ADVANCED WRITING SKILLS

jID M N C ED WRITING SKILLS CONTENTS U N I T Protest and C om plaint A cknow ledgem ents iv Forew ord v G eneral In tro d u ctio n vi In tro d u ctio n to S tudents vii T e a c h e r’s H an d lin g Notes viii U N I T Advice and O p in io n P rotest, c o m p la in t a n d a p o lo g y ; c o n tra st a n d concession; q u ite /f a ir ly /r a th e r ; reactio n U N I T C ontroversy 69 C o n tro v e rs y ; reasons, causes a n d e x p la n a tio n s; g e ru n d s as subjects a n d o b jects; w ork A d v ic e ; fu tu re tim e c la u se s; i t is a d je c t iv e t h a t ; c o n s u m e r U N I T C ontrast and C om parison 79 v o c a b u la ry U N I T Plans an d A rrangem ents 10 A rra n g e m e n ts a n d in v ita tio n s ; relativ e clauses - d efin in g ; it is a d j e c t i v e + i n f i n i t i v e ; e n te rta in m e n t U N I T Permission 19 P e rm issio n ; su b stitu tin g infinitives for re la tiv e c la u se s; p re se n t a n d p erfect p a rtic ip le s; c h a c te r U N I T Suggestions U N I T O b ligation A d v a n ta g e s a n d d isa d v a n ta g e s; w hile a n d w h e re a s ; q u a lify in g a n d d escrib in g n o u n s ; to w n a n d co u n try U N I T 10 P robability 29 39 O b lig a tio n ; re la tiv e clauses —n o n ­ d e fin in g ; few /a few, e t c ; life a b ro a d U N I T G eneralisations 49 Q u alify in g g e n e lisa tio n s; inversion after neg ativ e in tro d u c tio n s; q u alify in g a n d re-expressing s ta te m e n ts ; holid ay s a n d tourism 89 P ro b a b ility - p re se n t a n d f u tu r e ; w h a t a n d w h ic h ; th a t a n d w h e th e r clauses as su b jects; leisure tim e U N I T 11 P lanning S uggestin g courses o f a c tio n ; expressing c o n trasts a n d c o n cessio n ; focus a n d id e n tific a tio n ; food a n d h e a lth 60 97 P la n n in g ; p u rp o se clauses; in v erte d c o n d itio n a ls; e q u a lity a n d p reju d ice K ey 108 Resources File 117 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS W e w ould like to thank the following people for their help and cooperation in the developm ent o f this book: the principal, teachers, an d students of E urocentre, B ournem outh for their help and encouragem ent; students at the In stitu to A nglo-M exicano in M exico C ity; an d the secretarial staff at E urocentre, B ournem outh, in p artic u la r H eath er W oodley and M ary Parsa W e w ould especially like to th an k J e ff Stranks for his contribution, and R oger Scott for his help an d advice J o h n A rnold Jerem y H arm er FO REW O RD W ith this book, the ten th E u ro cen tre p ublication in o ur series Teaching Languages to Adults, we continue our program m e of providing m aterials and techniques for language teaching in areas not yet fully covered T h e recent developm ents w ithin the field of linguistics have shown a need for a new ap p ro ach to teaching English at the A dvanced level; w ith their experience as teachers in an organisation teaching adults, the authors have recognised the need to in te rp ret such developm ents at a strictly practical level both for teachers an d students T hus Advanced Writing Skills concentrates on the production o f w ritten English and incorporates new concepts o f A dvanced learning by leading the students from controlled use to free an d individual production o f ap p ro p riate language In addition, this book provides the teacher w ith m aterial suitable for a variety of learning situations It also offers m any opportunities for really challenging and varied hom ew ork and encourages the responsible student to m ake full use o f his self-study potential W e believe - and the testing of the m aterial in the English Eurocentres has proved it - th at this book can m ake a valuable contribution to the teaching of English at the A dvanced level for both teachers and students E rh J C W aespi Director o f thefoundation fo r European Language and Educational Centres GENERAL IN T R O D U C T IO N In this book, language is treated u n d er three headings F u n c tio n s T o p ic N o tio n s G ram m ar U n d er F u n c tio n s we consider ways in w hich language is used, for exam ple, Giving Advice W e then present some of the forms o f language th a t can be used in perform ing such Functions, for exam ple, i f you take my advice you w ill U n d er T o p ic N o tio n s we deal w ith the vocabulary related to a p artic u la r subject or topic, for exam ple, Work U n d e r G r a m m a r we present and practise certain structural patterns THE COURSE T h e course is designed for students w ho have either passed the C am bridge First Certificate exam ination or successfully com pleted an equivalent course o f study By the end o f this book, successful students will be able to use the Functions, T opic Notions, and G ram m ar studied to express themselves fluently and accurately, particu larly in w riting Such students will be in a position to take the C am bridge Certificate o f Proficiency exam ination after further training in the specific techniques necessary for th a t exam ination U N IT LAY O U T E ach u nit contains a) A T ext, w hich exemplifies one or m ore F unctional areas, and w hich is also about a p artic u la r topic, thus providing m aterial for discussion and vocabulary extension b) C om prehension and S um m ary exercises c) R evision-Test (except U n it 1) d) P resentation and practice of F unctional Language e) Sentence construction (i.e G ram m ar) f ) F eatures o f S tructure an d Style occurring in the text g) V ocabulary extension h) F inal W ritten Tasks, designed to integrate ( d)-(g) above DESIGN T h e course is designed in such a w ay th a t it can be used, at the one extrem e, for intensive courses, and at the other, for private study As m any students at this level follow non-intensive courses they will find the private study potential of the book p articu larly valu ab le; a key is provided for the m ajority o f the exercises T hus, w here tim etabling makes this necessary, p artic u la r parts of the unit m ay be d ealt w ith outside the classroom T h e following publications have been p articu larly useful in the p rep aratio n of this book Leech and Svartvik, A Communicative Grammar o f English, Longm an, 1975 Q uirk and G reenbaum , A University Grammar o f English, Longm an, 1973 W ilkins, Linguistics in Language Teaching, E dw ard A rnold, 1973 VI IN T R O D U C T IO N TO STUDENTS R ead this, as it will help you to get the best out of the book T his book is especially designed for students who have passed the C am bridge First C ertificate exam ination or who have done a course to ab o u t the sam e level, an d com pleted it successfully T his book will help you tow ards a higher level o f English know ledge, and if you wish, tow ards the C am b rid g e C ertificate o f Proficiency ex am in atio n THE L A Y O U T OF EACH U N IT Text designed to provide discussion m aterial and show exam ples of the language you will be studying Exercises on the Text designed to test your ability to u n d erstan d and take inform ation out of the text and to give you p ractice in selecting p artic u la r points from the text and linking this inform ation together w ithin a lim ited n u m b er of words Revision- Test designed to give fu rth er p ractice in elem ents o f language which you have already studied in previous units Functional Language p r o v i d e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o s t u d y a n d p r a c t i s e t h e l a n g u a g e y o u n e e d for p a r t ic u la r p u r p o s e s , s u c h as s u g g e s t i n g c o u r s e s OF ACTION Sentence Construction this section revises an d extends your g ram m atical know l­ edge of English Structure and Style provides opportunities to study an d practise special stylistic features of w ritten English Topic Vocabulary here you can learn words in groups w'hich are all concerned w ith a p a rtic u la r topic Writing Tasks this is the m ain piece of p ractice in w hich you can use the language you have studied in the unit (as well as in previous units) These compositions have been chosen to represent the kinds o f w ritten tasks which you m ight one day w an t to perform in English T HE RESOURCES FILE At the back o f the book you will find a section m arked r e s o u r c e s f i l e H ere you will find pictures, forms, and oth er visual aids taken from new spapers and other sources These aids are designed to give you extra practice and revision of w hat you have studied in the units (lO o rm o re lessons a week), you can use this book u n d er the guidance o f your teacher(s) It is a good idea to read the passage of an y unit in advance and look at the T alk in g Points section T h ere is a key to all of the exercises m arked (K), so you can use the exercises for revision an d extra practice as necessary if y o u a r e f o l l o w i n g a n i n t e n s i v e c o u r s e IF YOU AR E FO LLO W IN G A N O N -IN T E N S IV E COURSE (2-10 lessons a Week), you will have to the m ajority o f the exercises on your own T h ere is a key provided for all the exercises w here this is possible I f there are points in the explanations or exercises w hich you not understand, ask your teachers about them w hen you have the opportunity Y ou will have plenty of opportunities w hen using this book to talk about yourself, give your personal opinions, and say w hat you think R em em ber th a t learning ano th er language, especially at an advanced level, should be an opp o rtu n ity to express yourself an d your ideas clearly and fluently, and to enjoy learning to this W e wish you every success in bringing your know ledge o f English to an a d v a n c e d level T E A C H E R ’S H A N D L IN G N O T E S THE TE X T It is suggested th at students read the text to be w orked on before com ing to class EXERCISES ON THE TE X T Vocabulary This section is designed to show the students a variety o f vocabulary in context I t should be done orally, preferably before the other exercises on the text Talking Points These true/false questions are designed as oral classroom activity, e.g the teacher reads the sentences an d the students say w hether the answ er is true or false T he questions are not designed to focus on any p artic u la r aspect of language, b u t should form the basis for discussion on the subjectm atter of the text Writing Points These questions could be done orally, b u t the intention is th at the student should be able to w rite complete answers, as he will have to in the Proficiency exam ination Context Questions These questions could be d ealt w ith either orally, or in w riting T hey are designed to test the stu d en t’s in -d ep th understanding of the text Summary Work T h e m ain aim of this is to train students to sum m arise, w ithin given word limits, inform ation they have read T h e exercises can be used successfully as group work in the class R E V ISIO N -T E ST These can be done m ost effectively in the classroom u n d er quasi-test conditions T h e very act of doing the test should reinforce students’ ability to use the language w hich they have studied and help them to com m it th a t language to their m em ories FU N C T IO N A L L A N G U A G E , SEN TE N C E C O N S T R U C T IO N , S T R U C T U R E A N D STYLE Since these various aspects o f language are often treated in sim ilar ways they will be dealt w ith together here It is suggested th a t the stu d en ts’ atten tio n be d raw n very carefully to the w ay language is used in the text to perform certain functions T h ey thus see th a t they are not m erely studying g m m a r b u t are studying a language whose use is exem plified in the text W hen studying the charts, before doing the exercises th a t follow them , it is suggested th a t the teach er m ight point out the g ram m atically tricky aspects o f the language A n exam ple o f this is on page 43 w here the ch art includes X has no alternative but to DO A com m on m istake w ith this construction is the omission o f but This can be pointed out to the student as he studies the chart, helping him to avoid the m istake in the future T h e exercises th a t follow, for exam ple, a d v i c e , are designed for classroom use It is suggested th a t the controlled exercises th a t usually begin the exploitation should be done o rally; indeed, most of the exercises are suitable for oral use, b u t to provide variety it is often a good idea to m ake the students w rite one or two sentences from a p a rtic u la r exploitation Wrhere, at the end of each section, the practice is o f a freer n atu re, group-w ork is often very profitable As was said in the g e n e r a l i n t r o d u c t i o n , constraints o f tim e m ay m ake it im possible to all the w ork in class F or this reason there is a key at the back o f the book, and parts o f the units can be set as hom ew ork/self-study W here m aterial from the r e s o u r c e s f i l e is ap p ro p riate to the language being studied a note will be found in the unit, an d the m aterial can then be used as a m ore interesting, or extra, or alternative, stim ulus for the students t o p ic vocabulary In this section the stu d en t is presented w ith a vocabulary area T his section is not inten d ed for classroom u se ; the stu d en t should discover the m eaning of the words him /herself T each in g vocab u lary is usually a fruitless exercise, an d w ould certainly be so here T h e exercises w hich follow the section, how ever, could be set as hom ew ork It is suggested th a t all the students be equipped w ith a good dictionary W R IT IN G TASKS T h e m ain objective of these tasks is th a t the student should practise w h at he has learnt Students m ust be encouraged therefore to use the language from the units O ne w ay of doing this is to p u t a tick on the page every tim e the student uses language he has studied from this book T h e O p tio n Boxes simply provide m ore com position titles, should they be needed THE RESOURCES FILE As has been already pointed out, the r e s o u r c e s f i l e can be used as a source of extra practice m aterial, p articu larly w here this is suggested Its m ain function, however, is to provide interesting and real m aterial for revision Suggestions will be found u n d er each item , b u t teachers should feel free to exploit this m aterial as they see fit x This Philips dictation machine could save you £4 an hour £4 an hour.That’s how much it can cost you all the timeasecretaryspendsinyour office, taking or waiting for dictation Install a Philips dictation machine, like this up-to-the-minute desk-top 97, and you release her from the time-consuming routine of notebook dictation And start saving real money Check your own costs And whether the answer comes out at £4 an hour, or more, or less, the saving you can make will add up to a lot of money in a year With a Philips dictation machine on your desk you save aggravation, as well as money You can dictate exactly when it suits you, while the secretary gets on with other things that must be done Equally, Philips dictation equipment is often the answer to making a sharedsecretary arrangement work PHILIPS For details of the Philips 97, and all the dictation machines in Britain’s best-selling range, just fill in and post this coupon to: Philips Electrical Limited, Business Equipment Division, Century House, Shaftesbury Avenue, London WCaH 8AS jI Please send me FulldetailsofthePhilipsrangeofdesktopand | portable machines | Name | Position _ | Company. | Address Postcode Simply years ahead a) Describe the job of i) a secretary ii) a businessman b) A secretary writes to Philips about this advertisement 120 -T el: L s»Hiurn, W ith hair m eticulously rollered for a training session in the heat, a you ng m em ber o f C ub a’s hurdling squad goes through her paces A bove: high-jum per Lucia D uq u ette (nearest cam era lim bers up Southampton College of Art Part-time Prospectus c | Leisure time a) How to become a top athlete b) Government subsidies for sport? a) Your idea of leisure? b) How can I escape boredom? P o p P o llu tio n M IC H A E L H E A T H reports yet another attack on our beach heads a) ‘O ur beaches have become intolerable’, says town councillor b) People at the seaside Tài li u đư c chia s t i “TÀI LI U LUY N THI IELTS” http://www.facebook.com/groups/tailieuluyenthiielts Admin: TR N M NH TRUNG d | Social organisation a) Describe the incident b) Arrange a meeting to discuss the complaint c) ‘The end of prejudice? Hopes for the future.’ COMMISSION FOR RACIAL EQUALITY Elliot House 10/12 Allington Street London SW1 E 5EH A p p lica tio n fo r assistance from the Com m ission in co nnection w ith a co m p laint or prospective co m p lain t o f u n law fu l discrim inatio n under the R ace Relatio ns A c t 1976 CA N T H E COMMISSION FOR R A C IA L E Q U A L IT Y HELP? Although individuals who allege that they have suffered racial discrimination have the right of bringing their own cases before the courts and Industrial Tribunals, they can also apply to the Commission for Racial Equality for assistance The A ct gives the Con.mission discretion to assist an individual who is an actual or prospective complainant, where the case raises a question of principle; where it is unreasonable, having regard to the complexity of the case or the position of the individual vis-a-vis the other party, to expect the individual to deal with the case unaided; or where some other special consideration applies In such cases, the assistance which the Commission may afford includes giving advice, seeking a settlement, arranging for legal advice or assistance or representation Legal costs incurred by the Commission will be charged to any costs (but not to any damages) payable to the complainant Where a person makes a written application for assistance, the Commission is required, within two months of receiving the application, to consider it, to decide whether or not to grant it, and to inform the applicant of its decision Please s ta te y o u r full n a m e a n d add re ss in B L O C K C A P IT A L S S -j: T e le p h o n e N o : S iN /q h H om e H o w w o u ld y o u d e sc rib e y o u rs e lf in te rm s o f c o lo u r, c e , n a tio n a lity o r e th n ic o r n a tio n a l o rig in ? IND IA N W h o m a re y o u c o m p la in in g a b o u t? N am e a n d a d d re ss o f in d iv id u al o r o rg an is atio n : U H E H E A RT OEJDAKL F O L K g S T O N S ftO f t b , O ffic ia l p o s itio n o f p e rso n b ein g c o m p la in e d a g ain st 122 PvGUtC HOUSE, L f l N M N -S £ Please g iv e a s e x a c tly a s p o ssib le th e tim e a n d d a te o f th e in c id e n t t h a t y o u a re c o m p la in in g a b o u t If y o u b e liev e rac ial d is c r im in a tio n a g a in st y o u is c o n tin u in g , p le ase sa y so 10-30 p.ru S E C E -M B E R Protection against victimisation "Please note th a t the A c t contains provisions designed to pro te ct from victim isation those who brin g proceedings, o r give evidence in connection w ith proceedings." W h a t a re y o u r r e a so n s f o r b e lie v in g t h a t y o u s u f f e r e d rac ial d is c r im in a tio n ? D esc rib e a s f u lly a s y o u c a n w h a t to o k p la c e 2J/M fniind Cjirnnukh / visited TKa Hecurf o f w * Public Hovse to keus-e Q kCif" AA d dsfSScd o+\d h ^ d / cO*i*Jts befae iri&ibii-a'tkji public, havse , / or'&jLr-ed a oP r*Ud ro t rMSeJf &~ud A den*bU fie/ ruy /i-ia j^d Tkn bcumald fi, j H-O wrs aid, / W * r&eJC -roUJ ujitL ot-eurk heU*- W ignSred w* ts/lHLc c^she*vj£rS uSKo ca**u c^btr- out «o«Ae xS&rt*cd a**j aCifficuXhj Ap6u toeUhA^ aJbaut- /5’nyi^tdes ! 4Skod pelibeJLu IP / eou-ld SCO ~TkJt bcumxeula ia* csv\h*^jtd tjKere nuL I aj«-6 -farced -in r*y voicm- Vo a++m cJ: har klke^ / •tid so a nun* kSKt> ck_f*pe*u~ed ~io be tiU /*«*iA*er na^Se CAXK& up -bo tkj cznt+Je^' perused Km* / v u a s / ajtr fw* W S tu d , “t-iqkh, H ^l's it, Ou.f! &vCb! J uoff^'/- keuse you * *u hjt^e * AJet Kri&k**~q Causse o^yu, hwU a u* Lo/& kpHjsU/ beUtus* K* treated U Cuat t^cLiou yt AxW of HUx bajm^cud / tAxs* O ^u^duJ' because of- At m j k>es4-t^piloO «■© bfack C[...]... J.K Farringdon, Sales Director, World Motor-cycles Ltd., Dudley Drive, Birmingham, United Kingdom Dear Mr North Africa Division Hamra Street Beirut, Lebanon Telex: 52413 22nd August Farringdon, We are writing in reply to your letter of August 2nd, which was passed on to us by MCS Head Office in London In your letter, you asked for our advice concerning the marketing of motor-cycles in North African... e i d e a o f you believing him is surprising (A lthough in m any cases there is very little, if any difference, betw een a exam ple 7 ADVICE >4ND OPINION sentence w ith ‘should’ an d one w ithout, an advanced student ought to begin to note exam ples where ‘should’ is used and try to im itate them ) 1 R ew rite the following sentences beginning w ith ‘It is a d j e c t i v e th at exam ple You know... continue w ith English, and w h at sort of things you w an t to do, etc Resourcesfile reference E2 caption c) 9 34, Clareville Mansions, Trebelwyn, Nr Wadebridge, Cornwall 9th November Dear Mr Huntley, I am writing to you in your capacity as the Member of Parliament for this constituency about a matter which has angered and worried many of us who live in Trebelwyn and nearby We have always known about the... development of materials for biological warfare 5 A lot of us have become extremely alarmed by this, and we have formed a group called 'Craven Hill Action Group' I am the appointed leader and I am therefore writing to you to ask for help Many of the members of our group have very strong moral 15 objections to the idea of biological warfare It is frightening to realise that a small test-tube full of germs