Part 3

WRITING

Part 3

[Cfr. Hashemi, Thomas, PET Practice Tests Plus, Longman]

Write an answer to one of the questions (7 or 8) in this part.
Write your answers in about 100 words on your answer sheet.

Letters
(Question 7)

A) This is a part of a letter you receive from your English penfriend:

I guess you'll get this when you've just come back from your holiday. I'd like to hear about it. Where did you go? What did you do there. What sort of place did you stay in?

Now write a letter to this penfriend.

Sample answer 1:
I went to Tenerife with my parents and my brother. It's an island in the Atlantic. The weather is warm and sunny there and it's very popular with people from northern Europe. My brother and I swam every day and played tennis. We also went on a tour of the island with my parents. In the evenings we went to the disco in our hotel. The hotel was very big, with lots of sports facilities and two swimming pools. I shared a room with my brother. We had a view of the sea. It was a great holiday. Wouldn't you like to go there one day? Best wishes,
Kurt

Sample answer 2:
I went camping with some friends from my English class. We went to a village near the sea. We had three tents for seven people. Luckily one tent was quite big. The place was very pretty, but the weather was not very good. It was cloudy on several days and sometimes it rained. But we had a good time in spite of the weather. We did some walking and on two days we went diving with a local club. It was very exciting. There was an old ship under the water that we could explore.
Was your holiday good? Write soon.
Love
Bettina

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B) Last week you went to a birthday party. This is a part of a letter you have received from your English penfriend, Annabel:

In your last letter you said you were going to a birthday party. Please tell me what you did at the party. What present did you take for your friend? Did everyone enjoy themselves?

Now write a letter to Annabel answering her questions.

Sample answer 1:
Dear Annabel
It was my friend Bobby's 21st birthday. His parents hired a room in a hotel and paid for a disco. I danced for four hours! I took Bobby a cowboy hat as a present. It's a real one I bought in America. I guess he liked it because he wore it all evening.
There were about 60 people there. I knew most of them and they all seemed to enjoy themselves very much. I met one girl who I really liked. I'm going to see her again next weekend.
In my opinion, it was a great party.

All the best,
Simon

Sample answer 2:
Dear Annabel
You wanted to know about my friend Luisa's birthday. We listened to some music and then we watched a video. The music was great. It was a CD Luisa got for her birthday, but the film was very silly. Luisa's older sister Martina was there and Martina's boyfriend and four other friends. I hadn't met Martina before. She's very pretty, and her boyfriend told some good jokes. They are both at university and they talked about that. We all had a good time. I took Luisa some expensive handcream and soap. She said she really liked it. Write back soon.

Love from
Carla

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C) You are going to stay with an English family This is part of a letter you received from them:

Can you tell us about your work or school, your hobbies and interests and say what you hope to do while you are in England?

Now write a letter to this family.

Sample answer 1:
I am sixteen and I go to school here in Bern. I am studying a lot of different subjects, but my favourites are languages and biology.
In my free time I like to go swimming, and of course skiing in the winter. I'm also keen on reading, especially detective novels. When I have time, I like to look around the shops with my friends because we enjoy trying on new clothes.
I'm looking forward to coming to England and meeting you all. I hope I'll be able to visit some different cities in England, including London. Thank you for inviting me.
Yours sincerely,
Ursula Haupt

Sample answer 2:
It's very kind of you to invite me to stay with you. I suppose you'd like to know something about me. I'm nineteen and I live and work in Malaga. I'm one of the receptionists at a hotel. I meet lots of English tourists, so I'm looking forward to seeing England. In my free time I do watersports and I go horse-riding. I enjoy playing the guitar and singing, too.
I'd like to try some real English food while I'm in England. I'd also be interested to visit some famous historical places, such as Stonehenge, if that's possible.
Is there anything special I can bring you from Spain?
With best wishes,

Miguel

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D) This is part of a letter you receive from an English penfriend:

I always go shopping with my friends at the weekend. What do you like buying when you go shopping? What kind of shops are there near where you live?

Now write a letter answering your penfriend’s questions.

Sample answer 1:
I always go shopping on Saturdays. I get up late, then I meet my friends in the town centre. Sometimes we go to a café first, then we look at all the shops in the shopping centre. I like buying clothes best, but I also look for CDs. Sometimes there are sales. I'm happy then because I don't have much money to spend. There are lots of different shops in my town selling everything you need. We have plenty of good clothes shops, but there aren't many good shops for buying shoes.

Sample answer 2:
I live in a village which has only three shops - a baker's,
a butcher's and a very small supermarket. I sometimes do the shopping for my mother there. At the weekend I often catch the bus with my friends to the town and we spend the day there because there are lots of shops. A lot of them sell food, but we like looking at the sports shops. When I have some money, I like to buy sports equipment and trainers. I sometimes buy CDs or clothes, but the clothes in my favourite shop are very expensive.

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LETTER (PET Gold Maximizer)

This is a part of a letter you receive from your English penfriend
I’ve just joined a new sports club. It’s very good. What sort of sports do you like?
Now write a letter to your penfriend telling him or her about the sports you like.

Dear Paola,

Thank you for your letter – it was nice to hear from you. I hope that you are enjoying going to your new sports club!

I enjoy sports, too. I like playing hockey – I play every Tuesday evening with friends. My favourite sport is football. I’m not very good at it, but I like watching other people playing. I try to go every week to watch my local team. I want to learn to play golf so I’m thinking about joining my local golf club.

Tell me more about your sports club!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes,

Juan

Stories
(Question 8)

A) Your English teacher has asked you to write a story. Your story must have this title:

My lucky day.

Sample answer 1:
Last Wednesday started really badly for me. I woke up late and I had to leave the house without any breakfast. At school, I realised I had forgotten my books, so I ran home between lessons to fetch them. I was one minute late for the next lesson.
The teacher asked me why I was late and I explained. He was surprised because he knows where I live. "If you can run that fast, you should come and play football on Saturday." I did, and I was amazed when he offered me a place on the team.
So Wednesday was a lucky day for me!

Sample answer 2:
My lucky day was a few weeks ago. I needed 50 euros to buy a new CD player, but I had saved only 40. 1 decided to go to the city centre to find a cheaper one. The tram costs 3 euros, but there was a problem with the ticket machine. I got on the tram, but I didn't have to pay. Then I went to the music store and saw that the CD player I wanted was cheaper than before, only 37 euros. So I was able to buy it, and I had enough money for the tram home.

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B) Your English teacher has asked you to write a story. Your story must begin with these words:

I had just finished getting dressed when the doorbell rang.

Sample answer:
I had just finished getting dressed when the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs and got into the taxi. The driver took me to the television company's offices.

'I'm here for the music competition,' I told the receptionist. I was taken to a waiting room. There were several other people there, some of them had musical instruments.

We could hear a singer in the studio next door. I was so nervous that I was shaking.

At last it was time for me to perform.

I sang well but I wasn't good to win. However, I made some new friends while I was waiting and we've started our own band. One day we'll be famous.
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C) Your English teacher has asked you to write a story. Your story must have this title:

A new friend.

Sample answer
Children were afraid of our neighbour Jordan Jenkins because he never spoke, but my mother said he was lonely and she sometimes invited him to dinner.
One week, my homework was to find out about the Second World War.
`Ask Jordan,' said my mother. `He was a soldier.'
At first I was frightened, but in the end I went to see him. We had a very interesting conversation. He showed me photos and let me try on his army cap and helped me to write my homework. I realised that he was shy, not unfriendly. Now we're friends and I often visit him.

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D) Your English teacher has asked you to write a story. Your story must begin with this sentence:

I got off the train and waved to my brother, who was waiting on the platform

Sample answer
I got off the train and waved to my brother, who was waiting on the platform. He called to me. "Hurry" he said "I've come in the car so we can get home quickly."
I couldn't understand why he wanted to hurry because I was looking forward to having a rest at home. "Why do we need to hurry?" I asked. But he didn't tell me. When we went into the flat I noticed several suitcases in the hall. Then my mother told me. She had won a holiday in Greece in a radio competition. She told me not to unpack because there was no time. So instead of relaxing at home, I had a lovely holiday on the beach in Greece.

Write a story beginning with this sentence:
It was nearly midnight and the moon shone over the quiet town

lt was midnight and the moon shone over the quiet town. The cold wind from the sea blew down the empty street. Everyone was sleeping - except for one person wrapped in a black coat, who was slowly climbing the hill from the harbour.

He stopped outside a house and turned the door handle. lt wouldn’t open. The face of a woman appeared at the window above. ‘Who are you? What do you want?’ she called. He looked up and his face shone white in the moonlight, but his hands were red with blood. Then he gave the door one last push and it opened. He went inside. (108 words)

Your English teacher has asked you to wrote a story. Your story must have the following title:

One day l wanted to go to the beach. l phoned my friends but they were busy and couldn’t come, so l went by myself. When l got there the beach was crowded, hut l found a small space and sat down. The sun was shining and it was hot, but I was feeling lonely. Then a girl came up to me and said ‘Sue! Do you remember me?’ l remembered her face but not her name — then suddenly l recognized her. Ten years ago we were good friends, but then she moved to another town. We talked for hours, and it was a very happy day after all. (109 words)