Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
with friends
go shopping; go for iog; ,p ,rri
An InformaI Letter (to a pen friend
/ retative)
Linking
Greeting
lime: When he arrived, there were very
Dear..., / Hi ..., / Hi there! arrived, some peopLe came.
few peopLe. / Met he
/ M1t
Luic:h, we went out.
Paragraphs 7/2/3 Addition: I am ako interested in music. f I om interested in
information about yourself, your famity and your friends music, too. / As well as that there are excursions to London.
There are excursions to London. qs weLL. As weLL
/
/ as orgonising
I ending excursions to London we organise them to Aford and
Thoft aLI for now. / I hope to hear from you soon.
Cmbndie.
In qddition. there are excursions to 7xford nd Cambidge. /
/ i1 o self-accesl centre plus a language laboratory.
1nire
:g?n. / Look forward to heaing oll abut you.
G.et in touch
Wite soon. / Give my regords to ... / pleasi keep n touch.
/ Cortrast: eltloughthe schooL is small, the atriosphere is
fiendly.
AII the best, / Yours, / With love, / Love, / Chers, / The.school is smaLL. Aggeyer, the atmosphere iifrienaly.'
/
Your name ?espite being smaLl, the school has good facilities.
Reas^on: you complete the test, sp:tha.t we can judge your
_Can
Styte
/
Ievel? Bring an umbrelLa in case it raing
Cause:/m late because of the trffic. Becouse of that. I arived/
Requests Late.
Formal style: I wouLd be gratefuL if you could write us a Example: We organise activities such as horse_iding.
Letter.
eou-ld you pLeose teLI us about yoursl
Informal styLe: Con vou do me a fovur? Itd be great if you- Checking
couLd...
Punctuation Style: Have you used formal or informaI styte?
InformaI styte: Have you used formal or informal words and expressions?
r use of contractjons - I'm a cousin of yours. Have you used formal or informal greetings or ndings?
r use of exctamation marks - Get in touch soon!
l,lrrttng &p
Layout Linking
Summarising the plot:
Paragraph 1
)ne day, Rolond comes across a mysterious letter.
Give some basic information about the book.
After that. he finds himseLf spied on by a ivaL scholar.
'Possession' by A.S.Byott won the Booker Pize n L990. Since EventuaLly. he reaLises that the spy is in foct hs best fiend.
its first publication in L990, the book has not only won many In the end. they faLL in love with each other.
readers but hos also been filmed staring Gwyneth Paltrow.
Giving examptes:
Paragraph 2 There are some truLy exciting moments, especioLLy when they
Give a brief summary of the ptot. discover the journaL hidden in the dolL's house.
The book contains Victoion texts, such as the poems witten by
Two main characters in the book ore young scholors who are the two poets.
researching lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their
Letters, journals and poems, they unexpectedly come ocross o Contrasting:
story of mystery and great passion. Although the book is rather long, the reader finds it gipping from
the first to the Last poge.
Paragraph 3 'Possession' is about a specialist study of literature. However. it is
Give your opinions and present good and bad things about never boing.
the book. Despite being about o specialist study of literature, it is never
boring.
The book is a fascinating love-story which combines two
histoical settings in a very clever way, contemporory and Adding points:
Victoian. However, its complexity may discourage some readers. Apqrt from being o fascnoting novel, the book is full of beautiful
Victorian poems.
Paragraph 4 RoLand and Maud are both scholars interested in the same type of
Conclusions and recommendations. Iiterature. What's more. they are also quite similar as people.
The book is certainLy worth reading. It wiLL appeal both to Concluding:
readers who Like contemporory Literature as well as those who
prefer a good troditionaL Victorian novel.
All in all / All things considered / To sum up. the book is a real
masterpiece.
Styl,e Checking
Most of your review should be written using present tenses: Layout: Have you foltowed the suggestions for paragraphs?
The novel is set in both the nineteenth ond twentieth century. linking: Have you included a variety of linking words?
)ne day he comes across 0 piece of paper stuck between the pages
of an old book.
You shoutd aim for a neutral stvte, not too formal and not too
cot[oquia[:
ALthough the book is rather long, you won't find it lacking n
tension and surpisng turns of action.
UsefuI Vocabulary
The book is set in the 1950s / in the seventeenth century / duing
the Victoion period.
Its main characters ore two young students.
The plot is organised around ane important event: losing ond
recovering a famiLy treasure.
The climax comes when all the people invoLved in the mystery get
together late at night in the cemetery.
The book is written in o compLex / simpLe / modern / traditionaL /
poetic / reoListic style.
1ne of the book's great strenqths is characteisation: heroes and
heroines mly seem larger thon life but they sre abo so deeply
humon.
The book's weakness /
most controversial aspect is its length.
It is wofth reoding.
It can be recommended to people who wont good fun.
T--
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l,tntrnq #efu
Layout Linking
Summarising the event:
Paragraph 1 Itall stafted with the nationaL anthems of both teams.
Introduce the event. Then the referee bLew his whistle.
When I
was in Spain last summe I decided to go to a footbalL After that. the Spanish team scored the first goal.
match between FC Bqrcelono and Juventus Tuin . It turned out Finolly. the ltalian teom manoged to equalise.
to be one of the highlights of my holiday. In the end. the crowd went home peacefully.
UsefuI Vocabulary
Types of evenh cLass / family reunion, concert, exhibition,
fashion show, get-together of old school fiends, match, new house
/
warming porty, opening of an exhibiton shoppng moll, party,
promationoL event, stage perforn o nce, weddi n g
ng
Yours sincereLy, (if your letter starts with Dear lvls Smith)
Yours faithfully, (if your letter starts wilh Dear Sir / Modam)
Style
Formal written statements of interest:
I om witing in connection with...
I om witing in response to / with regard to...
I would like to express my interest in...
I would like to appLy for the post / position of...
Formal written requests:
IwouLd be gratefuL if you could...
IwouLd like to know more about...
Iwonder if you couLd...
Could you pLease send me...
e_
r-
l,lrng #eQ
Layout For example. nany cimes are committed by people leaving pison.
)ther people feel that there would be many disadvantaqes to giving
1 Introduction harder sentences, becouse there would be less chance of integroting
Introduce the topic. Give some background about the prisoners i nto society aftervvards.
situation in your country/area. Then mention the possibte Reseorch hos shown thot ...
reasons for the situation. Describing statistics and figures: t Lexjcon 9. page L55
Cime is one of the most important issues ...
In the last few yeors, cime has been going up/down.
The most common crimes are ...
Useful Vocabutary
The most worrying trend is the increase in ... Crime and punishment (also see Lexicon 9. page 155):
1ne of the reosons for this is possibly the fact that crimes: burgLary - burgLa drug deoling - drug deale mugging
unemployment has isen ... - mugge, murder - murderen rape - rapist, shopLiftng - shopLifter;
Another reason is that ... to commit a crime, to be arrested, to be sentenced, to be given a
soft/hard sentence, to be Locked up, to be let off with a fine, to be
Note that if you are 'for/ something, put the arguments
Let out of prison, to deter young people, to take into account the
'against' first.
wishes of the victims, to restore (bing back) capital punishment,
If you are 'against' something, put the arguments 'for" to commit judicial murder
first. judicial system
the [aw: the courts, the judges, the / the legal
2 A tist of arguments 'for' system, the Law, judiciol mistakes
Express the attitudes and reasons to support this point of
view. Provide examples and facts where possibte. Linking
(see Styl.e betow)
/
Cause Result:
3 A tist of arguments 'againsf The consumpton of drugs has gone up. Consequently. there has
Express the attitudes and reasons to support this point of been an increase in violent cine.
view. Provide examples and facts where possible. The anount of violent crime hqs gone up due to on increase in
see Style below) consumption of drugs.
The number of cases of vioLent cime has increased as a resuLt of
4 Conclusion the rising consumption of drugs.
Finatl.y, give your own personal opinion about the topic. The consumption of drugs has isen. Because of this. there has
In my opinion, ... / AU things considered, I beLieve that ... been on increase in vioLent cime.
Because of the ise in consumption of drugs, there has been an
increose in vioLent cime.
Styl.e The increase in violent cime is just_beeouse_of the ising
consumption of drugs.
In a discursive essay it is important to list the points of view of So much money has been spent on pisons that they are now like
both sides of an argument as objective[y as possible. 0nty in Iuxury hotek.
the conclusion can you express your own point of view. Notice Reason:
the use of report structures (e.9. feel thof). passives and formal We need to reform prisoners so that they can go back into society.
linkers (e.9. moreover, furthermore) in the sentences below. We need to reform prisoners in order to help them go back nto
[isting arguments: society.
Many peopLe feeL that harder sentences shouLd be brought back.
The Ameican system of'three stikes and you're out' has
/
as like:
It was a very interesting afticle as it was about the arrest of a
supporters in Bitain. group of drug deaLers. (as = because)
Moreover, some peopLe say that conditions in pisons ore too soft. My father works as a pison fficer. (works as rs) :
There are arguments for the restoration of the death penaLty. CapitaL punishment is Like any other kind of murder. (Like = similar
The wishes of victims'famiLy and fiends possibLv need to be to)
taken into account. Becquse of his record he wos treated as a dangerous criminal. (as =
There are arguments against harder sentences ond capital in the same way as)
punishment.
It is due to social problems, like poverty and unemployment. (like =
0ne of the arquments agoinst Longer pison sentence is that the example)
pisons are akeody fuLI.
for
It is due to sociol problems such as poverty ond unemployment.
)ther peopLe disaaree ond think that pisons shouLd reform (such as = for example)
offenders. It is not 0s elsy as people fhrnk. (comparison)
It is strongLy felt by many people that captol punishment is the
equivalent of judicioL murder.
jthers point to the possibility of judiciol errors ond the isks of Checking
executing innocent people.
Layout: How we[[ does your essay f[ow? Use the paragraph
Furthermore, the death penalty s seen as savage and an offront
diagram above to check the structure of your argument.
to human dignity. Linking: Have you used ['inking expressions? Can you add any
Giving reasons, examples and facts: [inking words to join sentences or [ink ideas?
Some people think that one of the benefiE of horder sentences
Styte: Check the style of the essay. Make sure you have only put
wouLd be to keep more dangerous ciminak off the street.
personaI opinions in your conclusion.
Another advantage wouLd be to give peopLe a greater feeling of
Grammar and spetling: Check your essay for mjstakes of
personsl secuity.
grammar. vocabulary and spelting.
Ths would be the best way of reducing cime caused by a smaLl
group of professional ciminols.