You came to London a month ago to study English. Write a letter to your parents, telling them about the course you are taking and some of the difficulties you have encountered.
Dear Parents,
How are you? I’ve just come back from school. I must tell you that I’m doing quite well. I’m really proud of myself.
Our teachers are very strict and we have lots of homework every day. We don’t have much time for going to the cinema or a pub because we have to learn. It is really tiring. We have a day off once a week, as we go to school on Saturdays too. I think it’s too little.
I’m staying at a nice family’s. The parents often ask me how I am doing at school and they even offered me some help. Everything would be great but the two boys they have are just irritating. They do not learn much but play all the time till ten at night. They are very loud and I can hardly ever concentrate on learning.
But in general I’m pretty satisfied with the course. I hope everything is okay at home, I’m looking forward to seeing you next month.
(180)
Love,
Mary
You have decided to enter a short story competition. The story must begin or end with the words:
Mary rushed down the stairs, laughing happily. In her hand she was holding the letter for which she had been waiting for so long.
Write your story for the competition.
Mary rushed down the stairs, laughing happily. In her hand she was holding the letter for which she had been waiting for so long. It was from her aunt from Australia who had once invited Mary to visit her in summer. She had promised to send Mary a ticket and so she did this time. Mary wanted to see this country so much and because her parents would never afford to pay for the flight, she was really happy. Finally her dream was coming true!
She told their parents about it immediately. They were very glad that her daughter would visit the aunt. All of them started planning the journey and decided to buy some presents for the family in Australia. Mary had only two weeks to the flight but she was very impatient and couldn’t wait to go. But eventually the day came and she was so happy as never before.
(152)
You have decided to enter a creative writing competition. The rules say the title of the composition must be the following:
Never trust appearances.
Last year when I was at a summer camp, a really unpleasant incident happened to me. I met a nice and pretty girl named Marta and made friends with her at once. We were almost inseparable. We spent time playing and talking about everything. We were quite similar in character, behaviour and views. The only thing that differed us was that Marta had a rather poor family.
One day a girl from our shared chalet found out that somebody had stolen her money. The next day the theft recurred. This time another girl was robbed. After few days we realised that each of us had lost money except Marta. That was weird. When Marta went swimming one day the rest of the girls from the chalet started to search her bag and bedside table. To our surprise it turned out that Marta’s purse was full of money! We knew very well that she could not have got it from her parents. And she seemed to be so honest! I would never say she could do such an awful thing.
(179)
You have seen an advertisement in the newspaper for a travel agent’s assistant. Write a letter of application for the job.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have just seen your advertisement for a travel agent’s assistant and would like to ask you some questions about it. I have just left school and have a year free before starting university. I would like to spend this time working and I’d like to ask you about the requirements for an assistant who would like to work in your travel agency.
I’ve been interested in tourism for many years. I have already visited some countries in Europe and I’ve even been to the USA last summer so I know a few pretty nice places and hotels.
I can speak four foreign languages fluently so I think I could be very helpful in your agency. I would be really grateful if you let me see you and talk to you directly about my abilities. I look forward to your reply.
(144)
Yours faithfully,
XY
announce their
Summer Fun Competition.
Three lucky winners will receive two weeks’ holiday, all expenses paid, at a destination of their choice.
To take part, all you have to do is to describe the best or worst holiday you have ever had.
I will never forget the worst holiday I have ever had. It was two years ago when I went on a summer camp at the seaside in France. I thought I would spend there nice time as France is known as a beautiful country, but actually I didn’t find it admirable! We stayed in a little town with no attractions or even souvenir shops and to buy an ice-cream we had to walk twenty minutes!
The hotel we lived in was small and unpleasant and was situated very near the beach, which was extremely dirty. We had only one tour, to the Saint Michel Island but I don’t recollect it as very pleasant, because the weather was really awful then. It was cold and rainy and I had to spend the second week of the camp lying in bed because I caught a cold. I couldn’t even eat for the food there was so disgusting! I have never heard of anyone who’s had such a bad holiday!
(171)
It is better to concentrate on learning one foreign language very well than to learn a little of several languages.
Nowadays a lot of people learn foreign languages. Some people prefer learning a little of several of them, others like to concentrate on one foreign language. In the first case it takes more time to get to know all these languages. Besides, people do not know them well and usually can only, for example, have a simple conversation with a foreign tourist during their holiday.
In the second case it is easier to find a job in another country or to learn this language. Another possibility is to become a translator or interpreter, which is helpful for others. Finally, if people know a language like English, which is very popular all over the world today, they can go almost everywhere and communicate with others without any problems.
If people know a language very well they are sure they speak correctly and understand somebody else. But when they know a little of several languages they do not know if they do not make any mistakes. As it shows, it is really better to learn only one language.
(176)
You have decided to enter a short story competition. The competition rules say that the title of the story must be ‘The Longest Journey’.
I’ll never forget my journey to France. It was two years ago when I went on a summer camp with my friends. I thought we would never arrive at the hotel! We were supposed to travel one day and one night but in fact it took us a day more.
It was extremely hot and the air-conditioning in the coach was out of order. It was really tiring. In addition to this, there were traffic jams on the roads in Poland because of strikes. Then we had to wait four hours to cross the Polish-German border and the next three to cross the German-French one.
All this made the journey very long. I was exhausted because I couldn’t sleep during the night. I only dreamt of taking a bath and resting. It was the worst and the longest time I’d ever spent travelling and I was really happy when we finally arrived at the hotel!
(158)
You have decided to write a letter to a friend or relative while on holiday in place you have not visited before.
Write your letter, describing your first impressions of the place and people.
Dear Margaret,
How are you? I hope everything is okay.
I’ve just been visiting my distant aunt in the countryside. I hadn’t known her before, but she’s become a widow recently and my mother told me to help her a little.
What a wonderful place it is! The landscape is marvellous! There are fields of corn and cows and horses grazing on the grass all around. I love this view so much! And there’s calm everywhere. There is only one road and you can seldom see a car. It’s a really clean place that no factory fumes reach. This is an ideal place to relax!
The local people are also very friendly and helpful. I often visit the neighbours and they always tell me about the life here. I’d like to know all about the farm and the animals, which are so admirable! I’m having a really great time and I hope I’ll be able to come here once again some time.
I wish you nice holidays.
(173)
Ann
An international magazine is investigating the question:
Do young people have anything to learn from the older generation?
Write an article for this magazine, based on your own experience.
(120)
You have been to stay in a holiday cottage by the sea in France and your cousin is thinking of renting it in the summer. Write him/her a letter describing the cottage, its facilities, local attractions, and its good and bad points.
Dear Caroline,
How are you? I hope everything is okay. Last Sunday I heard from Ann that you’re going to rent a holiday cottage by the sea in France. I must tell you that it’s an excellent choice! I spent there two weeks this summer and I enjoyed it very much.
The cottage is very nice. It has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, of course. It’s small but very comfortable. It’s situated near the beach so you can see the beautiful wavy sea through your window. Not far away there is a small town where you can see many interesting monuments and buy some souvenirs as well.
I spent there a really nice time, however I missed a tennis court. There are no playgrounds and no swimming pools! You can swim in the sea of course, but for me it was absolutely too cold. Apart from these quite small disadvantages it really is a place worth recommending and I think you would be pleased if you chose it.
(177)
Nicole
You have decided to write a short story for a magazine’s fiction page. A friend has suggested the title:
Lost in the forest.
Write your story for the magazine.
I can very well remember the incident that happened to me last summer. I was visiting my grandma in the countryside and liked to go for a walk to the nearby forest in the evenings. One evening, after an hour of walking, I decided to go back, as it was pretty dark. But when two hours later I still could not get out of the woods I started to panic.
I began to cry for help, but, I bet, nobody could have heard me. The thought of spending the night in the darkness gave me shivers. I sat under a tree and was falling asleep when I heard a sound of a motor. I jumped to my feet immediately and started to call for help. Few minutes later I was sitting with my cousin on his motorcycle and going back home. As it turned out later my grandma had been really worried about me and told Mark to look for me. I was very lucky!
(165)
You were visiting some friends in their flat one evening when you heard someone shout ‘Fire!’ Describe what happened next.
Last month my friend Margaret had a birthday party and I was invited. It seemed to be a nice evening. We listened to music, talked and played cards. Everything was great until Nick shouted ‘Fire!’
We stopped talking at once. There was a moment of silence which seemed to last for ages, but as soon as we realised that we were in danger we started to panic. All of us were running back and forth with no idea what to do. Nick was the first who managed to control himself. He started to calm us down.
He went to the kitchen to check where the smoke was coming from. It turned out that the oven was on, as Margaret wanted to bake a cake for us! She had just forgotten about it! Nick turned the oven off immediately and took the burnt cake out. When Margaret saw the leftovers she started to laugh and so did we! Everything was okay again so we quickly forgot about the incident and had a good time till the next morning.
Describe a place in your country you would recommend to a foreign tourist.
There are many places in Poland I would recommend to a foreign tourist. We have beautiful shores of the Baltic Sea with lots of nice towns, where people can do sightseeing or rest on the beach. In north-eastern Poland there is a region of lakes where people can sail. The Polish capital, Warsaw, and Krakow, which is another picturesque city, are worth seeing too. In spite of all these places my favourite one is Zakopane. This magnificent town is situated in the north of Poland not far away from Slovakia.
It is a typical tourist place and a winter sports centre. It is really nice to spend summer or winter holidays there. There are a lot of trails, so people can wander and see the fantastic Tatra Mountain landscape with brooks, lakes and animals which live there. The most popular place in Zakopane is Krupówki Street. People can buy souvenirs there. A nice spot to rest is Gubałówka Mountain. People can get there by rail. There are chair-lifts too. In winter there are ski-lifts available, so people come to Zakopane to ski.
There are not many impressive buildings or monuments but there are beautiful mountains and the folktraditions. People rest there and learn about the highlanders' culture. This is very interesting. There are a lot of sanatoriums as well. People who need treatment for an illness can stay there and they have the open air, which helps them. Zakopane has many more advantages but to get to know about them people must just go there and see the place themselves.
(260)
You have decided to enter a short story competition. The competition rules say that the story must begin with the following words:
Chris screamed and ran out of the house.
Chris screamed and ran out of the house. I was just passing his house when I noticed him. I just had to stop at once, for he was screaming so loud that I got scared! When I realised that something must have happened with him I ran after him immediately. He could have been in danger.
As I finally reached him, I wanted him to tell me what had happened but he was so shocked that I could not calm him down. At last he managed to say that there was a snake in the house. How could a snake get into the house? But it was hard not to believe Chris. We called the police and told them to come as quickly as possible. The policemen caught the animal and took it to the nearby zoo where, as it turned out, the snake escaped from. Chris finally could breathe a sigh of relief.
(154)
Your penfriend in Britain asks the following question in his or her latest letter:
I’d like to try preparing a traditional dish from your country.
Can you tell me how to do this?
Briefly describe a typical dish in your country and give instructions on how to prepare and serve it.
One of the most popular Polish traditional dishes is ‘bigos’. To prepare ‘bigos’ you’ll need cabbage and sauerkraut, which should be shredded and boiled separately for about one hour. Then you must dice and stew some pork and sausages. After an hour of stewing, add a peeled and shredded onion.
When the cabbage, sauerkraut and meat are ready, put them together in a pig pot and mix them. Add tomato purée, salt and pepper and some herbs, for example bay leaf. Cook the ‘bigos’ for the next hour. When it’s ready, you can eat it with bread. You can try to make it with mushrooms too, as it’s even better. Besides, the more times you heat the ‘bigos’ up, the more delicious it is.
(127)
You have just started an English course at a British university and had a few problems initially adapting to life and study in Britain.
Write a letter to a friend explaining the problems you have had to deal with and how you think the experience will benefit you.
Dear Ann,
How are you? I hope everything is okay. Last week I came to Britain for an English course at a university and I must tell you that it is not so easy as I thought.
My teacher is very strict and I have lots of homework every day. I don’t have much time for going anywhere because I have to learn. It is really tiring.
I’m staying at a nice family’s. The parents often ask me how I am doing and they even offered me some help. Everything would be great but the boy they have is really irritating. He does not learn much but plays all the time till ten at night. He is very loud and I can hardly ever concentrate on learning.
But in general I’m pretty satisfied with the course. I think I will take advantage of the lessons in the future because I’m thinking of getting a job in this country. I’m sure it is worth learning so hard now! I’m looking forward to receiving your letter.
(178)
Sarah
You want to improve your English by working at an American summer camp for children under the age of 12. At the camp, the children can do a variety of activities connected with sport, music or the arts.
Write a letter of application for work, giving details of two or three activities you could help to run.
I’ve just seen your advertisement and I’m writing to apply for work at an American summer camp. I’m a student of physical education and would be really glad to improve my English during the summer.
I like playing with children very much so it would be a big pleasure for me to take care of some at the camp. I could teach them sports games, for example football or swimming and I’d also like to organise aerobics lessons. I’m sure the children would enjoy them. I’ve been teaching dancing in primary schools for two years and more and more pupils want to learn it.
When I was at high school I attended music lessons and can play the guitar very well. It would be nice to organise a bonfire some time and the children could learn a few songs to sing during my playing the guitar.
I would be very glad to attend an interview at any time convenient to you. I look forward to your reply.
Damiano160591