Advanced Writing with English in Use

...the Vatica", etc.

s l on(I.m.-Tiles/J.1n.

Michael- .\lik e.

Unit 7 • Informal letters

C Practice

Punctuatethis informal letter.

dearmumguess whatyoullneverbelievethishutimgoing to be famo us at lastmy

newlife startstomorrow in polandontourwithU2^1 i tallhappen edso sudde nly we

werej ustdoingabrig2in asmalltownin the north whe nbonowalked inyo usho uld

have seen the look on kemals face anyway to cuta long storyshortbonolovedour

musicanditju st happe ned thathe ne eded asuppo rtbandforU:2s east e u ropean

tou r so we reall off topolan dnextweekbythe way howsyourpoli sh can youstill

speak the langu ageifsowhydont you comewith usimsu re voudre ally enjoyit its

not all sexdrugs and rockIlroll youknow mustdas h wcve got a rehearsa l i n half an

hourandmybagpipe sarc out oftune your lovingSOiledm und.

ILJ2-arockhand, led [tv Bono

2 concert

2.2 Abbreviations,contractionsand ellipsis

E llipsis,abbreviationsam icontractionsa rethree featuresof infonnal wJiting. They

all involvewriting le ss.

A Abbr eviations

...theVatican and all the ot herimportantsights.

From:\olond aymoming until Tuesd ayafte rnoon

:\olany peop le abbreviat etheirnames in informal contexts:

B Contractions

Iwill ;shewill not; wedid not

CEllipsis

Itwasniceto he ar fromYOIl

r ye j ustread YOllrnote

I was gladyou couldcome.

Do voure membe rme?

I'll ; shelelm't ;fced id n't

Niceto hearfrom!JOfI

[ us! read!lou r note.

G/ad you couldCOIlle.

RememberlII e?

108 • Task types

D Examples

Find examplesof abbreviations,contractionsand ellipsisin the letter fromRachel

to Arantxaon page 102,

E Practice:acoverin gnote

This covering notewasincludedwith a report describingwhathappenedatan

anti-racistdemonstration .Punctuateit, andintroduceabbreviationsand

contrac tionswhere appropriate,Thereis also one occasionwhereyou should

useellipsis.

michaelhe re is Illy accountof what happen ed atthe demonstr ation iha\'(~de s c rib ed

evcl),thingisawfro mwhenwe set off fromoxfordst reetto the momen t wearrived

ill tra falgar sq ua reiknowyOll will not agre e withIncabou te\ 'el)thingespec ially the

orderof events iampre ttysure i sawpeop le throwing stones be fore th e firstbaton

chargehut the important thing is toclearjenniferof thecharges again sthe r and i

thinkmy evi de ncehe re willhe lp a lot ihope tose eyo uagainat nextmonths

meetingoffight racismpenelope

2.3 Writ ing

Writealetter(about250 words) to an English-speaking friend, tellingthemof

your recentproblemsand successesin yourwork/ studiesand in your private

life and inviting themto go on holiday with you.

Taskbank: Tasks 4, 9, 10,18, 25, 29 and 47