Advanced Writing with English in Use

Letters of complaint: tact • Module6A

37 AcornSt

November 7th

DearMr Scrooge,

I'vebeenyourtenant here forsevenmonths now, and inmany

ways I'mveryhappywiththeflat. Nevertheless, thereareone or

twodetails thatI thinkwe shouldlookat.

Fir~t, the cooker, wh i chappears tobe a significantsafety risk.

It1S avery oldmode l, whi ch s eemsto leakgasconstantly. This

r epresentsa realdanger, on the one handof asphyxiationand on

theotheroffire. Thecooker is, i n fact, notverysatisfactory

1notherrespectsa s we l l - the tworingsare inadequatewhen

cooking forguests , and theoven is no longeroperationalas t he

interior isbeyondcleaning, and thedoor doesn't shut. For

thesereasons, I would suggest that thecookerneeds tobe

replacedatyour earliestconvenience.

Se condl y , theheating, whichatpresentconsists of two one-

kilowatt fires. I seriouslydoubtwhether theseheaters - them-

sel ve s a firerisk a s well asbeingbothinefficientanduneconom-

ical - willprovideadequa t e heating throughthewinterfor a

flat of 35 squaremetre s. I do trustyou willbeable toprovide

t hefla t with adequa t e mea nsof heatingbe f or ewinter sets in.

(lastparagrap hmissin g )

1.4 Writing

Part2 writingtask

You start a new job as a secretaryinyour localbranchof a large but not very

moderncompanyw hose headquarters are in Britain.Everything at yournew

workplace is old- fashioned,and muchof it is either broken or seriously inefficient.

You complainaboutt his to yourimmediate superior, who tellsyou that 'if you

don'tthink we' regood enough for you here'you should writeto the (British)

manager.This answerangers you, and you decide that you will write the letter.

Choose eit hertwoorthree things about the premisesthat you wouldlike

replacedwithmore modern equipmentorfac ilities. Describe the deficiencies and

inadequaciesof the presentequipment/ facilities,suggestreplacements and

explain why the expense wouldbejustified. Writeabout 250words.

• Remember, you'renew and you're onlyasecretaryin this big company.
  Unlessyou'retactful, youcouldmakeavery bad impressionon yournew
  boss. Conversely, if you can demonstrate the inadequacyof thepresent
  equipmentwithoutgivingoffence, andshowthat the i mprovementswould
  benefit thecompany, this couldbe the start of animp ortantcareer
  development.


• Suggestions for equipment/facitities you wouldlike replaced: furniture,
  lighting, computers, typewriters,photocopiers, heating, air-conditioning,
  tenets,canteen.

Tasktypes • 93