Reading and Writing Portfolio 10

Reading letters asking for advice

Writing pronouns and possessive
The advice page adjectives; a letter of advice
Review should/shouldn’t; Why don’t you … ?
1 Read letters A–C. Then choose the correct answers.

1 Jasper broke his leg in a car accident /doing sport.

2

3
He stayed at home/in hospital for four months.
He can/can’t cycle very fast. Ask
4

5
He doesn’t like watching/doing sport.
Adam is Olivia’s/Samantha’s boyfriend.
Angela
6 Last night Adam was in a restaurant with Olivia’s sister/ If you’ve got problems,
Angela Armstrong is here to help.
A
a woman he works with.
7 They left the restaurant at different times/together.
8 Olivia told/didn’t tell her sister about what happened.
A Four months ago I was in a car accident and I
broke my leg very badly. It’s OK now, but I’m
9 Maria is Yvonne’s daughter/friend.
quite overweight at the moment because I spent
10 Rick has/hasn’t got a job. four months just sitting at home. My wife says I
11 He likes/doesn’t like putting Maria to bed. should lose about ten kilos and I agree with her.
Last weekend we went cycling with our friends,
12 He always/sometimes goes out on Saturday night.
but they were all faster than me and I lost
them! And I really hate doing sport – it’s really
HELP WITH WRITING boring! I want to lose weight without doing any
Pronouns and possessive adjectives exercise. Can you give me some advice?
Jasper, Northampton
2 a Look at the words in bold in letter A. Write them in
the table.
B 1I’ve got a big problem with 2my sister,
subject object possessive Samantha. Last night I saw 3her boyfriend,
pronouns pronouns adjectives
Adam, in a restaurant with another woman. Her
1 I 6
Me 9 My name is Jodie and 4she works in 5his office.
2 6They both looked very happy and 7he left the
you your
He him his restaurant with her, arm in arm. I didn’t call my
She 7 Her her
sister because I didn’t want to hurt 8her. Now
I don’t know what to do. Should I tell her I saw
3
It it its 9them together, or should I talk to Adam first?
4 We us 10
Our What do 10you think I should do?
5
They 8 They their
Olivia, Brighton
b Look at these sentences. Then complete these
rules with before and after.
I broke my leg four months ago.
3 Read letter B again. Which people do the words in
She saw them in a restaurant.
bold 1–10 refer to?
● Subject pronouns come verbs.
1 Olivia 6 Adam and Jodie
● Object pronouns come verbs. Samantha Adam
2 7
● Possessive adjectives come nouns. Adam Samantha
3 8
TIP • Notice the difference between it’s and its.
4 Jodie 9 Adam and Jodie
It’s OK now. (it’s = it is)
What’s its name? (its = possessive adjective) 5
Adam 10 Angela

82

C I’m married and we’ve got a new baby, Maria.
She’s our first child and she’s only two months
old. The problem is that my husband, Rick, never
helps me with our daughter. He works very
hard, I know, but when he gets home from work
he just watches TV and waits for his dinner.
When I ask him to put Maria to bed, he always
says that he’s too tired. But he goes out with his
friends every Saturday night – he’s never too
tired for them! Can you help me?
Yvonne, Manchester
Have you got a problem?
Email me at askangela@mylife.co.uk
4 Read Angela’s answer to Olivia. Change the words in
bold to the correct pronoun or possessive adjective.
Dear Olivia
he
I think you should ask Adam why 1Adam was in
the restaurant with Jodie. You said 2its was near
3
their office, so maybe
4
she wanted to talk to 5
he about work.
7she
Maybe it was 6her birthday – or
he might just be friends. Just because you saw
8
they together, it doesn’t mean
9he
is going out with she. Why don’t
10
you talk to Adam and get 11his side of the story
before you talk to your sister? Then you can help
12She if there’s something wrong in
13her relationship with Adam.Angela
5 Read letter C again. Then read Angela’s answer to
Yvonne. Choose the correct words.
Dear Yvonne
Life is often difficult for married couples when
1 they /them have 2them/their first child. Why
don’t 3you/your talk to 4you/your husband
and tell 5his/him how 6you/your feel? You say
that 7he/him works hard, but Maria’s 8him/his
baby too. 9You/Your daughter needs to spend
time with 10she/her father – it’s important for
babies to have both parents in 11their/them
lives. Tonight why don’t you both put Maria to
bed? You also say Rick goes out with 12him/his
friends every Saturday – maybe you can go out
with 13you/your friends on Fridays and 14he/his
can be with 15him/his daughter.
Angela
6 a Read letter A again. Think of five things Jasper
should do to lose weight and why he should do them.
Make notes in the table.
advice reason why
eat more salads they’re low in fat
it is moisturizing and helps
drinking a lot of to metabolize accumulated
fat
they will give you energy
eat low-fat proteins
during the day
and
eat many fruits it's nutritious
outdoors and dancing -is a fun way to burn fat and
calories.
b Imagine you are Angela. Write your advice to
Jasper.
● Use your notes from the table in 6a.
● Use pronouns and possessive adjectives.
● Use You should … , You shouldn’t … and
Why don’t you … ? to give advice.
● Read and check for mistakes.
● Give your advice to your teacher next class.
Tick the things you can do in English in the
Reading and Writing Progress Portfolio, p88.
83
Dear Jasper

I think you should follow the tips I mention below, they are very easy to do. You need to eat
more salads they are low in fat. It is also important that you drink a lot of water because it is
moisturizing and helps to metabolize accumulated fat and you shouldn’t to drink sugary drinks.
You should consume low fat proteins such as fish, lean meats, eggs, chicken or turkey, nuts
and olive oil they will give you energy during the day. Don't forget to eat many fruits every
day it's nutritious. It is important that you go for a run outside and dancing to the song you like
for 30 minutes is a fun way to burn fat and calories.
You can do it!
FLOR ELIZABETH