Writing Revision and Tips

NOTE: 

At Intermediate level in EOI you are asked to write two tasks at the exams.

A short one of about 100 words, and a longer one of about 170-200 words.
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A few things you must remember when writing:

Types of writing

• Notes (apologizing, excusing, thanking, etc), blog comments and short messages…

• Giving instructions (how to get to a place, a cooking recipe, how a machine works, etc)

• Postcards.

• Informal or friendly letters or emails.

• Formal letters or emails ( applying for a job, complaining about a bad service, etc)

• Descriptive compositions (about people, places, objects…).

• Stories or narrative compositions (about real or imaginary events).

• Discursive essays (Opinion essays or ‘for and against’ essays).

• Reports ( about news; Reviews about a book, a film, a restaurant, etc).

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BASIC IDEAS

***Before you start to write any type of composition:

 Think about the topic.

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 Make a list of the main points and ideas.

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 Think of the vocabulary you can use.

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 Think of examples to back up your points.

***After you finish writing, check:

• That the format is correct ( an email is different from an opinion essay or a book review).

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• That all you have been asked to write about is included in your composition.
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• That you have separated paragraphs, when you present a new idea or point.

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• That you have linked your ideas using the correct linking words (and, also, but, On the other hand, therefore, although, after that, when,  so, before…)

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• That you have left margin.

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• That you have no spelling mistakes and the punctuation is correct.

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• That you have not made grammar mistakes (verb tenses, prepositions, correct use of modal verbs, articles, etc)

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• That you’ve made a wide use of the vocabulary studied, especially that which is related to the topic.

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• That your ideas follow a logical order.

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• That it is easy to understand by anybody (especially the teacher), because it’s clean and clear.

See Document below for more tips and examples 

WRITING (I)


Click below and see explanations with examples on how to write an OPINION ESSAYopiinionessays

Publish at Scribd or explore others: writing

Opinion Essay - An Example

Do you agree with this statement? >
> ' We are what we wear.'

 

• 15 words have been taken out of the text:
 
• Fill in the gaps with words from the list. There are FIVE extra words you do not need.

actually     afford     also     better   best   decency   dressing    fashion    from     identity   major    means    mostly    of     seriously     state     tend      themselves     wearing    whenever

______________________________________________________________________

   Unlike animals, human beings have covered___1___ with some sort of fabric or animal skin since their existence. In ancient times they dressed___2___ to survive. Nowadays, if we can afford it, we dress to kill, that is why I strongly believe that we are what we wear.

    Firstly, the clothes we wear can be seen as a___3___ to protect our bodies from the weather or just to preserve some___4___. Therefore, we need clothes. However, clothes also carry some significant messages; they tell about our cultural____5___, our self- image and even about our self-esteem.
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    Secondly, we live in a consumer society and clothes companies do their___6___ to keep their huge business through what we call ‘fashion’ For that reason, people buy clothes, to look beautiful, and they buy not only what they need but___7___ what they do not need, leather jackets or shoes, silk scarves, fashionable jeans and accessories, which are usually far ___8___ basic. So, we are also judged by what we can___9___, that is, the more money we have the better and more fashionable clothes we can wear, ‘the better people we are.’
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     Finally, many of us also like to look different___10___ that is possible in order to avoid___11___ too similarly. Surprisingly/ funnily, by trying to avoid wearing what most do, some people end up in what is called ‘tribes’, people who___12___ wear a kind of uniform, like the Punks or Goths.
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     All things considered, I think that the___13___ question is how people view a person by the clothes he or she wears. If there were no observers would we dress the way we do? Probably not, because we live with other people who___14___ care about their image, we copy that tendency or trend, and we also ___15__ to wear what we think we are.

_______________________________________________________________

(Over 300 words)

Check your answers in class next day!

:-)

Improve Your Vocabulary

A good way to improve your English  is by  having an appropriate command of the words formation...

Read texts A & B, and in each of the gaps write a suitable word. This word should be formed from the word with the same number in the box on the right of the text. The first one has been done for you.

A.

The only way to 0.  fitness   is through exercise. Spending your life as a 'couch potato' is almost the 1.______ thing that you can do. I'm not saying that you need to become 2._____ about keeping yourself fit and spend long miserable hours 3.______ jogging for miles in the rain every day. But it is essential that you do a minimum of 4.______ exercise . Have a 5._______ with your doctor, and then exercise 6.________according to his 7.________.

0. fit 1. health 2. fanatic 3. happy 4. day 5. discuss 6. system 7. instruct

B.

8._______ you know someone who is 9._______ of spiders. The problem is so common that 10.______ even have a word for it - arachnophobia. No one is sure what it is that inspires this 11.______ terror. Some people believe it is the legs, the numerous eyes, or even their scuttling form of movement. Perhaps it is a 12._______ of all these things. Many people spray spiders with 13.______ as soon as they see them, despite the fact that spiders are useful in keeping down 14._______ of other insect pests in the house. Mind you, for some people anything is 15.________ to spiders!

8. Doubt 9. terror 10. psychology 11. rational 12. combine 13. insect 14. infest 15. prefer ANSWERS *

 

*ANSWERS in comment # 1  

:-)

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