Advanced Writing with English in Use

Task bank

Task18a

You are sharinga flat with two otherpeople,and the
arrangementisn't workingvery well.Writea letterto a
friend (about 250 words) describingsomeof the
problemsyou are having withyourtwoflatmates and
askingfor adviceon howto improve things,

Task18b

Exchangeletters withanother student. Reply to your

friend 'sletter(abo ut 250 words),

Task 19
Just beforesettingoff bytrain on a foreignhol iday, you
see someone leave a bag unde rneatha bench in the
railway station. The following day, you learn that abomb
exploded in the station at about that t ime. You feel it i s
just possible, though very unlikely, that the bombwas in
the bag you saw being left underthe bench- in which
case, you also saw the terroristwho planted thebomb,
and wouldbe able to describe themto the police.You
writea letterto thepolicedescribing what you saw.
Don 't writethe whole letter.Writeonly your description
of t heperson who left the bag,the bagitse lf, and the
location ofthe bench. (Abo ut 150 words.)

Task 20

Your goodfriendAlex is flyingto Britain, andwill be

pickedup by anotherfri end of yours(who livesthere).

The two havenever met,butAlex has aphoto of the one

in Britain; unfortunately, you haven't got a photo ofAlex.

So writethedescriptionof Alex that you sendto your

friend in Britain in order tohelpt hem findeach other at

the airport. (About100 words.)

Task 21

P S.MagazineWritingCompetition:

ADinnerParty

I f youcould invi te any tw ofamou sp eople to

dinner atyour hou seone night, w ho\\:ouldyou

choose? The pe oplemay be dead oralive ,from

ht sto ryor from fiction.

• Sayw hyyou choosethesepeople


• Y ouma valso briefl y discussyourplans for
  theevening
  LEKGTH abou t 250 words
  PRIZE SIOOcashp lusa dinner fo r fourat the
  restauran t ofyourchoice.

142

Task 22

You are either a privatedetective, a secret agent , a

politicalextremistor an outlaw. One ofyourcontacts

needs to geta falsepassportmade, in a hurry. You

knowthat there is only oneperson intown who can do

it. Thisperson can always befound at a certaintime in a

certain bar, andw ill be prepared to negotiatethe job

with astranger solong as theycangivethe password.

Writea note foryourcontact , tellingthemwhere to go ,

when,how torecognize t he forger, and the password.

(Havi ng writtenthenot e,you will, of course, putthe note

inside a foldedcopy of theHerald Tribun e,andthrowthe

newspaper into the rubbishbin besidethe parkgates at

middayprecisely.) (Abo ut 150 words.)

Task 23

Writea magazine article that takes a criticallook atyour

town as seen through the eyes of a dissatisfied tourist.

Your articleshould be enjoyableto read, but make a

numberof validcriticisms.

• Suggestedapproaches:
  
  
  • Write thearticlein the form of a letterwrittenby a dissatisfied
    tourist.
  
  
  • Writethearticlein your own voice, afterhearingfrom a
    dissatisfiedtourist.
  
  
  
  

Task 24

P S.MagazineCo m p e ti tio n :memories

thattakeyouback!

O Ufmemori es and dream s often retur n to a

beautiful placeweoncevisit ed -childl~ood

memoriesofvisitsto afarmor to theCIlY·

adolescentsettingso f firstrom ances.adult

m em orie s ofbeautyspots. holidays in th e

mounta ins,be aches.. .Inabout2;0words.

describethat place, and P.S. M agazin ew~ll_take

you backth ere. aswell as givingyou a.\:2 ) 0

cash prize ,if your article is selected for

publicationinourAprilediti on.

Task 25

You areon holiday andthe place you have cometois

extremely disapp ointing.An English-speaking friend of

yoursis planningto come to thesame placenext month.

Writea letter to your friend(about 250 words), describing

the unsatisfactoryaccommodation,amenities and

facilities,and suggesting that they change their holiday

plans.