Page 7 - Writing Success B2 Sample pages

GUIDE ON WRITING TASKS

Step Two: Write your essay (25 minutes)
Let’s practise!
Once you have written your plan, you need to think about
Read the exam question below and brainstorm any ideas that what the examiner is looking for in your essay. You will be
come to mind. marked on four things:
“Social media are replacing traditional ways of communication.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of social media Content: Have you included all required ideas? Remember,
in your opinion?” all content should be relevant to the topic, so don’t start
writing about topics that are not relevant to the question.
Social media
Style and tone: Is the style or tone of your essay appropriate?
It should be quite formal, so avoid contractions (e.g. it’s, don’t,
they’ll).
Advantages Disadvantages
_____________ _____________ Organisation: Does your essay follow a logical order?
_____________ _____________ Use linking words and phrases to connect your ideas.
_____________ _____________
_____________ _____________ Language: Have you used a variety of grammatical structures
_____________ _____________ and vocabulary? Try to think of more interesting words than
_____________ _____________ the first simple ones that come to mind. Avoid repeating the
same words or phrases; instead, you can use synonyms and
antonyms. Using some complex structures (e.g. different
verb tenses, passives, inversion, etc) will give you better
Choosing your content
marks, but make sure you use them correctly!
Once you have brainstormed your ideas, you should choose
two advantages and two disadvantages to write about. These
ideas will form the second and third paragraphs of your essay.
Step Three: Check what you have written (5 minutes)
Paragraph one will introduce your ideas. This final step is very important. You need to carefully read
your essay to find any mistakes. There will always be a few
Paragraph four will be your closing paragraph or conclusion.
things that you can improve. Check for spelling mistakes, wrong
use of tenses, punctuation, pronouns, articles, prepositions etc.
Now let’s look in more detail about how you are going to plan Model Answer
your essay. This is our essay question:
“More and more young people are taking a gap year to travel Read the model answer below and look how the essay has
before starting university. What are the advantages and been organised. Underline any linking words or phrases and
disadvantages of doing this?” how the writer uses adjectives, adverbs, idioms, phrasal verbs
etc to make the essay more interesting.
“More and more young people are taking a gap year to travel
before starting university. What are the advantages and the
Paragraph one - Introduction disadvantages of doing this?” Write your answer in 140­190
Write an interesting introduction: Introduce topic to catch words.
the reader’s attention. Use phrases like:
Many people believe that ...
It is often said that ...
It is true to say that ... It is true to say that gap years are becoming more
It can be argued that ... and more popular with young people. There are, of
There are different opinions about ... course, both advantages and disadvantages to tak-
ing time out before going to university.
Paragraph two - Main body paragraph 1 First of all, a gap year gives a young person the
Discuss the advantages of taking a gap year. Use your two opportunity to have a lifetime adventure. If they
best ideas. choose to travel abroad, they will experience many
have an adventure / have time to think about your future new and fascinating things. As well as this they will
­ support your arguments with reasons have the time to think seriously about what they
want to do with their future.
Paragraph three - Main body paragraph 2 On the other hand, travelling can be very expensive
Discuss the disadvantages of taking a gap year. Use your and they could end up with debts before they even
two best ideas. start university which would not be such a good idea.
Also, because they are still young they might find
can be expensive / can be stressful
­ support your arguments with reasons travelling abroad quite stressful and more difficult
than they had expected.
Paragraph four - Conclusion To sum up, we can say that taking a gap year can be
Sum up what you have said but do not repeat phrases or both beneficial and possibly difficult for a young
sentences. Write your ideas briefly and in a new way by person, and, therefore, it should be a decision that
paraphrasing (using different words and phrases). should be taken after careful thought.
(169 words)

7