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Essay writing exercises

Test Tip

Before you start writing, read the question very carefully and be sure to address all of the points raised. Use yourintroduction to rephrase the question. Don't repeat words and phrases from the question.

Exercises

1.1 Look at this essay question and consider whether you agree or disagree with the statement.

A lot of students find it difficult to write good essays. There is little that you can do to mae your essays better or tomae the !ob easier.To what e"tent do you agree or disagree#

1.2 Replace the underlined words in the introductory sentences below with a suitable word from the box.

tas less difficult struggle produce high$quality many improve

%t is true that a lot of students find it difficult to write good essay. % don't agree that there is little you can do to mae

your essays better or& to mae the !ob easier

Linking words

2.1 These words and phrases can be used to link ideas together. ut the words and phrases into the correct

column according to their function. !se your notebook.

imilarly that is nowas a result alternatively in other wordsindeed and consequently

nonetheless while to illustrate thisfinally whereas firstlyhowever in conclusion therefore

although but becausesecondly because of or despite not only ... but... also.. also

in addition furthermore on the other handsuch as to summarise for e"ample

"equencing #dding $ntroducing %i&ing %i&ing an %i&ing an 'rawing

ideas supporting a contrasting examples alternati&e explanation a conclusionideas idea

firstly furthermore however such as or in other words in conclusion

(ocabulary noteBecause is a con!unction and is used to give a reason( The car crashed becausethe braes didn't wor.Because ofisa preposition and means as a result of( The hospital closed because ofa lac of funds.

Test Tip

upport your ideas with evidence and relevant e"amples. )ae sure that your ideas are well organised and easy tofollow by using the correct lining words.

2.2 !nderline the correct linking words in the following sentences.

*.%t can be difficult to write an essay, because/ althoughthere are several things you can do to mae the !ob easier.+. There are several things you can do to mae writing easier.For example / However, it can be helpful to mae arough plan of your ideas.. %t can be helpful to practise writing within the time limit. -ou can time yourself with a cloc and / ora stopwatch.

-ou will not be allowed to use equipment as a result/such asa dictionary during the test.. % thin % did well in the test although / in spite of% did run out of time at the end./. % thin that my vocabulary has improved because/as a result ofreading this boo.

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2.) $mpro&e the essay by inserting the correct linking words and phrases. There may be more than one

possible answer.

however firstly in other words furthermore also such as alternatively now nevertheless in additionbecause similarly

%t is true that many students struggle to produce high$quality essays. 0%1 .However/Nevertheless% don't agree that

there is little you can do to improve your essays or to mae the tas less difficult.

0+12222 let us e"amine what an essay needs in order to be considered 'good'. To begin with, a good essay must

answer the question fully. 01222222..it must address each of the points raised in the essay title, 0122222..it must present these points in an organised and logical way. A good writer will 0/1222222.avoid using the same words and phrases. This can be easily achieved by using techniques 031222222paraphrasing. 041222222,you can use synonyms of words rather than repeating the same ones.05122222.,all of the ideas presented in your essay must be relevant and supported by e"amples.

612222..let us consider what students can do in order* to improve their essay$writing sills. 7learly, a goodnowledge of the language is required to be able to write an essay that has few errors and communicates well.0*81222.., writing a good essay requires more than good language sills 0**1222..peopleoften find it difficult to write essays even in their own language. As with any sill, the best way to learn is from our

mistaes. To learn how to ride a bie you need to get on one and fall off a few times. *+12222..students canimprove their essay writing through maing and correcting mistaes and through constant practice.

(ocabulary note

The following lining words and phrases must be followed by a noun and cannot be followed by a clause( because

of, as a result of, in spite of, despite. % enjoyed my holiday in spite ofthe bad weather.

*pinion words

(ocabulary note

9e often use adverbs to show our opinion of an idea.

).1 +atch the ad&erbs in column # with the correct meaning in column ,. #

* personally A it is easy to understand+ unfortunately B it is easy to understand clearly 7 it is well deserved obviously D this is my own opinion/ !ustifiably : % believe this is a sad thing

3 thanfully ; % believe this is a good thing4 fortunately < % believe this is a good thing

Error warning-

Be careful with punctuation. -ou must use a comma after the following words and phrases when they are used at thestart of a sentence. n addition, !lso, For example, n conclusion, Finally, However, Furthermore, "astly, n myopinion, #imilarly, $o summarise, $herefore, %nfortunately, $o sum up,e.g. $o sum up, in my opinion ta&ing a gap

year is a very good idea.

).2 omplete the sentences with ad&erbs from ).1. 'on/t forget the necessary punctuation.

* 2222., % thin learning vocabulary is a good idea.+ 2222...% remembered how to spell the word correctly on the day of the e"am.

9hen % received my results % was2222..proud.

22222my friend didn't study for the test so he didn't do very well./ 22222if you wor hard then you will improve.

0inishing off and register

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Test T$p

Use your conclusion to summarise your main points. 9hen you have finished, carefully edit your wor and checyour spelling.

.1 $t is easy to make careless spelling mistakes if you are writing quickly. Read the following paragraph and

correct the spelling mistakes.

=ecnet resaerch at an :nglish uinervtisy sugegsts taht it deosn't mttaer waht oredr the %tteers in a wrod are, the olnyimpotarnt tihng is that the frist and %sat %tteers are in the rghit pclae. :evn thuogh the mddile ltteers mghit be m"ied

up, people dno't hvae a prolbem raeding the wrods. Tihs is becuase we raed the wrod as a wohle rahter tahn eevryltteer by iteslf.

Test Tip

#lang > very informal, taboo> this word will offend people. The %:?T test is a formal situation, so you shouldnever use informal words, e.g. &ids, guys-ou should also avoid using abbreviations( number @T no, for e"ample@T e,g. -ou and your not UU=

.2 orrect the mistakes with register and spelling that ha&e been underlined in the conclusion. hichwords do you ha&e to change because of register3

To sum up, even through many &guys thin writing essays is a bit difficult, there is stuff they can do to imporve

there writing sills.( Cersonaly, % belive that if you wanna get a good score in an e"am situation then you need tomae sure that you aproach the essay question in a logical and organised way. ;inally, you need too leave enoughtime to chec over your wor throughly at the end.* 4+ 5

6 *8/ **

3 *+