Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

SUMMIT 1 WRITING ASSESSMENT 1

Just the way I am!
Students…
 Express the same idea with a different level of formality appropriate to the
audience.
 Write a text stating their opinion on what they might consider as a world
problem.
 Express coherent ideas on topics of interest related to personality features.

1. Think about:

1. Describe yourself using five positive and five

negative adjectives. Do you consider people
perceive you in the same way?

2. Do you consider you bottle up your emotions?

3. In which situations, moments or aspects of your

life do you consider you need to loosen up?

Bottle up: Keep your emotions inside and not

express them.

Loosen up: Take things less seriously.

2. Words matter!

To do well in this lesson, it is necessary to learn a number of words. Please complete

the following exercise. At the end, you will have increased your vocabulary.

2.1. Underline the expression that best matches the idea of the boldfaced word or
phrase. Have a dictionary at hand!

a. “My boss is kind of a workaholic; she checks her office e-mail even on weekends”.

- A person who dinks alcohol at office hours.

– A person who works excessively, even after office hours.

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

b. Sylvia is a pretty reliable person. She can give you all the accurate information you need
about the company.

– A trustworthy person.

- A beautiful woman who likes to talk.

c. I feel so restless about everything that is going on in the world these days.

- Concerned - Sad

d. Governments must be a little bit more purposeful if they want to solve social problems
in their countries.

- Be more determined - Have more power

2.2. Match the word on the left with the corresponding category on the right. In this
way you will know what kind of word it is.

Word Category
1. Optimistic ( ) a. Adjective
2. Duty ( ) b. Noun
3. Seek for ( ) c. Adjective
4. Strength ( ) d. Noun
5. Outgoing ( ) e. Verb

3. Read a bit!

Read the following text about Hanna and her opinion on the importance of personality
in daily life

Personality are the traits that

define the way we behave and
respond not only to others,
but also the situations and
environment around us in
different contexts. Personally, I
consider myself a very
optimistic person. In my job
for example, I’m very
outgoing, but pretty reliable
at the same time.

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

It helps me a lot because all my colleagues trust me and ask me for advice when they need
anything work-related. I really like talking to them and helping them out. I can’t say I’m a
workaholic, but I feel good having all my job duties ready in advance, so I can spend time
on one of my other passion: social issues.

I am restless about the problems my city, my country and the world in general face daily. I
am the leader of an activist group that debates and acts on society problems that affect us
all, such as environment, safety and many others. One of the main issues we are worried
about in our activist group is the way the public space is used. I had bottled up these
situations until one day I decided to take action and work with the group and lead in order
to propose alternatives to use the public space efficiently in our city.

I’m always seeking solutions for, being purposeful has always been part of who I am. What
really surprises me about the interaction in the group, is that everyone has a different
personality! And that’s awesome because everyone has a defined role depending on their
strengths: some are more creative; some are more introverted but really good in
organizational issues… We all make a great team, and little by little, we are helping our
neighborhood, our society and our world to become a better place.

4. Grammar and composition

In this section you find grammar elements and composition strategies that help you
with your writing production. Read the explanation; this is important for the next
step!

Using Gerunds and infinitives in writing

When we write, it is always important to maintain uniformity in style. Otherwise, the text
will sound a bit strange. Check this out:

1. When I’m at the office, I enjoy talking to my colleagues, solving their questions and
helping them out in anything they need.

Now check this:

2. When I’m at the office, I enjoy talking to my colleagues, to solve their questions and
helping them out in anything they need.

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

And this:

3. When I’m at the office, I enjoy talking to my colleagues, solve their questions and
helping them out in anything they need.

When we describe actions accompanied by gerunds or infinitives, it is vital to maintain the

use of the element selected, trying not to mix them up. If you keep this in mind, your
written texts will be awesome!

4.1 Think of five actions that you enjoy doing considering ONE personality feature you
have. Then write them in the blanks below.

Being a/an _____________________ person, I enjoy:

a. ________________________

b._________________________

c. _________________________

d. _________________________

e. _________________________

4.2 Think of five actions that you have learned to do considering ONE personality
feature you have, that you consider negative. Then write them in the blanks below.
Follow the example:

“Being a stubborn person, I have learned to listen to other people´s advice.”

Being a/an _____________________ person, I have learned to:

a. ________________________

b._________________________

c. _________________________

d. _________________________

e. _________________________

Expressions to state your opinion

In my opinion, ... In my eyes, ...

To my mind, ... As far as I am concerned, ...
From my point of view, ... As for me / As to me, ...

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

I would say that ... It seems to me that…

My impression is that ... It is my impression that ...
I have the feeling that ... My own feeling on the subject is that ...
I have no doubt that…. I hold the opinion that ...

Words to express your disagreement.

I don't agree. I don't think so.

I think otherwise. I don't think that's quite right.
I am afraid that is not quite true. I take a different view.

Informal English Phrases

Consider, these sentences above could be too informal as the state is too personal in an
academic essay.

In my opinion, ... / In my eyes, ... / As far as I am concerned, ... / From

my point of view, ... / As for me, ... / I would say that ... / It seems to me
that… / My impression is that …

“In my opinion, …”
 In my opinion, one of the main problems our society faces are insecurity in the public
systems.

More Formal Academic Phrases

These phrases are more suitable for academic essays.

It could be argued that… / That suggest that… / This supports the idea
that…

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

“That suggest that…”

The evidence suggest that the perception of insecurity is increasing among citizens.

Other Ways to Express Opinion

You can use adjectives to show your opinion when writing. They could be positive or
negative depending on the opinion you want to state.
“Community is strongly committed seeking for solutions.”
“Their efforts were poorly conducted due to the lack of control.”

4.3 Now develop the sentences you wrote in 4.1 and 4.2 into a two-paragraph.
Remember all the expressions used to state your opinion.

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Now you are ready for your writing test. Let’s write something!

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