Writing Activity 2.4: Mock Exam Preparation

Use the labels on the right if you need help answering these questions.

Can you list the types of part 2 questions for the exam you've practised up to now?
Can you explain in two or three sentences what is typical of each type of question?

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First: A TV review

Here's an First-level review that reaches a pass level - perhaps you can learn something from it.

Write a review of a TV program me you've seen recently for your school magazine.

120-180 words

DOCTOR WHO.

I recently saw an episode of a very famous science fiction TV program which is call Doctor Who. It is set in England. It has been made into a really good film in its category.

It’s the story of Sally Sparrow, In this episode this adj woman tries to discover what happens with the statues of the angels. The adj mistery of the adj weeping angels is probably that they translate[m1]  people to the past with the look, because one day sally[m2]  see[m3]  a letter of her best friend saying that she has travelled to the past.

My main criticism of the serie[m4]  is the special effects, that were leaving much to wish[m5] . Nevertheless, the scripts are really elaborated, and the adj doctor has a very good sense of humor.

To sum up, I enjoyed this serie[m6]  because the plot is very interesting and keep me looking at the screen. I’d recommend this program to everyone who likes sciene fiction or scary series.

6/10

Pretty good, but you needed to integrate the comments more and take more care in checking your work.

---

 [m1]v

 [m2]p

 [m3]g

 [m4]v

 [m5]==

 [m6]rep

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An FCE-level review

Here's an FCE-level review that reaches a pass level - perhaps you can learn something from it.

Write a review of a TV program me you've seen recently for your school magazine.

120-180 words

DOCTOR WHO.

I recently saw an episode of a very famous science fiction TV program which is call Doctor Who. It is set in England. It has been made into a really good film in its category.

It’s the story of Sally Sparrow, In this episode this adj woman tries to discover what happens with the statues of the angels. The adj mistery of the adj weeping angels is probably that they translate[m1]  people to the past with the look, because one day sally[m2]  see[m3]  a letter of her best friend saying that she has travelled to the past.

My main criticism of the serie[m4]  is the special effects, that were leaving much to wish[m5] . Nevertheless, the scripts are really elaborated, and the adj doctor has a very good sense of humor.

To sum up, I enjoyed this serie[m6]  because the plot is very interesting and keep me looking at the screen. I’d recommend this program to everyone who likes sciene fiction or scary series.

6/10

Pretty good, but you needed to integrate the comments more and take more care in checking your work.

---

 [m1]v

 [m2]p

 [m3]g

 [m4]v

 [m5]==

 [m6]rep

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Advanced: A TV review

A sample writing for you to take a look at and learn from the mistakes!

Write a review for your school website about two TV shows you've seen recently.

220-260 words

TV programmes have become one of the most important sources of entertainment for people of all ages.  Young people, who used to be very fond of watching television, are nowadays more interested in computers, mobile phones and listening to the music on Ipods. However, some TV series are still quite popular among youngster. That is the case of two absolutely different shows that are currently being broadcast in channel 2 and 3.[m1] 

The first one, named Dr Who, is a British science fiction television programme, launched in 1963 and produced by BBC. The lead character is The Doctor, a kind of strange man who is able to travel in the[m2]  space and in the[m3]  time thanks to a blue police box called TARDIS. The last chapter[m4] , which has reached an incredible height of popularity, depicts the history of a young woman pursued by some unrealistic weeping statues. The lack of spectacular special effects, so frequent in the current scripts of TV and cinema, is widely supplied [m5] by the surprisingly frightening scenes.

Beside the former, there is an absolutely different TV programme , The Boarding School, that has also became extremely popular among young people. It first appeared as a family series only a few months ago and so far it has reached very high viewership levels. The main characters of this series are a group of students who live in a boarding school where some strange things happen. However the relationships among students and teachers are, by far the most  attractive features of this programme.

So, which of this two TV programmes should I recommend? [m6] While The Doctor is original and thrilling, The Boarding School is amazing and more actual[m7] . But do not worry, with any luck you will be able to watch both series…if you have two televisions.

A title? I think I go for 4/10 as you don’t really give quite enough opinion on the second show – and the first paragraph is good English but not really related to the question.

A big positive though is there is generally excellent vocabulary and organization. I like the conclusion a lot!

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 [m1]OK,. But get on with the review!

 [m2] x

 [m3] x

 [m4] v

 [m5]I know what you mean but the vocab doesn’t quite work

 [m6] Good!

 [m7] v/=

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A CAE-level review

A sample writing for you to take a look at and learn from the mistakes!

Write a review for your school website about two TV shows you've seen recently.

220-260 words

TV programmes have become one of the most important sources of entertainment for people of all ages.  Young people, who used to be very fond of watching television, are nowadays more interested in computers, mobile phones and listening to the music on Ipods. However, some TV series are still quite popular among youngster. That is the case of two absolutely different shows that are currently being broadcast in channel 2 and 3.[m1] 

The first one, named Dr Who, is a British science fiction television programme, launched in 1963 and produced by BBC. The lead character is The Doctor, a kind of strange man who is able to travel in the[m2]  space and in the[m3]  time thanks to a blue police box called TARDIS. The last chapter[m4] , which has reached an incredible height of popularity, depicts the history of a young woman pursued by some unrealistic weeping statues. The lack of spectacular special effects, so frequent in the current scripts of TV and cinema, is widely supplied [m5] by the surprisingly frightening scenes.

Beside the former, there is an absolutely different TV programme , The Boarding School, that has also became extremely popular among young people. It first appeared as a family series only a few months ago and so far it has reached very high viewership levels. The main characters of this series are a group of students who live in a boarding school where some strange things happen. However the relationships among students and teachers are, by far the most  attractive features of this programme.

So, which of this two TV programmes should I recommend? [m6] While The Doctor is original and thrilling, The Boarding School is amazing and more actual[m7] . But do not worry, with any luck you will be able to watch both series…if you have two televisions.

A title? I think I go for 4/10 as you don’t really give quite enough opinion on the second show – and the first paragraph is good English but not really related to the question.

A big positive though is there is generally excellent vocabulary and organization. I like the conclusion a lot!

---

 [m1]OK,. But get on with the review!

 [m2] x

 [m3] x

 [m4] v

 [m5]I know what you mean but the vocab doesn’t quite work

 [m6] Good!

 [m7] v/=

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Help with writing Reviews

Some general advice from Las Rozas teachers about writing a review:

Remember the usual elements -

- answer the exact question

- think about the style, format and presentation

- decide carefully on your number of paragraphs

You'll also need some more specialist language too - specifically:

- some language for opinions

- descriptive words

(for example suitable adjectives and adverb+adjective combinations)

- specialised vocabulary for films, books or whatever

For example, do you know which words here are for which media?

Soundtrack, chapter, script, screenplay, plot, titles, set, location, scenery, star., co-star..

To help a little, there's nothing wrong with taking ideas from the net, so here are a couple of places to look for reviews that are not too colloquial (which many magazines and websites are).

http://www-amazon.co.uk/ - just look for comments on almost anything - from cds and movies to hairdryers and food mixers!

http://www.darkhorizons.com/ - specialist (and longer) movie reviews

Remember - when you write, you can use the net for ideas. But, DO NOT copy chunks of text - you lose marks if we think your work is not original enough.

Help with writing Reviews

Some general advice from Las Rozas teachers about writing a review:

Remember the usual elements -

- answer the exact question

- think about the style, format and presentation

- decide carefully on your number of paragraphs

You'll also need some more specialist language too - specifically:

- some language for opinions

- descriptive words

(for example suitable adjectives and adverb+adjective combinations)

- specialised vocabulary for films, books or whatever

For example, do you know which words here are for which media?

Soundtrack, chapter, script, screenplay, plot, titles, set, location, scenery, star., co-star..

To help a little, there's nothing wrong with taking ideas from the net, so here are a couple of places to look for reviews that are not too colloquial (which many magazines and websites are).

http://www-amazon.co.uk/ - just look for comments on almost anything - from cds and movies to hairdryers and food mixers!

http://www.darkhorizons.com/ - specialist (and longer) movie reviews

Remember - when you write, you can use the net for ideas. But, DO NOT copy chunks of text - you lose marks if we think your work is not original enough.

Whiteboard grab: Ingredients for a Review

From January 25th, 6 key things for a review. Apologies for the poor photo. That disappearing word in the third point is "recommendation"!

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Useful Links

An FCE blog with material for lots of different parts of the exam is here.

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Questions, Questions

A recent email question from a student here:

I came up with a doubt yesterday, because I didn't know the difference between "be in time" and "be on time".

Thinka bout if you know the difference. Here's the teacher's reply - scroll over it to see if you were right.

Trains, buses, planes, English classes (hopefully), concerts, museums & shops open, depart or start and arrive or finish on time (rather than late).

People try to arrive in time (rather than late) for the start/departure of all of those.

If you arrive in the nick of time, you'd be relieved (and perhaps out of breath) not to have missed something!

You can send similar doubt to us as bclasrozas[at]gmail[dot]com - we'll answer the most useful ones here.

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Tips for Writing Articles

Additional advice to help you with articles is now on the download site here.

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FCE and CAE Weekly Writing Activity 2.1

Go here and go to your level page for this week's task which is a download connected to writing articles.

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