ACCOUNT

 account accounts
An account is a written or spoken report of something that has happened.
He gave a detailed account of what happened on the fateful night.
According to police accounts, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were found dead on the floor of their kitchen.

 account accounts
An account of something is a theory which is intended to explain or describe it. (FORMAL)
This basic utilitarian model gives a relatively unsophisticated account of human behaviour.
Science, on Weber's account, is an essentially value-free activity.

ARTICLE

 article articles
An article is a piece of writing that is published in a newspaper or magazine.
...a newspaper article.
...a travel article...
According to an article in The Economist the drug could have side effects.
...Canning's article about the Buxton Festival.

BROCHURE

 brochure brochures
A brochure is a magazine or thin book with pictures that gives you information about a product or
service.
...travel brochures.

LEAFLET
 leaflet leaflets
A leaflet is a little book or a piece of paper containing information about a particular subject.
Campaigners handed out leaflets on passive smoking.
...a leaflet called `Sexual Harassment at Work'.

 leaflet leaflets leafleting leafleted

If you leaflet a place, you distribute leaflets there, for example by handing them to people, or by
putting them through letter boxes.
We've leafleted the university today to try to drum up some support.
The only reason we leafleted on the Jewish New Year was because more people than usual go to
the synagogue on that day.

PAMPHLET
pamphlet pamphlets
A pamphlet is a very thin book, with a paper cover, which gives information about something.
PRESENTATION
 presentation presentations
When someone gives a presentation, they give a formal talk, often in order to sell something or get
support for a proposal.
James Watson, Philip Mayo and I gave a slide and video presentation.
I always ask how much time I have to make my presentation.
...a business presentation.

PROPOSAL
 proposal proposals
A proposal is a plan or an idea, often a formal or written one, which is suggested for people to think
about and decide upon.
The President is to put forward new proposals for resolving the country's constitutional crisis.
...the government's proposals to abolish free health care...
The Security Council has rejected the latest peace proposal.

REPORT
A report is a news article or broadcast which gives information about something that has just
happened.
According to a report in London's Independent newspaper, he still has control over the remaining
shares.
With a report on these developments, here's Jim Fish in Belgrade.
Press reports said that 65mm of water fell in twenty four hours.

 report reports
A report is an official document which a group of people issue after investigating a situation or event.
The education committee will today publish its report on the supply of teachers for the 1990's.
A report by the Association of University Teachers finds that only 22 per cent of lecturers in our
universities are women.

 report reports
If you give someone a report on something, you tell them what has been happening.
She came back to give us a progress report on how the project is going.
It seemed obvious from his report of that meeting that you were trying to focus suspicion on Mr.
Hirsch.

 report reports
If you say that there are reports that something has happened, you mean that some people say it
has happened but you have no direct evidence of it.
There are unconfirmed reports that two people have been shot in the neighbouring town of Lalitpur.
There were no reports of casualties.
REVIEW
 review reviews
A review is a report in the media in which someone gives their opinion of something such as a new
book or film.
Disney's `Beauty and The Beast' has won rave reviews.
We've never had a good review in the music press.

 review reviews reviewing reviewed

If someone reviews something such as a new book or film, they write a report or give a talk on
television or radio in which they express their opinion of it.
Richard Coles reviews all of the latest video releases.
His book about Afghanistan is reviewed here by Anthony Hyman.

SPEECH
 speech speeches
A speech is a formal talk which someone gives to an audience.
She is due to make a speech on the economy next week.
He delivered his speech in French.
...a dramatic resignation speech.

STATEMENT
 statement statements
A statement is something that you say or write which gives information in a formal or definite way.
Andrew now disowns that statement, saying he was depressed when he made it.
`Things are moving ahead.' I found that statement vague and unclear.

 statement statements
A statement is an official or formal announcement that is issued on a particular occasion.
The statement by the military denied any involvement in last night's attack.

 statement statements
You can refer to the official account of events which a suspect or a witness gives to the police as a
statement.
The 350-page report was based on statements from witnesses to the events.

TALK
 talk talks talking talked
If you talk on or about something, you make an informal speech telling people what you know or think
about it.
She will talk on the issues she cares passionately about including education and nursery care.
He intends to talk to young people about the dangers of AIDS.

+ talk talks
Also a noun
A guide gives a brief talk on the history of the site.
He then set about campaigning, giving talks and fund-raising.
WRITING REPORTS, STATEMENTS, INSTRUCTIONS

Assemble as many examples of writing of this kind as you can. You could dig out from the bottom drawer
the instructions that came with your personal stereo or computer. By looking at examples, you will see
how others have dealt with the task.

Here is a possible statement you may have made to the police, following a theft at school:

‘I was alone in the physics laboratory. I had obtained permission to stay on after the lesson,
to finish an experiment. A man in a grey suit entered, seemed surprised to see me, quickly
switched the lights on then off, appearing to check that they were all working satisfactorily,
and then left.’
I completed my experiment, returned the apparatus to the cupboard, collected my books
from my locker in the corridor outside, and went home.’

The following rules apply to reports, statements, and instruction:

 the language must be clear. There must be no scope for misunderstanding.

 the account will be factual. No speculation or opinion should appear.
 all details must be in sequence.
WRITING ARTICLES

An article in a newspaper or magazine, for example, may contain information quite similar to that of a
report, but there are differences”

 the writer will want to attract the reader’s attention, so the headline will be thought out with care,
and the opening paragraph will have to interest sufficiently to ‘hook’ the reader.
 the writer’s feeling may be in evidence.

Here is the beginning of an article entitled. The Thrill of the Circus’:

The lights dim, the band strikes up a fanfare, and the ring, thirteen metres in diameter, is suddenly ablaze
with spotlights. The ringmaster in dazzling read coat announces the grand procession: first the elephants
lumber across the centre of the ring, followed by the flying-trapeze artists in costumes sparkling with
sequins. Around the perimeter of the ring come the clowns engaging the audience in conversation – or at
least, trying to – one clown sporting in his lapel a large flower which shoots a jet of water into the face of
another clown who comes to sniff the ‘fragrant’ bloom. The circus has started.’

The article then goes on to consider factual information: the international nature and history of the circus,
circus animals, acrobats, the trapeze, and clowns. Note the phrases used in the paragraph to convey an
emotional response: ‘strikes up a fanfare’, ‘suddenly ablaze’, ‘dazzling red coat’, etc.
 For practice

Try writing an article on a school event (sport, drama, music, etc.); a pop group that you admire; helping
the elderly; a topic of current interest.

WRITING LETTERS

There are two basic types of letter: formal and personal.

 Formal letters
These are the letters we write to apply for a job, to confirm a telephone call, to complain, to request
information, and so on.

The tone will be rather impersonal, because you will not usually have anyone specifically in mind while
you write.

You will need to be:

 clear and logical (don’t forget to jot down and order your thoughts before you start to write);
 brief (you cannot expect a busy executive, for example, to wade through more than is strictly
necessary);
 polite (we all respond favourably to being treated with respect, even if a complaint is being
addressed to us).

In setting out a formal letter, there are certain conventions to be observed. Try to have a look at some
formal letters to see the layout others have adopted.

1. Your address is in full at the top right hand of the letter. Do not put your name.
2. The name and address of the company.
3. The date.
4. Dear Sirs – the conventional way to address a company.
5. The subject or reference of the letter.
6. Yours faithfully – the conventional way to end when you have begun with Dear Sirs.
7. Your signature.
8. Your name printed, in case your signature isn’t easy to decipher.
 The Mecca porcelain Company
Industrial Trading Estate
Billerica
Essex
CM12 ORB

20 May 1995

Dear Sirs

Order No: 67129

I have just received a cardboard box containing the two cups and saucers I
ordered recently. On opening the box, which was in a very battered state. I
discovered that the handle of one cup had become detached and that both
saucers were chipped. I believe the packaging was inadequate for such fragile
articles.

I am therefore returning the cups and saucers. I would appreciate

replacements as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

Sharon Quain (Miss)

 For Practice
Write a letter or two requesting information for articles advertised in a magazine or newspaper.

 Personal letters
The tone of a personal letter to a friend or member of the family is fairly easy to adopt if you think of it as
a one-sided conversation. You can’t go far wrong if you write down what you think and feel in the
language you would use to the person in ordinary, everyday conversation. You still need to think about
the contents, though, remembering to use a paragraph for each topic you refer to. Personal letters have
similar conventions to formal letters, as regards address, date and signature, but you obviously begin
Dear Sharon (or whatever the name happens to be) and there is more flexibility over how you finish:
Yours sincerely or Yours or With best wishes or With regards or Love from.
Here is an idea of such a letter:

33 Royal Road,
Langley,
Shropsshire,
SY6 7BJ

16th July, 1995

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your interesting letter which arrived this morning,. I was so pleased to hear
that your stay in hospital was successful and that it won’t be long before you’ll be back
playing tennis again. I’m sorry you missed the tournament you were so looking forward to.

We had a boring time at the Motor Show. Dad was keen to have a good look at the sports
cars, but I kept teasing him by saying he was too old and that his reactions were probably
much too slow to cope with a powerful engine! In the end, he decided that his next car
would be a hatch back that would be able to take anything from his golf clubs to chest-of-
drawers. Though goodness knows when he thinks he’ll want to put a chest-of-drawers in the
car! Mum wants an ordinary saloon, of course.

Jill’s getting excited about the disco she’s trying to organize for the local youth club. She’s
made all sorts of decorations to make the hall look less bare. Will you be fit enough to
come? I’m sure she’d like you to be there it would be a nice surprise for her.

I’ll call in to see you after school, one day next week. In the meantime, take care and make
sure you’re better quickly – we miss you.

Love and best wishes,

Sharon
Layout/Format Some of these require special layouts.

a) Make sure you have the correct opening and conclusion for a letter.

to a friend:

Dear Ahmed,

With best wishes,

respectful but to someone you know or know of:

Dear Mr. Rasheed,

Yours sincerely,

to someone you do not know:

Dear Sir or Dear Madam,

Yours faithfully or truly,

Note: We no longer address people as just “Sir!” or conclude letters with ‘I remain your
obedient servant’! That is too formal for the kind of letter you will be writing.

An example of a typical business letter is also provided on the following page.

Note the different parts and related contents of the letter.
 1. Sender’s address Kieveni – Centre for Education
(printed at the top or in Guleynooran Magu
the top right-hand Male’; 20-05
2. Rep. of Maldives
Receiver’s corner)
name, title
and Mr. A. Reader
address Student Representative
Madhrasathul Ahmadhiyya
Buruzu Magu
3. Male’; 20-03
Date
3rd January 2002
4.
Salutation
Dear Mr. Reader
5.
Different ways of communicating in writing
Heading
In a LETTER, the emphasis is on a high quality appearance. Letters have to be typed or word-processed
accurately on the company’s headed paper with a smart, clear layout. International mail tends to be slow
and in some countries the post is unreliable. Important documents or valuable items can be resent by
registered mail – or they can be sent by courier.
6. Body of
letter A FAX is a facsimile copy of a document, which is transmitted by normal telephone lines to another fax
machine. Some faxes are exactly like letters, some are printed on special fax forms rather like memos,
others are simply handwritten messages. The sender of a fax can’t be certain if the message has been
received perfectly – sometimes lines get missed or are illegible. A fax is not usually a legally binding
* If there is document.
a line *
space EMAIL (electronic mail) is a way of sending messages between computers. The message appears on a
screen and can be printed out if necessary. To make e-mail more ‘personal’ some people use
between punctuation to add happy ( :- ) or unhappy ( :- ( faces to their messages.
each
paragraph, In a TELEX readers often overlook some errors of spelling and grammar. Abbreviations such as TKS
the new (Thanks) and RGDS (Regards) are common in telexes. The sender knows when each telex has been
paragraph transmitted and received. A telex can be a legally binding document.
needs to be
indented Internal mail within a company or between branches of the same firm is usually in the form of MEMOS:
these may be brief handwritten notes or longer, word-processed letters. Most firms use special memo
7. pads for internal messages. A memo to a senior English-speaking member of staff may need as much
Complimentary care as a letter to a client. The style that is used depends on the practice within the company and on the
close relationship between the people involved.

8. Yours sincerely,
Signature

9. Name Ahmed Saeed (Gahaa)

and title of Facilitator
sender
b) A report to a government officer would have a formal title, such as:

Report on the provision of parking spaces near schools.

c) An article in a local paper would have a banner headline or sub-headline, and may be in a
column. It might have the reporter’s at the bottom of the article. You may even decide to
give the name of the newspaper across the top of your page.

The Downtown Gazette Local Radio Opinion Poll Result

Readers of the Gazette gave their full support to our local radio station by a
massive 98% vote in support of its continuation in the polls this week …
Media Reporter: Glen Jack

d) A page from an encyclopaedia might also be in columns with the letter

and numeral references across the top, and initials at the end of the
article, as in:

Encyclopaedia of Motion Pictures

Chap – p. 133. Chaplin, Charlie

Charlie Chaplin’s contribution to silent screen pictures

was almost unrivalled. He not only …

As well as acting, Charlie directed and produced, he

wrote film music for his …

N.L. McJ.

e) Guidelines for teenagers might be in two paragraphs, with a

banner heading in this format:

Guidelines for your first job interview:

Do’s

Don’ts

Finally,