FCE Writing Part 2                                                                        Articles

Title

Articles usually have a title. The title should be informative (give the reader an idea of the subject) and attractive (make the reader want to read the article).

The start of the article should be linked to the title, introduce the topic and engage the reader. Often, an article starts with a question which introduces the topic which will be discussed in the article.

Opening

Should be clearly defined, not too long and clearly linked.

Ending

Should conclude the article.

Register or style

Could be light or serious (but should be consistent), depending on who the target reader is.

May use some rhetorical questions: e.g. Can you imagine a school where every student enjoys themselves?

May use some rhetorical questions: e.g. Can you imagine a school where every student enjoys themselves

Range of language

Probably some use of descriptive language and language of opinion

Some examples

Now look at this question which appeared on a past paper

You have seen this notice in an international magazine.

IMPORTANT INVENTIONS

Inventions have affected all our lives!

Write us an article about one invention, explaining why

you think it is important and saying how it has affected

your own life.

The best article will be published in the magazine.

Imagine you are going to answer this question. With a partner, discuss:

q       How many inventions are you going to write about? Which invention(s) would be interesting to write about? What information must you include about the invention(s)?

q       What title could you give for your article?

q       How are you going to introduce the topic?

q       How are you going to organise your ideas into paragraphs? What are you going to write about first? Second?

q       Who is the reader? What style you will use? What type of language could you use?

q       What register is appropriate?

FCE article – sample script

Important inventions.

Nowdays, cars have become irreplaceable and people cannot stop using them. Cars have been invented to improve the quality of our lives but recently we have become addicted to them.

Not only do we use vehicles to do shopping but we also use them as the way of travelling. Getting to work by using public transport is very difficult sometimes. and is also depended on traffic. There are some other advantages of having a car such as spending less money on buses and trains.

My life has changed since I collected my driving license. I have become more independed which is very important. I can decide the same day when I want to go and visit my uncle, who lives in different town. Having a car also is needed if I want to get a good job.

There are some disadvanteges to having a car such as pollution, increasing noise and number of accidents on the roads. I try not to go by car everywhere because I know how important is to take care of enviroment. From my point of view the age of drivers is terrifing low. Young people are irresponsible and don't really care much about anything. Ohnestly, I think a car is a good invention but we need to think before using it. The time goes so fast and must be aware of our future. However serious the problem is, I don't think we can stop using car.

CONTENT:                                       Argument well developed.

ACCURACY:                                    Generally accurate – there are some errors, but they

do not impede communication.

RANGE:                                            A good range of structure and vocabulary.

ORGANISATION

AND COHESION:                           Good linking.

APPROPRIACY OF

REGISTER AND FORMAT:          Consistently appropriate.

TARGET READER:                        Would be well informed.

Band 4

FCE Writing Part 2                                                                                Essays

the opening paragraph should establish the general topic of the composition and the conclusion should give a balanced personal comment on the topic. There is more than one way of structuring this essay:

                        • introduction, arguments for, arguments against, conclusion

• introduction, one argument for, several arguments against and obvious conclusion (as in the sample text here)

                        • introduction, argument for or against only, conclusion

Now read the question which appeared in a past paper.

You have had a class discussion on shopping. Your teacher has now asked you to write an essay, giving your opinions on the following statement:

Shops should be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week

Write your essay.

FCE essay – sample script

Should shops be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week? I totally disagree with it. Of course, if shops were open all day all time, it would be very convenient for us. There are some times when we want something suddenly, and how nice it would be if we could get that exact thing immediately! But think about the other aspect of it. If shops had to be open all the time, someone would have to work for those shops. Then people would have fewer holidays because of the more work that has to be done, and it would not be good for our mental health. What is more, to open the shops even at night, we would have to consume much more electric energy, and it is not environmental at all, needless to say. Contrary, what we should do is to cut down our energy as much as possible to protect our earth. To sum up, shops should NOT be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I think we’d better consider about our environment first, before meeting our selfish and individual demands.

Should shops be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week? I totally disagree with it.

Of course, if shops were open all day all time, it would be very convenient for us. There are some times when we want something suddenly, and how nice it would be if we could get that exact thing immediately!

But think about the other aspect of it. If shops had to be open all the time, someone would have to work for those shops. Then people would have fewer holidays because of the more work that has to be done, and it would not be good for our mental health. What is more, to open the shops even at night, we would have to consume much more electric energy, and it is not environmental at all, needless to say. Contrary, what we should do is to cut down our energy as much as possible to protect our earth.

To sum up, shops should NOT be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I think we’d better consider about our environment first, before meeting our selfish and individual demands.

FCE essay – comments

CONTENT:                           Essay argues against the suggestion. It includes one advantage

and then builds up the disadvantages to support the writer’s opinion.

ORGANISATION:                     Very well organised. Sensible division into paragraphs. Introduction, main body and conclusion obvious.

                                               Clear development of viewpoint.

RANGE:                                Wide range of structures (e.g. conditionals) and vocabulary

(meeting our … demands)     

COHESION:                         Good use of linkers (Then ... What is more, ... , To sum up, ...) and

other phrases to link ideas together (But think about the other aspect of it.)

REGISTER:                          Consistent register

STYLE:                                  Consistent style

TARGET READER:            Would be well informed and interested.

FCE Writing Part 2                                                                     Short stories

Exercise 1

Read the following text and complete the gaps with the words and phrases in the box.

paragraphs                  middle                         adjectives and adverbs                                   end

sequence                    beginning                     linking words and phrases

prompt sentence         before                          verb tenses

What makes a good story?

A story should have a 1) ______________, a 2) ______________ and an 3) ______________. Think about how the story begins, the main events and how it ends. Do this 4) ______________ beginning to write your story. As with other types of writing, you should use 5) ______________ to organise the text into sections.

The short story tasks in the exam are based on a 6) ______________, which students have to put at the beginning or the end of their story. The story must be logically linked to this.

Help the reader follow the narrative by introducing events and linking them together by using

7) ______________, e.g. before, afterwards, while.

In a narrative, it is important to use a variety of 8) ______________, e.g. past simple, past continuous, past perfect, to 9) ______________ the events in a story and to put them into perspective. Make the story interesting by adding details and colour; e.g. expand short sentences by adding description, for example using 10) ______________.

key:

1) beginning

2) middle

3) end

4) before

5) paragraphs

6) prompt sentence

7) linking words and phrases

8) verb tenses

9) sequence

10) adjectives and adverbs

Your English teacher has asked you to write a story for the college magazine. Your story must begin with the following words:

Alice knew that it was going to be a very special day for her.

Write your story.

FCE short story - sample script

Alice Knew that it was going to be a very special day for her.

She knew her name as she had been hearing it for the last nine months.

She thought it was a beautiful name and she felt very happy each time somebody said her name.

That day she felt really strange, she moved as she never did before. The most confussing thing was that even though, it had been her room, her space she felt she didn't fix there any more as she was bored with the same things all the time.

Suddenly, she started hearing people shouting like in a real rush but happy at the same time; she hasn't any idea about what was going on in that external world and her desires of getting out of that unbearable place were increasing each time. She had to work very hard for it but finally she succeed, she did, she was out. It was like a shock but a great adventure and she just cryed and cryed

Now she is at home with her parents who take care of her all the time. Besides she has bring a lot of happiness to many other people. Certainly it was a very special day.

Writing a short story – comments

CONTENT:                            A very original idea for the story

ACCURACY:                        A number of errors (especially tenses) keep it out of Band 5.

RANGE:                                  The range of structures and vocabulary is good.

ORGANISATION

AND COHESION:                      It makes sense and is well-organised as a story.

APPROPRIACY

OF REGISTER

AND FORMAT:                      Appropriate

TARGET READER:               Would be able to follow the storyline.

Band 4