Writing

Here you will find samples of written exam tasks.

Sample of an informal letter

You’ve been living in an English family for three months. Write a letter to your pen friend about your impressions. Tell about

  • the members of the family you are staying with
  • their daily routine

Share your impression of the family in general.

Dear Beth,

I’ve been in England for three months now and I’m really enjoying it. The English family I’m staying with are very kind, but they are very different from my family. Mr. Johnson stays at home every day doing the cooking and cleaning and looking after the children. Jennifer goes to school but Johny is only three and he doesn’t even go to a nursery school yet.

Mrs. Jonhson is a business woman. She leaves the house at 7 a.m. and comes back at 8 p.m.

On Sundays grandparents visit the children. The rest of the week is spent indoors either watching the television or reading books.

They have really made me feel welcome. I’m having great time in my host family and greatly thankfu to them for their hospitality.

Write back to me soon with all your news.

Regards,

Sally

Sample of a letter of complaint

Together with your friends you had a birthday party in a cafe “Fairytale”. Unfortunately you were not happy there. Write a letter of complaint to the manager of the cafe. You were not pleased with

  • the service and the staff
  • the food quality.

You ask for apology for the spoilt party and want the manager to give serious consideration of the matter.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I’m writing to complain about the terrible evening I had in your cafe “Fairytale”, where together with my friends we celebrated my birthday on November 17th.

We had reserved a table but when we arrived, there were not enough chairs for us to sit on. The service was very slow, we had to wait for half an hour before we could order.

Furtheremore, your staff was impolite and not helpful. The waiter did not know the ingredients of the dishes. He told us it was none of his business.

The main course was not tasty. The chicken was overcooked and dry and was not worth the money paid.
As you can see we could not enjoy the party.

I look forward to receiving your apology and trust you will give the matter serious consideration.

Yours faithfully,

Tom Smith

Sample of a letter of advice

Dear Sam,

I’m surprised that you find the English language to be tiresome, not interesting and don’t understand the importance of it for every modern and well-educated person.

You need to know the English language in order to read English books by great writers in the original, to communicate with people from different countries, to understand their culture and traditions. Knowing English you can travel everywhere, because more than one billion people speak English.

To make the process of learning English easier and more interesting try to read more books in English. Learn few new words everyday. I learn ten new words every day and so to the end of the week I know fifty words. At the weekend I revise the words I learned during the week. To remember the words better put them into groups. For example, believe – believer – belief – disbelieve. Listen to songs in English and try to recognise the words. Watch different satellite TV programmes in English.

I hope that my advice will help you study English. Write me about your progress.

Keep in touch,

Jennifer