Advanced Writing with English in Use

Taskbank

fell. Youwere j oinedby a young American womanwho

had seen the robbery andcalled the police. You

recoveredthe walletfromthethief's pock etand waited

for the police. The thiefwastakento hospital, whileyou

all went with the police to make astatement.

This morning , you receive a letter from theAmerican
woman. Hereis an extract fromher letter.

'.. .flDYDUrememberme?I',,:Annie,t~eDnewhD

calle3thepDlicewhenYDurfmn3ha3hISwalletstolen.

Anyway, /'mwriting t» tellYDUthat lastweek/rea3a

letter inDurIDcalpaperfrDmthatDI3manwhDsaw

YDurfrien3catch thepickpDcket.HeDbviDusly

misun3erstDD3everything.Thesearethe th,ngshe

claimswe 3 i3:

• attack an innDcentvictim (threeagainstDne)
  
  
  • stab himin theleg
  
  
  • rDbhimDf all hismDney
    leavehim to3ie.
    Heeven thinks/wasanaccDmplice,whenwe'3never
    evenmetbefore.Hesayswerewerescruffily 3rme3 a.n3
    IDDke3like prDfessiDnalthieves. HereckDnsthattDUrlSts
    visitplaceste attackan3stealbef oremDvingDn. The
    troubleis,nDWIDtsDfpeDplehavebeen writingtDthe
    paperinsupportDfhis letter,cDmplainingabDut
    tourists.1'3bereally gratefulifYDUCDul3writetDthe
    newspapersayingwhat reallyhappen.e3./~a small
    way, YDur letterwDul3helpfightaga,nst'gnorancean3
    preju3ice. '
  
  
  
  

Write a letter to the newspapersetting the recordstraight

(about200 words) and anappropriate post- card to the

American woman(about 50 words).

Task 29

You arealone at home, waitingfor your twoEnglish-

speakinggueststo come back with the shopping.When

theyarrive, you are going to show themhow to prepare

a special meal that is traditional in yourcountry.Suddenly

the phone rings, and you areunexpectedlycalledoutfor

a couple of hours. Beforeyou go out. writea note for

your friendsgivingtheminstructions on how to cook the

mealyou were planning(including any necessary advice

on where to findeverythingnecessary in yourkitchen,

and how to use your kitchenequipment).

Write the note (100-200 word s).

Task 30

Last timeyou saw a friend, they did something thatmade

youvery angry. Youhaven'tspokento themsince. Now ,

twomonthslater,you're still a bit angry butyou want to

renew yourfriendship.Writeyourfrienda letter(about

144

250 words) that succeeds in both expressing your anger

(andensuringthat yourfriend doesn't behave that way

again) andrenewin g yourfriendship.

Task 31

You are on holiday andyou havediscovereda wonderful

place and a wonderful person. You want to stay in this

place for the restof your holiday,butyou had promised

to spenda week withanEnglish-speakingfriend of

yours.Writea letterto your f riend(about 250 words)

describing the placeyou have discoveredand the

person you have met,and tryingto persuadeyour friend

to come and join you.Tell your f riend what a difficult

choiceyou will have if they don 'tcome to joinyou. At the

same time, becareful not to offend them.

Task 32

Here is an extract froma letter writtento you by Shane,

an Australian friendwho is at present li vi ng in Britain:

• Nextrronthismy19thbirthdayI andI ' rngoing
  tohave totakea bigdecision. Infact, I'd
  reallyappreca.at.ei t ifyouwroteandgave~your
  adviice. YouseeI I'minthepoai.tionofhavanqLito
  choosebetweenthreer-hi.ncs'-'LU.~ • First, I couldreaaze
  dreamofbecaning a professionalfoot.b3.11er -
  7 ve teeno f f eredacont r actbyBri~t~l.Rovers!
  OK, s othey' r eonly intheFourthD1V1S10~, l:ut
  everyonehastostartscrreNhere.Altemanvely, I
  couldgo toUniversity: livegota placetostudy
  EngineeringatLeicesterI andI\Olldgeta srral~
  scholarshiptoenablerretocrnpletethecourse
  threeyears .Mythirdchoiceis todowhatmy.
  fatherreal l ywants metodo - togorecktoAlice
  . andhelphimrunthe familyhotel there.
  Springs th W'l lards'
  (He ' d proteblyals o like rret o rrar'ry e l
  daughterf rannextdoor- andgiveupal~myother
  girls!) DowriteandtellIrewhatyou think,
  becausevIDicheverI choose, I 'msure tolosethe
  othertw:)q;::portunities. '

Writeyourreply (about 250 words).

Task 33

You recentlyspent six months in an English-speaking

countryworking as an au-pair.Now a friendof yours

wants to go andwork forthe same family. The family

have written toyou askingif you thinkyour friend would

be suitable for the job. (Theworkinvolveschild-minding

forthree childrenaged 3, 6 and 8; some housework,

including vacuumingand washing- up;and the choiceof

eithergardening, cookingor walking the dog.)

Write a letter to the family,recommendingyour friend.

Your letter shouldbe sufficientlypositiveto ensurethat

your friend gets the job, butyou should at leastpretend

to give a balancedjudgement. Writeabo ut 150 words,

of which about 100 wordsshouldbethe 'reference'.