Reading and Writing Portfolio 1

Reading an email about a holiday

Describing a holiday Writing informal writing: ellipsis of words
Review Past Simple; likes and dislikes

1 Read the email quickly.

a Who is the email from?

The email is from Ana. Cancel

b Who is the email to?
The email is to her mother.
c What is the writer doing?
She is writing the email in the car.
2 Read the email again and choose the
best answers.
1 Who is Anna travelling with?
a David and her children.
b David’s grandparents.
New Message Send
Hi! 1Writing this in the car. We’re driving to Province Town, a beach town
near Cape Cod in Massachusetts. We’re in the second week of our two
weeks away. And so far, Mum, it’s been really special. We spent two days
in New York. 2Hotel was a bit basic but it was safe and clean. We went
to a few exhibitions and Simon and Ailsa had us round for lunch – you
remember our ex-neighbours from Oxford, don’t you? NY is a wonderful
place – really exciting. The traffic got on my nerves after a while – 3worse
than Cambridge!

c Her parents.
2 Which places have they been to so far?
a New York.
b New York and Boston.
c New York, Boston and Province Town.
3 What annoys David?
a He prefers cities.
b His grandparents have dinner
very early.
c The traffic in New York.
4Tuesday we drove up to New Hampshire. On the way, we said a quick
‘hello’ to David’s grandparents in Boston. And we’re going to go back and
stay with them later in the week. They’re well. They have dinner at about
4 p.m. these days – 5drives David crazy!
I can’t normally bear the country, Mum. You know me – I’m a city girl. But
New Hampshire is so quiet and so green – I fell in love with it. We stayed in
a beautiful house there – some friend of David’s grandmother owns it. Eve
and Harry had a lot of fun exploring the woods at the back of the house
– until David told them there might be some bears in there … then they
wouldn’t go back again!
6 Will write again before we come home.

4 When did they stay in New Hampshire? Love,

Anna, David, Eve and Harry
a Between Boston and Cape Cod.
b Between New York and Boston.
c Between Boston and Cambridge.

5 What have they done on holiday so far?

a Had friends round for dinner.
b Visited friends and relatives.
c Both a) and b).

6 Why did the children stop exploring

the woods?
a Because they saw some bears in there.
b Because their father told them to.
c Because they were scared.

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 HELP WITH WRITING 5 a Imagine you are on holiday for two weeks. Write ideas in the diary.
Informal writing: ellipsis of words
3 a We sometimes miss out words in
informal writing when it is clear what or
who we are talking about. Look at this
sentence from the email.
Day Week Month List

1 I’m Writing this in the car.

Mon 1 Mon 8
What types of words are missed out in Leave home. Visit the iconic
sentences 1–6 in bold in the email?
Fly to Mexico Palace of Fine Arts
1 pronoun and auxiliary
Tue 2 Tue 9
2 article Stay with
Go to Basilica of
3 pronoun and auxiliary My best friend Giorgina Guadalupe
4 preposition Wed 3 Wed 10
pronoun Basilica of
5 Stay at Kavia Hotel
Guadalupe
6 pronoun
b Match words a–f to answers 1–6 Thur 4 Thur 11
in 3a. Leave for Merida Travel to Yucatan
a I’m 1 by bus
b I 6 Fri 5 Fri 12

c it’s 3 Visit Coloradas Lagoon Visit Chichen Itza

d The 2
Sat 6 Sat 13
e it 5
Visit Giorgina’s brother Go back to Oaxaca
f On 4
by plane
4 Cross out the words you can miss out Sun 7 Sun 14
in these sentences.
Travel to Mexico City Go to Mitla
1 The exhibition was interesting. (1 word)
2 In August, Sally and I go to Antalya.
(1 word)
3 I can’t find the map. (1 word)
4 I have not got any money! (2 words)
5 Have you had a lie-in today? (2 words)
6 We have been out for dinner. (2 words) b Write an email to a family member on Monday 8th.
7 It is going to be sunny tomorrow. ● Use your notes from 5a.
(2 words)
● Add information about what you liked and didn’t like during the
8 We are going to Agnieszka’s tonight. first week of your holiday.
(2 words)
● Organise your email into paragraphs.
● Use ellipsis of words where possible.
● Read and check for mistakes.
● Give your email to your teacher next class.

Tick the things you can do in English in the

Reading and Writing Progress Portfolio, p88.

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To: victorsc@gmail.com
Hi dad, writing this on the plane. My best friend Giorgina and I traveled to
Mexico, we’re in the second week, when we arrived here, I all the beautiful
landscapes, the lagoons, the beaches and the most significant places.
We visited to her brother Ricardo and together we went to visit some more
friends.
Giorgina said to stay at Kavia Hotel, I had never seen a very luxurious and big
room, it was really incredible. The next day we went to Merida and we were
on Coloradas lagoon, the water there is very clean. Then, we left it by bus to
travel to Mexico City, by the way, visit the iconic Palace of Fine Arts and take
some photos. We were anxious to go to the Basilica of Guadalupe, mom
always wanted to go there, I promise one day I'll take her.
Finally, we travel to Yucatan, where we visit Chichen Itza, one of the wonders
of the world. Definitely, this is the best trip I've ever had.
Will write again after we come home.
Love
Daniela