Practice - Writing Revision (December)

PRACTICE - SESSION 1 - DECEMBER
WRITING LETTERS
A. INFORMAL LETTERS
Practice 1:
Task 1: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Your parents’ 30th wedding anniversary is coming up soon. You are planning a big celebration
to surprise them. You have asked an event organizer to help organize it.
Read this part of his email below.
I’m happy to help you. I need some more information to prepare for this special anniversary. I
highly recommend two fantastic restaurants in the city centre. One serves traditional foods from our
country; the other provides different dishes from many other countries. Which one would you be
more suitable? Or do you have any other suggestions?
I also need to know the number of guests you are going to invite to your parents’ party. The event is
coming very soon, so let’s meet and plan everything in advance. Please suggest the place and the
time that suit you.
Write a letter to respond to the event organizer
You should write at least 120 words. Do not include your name. Your response will be evaluated in
terms of Task Fulfillment, Organization, Vocabulary and Grammar.
Practice 2:
An English-speaking friend wants to spend a two-week holiday in your region and has written
asking for information and advice.
Write a letter to your friend. In your letter,

- offer to find somewhere to stay
- give advice about what to do
- give information about what clothes to bring
WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

B. FORMAL LETTERS
Practice 1:
There were the problems with the food and drinks as well as the waiter’s attitudes at the
restaurant that you and your family went to yesterday.
Write a letter of complaint to a restaurant manager to complain about poor food and drinks
and bad services as well. In your letter, you should
- describe what the problems with the food and drinks were
- say what happened when you complained to the waiter about the problems
- explain what you want the manager to do
Practice 2:
You have seen an advertisement on the Internet for a job working as a cashier in the
well-known restaurant during the holidays. You decide to apply for the job.
Write a letter to the manager of the restaurant. In your letter, you should
- introduce yourself
- explain what experience and special skills you have
- explain why you are interested in the job

WRITING ESSAYS
A. TYPE 1 ESSAYS - ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ESSAYS
Practice 1:
Read the following extract from a newspaper
Every year an increasing number of students choose to go to another country for their higher
education.
Write an essay to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this issue.
Give reasons and relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.
Practice 2:
Read the following extract from a website
Some people think it is better for children to grow up in the city, while others think that life in the
countryside is more suitable for them.
Write an essay to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of living in both places.

PRACTICE - SESSION 2 - DECEMBER
B. TYPE 2 ESSAYS - CAUSES - EFFECTS - SOLUTIONS ESSAYS
Practice 1:
Read the following extract from an article about the modern world.
In some countries the average weight of people is increasing and their levels of health and fitness
are decreasing. What do you think are the causes of these problems and what measures could be
taken to solve them?
Write an essay to discuss the causes of these problems and suggest solutions to solve them.
Practice 2:
Not all drivers obey the laws while driving on roads.
Write an essay to discuss the reasons and suggest some ways to fix this problem.

C. TYPE 3 ESSAYS - OPINION ESSAYS
1. AGREEING AND DISAGREEING ESSAYS
Practice 1:
Read the following extract from a website.
Some people think that employers should give their staff a month of holiday each year so that staff
can perform better at work. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Write an essay to give your opinion.
Practice 2:
Read the following extract from a website.
Many people believe that it’s better to learn something in a group rather than individually. Do you
agree or disagree?
Practice 3:
Some people believe that if people are allowed to work after the age of 60, it will cause some
problems. Do you agree or disagree?

2. DISCUSS BOTH VIEWS AND GIVE YOUR OWN OPINION ESSAYS
Practice 1:
Read the following extract from a newspaper.
Some people believe that watching television is bad for children. Other people believe that watching
television is educational for children.
Write an essay to discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Practice 2:
Some people think that robots are important for human’s future development. Others think that
robots have negative effects on society. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Write an essay to discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Some people think that employers should give their staff a month of holiday each year so that
staff can perform better at work. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Some people believe that employees should be entitled to a one-month holiday each year so that
they can work more effectively. In my opinion, although this policy can enhance employees'
productivity to an extent, it can have far more negative impacts and therefore should not be adopted.
On the one hand, allowing employees to have one month off every year can be somewhat
beneficial to their productivity. Thanks to this rest period, they can gain back their energy and
devote more time to their recreations such as travelling, reading or playing sports. These activities
help them to gain greater satisfaction in their life and thus when they return to work, their working
capacity will significantly improve. For example, in countries where workers are granted a large
number of holidays such as Norway, the productivity of workers seems to be higher than in other
countries.
On the other hand, entitling employees to a month off every year can bring about several
detrimental effects on businesses. First, it is extremely difficult for employers to find replacements
for employees who are on leave for one month. This will place the Human Resources Department of
every company under constant pressure. Moreover, granting employees a paid one-month leave
every year will impose a heavy financial burden on employers, as they have to pay both the
employees and their replacements during the leave. This can cause harm to the economic
development of any country.
In conclusion, although there are certain benefits of employees being entitled to a one-month
holiday every year, this policy produces far more negative effects and thus should not be
implemented.

Many people believe that it’s better to learn something in a group rather than individually. Do
you agree or disagree?
Along with the development of science and technology, more and more methods have been
introduced in recent years. In this regard, some people believe that learning in groups could be
much more beneficial for learners in comparison to seeking knowledge independently. As far as I
am concerned, both methods have their own advantages so there should be a balance between these
two points of view and none of them can lead to prosperity.
From one point of aspect, individual classes always have been considered a useful method of
learning. In individually organized classes, teachers have full attention on one student so the course
curriculum can be designed by student requirements. Additionally, people can learn how to manage
tasks and solve problems by themselves rather than relying on others. For example, in group
projects some students do not want to participate in activities and one or two students take all the
responsibilities, whereas if they have to do the assignment by themselves, they can learn how to
manage their time or analyze data.
From another point of aspect, human beings are part of a community. It is essential that people
learn how to be team members from the early stages. Therefore, group learnings not only have a
tremendous effect on learning efficiently and effectively but also help how to be a responsible team
member. Furthermore, when students learn in a group, they get a chance to listen to each subject
over and over till all students understand so this can lead to learning the subject by all hearts. Last
but not least, problem-solving is one of the key pros of participating in groups which enhance the
chance of employment in the future. For instance, the educator can give a math question for each
student and then ask them to solve it together. In this activity, they learn how to help and understand
each other, and finally, they recognize the power of being a group rather than working as an
individual.
To put it in a nutshell, with respect to the whole views mentioned above, neither learning
individually nor in a group can help to succeed in courses. If there is a compromise between these
two points of view, much better results can be anticipated.
(Word count – 373 / Band score – 8.5)

Some people believe that if people are allowed to work after the age of 60, it will cause some
problems. Do you agree or disagree?
Ideas for body paragraph 1
– Yes: lots of problems,
– Sight, attention, technology gap, especially machinery… blue collar work..
– In some countries senior citizens are required by law to retake their driving exam….
Ideas for body paragraph 2
– Disagree: The elderly can be better qualified at the job, more life experience, more insight, more
wisdom..
– Pension burden if not allowed to work after 60.
– Example: most western countries have a serious demographic deficit of an ageing workforce. A
country simply cannot prosper if all its wealth goes towards a pension.
Conclusion
– For some sectors it should be illegal or at least the worker should be medically tested, but for
other jobs, especially white collar work, it should be ok.

Some people believe that watching television is bad for children. Other people believe that
watching television is educational for children.
There are a number of parents who consider that viewing television programms is unhealthy for
young kids while others consider that this is an effective and informative tool. This essay believes
that a television can help a child learn new things, however, the parents should choose the kind of
shows as there are also programs that are unsuitable for young minds.
On the one hand, a television is a learning tool that can help a child to be creative and be
familiar with the world. It serves as a portal of information, for there are arrays of different
informative television programs that tackle different subjects, which parents can use, as most of
these are free of charge. Television can make learning more enjoyable since it uses cartoon
characters that children love to watch. For instance, The Department of Education in the Philippines
in 2016 reported that 90% of primary public school teachers in Cebu city prefer to have a television
in their class to assist them in teaching.
On the other hand, there are also quite a number of TV shows that can corrupt the minds of
some children. There are particular television programs that have adult themes including; violence,
drugs and sex. There have been a lot of instances where children have imitated characters from
certain shows and the effects have been damaging. Some have even been influenced by images and
themes, which has led them to act out violently because they saw it on TV. For example, the
Philippine National Police in 2017 reported that 75% of violent juvenile offenders testified that they
were influenced by a television program.
In conclusion, although the television is an effective and informative tool for children, the
parents should filter the TV programs that their children are watching for this can also introduce
them to adult content.
(Word count – 305 / Band score – 8)

Some people think that robots are important for human’s future development. Others think
that robots have negative effects on society. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
It is known, nowadays, that machines with artificial intelligence (AI) are vitally important in
many spheres. However, it is debatable whether they will help to develop a future for humans or
they will be dangerous for humankind. In the forthcoming paragraphs, I will elaborate on both
opinions and propose my own position on the issue.
On the one hand, people are afraid of robots due to plenty of failures. In fact, sometimes it is
impossible to interpret and understand robots' behaviours, and therefore, engineers can not trust
machines to the full extent. For example, it is essential to have interpreted AI predictions in
high-risk domains like medicine because it could help humans to rely on these predictions. That is
when robots fail it could potentially lead to false cancer detection if people trusted machines. I
acknowledge these serious worries about robots but I still believe that a well-organised pipeline
with experts and AI would have minimum failures.
On the other hand, we already use robots in our everyday life. As long as we use personal
computers we unconsciously use AI applications. For instance, a weather prediction is based on AI,
moreover , products recommendation uses artificial intelligence as well. Furthermore, our
smartphones are robots that help us to find out our geolocation, calculate the best roadway, and blur
a background from our portrait pictures. I am a computer vision engineer, hence, I see how these
applications simplify our lives.
In conclusion, I would say that there are some worries about machines throughout the public
like the low level of AI interpretation. However, robots undoubtedly improve our lives via AI
applications, which in my opinion, will develop humans' future.
(Word count – 278 / Band score – 8.5)

Practice - Writing Revision (December)

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PRACTICE - SESSION 1 - DECEMBER

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter,

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

WRITING PRACTICE - VSTEP - COLLECTED AND ADAPTED BY HUYNH HUU KHOA

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