WRITE ABOUT THE TOPIC - chiara’s notes -

PROVA OGNI GIORNO!

ESSENTIAL KEY POINTS

5 minutes to complete

AT LEAST 50 WORDS
But write more
Time starts immediately

A whole Paragraph with:

Topic sentence
Supporting ideas
Concluding sentences

Production & Literacy score

Practice vocabulary

TYPES OF PROMPTS

RECOUNT - TELLING A STORY, write about your own experience

DESCRIBE - similar to Discuss. You will be given a question which has a situation, and you
have to talk about the positive and the negatives about the situation, but IMPORTANTLY,
you don’t have to give your opinion, just describe situation
ARGUMENT - talk about situation + your own opinion

Recount e.g. Films can tell a lot about culture, WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED
Describe: In general people are living longer today. Discuss some of the implications of this
phenomenon. (not asked to say if it’s good or bad, just implications, outcomes)
Argument: People are never satisfied with what they have, they always want more. Do you
agree or disagree? (give your opinion, talk about general situation then share your opinion)

Test Taking Strategies

Use all the time to answer the questions. Don’t skip.

Write more than 50 words.
You won’t be penalized for mistakes until you press submit.
Try not to look at the timer because it distracts you.

GENERAL WRITING TIPS

Use correct spelling, grammars, punctuation, and capitalization.

Both american and english, but only american in spelling filling
Varying sentences structure and word choice
Using diverse, more sophisticated vocabulary and grammar can help you achieve a better
score
WRITING: SCORING CRITERIA

Grammatical accuracy & complexity

Vocabulary sophistication & diversity
Task relevance
Length
Fluency

Treat each point equally.

Grammar:

Mostly error free sentences

Wide range of grammatical structures
Variety of complex and simple structures
Don’t make mistakes in sentences and a mixture of sentences
Write good sentences without many errors.

Not making mistakes while writing complex sentences

Vocabulary:
WIDE RANGE OF Vocabulary, synonyms - don’t repeat word or general words
Vocabulary that fits style, formal, academic,
Don’t use contractions or slang

Task relevance
FULLY ANSWERS questions, agree disagree, experience etc
Provide supporting ideas
Topic related vocabulary
FLUENCY, LENGTH

Write more than 50 words, they want us to write more. 70 and 110 words in 5 minutes

Fluency, linking phrases to connect ideas and correct spelling and punctuations.

Linking phrases for smoothness.

TYPES OF WRITING PROMPTS and answers for every

RECOUNT:

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED.

Talk about your own experience

And you have to tell your own story.

If the question asks about your own experiences or what have you done, you know it’s a
recount.
You are recounting or remembering your own experiences.

DESCRIBE:

In general people are living longer today, discuss some of the implications of this
phenomenon.
Key word for describe: DISCUSS or EXPLAIN

Discuss the situation, discuss both sides, maybe pro and cons, you don’t need to
have a position or opinion on these questions.

Don’t need to say whether you agree or disagree, and you don’t need to argue. You
just need to discuss, pro and cons.

Opinion part is not needed for describing, you can in the concluding sentence if you want.

ARGUMENT:

People are never satisfied with what they have. DO you agree or not?
Asking you to share your opinion or making an argument to whether you agree or not.

Discuss situations
Should have a clear position or opinion
You should try to argue why your position or opinion is correct

Discuss in general and then argument. This is the difference between describe and
the argument questions, with the argument questions you are supposed to tell your
opinion.

RECOUNT
Write your own experience
Write two things you have learned with examples, keep simple ideas

DESCRIBE:
Introduce the situation/topic
Describe two implications
On both sides, negative and positive
Provide examples

People are living longer

(e.g. advancement of medicines and people eating healthier - positive outcome,
grandparents have more time to spend with children, older people time to volunteer, older
people can teach young people more, negatives: if people live longer that means that taxes
go up and young people have to pay, or if you live longer there are more fees in the hospitals
) one positive and one negative

ARGUMENT:
Introduce the situation/topic
Then pick a position/opinion: do you agree or disagree, this should be very clear
And ARGUE WHY YOUR POSITION IS CORRECT
And provide examples

Two reasons why you agree or disagree, (two minimum)

I agree that people are never satisfied with their lives because reason 1or 2
Or
I think people are often satisfied with their lives because, reason1 or 2

ORGANIZE YOUR ANSWER

Your paragraph should include:

1) Topic sentence (intro)
2) Supporting ideas
3) Concluding sentence

Ideas should be linked to one topic

What is a topic sentence?

It is the first sentence of a paragraph.
It tells the reader what the paragraph is about.
It controls or guides the whole paragraph.
It states your opinion clearly (for argument)

Supporting ideas
They explain and develop the topic sentence
They develop the topic sentence by explaining and discussing the ideas more fully.
They can explain, describe, give reasons, give facts, or give examples.

Concluding sentence

It is used to signal the end of the paragraph

It tells the reader the important points to remember
Usually signposted with a concluding phrase (To conclude, In conclusion, To sum up, etc)
It is often a paraphrase of the topic sentence

This a good way to structure

TOPIC SENTENCE
Supporting ideas
Conclusion

Topic sentence

Topic of the paragraph plus central point. (and in the argument you state your opinion in the
topic sentence)
Make it specific

E.g.
What are the benefits of exercise?
Wrong: exercise has benefits
Right: exercising has many health benefits for people of all ages.
Very specific,good clear central point.

Don’t include too much information otherwise you run out of ideas
Don’t list all your ideas
Keep topic sentences short.

Different grammar and phrases for ARGUMENT and DESCRIBE

Present simple: To talk about general statement and facts

Nowadays, fewer people eat a health diet and exercise often
Present continuous:To talk about things which are happening right now.
It is clear that video games are becoming more popular.
Present perfect: To talk about changes that happened in the past but still affect the present.
In the past ten years, the price of food has risen sharply.

Expressing your opinion (argument)

In my opinion,
I feel that,
It is my opinion that,
It is my view that
O strongly agree /disagree
Something should/must
Many people claim that
It is often said that

CLEARLY WRITE TOPIC SENTENCE FOR ARGUMENT PROMPT

So that supporting sentences are backing up your idea

TOPIC SENTENCE FOR RECOUNT (your experiences, probably in the past)

Past simple: To talk about finished actions

I went on many trips when I was young, but my favourite was to France.

Present Perfect: to talk about changes that happened in the past but still affect the present
I have learned so many things about India from Bollywood films.
(not specific date)

Present Simple: to talk about general statements and facts.

I am not the kind of person who gets angry easily, however I remember one time that I got
very angry with my sister. Past simple

A one time action that is now finished.

Example 1

All students should wear uniforms. Do you agree or disagree?

I believe that wearing uniforms at school has many benefits for different reasons.

In my view, wearing uniforms at school has many benefits for different reasons.

School uniforms should be mandatory for all high school students for a number of
important reasons.

There are many benefits of making school uniforms mandatory for students.

In general, people are living longer today. Discuss some of the implications of this
phenomenon.
There are both benefits and negative sides to the fact that people are living longer
nowadays.
Life expectancy is increasing all around the world, and this has both positive and
negative implications.

There are several positive and negatives implications of people living longer.

Films can tell us a lot about the country where they were made. What have you learned
about another country from watching its movies?

Watching movies is a very useful way to learn about customs in different countries. (mine.
You have to state your own opinion) + my own opinion

There are many things that I have learned from watching Korean films.
Films can teach us about another country. And I have learned a lot about Korea from
watching its films.

SUPPORTING IDEAS

EXPLAIN why your topic sentence is correct, and we do this by:

Giving reasons
Giving facts
Giving examples
Describing

Remember: your supporting idea should be directly related to your topic sentence.
You should not include any other informations that is not directly related to the topic
sentence.

Question: Fast food should be banned from schools. Do you agree or disagree?

Topic sentence: I agree that children should be banned from eating fast food at school for
several important reasons.

Supporting ideas:
Try to think about 2 ideas:
Fast food is unhealthy + example
Fast food is expensive + example

(supporting idea 1)First, children should not be allowed to eat fast food because it is
detrimental to their health.
(Then you provide examples) For instance, fast food burgers are packed with fat, sugar, salt,
and preservatives which makes them extremely unhealthy especially for children.
(supporting idea 2) In addition, schools should stop serving fast food because it is very
expensive. (example) It is a well-known fact that fresh food from a supermarket is
significantly cheaper.

Topic sentence
Supporting idea 1 + example
Supporting idea 2 + example

Important: Transition phrases - FLUENCY, SMOOTHNESS

First, in addition = sequences phrases

For instance, It is a well-known fact = transition phrases for examples and facts

Transition phrases and linking phrases are the same.

Ideas from the same viewpoint and ideas from positive view points, and example and facts .

SEQUENCING IDEAS from the same view point:

FIRST/ FIRSTLY. FIRST OF ALL/ FIRST AND FOREMOST (first and most important)
- First and foremost, eating junk food causes many illnesses.

SECOND/ SECONDLY/ THIRD/ THIRDLY

we don’t use fourth and fifth
- Second, junk food is more expe
- nsive than fresh food from the supermarket

IN ADDITION/ ADDITIONALLY you are developing your ideas

(better to use first + in addition + moreover) /furthermore/moreover
When children eat junk food they build bad eating habits.

Another point to consider is the long term impacts junk food has on children’s physical and
mental health.

FURTHERMORE

MOREOVER

ANOTHER REASON IS/ ANOTHER POINT TO CONSIDER IS

FINALLY, LASTLY (used with three or more points)

Finally junk food is a leading cause of obesity.
 TRANSITION PHRASES
CONTRASTING LINKING PHRASES - from different view point

However,
On the other hand
that being said
Conversely
In spite of/ despite
Alternatively
although

However many children get enjoyment from eating junk food now and again.
On the other hand, students would likely complain if schools banned junk food completely.
That being said, junk food is not that bad as long as students don’t eat it for every meal.
Alternatively, schools could simply limit the amount of junk food they provide to the
students.
Although junk food is bad it would be complicated to ban it completely from schools.

Introducing contrasting ideas, supporting idea 1 is in favour, supporting idea 2 is in contrast.

GIVING EXAMPLES AND FACTS

Examples
For example
For instance
Such as
To illustrate this point

For facts:

It is well known that /it is a well-known fact that

It has been proven that
Many studies have shown that

For example/for instance: fast food burgers are packed with fat, sugar, salt, and
preservatives.
To illustrate this point, students who eat junk food daily are more likely to suffer from
long-term health problems.
It is a well-known fact that eating junk food on a consistent basis can lead to obesity.
It has been proven that/many studies have shown that junk food can not only affect physical
health but their mental health.

Memorize them and practise them quickly

 CONCLUDING SENTENCE

It concludes the paragraph and inform people that you are finished.
Concluding and intro topic are similar.
Concluding sentence restates the main ideas in topic sentence/
So you have to take your topic sentence and rewrite it in another way.

Question: Fast food should be banned from schools. Do you agree or disagree?

Topic sentence: I agree that children should be banned from eating fast food at school for
several important reasons.

Supporting ideas: First, children should not be allowed to eat fast food because it is
detrimental to their health.
(Then you provide examples) For instance, fast food burgers are packed with fat, sugar, salt,
and preservatives which makes them extremely unhealthy especially for children.
In addition, schools should stop serving fast food because it is very expensive. (example) It
is a well-known fact that fresh food from a supermarket is significantly cheaper.

Concluding sentence: In conclusion, based on the reasons discussed, I believe that fast food
should be banned from school menus.

Or

To sum up, for these reasons it is clear that fast food should be banned from schools.

Conclude sentence just need to reinstate first sentence

YOU CAN use:
Based on the reasons I discussed/ as the reasons above suggest

Linking phrases:

In conclusion,
To conclude,
To sum up,
In sum,
Overall,
On the whole,
All things considered,
Given these points,
All in all,

Memorize some of these and practice typing quickly

Exercise:
To conclude, watching Korean movies has been a great source to learn about Korea and its
customs.

To sum up, my experience watching Korean movies has taught me a lot about the
culture and language.

All things considered, I believe that fast food should be banned at school for all the reasons
described above.

To conclude, for the reason presented above, it is vital that schools ban fast food.

All in all, There are benefits and negatives to the increase of life expectancy as presented in
the paragraph.

All things considered, there are a number of positive and negative implications of
people living longer.

Concluding sentence is not complex, you just reword intro sentence.

COMPOUND SENTENCES

Complexity in grammar means: are you able to write more complex sentences, sentences
which have more than one idea.
Combine 2 ideas together using compound sentences

Linking two simples sentences and you have compound sentences, just connecting ideas

SIMPLE SENTENCES
E.g.
Many children play computer games
Other children prefer to play sports
(subject plus verb)

Many children play computer games, /BUT other children prefer to play sports.

(WHILE is a subordinating conjunctions)

INDEPENDENT CLAUSES very similar to full sentence one subjects + verb,

Two or more indep. Clauses together.

When we make compound sentence, we should use a comma after

the first independent clause.
WE USE A COMMA because the next CLAUSE CONTAINS A VERB
AND SUBJECT.
Compound sentences:
Two complete ideas (independent clauses)
Linked with a coordinating conjunction (but is a coordinating conjunction) they are used to
link to independent clauses together.

F A N B O Y S : COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

FOR
AND
NOR
BUT
OR
YET
SO

REMEMBER TO USE A COMMA BEFORE USING ONE OF THESE.

The internet is very important

The internet is widely used everywhere

The internet is very important, and it is widely used everywhere.

I couldn’t finish my homework

I had no place to study

I couldn’t finish my homework, for I had no place to study.

Snack food is good sometimes.

Snack food can be addictive.
We must be very careful.

Snack food is good sometimes, but/yet it can be addictive, so we must be careful.

COMPOUND SENTENCES

Rules: COORDINAtING CONJUNCTIONS;

1)Use a comma ONLY when the FANBOY is linking two independent clauses. (both with
subject and verb, otherwise you don’t need a comma)

E.g.
She wore a blue dress but nothing else.
She wore a blue dress, but she didn’t wear anything else.

2)When you are combining two or more nouns(or adjectives), you don’t need a comma.
e/g/
I think that taxes are both good AND BAD.
After high school you can get a job OR go to university.

With List of nouns, verbs or adjectives you don’t use a comma.

3) When the subject is the same, you don’t need to repeat it.

I was tired, but I went to work early.

I was tired but went to work early.

If you use the same subject for each clause, then you don’t need to repeat it, and since you
are not repeating the subject you don;t use the comma.

BOTH ARE CORRECT

Smartphones are addictive, but they are essential.

Smartphones are addictive but essential.

COMPLEX SENTENCES USING SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

(LINK TWO IDEAS TOGETHER)

After If Even if Once So that

Although Even though Provided That Though Whereas

As If Rather than Unless In order to

Whether Because Since Until While

MANY STUDENTS LIKE PLAYING SPORT. OTHER STUDENTS prefer making art.

Which one show contrast? Although, Even though, Though, whereas, while

Many students like playing sports. Other students prefer making art.
Although many students like playing sports, other students prefer making art.

If you start a sentence using subordinating conjunctions, then you need to use a comma to
link the two independent clauses.

Many students like playing sports whereas other students prefer making art.
(NO COMMA)
When you use a subordinating conjunction in the middle of the sentence, you don’t need to
use a comma.

Online games have advanced rapidly.

Many children find these games irresistible.

Which words show reason?

So that
As
In order to
Because
Since

Online games have advanced rapidly because/as/since many children find these games
irresistible.

If you use subordinating conjunction a start of the sentence you need to use a comma.

Because/as/since many children find these games irresistible, online games gave advanced
rapidly.

We use the subordinating conjunctions to link independent clauses, but we use them to
show the relationship between the two sentences too. (contrast and reason/ time and
condition)

TIME
ONCE AFTER UNTIL AS SINCE WHILE

CONTRAST
ALTHOUGH EVEN THOUGH WHILE EVEN IF RATHER THAN THOUGH WHEREAS

REASON
BECAUSE SINCE AS SO THAT IN ORDER TO

CONDITIONAL
IF
EVEN IF
PROVIDED THAT
UNLESS PROVIDED THAT
School is not all about studying since there are a lot of clubs and fun activities on campus.

Even though cars cause a lot of pollution, they are essential to our lives.

Most children will participate in sports provided that they are encouraged.
Because video games are highly addictive, parent need to monitor how much time their kids
play them

The environment will improve once the number of cars decreases.

IF

IF + FIRST CLAUSE WITH WOULD

Generate ideas + tips

Get used to think about different topics, read news a lot,

Preview these common topics:

(DESCRIBE AND ARGUMENT PROMPTS)

HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH, WORK, SCHOOL, EDUCATION, PUBLIC TRANSPORT,
TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE, CITIES AND TOWNS

RECOUNT - your own experiences

Film and books, music, art, inspirational people, family life, emotion, surprise, feat etc
Vacations and trips
Your education and school life

Develop a vocabulary list for those topics and other topics

Build list

Answers all of the questions to this course

Express your own opinion (general topic. What is your actual opinion on the topic)

Practice writing every day

5 minutes to write

TOPIC SENTENCE INTRO

SUPPORTING IDEAS + examples
Conclusion sentence

WRITE ABOUT THE PHOTO

THREE TIMES IN THE TEST

CAPITAL LETTERE, FULL STOP, COMMA, SPELLING.

FULL SENTENCES

PRODUCTION SCORE, LITERACY SCORE

Leave 10 seconds to check spelling and answers

VARY YOUR SENTENCES AND STRUCTURES

SPELLING AMERICAN AND BRITISH - accepted for the photo task. You need
American spelling for the C-test.

SCORING CRITERIA

GRAMMATICAL ACCURACY AND COMPLEXITY

writing without mistakes and using difficult grammatically sentences, mixture

VOCABULARY, SOPHISTICATION AND DIVERSITY (the correct words to answer

the questions, a mixture of words simple and difficult, don’t repeat)

TASK RELEVANCE
(are you describing the picture well)

LENGTH
How much you can write in a short amount of time
2 or 3 sentences

FLUENCY
Cohesion, Are the ideas linked well
Spelling and Punctuation
 TIPS

- Since the timer starts right away: Quickly identify the main subject(s) in the
photo

- Structure the answer:

First sentence: provide a general summary about the main subject(s)

Second sentence:
- Describe who is doing what? (different action verbs to show what is
happening)
- Describe what is where? (locations of the things in the image)

Third sentence: Speculates if you have time

Make guesses about what the person is feeling, why something is happening or what
happened before.

In the first sentence think that you are describing the photo to someone that is not
seeing it. What does this person need to know to understand this picture in one
sentence.
WITH PEOPLE

E.g.
First sentence about main subject:
This is a picture of a man giving a presentation to a group of people.
or
This is an image of a young man standing and talking to people.

Second sentence, describe photo in more detail:

He is holding something in his right hand and talking to three men, who are
sitting directly in front of him.
Or
He is wearing a blue shirt and white shorts, and he is standing in front of a
large monitor.
Third sentence: speculate
Since he is dressed casually, this might not be an important presentation.
Or

It seems that he is practicing giving a presentation to his friends

NO PEOPLE

(main subject)
This is a photo of a blue camper van that is parked by a beautiful lake.
(more details)
The lake is in front of the camper van and there are hills in the background.
(speculate)
As the weather looks perfect, there must be a lot of people swimming in the lake.

This is a photo of an old van parked near a large blue lake.

The van is facing the beautiful lake and there is a small road to the right of it.

The driver must have stopped to enjoy the amazing view of the lake.

(metti sempre aggettivo)

FIRST SENTENCE STRUCTURE

There is/are

In this photograph there is/are

This picture shows

The image shows

This is a photo of

This picture depicts…

(memorize them, practice type them quickly)

Adding information

Articles & Determiners

A man, some people, three cars, a lot of cows

Which, That, Who

A man who is cooking, a car that is in a field

With

A man who is cooking with his son

PREPOSITIONS

A car that is in a field next to some trees

Common mistakes:

There is/ There are

There is a man and a woman (first subject is a singular noun and so the verb must
also take the singular form (is))
When you talk about two subjects but you use the singular form then in this structure
we must also use the singular verb is.

If the first subject is singular (there is a teacher) and the second subject (and some
students) is plural, we still use the singular There is.
There is a teacher and some students.

A man and a woman are sitting on the bench. (correct) There are two subjects and if
the subjects come first of the verb, you must use the plural.

In this photo there is a man and a woman.

A man and a woman are in this photo.

In this picture there is a bus and a car.

A bus and a car are in the photo.

Articles and determiners (a, an, the)

Determiners also (some, lots of, several, a group of)

This photo shows a dog.

This is an image of an igloo.
In this picture there are some men (three) better to spell the number instead of some
The image shows a group of women.
In the photo there are three (some) dogs.
There are several pieces of equipment.
WHO IS DOING WHAT:
PRESENT CONTINUOUS BE + ING

THE MAN IS WALKING DOWN THE STREET

THE THREE HORSES ARE RUNNING - GALLOPING through the field

Running and not wearing saddles

The three horses are running through the fields and not having saddles

COMBINE IDEAS WITH AND AND BUT

Photo with ladies at pc,

i have two actions,
one lady is pointing, the other lady is reading
The woman in navy is pointing a pen at the laptop while the lady in red is reading the
information on the screen.
Two actions, One action per person.

WHILE AND AND

Describe the actions we use present continuous

As many actions as you can.
You can write all those actions in one sentence.
Two ideas in one sentence

Comma to separate ideas

The subject in each sentence is different, so I use a comma.
Two ideas with different subjects, you need to use a comma and world like and
or but.

The woman is serving food to the guests at the party, and the men are talking to
each other.
NO COMMA and NOT REPEATING SUBJECT, because there is just one subject.
The woman is wearing a pink top and (she is) carrying two plates of food.

Describe how people are dressed if you really don’t know the action verb

LOCATION OF THINGS

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
SPECULATING
MAKING GUESSES

Modal verbs

(might, may, must, could)

I guess
I think
I suppose
Something seems like (she seems like a waitress) she seems to do, she seems to
be
Looks like
Appears to be
Probably

MUST
MAY
MIGHT
COULD NOT + have + past participle

It seems that they must have had a fight about something important

It appears he might have stopped to look at the beautiful scenery in front of him

HAVE HAD - AUSILIARE + PARTICIPIO PASSATO ( had taken)

He took -
He has taken
He had taken
He might have taken
He might take
(If I think he did something in the past, I use this form)

MUST
MAY
MIGHT
COULD NOT / COULD
+ HAVE (NOT had. )
He might not have completed something
She must have gone there
He may not have done something
She may have walked there
He might have gone

He must have not been there when that happened

We may have drunk too much
They could have done something
They could have not been there when

She must have eaten something bad

She must have had something bad for lunch

He might have gone

I suppose he has gone there

I suppose he must have gone there

It looks like they had a fun day

In this image there are four men standing on three cranes.

They are wearing helmets for safety and they appear to be at work.
They could be there to build a skyscraper.
He must have been tired and decided to stop along the way to admire the view.

The boats might have been anchored to the beach to avoid the wind carrying them
away

The women might /may / could be preparing for a presentation at work

The women

The young girl could be choosing a pineapple for a party which might be happening
later during the day.

In this image there is a man holding a yellow pen while writing on a piece of paper.
On the right side of the photo there is a computer.
He might be preparing for a presentation at work.

This photograph depicts a man driving a vintage green car.

He is wearing a beret. In the background of the image there is a tower and some
trees.
He might be going to an antiques show.

ADJECTIVES

FIRST SENTENCE: SUMMARY WITH SOME DETAILS

SECOND SENTENCE: WHO IS DOING WHAT, WHAT IS WHERE MORE DETAILS
THIRD SENTENCE: SPECULATING
REMEMBER, PAST, MIGHT HAVE, MIGHT BE, ADJECTIVES