STORY B1 Preliminary (PET)

Beginning
First sentence + some additional information

Development
One or two paragraphs with a description of what happened in the story.

Ending
Some kind of short conclusion. Ending of the story.

 Learn, memorize and use some expressions you have prepared in advance. Make sure
you already have a set of expressions that you will use in the next story. Not only is this a
way to avoid mistakes, but it will also make your story that much better!
 Write a well-organized and visual story for the reader. One of the things Cambridge
English examiners pay attention to is the organization of content, so be careful not to write
an incoherent story. Also, be sure to separate sentences with periods and commas, and
don’t write sentences that are too long.
 Don’t write everything at once and then move on. When you’ve finished your story,
review it. Look for possible errors. Look for ways to improve it, maybe adding adjectives
here and there. You can save a lot of points just by reviewing what you wrote.
 Practice and experiment at home, but stick to the practised pattern in the
exam. Homework is the best chance to get creative and experiment with stories. On the
other hand, when you’re taking an exam, don’t risk trying new words or phrases because
you could make a terrible mistake. So stay safe in the exam and stick with what you
already know works.

-------Step 1: Briefly analyse your task

Writing a story has the advantage that your imagination is not limited and you can come up
with whatever you want and put it in your story. The only thing you need to stick to is the
sentence your story begins with.
Below you can see a sample exam task:

Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with

As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below.

You should begin your task analysis by asking yourself two questions:

What is the situation?

We can assume the topic is a holiday as a person called Lou is on a plane flying over an
island and he’s looking at the beaches. The plane is going lower so it might be getting ready
to land. So simply, your task is to write the story that will describe the further adventures
of the main character Lou.

What do I have to include in my story?

The second question is a little bit more open than the first one because you can pretty
much write about anything you like the only restriction again is the first sentence and the
situation that comes with it. You can make your story funny sad full of action or
fantasy and include whatever you can imagine but connect it to the first sentence.

------Step 2: Beginning

As we said above in the story you have to start with a given sentence that you get from the
task “As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below.” .

Don’t change the sentence in any way but simply copy it onto your answer sheet and begin
your story from there.

Also, it is recommended to add one more sentence to complete the beginning of your story,
for example:

As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below. (add one more
sentence =>) The sun was shining brightly, and he said to the woman next to him, “I’m so
excited about my holidays!”

---------Step 3: Development

Once you wrote the beginning you can move on to the main part of the story. It is the most
important part and here is where all the main events happen.

It is really important that the events that you write are in a logical order and that the
language you use is interesting and correct.
In general, two paragraphs should be enough.

As soon as Lou got off the plane he left the airport and took a taxi to the city centre because
he really wanted to swim in the clear water and sunbathe on the beautiful beach he had seen
earlier.

However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five
minutes later it was raining heavily. Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone
shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!”
What language should be used in the story?

----------Step 4 : Ending

Last but not least, every story needs to get an ending.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a happy ending or a sad ending but make sure that your story ends in
some way.

You can give your story a surprising ending or something funny but don’t feel too much
pressure to do anything spectacular just make sure that the story ends.

There was a woman from the plane! They started to talk and became very good friends.

Full Story

As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below. The sun was shining brightly, and he said to the
woman next to him, “I’m so excited about my holidays!”

As soon as Lou got off the plane he left the airport and took a taxi to the city centre because he really wanted to swim in the
clear water and sunbathe on the beautiful beach he had seen earlier.

However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily.
Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!”

There was a woman from the plane! They started to talk and became very good friends.

STORY B1 Preliminary (PET): Useful Phrases & Expressions

Beginning a story:

It all began…
When I first…
At the beginning…
It was a hot/cold summer/winter day.
Once upon a time
One day
At the beginning
When it al started

Creating suspense:

Suddenly
All of a sudden
Without warning
Just at that moment
Unexpectedly
Out of the blue
Out of nowhere
Right away
Straight away

Finishing your story

In the end
Finally
When it was all over
Eventually
After everything that happened
Luckily
After all of that
After everything that had happened
Once and for all
At the end of the day

B1 Preliminary (PET) Story: Writing Checklist

After writing your story, you can check it yourself using the writing checklist below.

Content

 Does the story start with the given sentence?

 Is the content of the story related to the starting sentence?
 Is the story about 100 words?

Communicative Achievement
  Does the text use the conventions of a story (use of narrative tenses, a clear beginning,
middle and end, use of direct speech)?
 Does it follow the patterns provided in the opening sentence (use of third person, for
example)?

Organisation

 Does the text use paragraphs appropriately to organise ideas?

 Does the text use other organisational features of a story (a clear beginning, middle
and end, language for sequencing)?
 Are the ideas presented in a logical order? Is the text easy to follow?
 Does the text use a variety of linking words or cohesive devices? (such as although,
and, but, because, in the end, etc., and referencing language)?
 Is punctuation used correctly?

Language

 Does the text use a range of vocabulary?

 Does the text use a range of simple grammar accurately (such as basic tenses and
simple clauses)?
 Does it use some complex grammatical structures (such as relative clauses, passives,
modal forms and tense contrasts)?
 Is the spelling accurate enough for the meaning to be clear?

EXAMPLE 1: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with

Mark wanted to visit a friend, so he got on a bus.

Write your story.

Student’s Answer:

Mark wanted to visit a friend , so he got on a bus. His friend’s name was Angelo. Mark
wanted to arrive quickly because he had to give Angelo an important letter from a girl.

Mark sat down and opened the window. Suddenly there was a strong wind and the letter flew
out. Mark quickly got off the bus. He ran after the letter, but then he had to stop at a traffic
light. Where was the letter? He decided to run along the street again. He ran and ran and then
he saw the letter, still flying in the wind. Then a young man caught it in his hand. Mark
realized that the young man was Angelo and that he was in front of Angelo’s house!
Examiner comments:

This is a good story and it is well organized:

 it shows a good range of tenses/grammar / linking words: had to give/sat down/got

off/ran/ but/decided to/caught it/realized
 it shows good use of vocabulary: important/strong wind/traffic light/flying
 it has a good closing sentence: Mark realized that the young man was Angelo and that
he was in front of Angelo’s house!

EXAMPLE 2: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with

Tom was watching TV at home when he heard a noise upstairs.

Write your story.

Student’s Answer:

Tom was watching TV at home when he heard a noise upstairs. He turned off the TV and was
very quiet for a few seconds. Then he heard the noise again. At first, he thought it could be
the cat, but then he remembered that the cat was outside. He was very frightened, so his legs
started to shake.

He went upstairs very slowly. He suddenly saw a big shadow on the wall. This strange
shadow had three legs! He thought there was a monster in the bedroom. He walked slowly
into the room and he saw his grandfather. He was dancing, using his walking- stick and a
walkman!

Tom laughed and was very happy that there was no monster!

Examiner comments:
This is a good story and it is well organized:

 it shows a good range of tenses/ grammar/ linking words: turned off/ At first he
thought/could be/but/so/walked/saw/there was
 it shows good use of
vocabulary: walking- stick/walkman/remembered/frightened/shadow/
grandfather/laughed
 it has a good closing sentence: Tom laughed and was very happy that there was no
monster!

EXAMPLE 3: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with

When Jenny looked out of the window, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Write your story.

Student’s Answer:

When Jenny looked out of the window, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was an elephant
walking down the street! Jenny closed her eyes and opened them again. She thought she must
be dreaming.

The elephant was walking very slowly and was quite relaxed. It stopped at an apple tree and
started to eat the fruit. Then, Jenny saw two men running towards the elephant. One of the
men was dressed as a clown.

Jenny realised that they had come from the circus that had just arrived in town the day before.
The elephant must have escaped.

It was the strangest thing she had ever seen in her life.
 EXAMPLE 4: English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Write your story.

Student’s Answer:

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. My boss was sitting at his desk and he looked
very serious.

I was very nervous because I did not know why he wanted to see me. He told me to sit down
and then he said, “Don’t look worried, I just want to ask you something.” “Do you enjoy
working here?” he asked. “Yes, I like it very much,” I replied.“I can see that everyone likes
you and you are very good at your job. I would like you to be the new manager.”

I was so surprised!

EXAMPLE 5: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with

It started to rain heavily.

Write your story.

Student’s Answer:

It started to rain heavily. I knew I was lost, and I didn’t have a coat or umbrella.

It was dark in the forest and I was scared. I didn’t know where I was going. Suddenly, I saw a
small cottage in the forest. I walked towards it but I was too shy to knock on the door. “Are
you lost?” an old lady said to me. I turned around and a kind old lady was smiling at me.
“Don’t worry everyone gets lost here. My son will drive you to the town.”

I was very happy that I was safe at last.

 HOMEWORK 1: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.
Your story must begin with this sentence:

‘I took a deep breath andknocked on the door.’

Write your story.

HOMEWORK 2: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with this sentence:

‘Angela didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.’

Write your story.

HOMEWORK 3: Your English teacher has asked you to write a story.

Your story must begin with this sentence:

‘I was really worried about the journey.’

Write your story.