 "",i.lli""" ove t ~e

Fee ; '0 elA "'os -Po ' S lA\N\\N\ey

I

It i s v e ry i mpo rt ant t o in clude all the r ight informat ion f rom y o ur notes

T ick whic h of t he f ollo wing p ieces of i nfor mat io n y o u ha ve to include

1 E sperant o isn 't a co nfusing l anguage.

2 It w as inv ented in 188l.

3 Yo u h ave t o pa y e xtra fo r t he textb oo ks.

4 T hef ee is 60 e uros.

5 Y o ur fr iend co uld do th e course over the su mmer

6 ' Sal ut o n' means ' He llo ' in Esperanto.

7 T he re a re 2 m illion speake rs of Esp eranto around the world.

How did they do?

Read these two paragrap hs from lette rs w ritten b y di ffe rent s t ude nts

in an swer to the c o mpositio n q uest ion above U nde rline whe re th ey m entio n

t he po ints from the notes above

1

I call e d them for you ye s t erday The s ec r e t a ry told me

about t he g u y who in ven t e d i t in 1887 , b u t I c an ' t

rememb e r his name I do re membe r that th e r e a re

something like two millio n sp eak e r s aroun d t h e world ,

though S he sa id i t was s i x t y e u r o s f o r a tw o - mo n t h

cours e , which you could p o s s i b l y d o over t h e s ummer

You can g e t more in fo r m a t ion fr om t he cou r s e d ire ct o r ,

Mr Ho p e Do you wa n t th e n u mbe r ?

2

-r~eve "we \-wc \Mil\i.c\<' s pe",\: e ys ",vcv.\<,.A t-\o\e ",""oyl.J. Espey",,,,tc "'"""'s l",ve",te.A

I'" 1887.-rt-e ~eeis Sl)Cry ewes f'ov 0\ +Wo-\MO",tt.- c ew se, oveytl,.,e sv.\M\Mey

if'Y0v li\:e -re)Ctboo\:s e)Cr OI ""fIt e ccio-se .J ivectoy is t-\y Hope (&1\\1 hi,\A\ 0\\

o IZ7 ' ,,)4.<,\.

W rite the c o rrect number, 1o r2,to answer the following questions

Wh ich w rite r h as _

a w ritte n n atu ral sen tences using the prompts?

b co pied o ne of t he prompts without understanding it ?

c fo rgotte n t o ment ion one of the prompts?

d u sed an appropr iate s tyle?

e n ot thought ab out the grammar of the prompts?

Here is an inc omp lete answe r to the question abo ve

Tick which of t he f ollowing points the writer ha s ment ioned

a Esperant o was in vented in 1881

b Yo u have to pa y extra fo r the textbooks

c The fee i s 60 euros for th e 2-month course

d Your friend could do the course o ver the summer

e There are 2 million speakers of Esperanto around the world

Now write the missing paragraphinyour notebook,includ ingthe remaining

points from abo ve.

De """ Je " '\y ,

\-Ii!\-low "" e yo"? Th"" \:.s~cY yo" lAst lej-i-e G e""t l\e s bot.\,t

)lO lA C A t.Seve \:'it+elols!'i OlA h ous e \o'o\clbe c\.\"" os D\t +( e 1o"\d~1\t-!

A ywAy,lisl-e I\: ow yo14.s i ,Jyo,"" we-e f-I \i¥t.\:.i , ~ le"", ., i"", 0\

xew l <"1"" ",,,,,,e bv.tyoll,cov l.:A ' t Jec41e wt-,idl e-e H""ve y Ol.\,

~O", Lo.t""bolA,t Esre A to,tl.-.e -t-i.f1etAlIA "v A"e? ISAW A'" M p

o.-Ah"lMe stvJ.yce w se the "thev J t71yt71 J i sov J eJ pe~e ct.pov

yov Ict7llleJ t v.e c ol1e, e t71"'J theytolJ e A bitt71b"v tEspevt71 to

It Wt7ISi ve \-ecl i li n t71"'J theve t71ve Ab"v ;"i-wc """illio spet71"-evs t71v,," A the wovlA

W"'t71t A" y" v t-"'i \:.?I'll se A yov i-\o.e v bev o4lthe c olle"ei.p yov 've

i tevesteA

Al"""ost-.pov~ot P et-evst71ys helk Iv.t71ve t-"~ ow - Ge O\t71

"'o"""ewov\: Yov 've ot\-"'e o Iyo e A"i ~ It7I ~o.t71~es,yov \:- ow!

lots O'Plove,

Swap p aragraphs and read what yo ur partner has written

U sing you r par t ner's paragraph , answer t he follo wing quest io ns

1 Has my par tner used all th e rema ining pro mpt s ?

2 Has my pa rtner put t he m into natu ral se ntences?

3 Has my p art ner used an ap p ropriate informal st yle?

~ ~~ • .

-.'.' ,

Study the m o d el

R ead quest io n 3 on page 1 01 Circle which of the foll ow ing the writer has t o mention

a They do vegetarian meal s d There are no tabl es on the 7 t h , but the re

b A meal costs about 2S euros per person are on the 8th

c large groups get a d isco unt of 10 % e The y have li v e mus ic at the weekend

f The restaurant i s in the c ountryside Now read model compos ition 3 o n page 1Ol.

Underline the phrases whe re t he writ er mentions the necessar y i nfo rmat ion abo ve

Remember names and telephone numbers.

Easily lea rn words in a foreign language

You'll be amazed at the resultsinjust 1() days!

What news might yo u tell them before yo u mention the course?

F or ea ch prompt write a sentence that you m ight u se t o te ll yo ur penfr iend that i n fo rma t io n.

2 send yo u wo rksheets wit h exercises 4 c ertif icate at end

Make it informal

F or ea ch of these sentences write a second sentence that gives the sa me informatio n in a n i nfo rma l, friend ly style.

2 I rece ived t he news of you r recent s uccess in yo ur exa minations w it h sa tisfaction

3 I wou ld like t o inform yo u t hat t he t otal cost w il l be app roxi matel y s eventy e uros

Plan your paragraphs

Complete the following parag raph p lan ,

making notes on what you aregoingto

include in each paragraph.

II\-Pov\,\O\l let+ev plO\I\

Now write your letter

Read this checklist When you have

written your letter , tick the boxes.

• I have used the information in all

Wordperfect

Read these sentences and then use the words in bold to comp lete the sentences below.

• Students at school are sometimes called pupils

• P upils in Britain go to primary school up to t he

age of e leven

• From eleven to sixteen pupils in Britain have to

go to secondary school ; in A merica , they go to

ju nior and senior high school.

• Some pupi ls decide to stay on at school unti l they are eighteen t o do exams.

the books are free

• Turn to page seven in your textbook and s t udy

the mode l.

• I d id t h e cou rse by distance learning, so I studied at home and sent exercises back

t hrough the post

• I passed the exam and I should get the

• I understand English , but I have problems

l earning definitions by heart.

• I f you l eave college or school before the end of you r c o urse you drop out.

1 I ft he re aren't any colleges in your ar ea, you

2 I' ll be so proud when I pass that r m going to

3 My mum 's wo rried that my brother 's going to

qua lificat ions.

4 All st udents are requ ired to pay the course

examinat ion.

schoo l because i t's difficult to f ind a job wit hout

qua lifications.

6 We moved house when I was n ine so I had to

7 I t took me ages t o learn the English a lphabet

H isto ry lesson is really boring.

9 Ou r n ew Eng lish teacher gets on well with all

10 I t c an be a bit f rightening when you le ave

pr imary sc hool and have to move u t o

EXAM PRACTICE - INFORMAL TRANSACTIONAL LETTER

• Make sureyou include inyourcomposit io n

appropriat e s ty le

• I youarenot sure ofth e mea ning of a

p rompt m ake a n e ducated g uess a nd pu t it in

and ne ver l eaveit ou t.

Write ananswer to thefollow ingquestionin 120-180wordsin an appropriate style

making the note s below You have decided to att endthe courseandwould like to invite a friend of yourswho lives in anothertown to joinyou

• Experienced tutor s for alllevels

• Reasonablefees

H eauti f ii l college i n c o untryside sett ing

Mo rn ing lessons,w ith afiemoon outingsarranged

C all 01223 37565 t or f urther d etails.

Grammar focus

When we write notes, we often miss out the articles.

Principal said we must pay fee.=The Principal said we must pay the fee.

When you are given notes as prompts, you have to make sure you use

the correct articles (a, an , the) in your writing Rewrite the foUowing prompts.

in complete sentences, using articles where appropriate.

1 College has swimming pool at ba ck.

2 College may offer discount on fee for group

3 Exams take place in loca l school.

4 library is open for few hours each morning

5 College charges extra th irty euros for Welcome Party

U n t

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

/

• Looking Even th oug h yo at u can layout 't r ead the word s, yo u c an s t ill s ay w hat k inds o f compositio n th ese a re.

Compl ete the table

For each type of composition t ick t he correct boxes

o ften h as a tit le has paragraphs uses headings your name appea rsin it article

R ead this question and comp lete the sta rt o f the repo rt

You work for a local to urist in format ion officẹ Yo ur manager has asked you

t o write a repo rt on t he new spo rts cen t re whic h ope ned recen tly in y o ur

town Descr ibe the fac ilit ies offere d by the spo rts centre and explain how

interested yo u think t o urist s wou ld be i n v isiting i t.

How did they dỏ

R ead these two parag raphs fro m two d ifferent a nswe rs to the q uestion above

a nd answer the ques tions t hat fo llow.

1

Swimming Pool

-n·\e -P ctltues t the sp"vh:ce-o-eị ,cl t.ọJ.e " olY""pic-siz.ẹA pMI,whkv, is

tv,e ""lyo"e o-P tv, t stze i" "t.ọv vẹ """t o"ly wịIIitbe t.ọsẹA -Pov te lM

tv i"i,,~ I\J .ces,bt.ọt it il1 lse be "pelo,to"the pt :tllịc011. s"w.e J ys o-P the

week.We sv,ov,lJ exeecr it to ttv ci- lM ,y tov, i ststo the cel\tvẹ

2

Ther-e it; a (wiMMin5' pool, a (nac.k bar; indoor- tunit; t:-Oum and bẵ+ball

! u>vrt~ I tJ",1o 1""11& will l"'b'OIj "10& tJ,~& f,&i"tĩ 10&", ''''

bill-\ d'lane"5' n:lOMt; and fr-iendl~ ă(kfan« I t;ũf we ad:: the manac¥'r-

for-leafleft; we van eve -n, -n,unt;«

4

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

a tries to mention too many things?

b has a more formal style?

c clearly focuses on one main point?

d makes a good suggestion?

e is clearly la id out with a heading ?

f wou ld get better marks in the exam? _ _

Write a paragraph

Complete this answer to the quest ion above by writing a paragraph

of about 30 words Read your paragraph to the class and listen to other

students ' paragraphs

To : Fro m : Subj e ct:

T he centre has three courts , which are generally modern and

this w hen th ey contact us for info rmation.

T he ri nk i s in excell ent co nd ition and ha s al ready att racted peop le from

which are pop ular w ith young p eople.

Conclusion

To sum up the sports ce ntre is v ery positiv e for our a rea We can expect

it to attract a number of visito rs I sugg est aski ng the m anage r to provide u s with leaflets to hand out t o tou rists.

Study the model

Read model composition 4on page 101and do the following task

a whe re the writer mentions the subject of the report

b a good phrase for introducing a report.

c two places where the writer gives a summary of the report

d the writ er 's suggestion

e the reader of the report

•

•

Read this composition question and d o the exercises that follow

You have a part-tim e job in a sports shop The manager wants to make the shop more

popu lar with young people and has as ked you to write a report making some

recommendations

Write your reportfor your manager

Brainstorming

Answer the following questions,using your imagination where necessary,

D iscuss your a nswe rs wit h the class

What is your manager'sname? _

Wr ite three reasons wh y y o ung people might prefer other shops

Choose the best headings

R ead t hese h ead ings and ci rcle th e o nes yo u t h i n m ight b e good t o u se i n t his r ep o rt

These sentences are too informal for a report , Express the same i dea in a more formal way

1 You should make th ings cheaper, shouldn 't y o u?

2 You know , it must be ages s ince yo u changed the w indow d isplay.

3 You r adve rt is r ea lly bori ng a nd o ld-fashioned

4 Get some n ew t rai ne rs

4

Wordperfect

Plan your paragraphs

Compl ete th e following paragrap h p lan ,

making notes on what you aregoing to

include in each paragraph and what

heading youaregoingto give

II HomeworkNow writeyour report ~

Read t his checklist Wh en you have

written yo ur repo rt , tick t he bo xes.

• I have used the co rrect fo rmat fo r

Read these sentences andthen use the words in

b ldtoco mplete thesentences below

• The ne w spo rt s centre/leisurecentre has great

tennis courts

• Agym/gymnasium isaplace where people go

to get some exercise and try to get fit

• [t ryto work outat the gymat least onceaweek

• Arink is a placewhere peo ple go to skate on

theice

• Mum,Ineed a new pairoftrainers,and they

have tobethe right brand

• Idon't care whichsidewins as long as it's a good

match

• Acommentatordescribestheactionforpeople

watc hingor listeningat home

• Hang on!JthinkI'veleft myracket inthechangingroom

• Our teamtrainsat least three times a wee kand

sometimes more

• When everwe playfoot ball,John picks all his

f iendsto be on the sameside

1 'And it's a goal!'the shout ed

5 Gregdeser ves to getinto the teambecause he

6 Don't leave any valuables behind in the

7 I can't runas fast as the other runnersin these

EXAM PRACTICE - REPORT

• Makesure you usethe correct format for yourwriting.Youshouldalways write

a report

E a c h of t hese reports shou ld be w ritten in120~180words in an appropr iate sty le.

1 You have a part-time jobin a gym.The manager wants to attract more customers and has askedyou to write a report making some recommenda tio ns

Write yourreport for your manager

2 You work for a local football c lub The c lub is c ons i der i ng m a king change s t o i t s sta dium

The managerhas asked you to write a report on the current stadium,suggesting improvements.Writeyourreport

Grammar focus

The s por ts centr e o ffersag reat o pportunityto foca f pe op le.

When a sentence has a direct object(a great opportu nity)and

an indirect object(local people).it i s often better to rewrite the sentence as follows:

The sports centre offers local people a great opportunity.

Rewrite the following sentences in the same way

1 Iam writing this letter to y ou to reque st informati on ab out member ship of the g ym.

2 Th e co ach o rdered s ome n ew e quipment f or the team

3 My mu m bo ught so me new t rainers fo r m y s ister

4 I a sked th e co mpany t o m ake a spe cial tenn is r acket fo r me

6 T he play er pa ssed the ball to t he ca pt ain.

7 Give the mi crophone to the c ommentator.

U n t

5 WARM-UP

People

look at the p ictures In pa irs , ask and ans wer th e f o llo wing que stio ns.

• What do y o u thin k the people i n the ph otographs are lik e?

• How i mpo rt ant are first impressions ?

• Do w e judge people too much on the ir appearance ?

Use more adjectives

('"- - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~: I\MIM",,\'-lAVe 1-( ,Cll.\j~l-Iess O\lMbil-i o\ \s b""""'-te se-ea ho\\est :

1 Janet always tells the truth Sometimes , th ough , she forgets how itca n

hurt other people 's feelings

2 Gregory never betra ys his friends and he alwa ys trie s t o help them wi th

their problems

3 Nadine wants to be famous and she th inks that the who le world s hou ld

be interested in her and her problems !

4 Robert n eeds to grow up and stop behaving i n such a stup id way

5 I an i s al ways a ngry about so mething H e n ever says ' pl ease' or ' t h ank you ' ,

Use more adverbs

Adve rbs oft en de scribe how something is done

Complete th e s ent enc e s using ad ve rbs from the b ox.

Wh ich sent ences mig ht ha ve m ore than on e ans wer?

1 Jill sh owed her parents the pri ze s he had w o n

2 A lice li ft ed the baby up an d h e ld h im in h er a rms

3 Geo rge s ho ut ed a t h is b rother and r an out o f the house

4 Em ma op ened the letter a nd began t o r ead

S Ri ta w aited outsi de the headmaster 's o ffice.

6 Pau l fixed the problem with m y computer and we s urfed

the i nte rnet.

7 Mr Simpso n de cided to go back into the burning hou se.

Study the model

Q Uickly re ad model co mpos ition 5 on p age 102

U nderline all th e adjec ti ves a nd ci rcle a ll t he ad verbs y o u c an find

Co mpare what yo u have fo und w ith y ur p artner

Be descriptive

C ho osing inte rest ing vo ca bulary he lps t o make yo ur w riting m or e des cript ive

For e ac h w ord b e low , wri te a s man y o th er w ord s a s y o u c an t hat mean almost

t he s ame but tha t are more desc riptiv e C om pare you r a nswers w it h yo ur p artner

The se two paragraph s c o me from a story The m idd le paragr aph i s m is s ing

Write a paragraph of about 40 words descr ibing K aren to complete t he s t or y

Tr y to use adjectives adverbs and i nt e rest ing w ord s

Eve rybody k new t hat a n ew girl w as s tarting at o ur schoo l.

\ Ve had h eard t hat her n ame w as K a r e n Th e desk next to me

w as em pty a nd I kn ew she wo uld prob ab l y s it t here Wh en I

go tto sc hool 011 M onday m orni n g I q ic kly h ung my coat

u p and we nt to m y d esk There w as th e n ew g irl.

She was

- - " ,

L ess o ns sta rred an I fo und o ut that s he was e xcellent ar maths.

Sh e even h elped m e wit h o trc or t w o o f the p roblem" I k new

we w ert' goin g to b e g rea tfriendsf ro m th at d ay 0 11

Read your part ner's writing ~

Sw ap par agrap hs an d r ead w hat yo ur partn er h as w ritten.

U sing yo ur pa rt ner's p aragraph , answe r th e f ollowing qu est ion s

1 W hat adjectives has m y pa rtner used?

2 What adverbs has my partner used?

3 What interesting vocabulary has my partner used?

Discuss

Read your paragraph to the class, or listen to paragraphs other

people have written

How could you make your writing even more descr iptive?

COMPOSITION DEVELOPMENT ~

Read t his co mpositi o n q uest ion and do t he e xercises that f o llow.

Yourteacher has asked youto write a story for the school's English language magazine

I must begin with the following words:

Write your story

Brainstorming

Answer the follow ing que stions usi ng you r i mag i nat ion.

Discu ss y o ur a nswe rs with the class

W rite o ne or two se ntence s to s ummarise w hat ha ppens in y u r s t o r y D i scuss y o u r

pl ot with your part ne r and a sk them questions a bo ut what h appens in t he ir stor y.

in the e nd sh e r efused t o he lp me whe n I need ed i t.

Decid e w hich o f these t itles w o uld be goo d f or yo ur stor y

D iscuss yo ur cho ices Wh at o t he r t itles c an y ou thin k of?

5

Wordperfect

Plan your paragraphs

publicin the streets on the lV newslast night

• Yourfirst impression(s)ofsomebo dy is/ are

firsttime

• Everyapplicantfor the job has to writea letter

• Yourtelephone manneris howwe ll you

communicatewith peopleon the phone

• Adamhasa rea llyfriendlypersonality, fyo u

herbetter

is areallyfunny girl

S I'msure I've read anotherstorywiththe same

6 1find it reallydifficultto _

my younger siste rs

threeforeignlanguages

EXAM PRACTICE - STORY

Exam kno w -ho w

• When yo u arewritinga story.makesureyo u

changethesentenceyou aregiven inany way

Each of these stories shou ld be written in 120-180word s in an appropr iate style

1 Youhave decid ed to enter ashort story co mpetition.T e competit ion rules say that thestory

must beg in wit h the followingword s:

Writeyourstoryfor the competition

2 Your sch ool magazine has asked students to write a series of stories Each story must begin w i th

the last sent enceof the previousstory You have been asked to writethe next story, whichmustbegin with thefollowing wo rd s:

Writeyourst o ry

Grammar focus

Decide whether the adjectives and adverbs are used correctly in the following sentences

Tick the correct sentences and rewrite the incorrect ones

1 Pet e ope ned s udde nly t he doo r a nd ran i nside

2 M y un cle Geo rge i s a t ypically E nglis h m an

3 We w ere p layi ng w hen m y co usin hi t me ha rdly i n the fa ce

4 When I fi rst m et Jane sh e be haved v ery unf riendl y to wards m e

5 I w ro ngly be lieved t hat Si mon wa s m y fr iend.

6 T in a l oo ked a bsolutel y be autifull y in he r ne w o utf it.

7 I r ealised I har dly k new him.

u n t

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS /

Summarise the plot 7

At the beginning:

In the middle:

At the end :

Find the words and phrases

Find words and ph rases in mode l compos ition 5 to a nswer t hese quest ion s

Which word or phrase

1 tells us that two th ings happen at the s ame time?

2 introduces a contrast?

3 tells us th at a situation hasn 't changed over ti me?

4 t e lls u s that one eve nt ha ppens after an ot he r event?

5 mean s' de s pit e t he bad thin gs t hat had hap pened?

Summarise the plot 2

Now lo ok at mode l composit io n 6on page1 2

Wri te a brief s umma ry of th e p lot in o ne o r t wo s e nt ence s.

Now divide th e story into th ree pa rts W rite what h appens i n n ote f orm

In the middle :

At the end :

Lo o k a t t he fir st TWO parag raphs of ' S a v ed by a S t ar ' a gain.

Th ere a re fi ve m ain events ( t hings th at hap pe n)

I n n ote f orm , w rite th em in chron ological order ( t he ord er in which they actually happened ).

1

2

l

A re th ey p rese nted in th e same o rd er i n the s tory? Yes / No

Wh at tens e d oes the write r use to s ho w th e co nce rt happened BEF ORE he

was a lone on t he road? Simple past / Pr ese nt~erfect/ Past p _erfect / Past continuous

Find the words and phrases

F ind words and phrases in ' Sa ved by a St ar' t o answer thes e q uestions.

Which word or phrase _

1 tells us that an event was unexpect ed?

2 introduces a contr ast ?

3 a t t he beginning of a s entence int roduc es a n

unpl easant fa ct?

4 t ell s u s that o ne eve nt ha ppens a ft er a nother e vent?

5 i nt roduces the tim e som ething happens ?

6

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

Order the events

Here's a brief summary of another short stor y Read the su mmary and number

the events (A-G) from 1-7 , i n the order i n wh i ch the y happened

Pip has an accident while riding his bike and ma kes a new friend in hospital.

A Pip waking up in his hospita l bed

8 Pip meetinghis new friend

C Pip being taken to hospita l

D what happened after Pip left hospital _ _

E what Pip was doing before the bike

accident

G Pip having an operation

three parts Beginning:

Middle:

End:

Think about tenses

You willuse some tenses more than once

A Simple pa st B Past continuous C P ast perfect (simp le or continuous)

m

1 Th is i s used for eve nts happening in the ' bac kgro und' while the main

story i s happen ing

2 This is used fo r the main eve nts and the fee lings o f the characters

3 This is used to show that an eve nt happens BEFORE anothe r e ve nt

4 This i s used to show that a l on ger e vent is in progress whe n another

e vent happens I i s o ft e n used wit h ' As ' While ' o r ' Whe n '.

5 This is used t o show that a l o nge r e vent is stopped o r interrupted by

another eve nt I is oft e n used wit h 'As ', 'While ' o r ' Whe n '.

Match the examples

Here are five e xampl es Write a number from 1-5 above next to

e ach exam ple to show what the t ense is being used fo r

A _ _ F inally, the plan e touched down on the runwa y We we re safe

B _ _ As she was flying to L o ndo n , she suddenl y realised that

she had left her notes on the kitchen table

C _ _ He stood on the platform It was raining, and the sk y was darkening rapidl y

D _ _ We were pulled over by the police wh ile we were dri ving through Paris

E _ _ It was a fantastic ride I had ne ver been in a helicopter before

COMPOSITION DEVELOPMENT (!!\

Rea d t his c o m p ositio n que stion a nd d o the e xer cis e s t hat f o llo w.

A travel company is organising a short story competition To enter the competition,

you have to write a story about anexcitingjourney.The story mustbegin like this:

R ebecca knew from t he b eginning th at this wou ld b e a j ourn e y to reme mber.

Write your story for the competition

Brainstorming

Answer thefollowi ng questionsusing yourimagination

Di scuss y ou r a nswers w ith th e cl as s

7 Whyd oes s he t hinkit w ill be a jo urn ey t o re member? _

8 W ha t e vents h appe n on the journe y t o make i ex citing? ~ _

9 H ow d o es s he fee l at the end o f th e jo urne y? _

Wr ite your summary

I n o ne o r tw o se nten ce s , write a summa r y of w hat y ur s t o r y i s abo ut

Divide your story

N o w p ut t he e v ents i nto th ree pa rt s W r it e note s o n t he li nes provi ded

6

Plan your paragraph s

making not e s on w hat yo u are goi n g to

written you r s t o r y,tick the b xes.

• The sto ry h as a be ginning, m iddle

• I h ave i ncluded so me descr ipt i ve

Wordperfect

another country

theair hostess/stewardess

but it's much more comfortable

• Apackage holiday is a holiday where your

• Amotelis a fairly cheap hotel Most guests arepeople travelling by car

in the States- I had terrible _

Itmust beso boringpo uring so many cupsof

coffee!

9 What's the point of travelling

same amount of time!

EXAM PRACTICE - STORY

some direct sp eech and so me in direct spee ch.

It ma kes the s tory mo re i nt eresti ng t o read

l o o k at mod e l co mpo sit ions 5 a nd 6 o n page

1 0 2 t o see ho w d irect s peech has been used

• Remember that d irect spe ech should be

info rmal The rest o f y o ur stor y shou ld be

E ach of these stor ies should be written i n 120-180 wor ds i n an a ppropr iate style.

1 Y ou have dec ided t o enter a short story competition.

The rules of the com petit ion state that t he story must begin with th e following words :

' H ow a re weg oing to gethome?' asked Tim w itha worried expr ess ion.

Write yourstory for the competition

2 Your teac her h as a s ked y u to wri te a s hort story f o r he schoo l' s E ng li s h l anguage ma gaz in e.

Your sto ry mu st begin w i th th e followi ng wor ds :

Ast he p lane took off , I wondered wh o w ould be w aiting for me when I land ed

" Don ' t pa ck y our blue sweate r , Su san Y ou won 't needi o holi day :' s aid Mrs Peters

Rewrite these sentences in direct speech , beginning with the words given Try to make the direct speech sound as natural as possible Remember that direct speech is often (but not always) informal.