Performance Plus for the HKDSE — All-in-one Exam Practice (Vol.

2) (2nd Edition) Set 6 Paper 2

Part B Question 4
Learning English through Social Issues
Your aunt sent you the following email:

To: patcheung@gmail.com
From: marywong@hotmail.com
Subject: George
Sent: 21st October, 20( ) at 12.34 pm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Pat,

George was arrested for drink-driving on Friday night and he spent a night in jail. The government assigned
a lawyer for George. Fortunately he seemed to be helpful.

Pat, I need you to tell me what happened that night because you were at the party with George. George
usually does not drink. What happened to him that night? Why did he try to drive home despite the fact that
he had been drinking? Please tell me exactly what happened. I am so worried that I cannot sleep at night.

Love,
Aunt Mary

Write an email to your aunt telling her what happened to your cousin, George, at the party.

Topic Analysis
Your Role Pat
• Your cousin, George, was arrested for drink-driving
Situation / Task Requirements
• He spent a night in jail
• Tell Aunt Mary what happened to George at the party
Sub-topics • Tell her why he tried to drive home despite the fact that he had
been drinking
Text Type Email
Target Audience Aunt Mary
• Informal
Language and Tone
• Use the simple past tense to talk about past events
Purpose of Writing To recount an incident

Topic-related Vocabulary
alcohol content breathalyser drunk evidence
irresponsible joyride licence mature

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Performance Plus for the HKDSE — All-in-one Exam Practice (Vol. 2) (2nd Edition) Set 6 Paper 2
over the drink drive limit tragically to arrest to confess
to confront to prosecute to run down to slam
to spike to track down to walk off

Writing Plan
Informal/Friendly greeting
Greeting
• Dear Aunt Mary,
Tell Aunt Mary that you know George has been arrested and tell her what you
Introductory paragraph think of it
• I was shocked to hear that George was arrested for drink-driving.
Tell Aunt Mary what happened
• No one saw George drink that night.
• George drove his friend and a girl to a nightclub.
Body paragraphs • They poured alcohol into George’s drink.
Tell her why he tried to drive home despite the fact that he had been drinking
• He didn’t know that his drink was spiked.
• He didn’t know that his blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.
Closing paragraph Try to comfort Aunt Mary and assure her that George will be fine
Informal/Friendly closing
Closing • Best wishes,
Pat

Sample Essay
Dear Aunt Mary,

Yes, I heard from friends that George was arrested for drink-driving. This was as much a shock to me as it
was to you. In actual fact, all his friends were a little surprised to hear about this as no one ever thought
George would drink.

Even before receiving your email, a few of us have been investigating what happened that night. Apparently
George came to the party with someone he plays football with and not a university friend. Most of the people
at the party were from the university and we mostly know each other.

Only a few of us knew this other guy whose name is Paul, but that’s about all we know. All of George’s
friends said that no one saw George drink that night so we were all mystified as to what happened.

A few of us dug a little deeper into the events that night and we found out that George and Paul left the party
together with a girl. No one seems to know much about her but it appears that George and this Paul guy were
taking turns to dance with her. It would appear that they both liked the girl and were both trying to capture

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Performance Plus for the HKDSE — All-in-one Exam Practice (Vol. 2) (2nd Edition) Set 6 Paper 2
her attention.

We tracked down the girl who said that George drove the three of them to a nightclub where George ordered
orange juice, and that’s what he had been drinking at the party. Paul was drinking vodka and this girl saw
Paul pouring some of the vodka into George’s drink when he went to the toilet. She thought it was funny and
actually encouraged Paul to pour more into George’s glass while she turned her attention to Paul.

George eventually fell asleep in the nightclub and the other two left him there and caught a taxi back to the
dormitory. What we can assume is that George woke up or was thrown out of the nightclub and it was then
that he started to drive home. He probably didn’t know that his drink had been spiked and that his blood
alcohol level was above the legal limit.

We all think this was a pretty low act by the other two and a few of us are going around telling Paul what we
think of him. With some luck, we can get him to confess and then make a police statement so that maybe the
police will go easy on George. It’s true that what George did was wrong but what the other two did was
worse.

I hope this helps. Don’t be too worried, Aunty. As this is George’s first offence, I don’t think he will be
punished severely. Call me if you want to talk.

Best wishes,
Pat

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