FCE Writing an Article

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FCE Writing Exam (part 2)

 Articles

Articles in First Certificate are usually written for English magazines or newsletters. The main thing is to make your articles interesting to read, and to give your opinions on the topic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q - Do I have to use British spelling?

• A - No. You can use American spelling.

• Q - How important is spelling and punctuation?
  
• A - You aren't expected to be perfect, but if a mistake stops the reader from understanding what you want to say, that's quite bad.
  

Q - How important is the word count? What happens if I write too many words?

Q - How important is the word count? What happens if I write too many words?

• A - If you do the task properly you will write the correct number of words. You won't lose marks if you write 5 words too many. Focus on writing what you have to write, and the word count will take care of itself. Don't waste time in the exam counting how many words you have written! 

FAQ

Q - My handwriting is terrible! Will I lose points?

A - Just make sure a human can read it - if you are very messy, write a little bit slower. If you usually end up with lots of things crossed out - you need to plan better!

Exercise 5 - How to write an article

What do you think is the main purpose of an article? 

Possible answers: (click to reveal)

• to interest and inform the reader
• to entertain the reader
• to use interesting  and colourful language

Remember: It's always a good idea to underline the things you have to include in the answer

What do you need to include in this task? 

• What kind of things you do to make you feel fit and healthy?
• why they make you feel good?

1. Look at the writing task and underline the points you MUST write about. 

What do you need to include in this task? 

• What kind of things you do that make you feel fit and healthy
• why they make you feel good

You see this notice in an English language magazine for teenagers.

Exercise 6

Read Tom's article and answer the questions  in exercise 6.

• 1. He starts the article with a rhetorical question in order to get the reader's attention. This is a good technique for an article
• The style is chatty and informal, it engages the reader in Tom's experience
• He didn't use paragraphs, which is WRONG as it makes his article look badly organised and more difficult for the reader to pick out the different points. 

7. Read Tom's article and divide it into paragraphs. Look for typical words and phrases that introduce paragraphs or ideas. Underline these words/phrases

Introduction

Para. 1 ........................

Para. 2........................

conclusion

 So what does health and fitness mean to me - Well, first .... a combination of things. 

 First of all- I love being outdoors,...........It really clears my head. 

Another thing, is meeting up with friends. ...............It always puts me in a good mood. 

All in all,  I think being fit and healthy ...............spending time outdoors.

An article should have a title

Notice the adverbs. You will get higher marks if you use a range of vocabulary.

Instead or using the same word again, use different words with similar meanings. eg. shy - timidly

Good to have a small joke at the end!

You are going to write your own article to answer the writing task in exercise  5. 

Exercise  10, 11 and 12

Before your write: 

• decide on a title for your article which will encourage people to read it.
• decide how many paragraphs you need, the subject of each paragraph and write a short plan.
• think about some vocabulary you can use. 

See slides 15-20 for extra tips. 

Extra tips for an article

see the link on the following slide.

https:

Common mistakes students make in articles

The language is too formal and more suited to essays. Avoid words like:

  to sum up, some people say, nevertheless, on one hand etc.

They don't use quotes or examples

They either use not enough, or too many, questions. The questions, called rhetorical questions because they don't require an answer, shouldn't be more than one per paragraph. 

Good examples are:

Have you ever ……..?

What do you think about ……..?

Are you one of those people who thinks that ……?

What would life be like if ……?

Will the future bring us ….. ?

When you are ready, write your article using between 140-190 words 

Go to the next slide of how to practice using the British Council site using the code you have been given via your school gmail 

https:

Visit the website at https://learn-english-exams.britishcouncil.org to access  

our Success in B2 First levels

To get started please take a few minutes to watch the website video before  

you log in. (log in details in your g-mail)

How LearnEnglish Exams works…

• There is advice, tips, strategies, model answers and practice exercises  

to help you in Listening, Reading, Use of English, Writing and Speaking.

• You can complete all the exercises or choose the parts of the exam you  

want to focus on.

• You can check your answers after each exercise.

• There is no time limit so you can take as long as you need and repeat the  

exercises as many times as you want.

• You will reflect on your learning and understand why you got something  

right or wrong and see how you can do better next time

• You will get advice for improving your English skills further

Good luck with your exam!