PREPOSITIONS

LINKING WORDS

AUXILIARY VERBS

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RELATIVE PRONOUNS

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Before you can start to put your pen to paper you should analyse the following:
1. What do you have to write?
2. Who is asking you to write?
3. What is the topic?
4. How many words do you have to write?

A. An article

The task might look like this one:

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Think & plan your writing…
1. Think about the previous questions
2. Organize your article

Title: My favourite restaurant

Introduction & Paragraph 1: Do you have a favourite restaurant?
What makes it such a good place to eat: the place, the food, the staff or all of these things?
Give your opinion
Paragraph 2 & brief conclusion: What would make it even better? Give examples.
Would you recommend it?

- For each point you make in your article, try to give an example or two.
- Check your completed article includes all the points in the question.
- Make sure you answer the writing questions in about 100 words about the topic.
- When you write your article try to use your own words, don’t just repeat the words in
the question.
- You should talk about your personal experience when writing the article. If you think about
your own personal experiences related to the topic, this may help you when you are planning
what to write.

Now, you try this one:

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B. A story

In a narrative you tell a short story about a past situation or event.

 Be consistent with register. A narrative is often informal.

 Use short forms (didn’t), not full forms (did not).

 Use a colloquial, chatty style and avoid formal expressions and linkers.

 Choose a simple story and don’t make it too complicated. It’s better to describe fewer things in more detail.

 Give your story a clear beginning (paragraph 1), middle (paragraphs 2, 3 and possibly 4) and end (last paragraph).

 Describe the atmosphere and feelings as well as what happened.

 Use the past continuous to set the scene and to show longer actions, the past simple for main events, and the

past perfect for events that happened earlier.

GETTING STARTED ON THE STORY:

When you write a story you want to make sure that the reader is interested from the start. Here are some
‘beginnings’ of different stories.
In pairs, decide how you could continue the sentences. Use your own ideas but use the verb tense given.
a. The house was quiet and I realised that …..everyone had left…………………………………. (past perfect)
b. It was hot and sunny and Martin ………………………………………………………………… (past continuous)
c. Immediately I walked into the room I ……………………………………………………………….. (past simple)
d. I first met Marta when she ………………………………………………………………………… (past continuous)
e. When Anna heard Joe’s voice on the phone, she knew …………………………………………..(past perfect)
f. Thomas was working at his desk …………………………………………………………………………(past simple)

Below are some first sentences from different stories. Write the second line of each story. You can get ideas by
thinking about the answers to the questions in brackets.
a. David opened the letter nervously. (Why?) ….He knew that his life might change because of it……
b. The woman stood outside the bank, looking at her watch. (Why?)
c. I had a wonderful day last week. (Who with? Which day?)
d. There was no moon that night so it was very dark. (Where were you?)
e. It was a holiday that none of us will ever forget. (What happened first? Was it good or bad?)

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? GETTING IDEAS.

In pairs read the beginnings and endings of these stories. Together decide what happened in the middle. Then
compare your stories with another pair.
Story 1
Alex, Jon and Nick went to the beach for the day. What did they do there?
…………………………………………………………………………… Why was money important?
Finally, they found a bank that was open.

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Story 2
Two years ago I decided to take karate lessons. Why?
………………………………………………………………………………….. What happened?
The woman told the police that I was a hero. Why?

CONNECTING IDEAS & MAKING LONGER SENTENCES

In the exam, you’ll get better marks if you sometimes join two short sentences with a “linker.”
A. Join each pair of sentences below with ALTHOUGH, BECAUSE, BUT and SO.
1. Marta got up early. She was tired.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. It was warm. Adam decided to go for a walk.
_______________________________________________________________________________

B. You can also join ideas together by using different “time” words like WHEN, AS SOON AS, AFTER, etc. The story
of Jack’s visit to the dentistis in the wrong order. Read the first line (c) and the decide what the sencond lesson is
and so on. Each line, except the last one, ends with a “linking” word, which will help you decide what comes next.
_____ a. he heard it, he began to feel even worse.

____ b. immediately he felt sick because of the strange smell. The receptionist told him to wait until
__1__ c. Jack slowly opened the front door of the dentist’s surgery and
_____ d. we can see what the problem is this time.” Jack’s heart sank.
_____ e. he was waiting but he couldn’t concentrate on the boring magazines. After
_____ f. Jack could hear the noise coming from the dentist’s room. As soon as
_____ g. sitting there for about ten minutes, he suddenly decided he wanted to go. But before
_____ h. the dentist was ready for him. The waiting room was quiet and peaceful, but
_____ i. he could escape, the dentist opened the door and said ”Ah Jack, come in so

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C. You are going to to complete the story of what happened to Felipe on Monday. Join each pair of ideas with the
word (s) given to make one sentence and put the verbs in the right past tense form. Eg: did, was doing, had done.

ON MONDAY I …

a. can’t find my trainers - someone/steal them BECAUSE

_________________________________________________________________________________

b. burn the toast - smoke alarm / go off SO

_________________________________________________________________________________

c. have a row with my father - he / come downstairs AS SOON AS

_________________________________________________________________________________

d. spill my coffee - I / talk on the phone WHILE

_________________________________________________________________________________

IN THE EVENING I …

e. can’t watch TV - I / break the remote control BECAUSE

_________________________________________________________________________________

f. play on the computer - my brother / want to use it UNTIL

_________________________________________________________________________________

g. have a row with my mother - she / go to bed BEFORE

_________________________________________________________________________________

h. It was a terrible day - Tuesday / even worse! ALTHOUGH

_________________________________________________________________________________

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