Advanced Writing with English in Use

Unit4 • Givingyour opi nion

1.2 Writing

Opinionsare like belly buttons : er:enJ bod y has got m le,butdo othe r people((:(J1l1to

hearYOlltalkaboutyour...?

Thisw riting of opinions onlybecomesinteresting when the writerhas something

to say. Youropinion will notbe interestingor worth expressinguntil you have

thoughtabout the subject.So thefirst stagein writing youropinionhapp ensin

your head, whileyou get your ideas straight. Many of the best writers find it

useful to makenotes of all theirideas beforethey startwriting. ./

Part 2 writingtask

Choose oneof the mini-composit ionsA-Eon pages69-70, and developit into a

full-length magazinearticle (about 250 words) usi ngThe Importan ce of Not Being

Earnestas amodel.

Task bank: Tasks 13, 14 and 1 5

48 Reviews

72 • Typesof w rit ing

1.0

Consumerreviews

A When reviewinga consumer product.whetherfor publicationin a magazineor

in a letter to a friend,it i s necessarytolook atthe product'sbadpoints aswell

as its good points. What does thisproductdo,andwhat does itnotdo?What

aretheadvantagesof one particular dictionary? Arethere anyways in which

other .dictionari es are preferable?

In this reviewofa new car:

whatis the functio nofthe first sentence?

whatdoes the rest of the firstparagraph do?

what does the second paragraphdo?

T he re a re two sc hools of tho ug h t about.m ulti -pu rp ose

ve h icles(;\I PVs)such as th e Mitsubish iSpaceWago n.Cntl~s

di smi ss th em as marketing ploys with no sound iec hlllc,,1

m eri t. Why waste e ne rgy pushing a tall, van- like bod y

throuzhtheairwhen alight er, lower, m or e penetratmg o ne

is so~nnch m or e cllic ie n tand sta ble?\\ 11 Ycrca tc s pace

abovevourheadwhereitisnotwanted?

, Adv;)cates point to the lofty M I'V's down-to-earth

advantages,Youget a better(ands.afer)view - overh~dg.es.

, d hlindbrows 1'01'in stance. Sitting upright, th e nee d 101

<ill ,... t th e

leg-stretching space is reduced. Versatilitycomes I~l, 0 ,l~

reckoning,too, e s peciallywhe nyou ca n squeeze ath lrd10\'

ofscatsinto a vehi cle thatis no longerthana fami ly ca l'.