Exam Review

Exam Review

Dear students,

The following activities will help you practice for your Descriptive Writing Exam.

Describing Places

 You were invited by the Queen of England to visit Buckingham Palace. In your visit,
you collected all the information below. Now write an email to your mum or dad
explaining what you have seen and learnt about this place.

In one of your visits to the Palace you were introduced to some members of the British Royal Family.  Now write an email to your best friend describing ONE of them giving your personal opinion. Include physical and character description, and some information about their daily routine. 

Short stories- reviews

Short stories- reviews

Hey, students!

Today you will be part of an amazing project: a critic of children's stories. You have
been given three stories to read for today.

Read all the three stories on the links below:

The Red Hen

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Fox and the Crow

Now choose one of the stories you have just read. Write a review following all
steps for reviews:

Paragraph 1: An introduction

Facts and background information concerning the story,such as:

• the title
• the name of the characters. 
• the type of story.
• the place where the story takes place (i.e.the setting ).

Paragraph 2 and 3: Main body

Paragraph 2: describing the main features of the plot (or summary of the story)

paragraph 3: general comments and opinions on:

• ‐the actions
• ‐personality of characters
• ‐the moral

Paragraph 4: Conclusion

• Include a recommendation and reasons why you recommend (or don't recommend)
  the story.

You can use some of these phrases to write your review. 

• The story is called... (title)
• It is a... (type)
• It starts... (characters' names)
• It is set in... (location)
• It is about... (story)
• It is... (description using adjectives)
• if you like... (recommendation) 

Film Review

Film Review

Are you up for a film?

Hey, students!

Today in the lab you'll practise your film review writing with a short film. 

Let's have a look at 'Partly Cloudy'.

Partly Cloudy

Project

Write a film review about this short film including all the aspects seen in 

class. 

Paragraph 1: An introduction

Facts and background information concerning the film,such as:

• the title
• the name ofthe artists or actors and actresses
• the name ofthe director
• the type ofmovie
• the place where the story in the filmhappens(i.e.the setting )

Paragraph 2 and 3: Main body

Paragraph 2: describing the main features of the plot (or summary of the story in the film)

paragraph 3: general comments and opinions on:

• ‐the acting
• ‐the music
• ‐the photography
• ‐the colour/ animation (if it is a cartoon )
• ‐the setting
• ‐the costumes
• ‐special effects( e.g.sci‐fi movies)

Paragraph 4: Conclusion

• Include a recommendation and reasons why you recommend the film

You can use some of these phrases to write your film review. 

• The film is called... (title)
• It is a... (type)
• It is directed by... (director's name)
• It starts... (actors' names)
• It is set in... (location)
• It is about... (story)
• It is... (description using adjectives)
• if you like... (recommendation) 

Enjoying a good film

Look at the types of films below and match them to the pictures.

a romance - a science fiction film - a comedy -  a fantasy film - a musical - a drama- an action film

1. _________________________

2. _________________________

3. _________________________

4. _________________________

5. _________________________

6. _________________________

7. _________________________

8. _________________________

These people have described the type of films they like the most.  What kind of film are they talking about?

Sarah: "I like films set in the future."

Liz: "I like films which make me laugh."

Jo: "I like serious films with good dialogues."

Mark: "I like films in which strange and frightening things happen."

Ed: "I like love films."

Mick: "I like films about magical, imaginary worlds."

Jim: "I like films with lots of singing and dancing."

Kate: "I like films with lots of adventure and excitement."

Men films / Women films

Do you think men and women enjoy films differently? Look at the things people usually look for in a film. Decide which ones are men's and women's choice.  Complete the table below

action - a good story - attractive men -  excitement - fighting - attractive women - dialogue - emotion - excitement - love - relationships - speed

Answer the following questions:

1. What do women's films focus on?
2. What do you think about actors Nicolas Cage, Hugh Grant, and Mel Gibson?
3. Do women watch only women's films?

Read the reviews below.

Answer the following questions about the reading.

• Which film are these reviews about? If you are not sure, find information in this website http://www.imdb.com/
• Do you agree with any of the reviews?Why? Write a journal entry with this information.
• Do you think the writers are male or female?

That's lots of fun

That's lots of fun

Movie Time!

Watching films is a good way to have fun with others, especially in 
winter days, don't you think?

Today we will work with a film from 2010: Megamind

Now watch a trailer for this film and take down notes based on what you see.

Megamind trailer

After you gather all your notes, compare them with a partner's and write a summary 
of what happens.

Show your work to your teacher.

Answer the following questions.

• What kind of movies do you like?  Who's your favourite actor/actress?
• What was the last film you saw? Did you see it at the cinema or on DVD?
• Who was in it?
• What was it like? Would you recommend it? Why(not)?

Adjectives: Order before Nouns

This is a complicated point of grammar. The following rules have exceptions.

Words for colour, origin/place, material and purpose go in that order. Other adjectives come before these.

OTHER	COLOUR	ORIGIN/PLACE	MATERIAL	PURPOSE	NOUN
Old	red	Spanish	leather	riding	boots
A funny	brown	German		beer	mug

Opinions often come before descriptions

OPINION	DESCRIPTION	NOUN
Funny	old	buildings
A terrible	little	boy
Nice	new	clothes

Here are descriptions from a newspaper, a journal, a biography and a novel. Rewrite each description in the right order. Example:

Books: old, terrible à terrible old books (opinion + description)

1. city: belgian. beautiful. little. 2. club: jazz. local. 3. dinner: excellent. cold. 4. buildings: modern. industrial. 5. dress: evening. red. silk. 6. eyes: narrow. colourless. 7. frame: flat. gold.

8. furniture: old. lovely. 9. ink: drawing. swiss. 10. jacket: short. leather. 11. squares: brick. little. 12. boots: french. ski. 13. tie: blue. woolen. 14. trousers: cotton. grey. 15. trunk: black. nylon. swimming

Extra Practice

Click the links below to test how much you know about adjective order.

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord1.htm

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl_adjectiveorder1.html

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-42493.php

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/139.html

Activity 

Have a look at the newspaper ads below

1. What are they advertising?

a.

b.

c.

2. What types of adjectives describe each person or item? Opinion adjective? Purpose adjective?

a.

b.

c.

Journal

Write three newspaper ads describing:

·         Something to rent

·         Something to buy

·         Someone to meet 

LET'S REVIEW

LET'S REVIEW

DESCRIBING PROCESSES

Hello Students,

Newspapers are a widely used source of information: we can find not only news but also job advertisements, our horoscope, film reviews and more. Incidentally, have you ever wondered  how newspapers are made?

By clicking on the link below, you’ll have the chance to see the whole process. In your copybook, take down notes of the main steps that are followed,  paying  special attention to the use of passive voice and the new vocabulary:

                    Step 1. _________________________________

                    Step 2. _________________________________

                    Step 3._________________________________ (Etc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7zYpvtRAlE

Now write the process in a paragraph. Use passive voice and appropriate sequence words.

What is needed to create newspapers?

Although we can always read the news on the internet, the paper copy is easy to read due to its size and letter quality. How is paper made? click on the link below and find out.

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/papermade.htm

Now make a list of the most important steps. Write them in the form of instructions, beginning your step with a verb in the imperative form.
1 ____________________________________
2 ____________________________________
3 ____________________________________
4 ____________________________________
5 etc

Next, re-write the steps you have described in the passive voice  form (be+past participle) and write a summary of the process of making pencils. Do not forget the rules for writing a paragraphs.

Homework

Find information about any process you would like to learn about.  Then write an entry describing such process.