FCE Writing an Article

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Collocations!

Which one word can be used to complete all of the following three sentences? 

1. We need something to bridge the ........ between the two walls over there.

2. There was a ........ in the market and the company felt they could take advantage of it.

3. I sometimes feel the generation ........ is getting wider and wider.

COLLOCATIONS: ANSWERS

The missing word is 'GAP'. 

Write your own definition or example sentence to help you remember these collocations:

to bridge the gap

gap in the market

generation gap

Today's lesson

• Answers to the Grammar slides (H/W) - Past perfect
• FCE: An Article - page 30 Gold Experience
• CAE: Formative writing task: A PROPOSAL
• GUIDO AND LOTTE: Please read pages 30 and 31 in the RESULT book and do the exercises on these pages in the week before today's formative test - you can write the PROPOSAL task in page 20 (in exercise 2) in the test. 

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.

Page 30/31 Gold Experienc

Today you will learn how to write a good article for FCE

Formative test on Tuesday!

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!

Today's lesson: Unit 2 - page 30 in Gold Experience

What is she doing?

Look at the photo on page 30

How does she feel?

How do you know?

How would you feel in the same situation?

Today's lesson: Unit 2 - page 30 in Gold Experience

1. Are you interested in water sports? What type of activity would you like to learn when you are on holiday? 

For example, "I like swimming but I'm not that good at it yet. I'd like to try surfing one day. .......

Do exercise 2 very quickly!

In pairs: Think of some things that can make a holiday enjoyable, or can spoil it!

Good

Bad

Exercise 3 (p30)

You are going to write your own article about a holiday. 

1. Read the task and underline what you have to do.
2. Read the article: Have you ever experienced anything similar?
3. Briefly write your own answer to this question and hand it to your partner. 

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

What do you need to include in this task? 

• What are the best  things that happened
• What are the worst things?
• Is it a holiday or a day trip

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

Exercise 4

Read the article again and copy any phrases that you think are useful for this type of writing. 

• Can you find four good things about it? 

Exercise 5

You are going to read another article: 

Read in pairs and find four things that are wrong with this article. 

ARTICLE 

Do exercise 6 and 7 ( page 31) TO BE FINISHED IN THE LESSON, please.

HOMEWORK: EXERCISE 8 AND 9 - Write your plan for homework so that you can bring it to the "Formative writing test " on Tuesday

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  language appropriately

Exercise 6: 

Exercise 7 : Linking Words

Concession

Though the weather was attrocious, we went for a picnic

We went for a picnic even though the weather was attrocious. 

Although

Even though,

Though*

+

Clause

Exercise 7 : Linking Words

Contrast

The weather was attrocious. However, we went for a picnic

The weather was attrocious but we went for a picnic

However,

Even so,

+

Clause

Exercise 7 : Linking Words

Cause and effect (result)

It was a gorgeous day and so we went for a picnic

It was a gorgeous day, we went for a picnic

Since

As

*Because

+

Clause

Exercise 8

exam tip: article, look at page 169

Use your personal feelings and opinions to make your article sound more interesting

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!

TUESDAY, you are going to write your own article to answer the writing task in exercise  3. 

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 20-22 for extra tips. 

An article should have a title

Good things about your holiday

bad things about your holiday

Good to have a small joke at the end!

Use the template opposite to make a plan for your article. 

You can bring it with you on Tuesday! 

Brief introduction

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, 

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 ….. ?

Vocabulary

exercercises 1 and 2 to be finished before the end of the lesson

P25