WT3: Formal letter - requesting information

Useful language for letter requesting information:

Opening remarks:
I am writing to enquire about ...;
I am writing in connection with ...

Introduce first request:
Could you possibly send ...;
I would be grateful if you could...;
Would it be possible for you to tell/send me...;
I would appreciate some information about...

Introduce further request:
Could you also please send me...;
Another matter I need information on is ...
I would also like some information on...

Closing remarks:
I look forward to receiving...;
I would appreciate it if you could inform me as soon as possible.

MODEL

Rubric:
You have just seen this advertisement in a Pet’s magazine and you would really like to take the course. However you feel you need some more information before taking the course. Write a letter between 120 to 180 words in appropriate style.


DOG OBEDIENCE CLASSES
Train your dog in our special classes.
Register now for the autumn course.
For more information write to:
Smart Dogs
3, Longhill Green
Wolfhill

- breed/age of dog
- specific aspects it needs training in
- cost of the course




Model:

Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to inquire about your advertisement in the September issue of Favourite Pets magazine. I am interested in dog obedience classes but I would be grateful if you could send me further details.
Firstly, I would like to know what breeds of dogs are accepted for the classes and whether the dog must be a certain age in order to take part. I have a six-month-old male cocker spaniel which I am anxious to train. He is very excitable and especially needs to learn how to walk without pulling on his lead.
I also require information on the cost of the course, when it will commence and how long it is likely to last.
I look forward to receiving details about the dog obedience classes.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Yours faithfully,
Kristen Miller.

Exercise:

Instructions: You belong to an activity club. In the last meeting, it was decided that the group would arrange a river-rafting trip. Peter was in charge of writing a letter to a rafting club requesting some more information about it. He wrote this letter and asked you to revise it. However you have found some impolite phrases and expressions and you have underlined them. Rewrite the sentences in Italics for something a bit more formal.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I was reading a magazine when I saw your ad the other day so I decided to write. Our school activity club is planning a river-rafting trip next month and I want you to tell me some more information about your club.
Can you tell me how many people can go on your trip? There are about thirty planning to go in our group. Is that too many?
As we will probably just go for a day I also want to know what it costs for a whole day of rafting per person. Can you also find out what it costs to hire a coach for one day? This would be helpful as that is how we intend to travel.
Finally, it is necessary to take any special safety precautions to go rafting? Obviously we will want to be properly prepared and equipped before we start.
I hope you can help me with these details. Please let me know as soon as you can.

All the best,

Teri Bauer

WT3:
WELCOME TO HEAVEN
Spend a whole week in paradise in the company of attractive people of your age.
Leave your worries behind: here all you will find will be beauty and pleasure.
Boost your ego: an experienced advisor will be at hand to point to improvements in your looks.
Revitalize yourself: we have the most modern swimming pools, courts, and disco around.
And who knows? Maybe meet your soulmate?

Write to us for free details about the chance of your life.

The advertisement below appeared in the last weekend edition of ´Beauty´. You are interested in spending a holiday at this resort and decide to write a letter requesting further informantion about it. You letter must be of about 150 words.

Impersonal Passive

Study this example situation:

Henry is very old. Nobody knows exactly how old he is, but:
It is said that he is 108 years old.
Or, He is said to be 108 years old.

Both these sentences mean: People say that he is 108 years old.

We can use these structures to talk about the past and the present; about what people say or said and about how old he is or was. Compare the following chart:

Present: He is said to be 108 years old
Past: He was said to have been 108 years old
Present & Past: He is said to have been 108 years old

You can use these structures with a number of other verbs, especially:
thought, believed, considered, alleged, reported, known, expected.

Compare the two structures:

The police are looking for a missing boy.

It´s believed that the boy is wearing a white pullover and blue jeans.
The boy is believed to be wearing a white pullover and blue jeans.

The strike started three weeks ago.

It´s expected that it will end soon.
The strike is expected to end soon.

A friend of mine has been arrested.

It´s alleged that he kicked a policeman.
He´s alleged to have kicked a policeman.


The two houses belong to the same family

It´s thought that the owners are very rich.
The owners are thought to be very rich.


Say these sentences in another way, beginning as shown:

1- It´s expected that the weather will be good tomorrow.
The weather is

2-It was believed that the thieves got in through the kitchen window.
The thieves

3-It´s reported that many people are homeless after the floods.
Many people

4- It´s thought that the prisioner escaped by climbing over a wall.
The prisioner

5- It was alleged that the man had driven through the town at 90 miles na hour.
The man

6- It´s reported that the building has been badly damaged by the fire.
The building

7- It´s said that the company is losing a lot of money.
The company

8- It´s expected that the company will lose money this year.
The company

9-It´s believed that the company lost a lot of money last year.
The company

Key:
1. expected to be good tomorrow.
2.were believed to have got in through the kitchen window.
3.are reported to be homeless after the floods.
4.is thought to have escaped by climbing over a wall.
5.was alleged to have driven through the town at 90 m/hour.
6.is reported to have been badly damaged by the fire.
7.is said to be losing as lot of money.
8.is expected to lose a lot of money this year.
9.is believed to have lost a lot of money last year.

Causative: Sentence transformation

Complete the sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first.

1. A shop mended my CD player for me.
had
I _____________________at a shop.
2. Her hairdresser has cut her hair really short.
had
She _____________________really short.
3. I pay someone to wash my car every week.
have
I ________________________every week.
4. A builder is modernising our bungalow for us.
having
We ___________________________.
5. An accountant will have to check these books for you.
get
You will _________________by an accountant.
6. She has never made her own breakfast.
always
She has _______________________ for her.
7. The surgeon is not going to remove your appendix.
have
You are not going _____________________removed.
8. Didn’t you ask someone to translate this report yesterday?
get
Didn’t you ___________ yesterday?
9. My cat loves it when I scratch its head.
having
My cat __________________scratched.
10. I’m having my son taught chess by a grandmaster.
teaching
A grandmaster _____________________chess.

Key:
1. my CD player mended
2.has had her hair cut
3.have my car washed
4.are having our bungalow modernised
5.get these books checked
6.always had breakfast made
7. to have your appendix
8.get this report translated
9. loves having its head
10.is teaching my son

WT2: Writing a Report

General information about reports

Reports are normally written for someone in authority and contain factual information.

Assessment Report - present and evaluate the positive and negative qualities of a person or a building/place (i.e. a hotel, a restaurant, a shop, a cinema complex, etc) in order to make a judgement or recommendation about them.

Proposal Reports - present suggestions, plans and decisions about future actions.


Reports should consist of:

• an introduction in which you state the purpose and content of the report;
• a main body in which you present each topic in detail under suitable subheadings. (these headings introduce the topic of the paragraphs, so you don't need to start a paragraph with a topic sentence) - the number of paragraphs may vary depending on the rubric;
• a conclusion which summarises the information from the main body and states your general assessment and/or recommendation.

** All subheadings must be in bold, italics or underlined.

Style:

• Reports are written in a formal, impersonal style. You should use factual language, passive voice and full verb forms. You should also write fairly short sentences to help your reader pick out the information easily. Present tenses are normally used for assessment reports. Past tenses can be used for reports related to past events. Modals, conditionals or 'would' are normally used for proposal reports.
• You should always begin your report by stating who the report is addressed to and what their position is, the writer's name and position, what the report is about and the date.

eg. To: Thomas Prescot, Chairman of Council

From: Mary Scott, Senior Manager

Subject: Big Screen Cinema Complex

Date: 3rd June, 2005.

Useful Language:

You can start a report with the following phrases:

1. The purpose/aim of this report is to assess/investigate...
2. This report was carried out to assess...
3. As requested, this report is to assess...

To express your opinion/findings throughout the main body:

1. “ As might be expected, …”
   eg. As it might be expected some pubs are quite expensive in this area.
2. “ It is surprising that …”
   eg. It is surprising to see so many young people in a so-called single’s bar.
3. “ It is interesting that …”
   eg. It is interesting that people in this pub can talk to each other on a phone available in each table.
4. “ Not surprisingly, …”
   eg. Not surprisingly, many of the exhibitors are Brazilian.
5. “ Strangely, …”eg. Strangely, many teenagers can be found in the Our Lady of Acheropita’s street celebration.

To end your report you can use the following phrases:

1. On the whole, ...
2. To sum up, ...
3. All in all, ...
4. In conclusion, ...
5. In spite of the (dis)advantages, ....
6. I would (not) recommend ...
7. ... is (not) recommended ...
8. ... is (not) suitable for....

Models

Model A - Layout

Title Underlined

Introduction

The aim of this report is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmm.

Food
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm m 70%mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Festivals
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 10% mmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmR$30,00m.

Restaurants
Mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm50% mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm.

Meeting people
Mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmm m m m mmmm mmmmmm.

Recommendation

All in all, mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmmmm mmm mmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mm mmm mmmmmm. Therefore, I recommend / I do not recommend mmmmm mmm mmmmmmm.

Model B

Public Satisfaction with local underground railway system

Introduction

The aim of this report is to analyse the results of a survey in which 500 residents were questioned about the local underground railway system and whether or not they were satisfied with it.

Convenience
Many people do not find the system convenient. This is illustrated by the fact that more than fifty per cent complained that stations are too far from their homes and that the system can only be used to reach a few areas of the city, forcing many customers to use other means of public transport to complete their journeys.

Cost
Seventy per cent of those questioned had no complaints about the cost of the service. This shows that the majority of passengers consider the cost reasonable, and that a slight increase would be considered acceptable.

Comfort
A large number of people who participated in the survey stated that they felt the trains are insufficiently heated in cold weather. There were also comments on the hardness of the seats and that trains are not always as clean as they might be. That indicates that passengers are not entirely satisfied as far as comfort is concerned.

Recommendation
All points considered, some improvements evidently need to be made if passengers are to be satisfied with the service. Perhaps a slight increase in the fare would make it possible for the service to be improved in the areas mentioned in this report.

(223 words)

Model C - Report made after a magazine requirement – Formal

To: Veja Magazine
From: Ana Paula Yule
Subject: Assess suitability of the Le Monde Restaurant for School’s Graduation Party

Introduction

The aim of this report is to asses the suitability of the Le Monde Restaurant to hold the Graduation party as in the up coming month the class of 2003 will celebrate their graduation.

Food
Le Monde serves good quality meals with a wide variety of delicious local and international dishes. As well as an excellent choice of starters and desserts, they also offer a number of French specialties.

Service
Despite the polite well trained staff, the service is sometimes slow mainly when the restaurant is full. As it takes some time to arrive at table, salads are usually wilted.

Prices
The prices are quite reasonable, although some dishes, such as the French specialties, are rather expensive.

Atmosphere
The atmosphere is charming and relaxing, the background music is pleasant and the décor is modern. In addition, at night the usual lamp is replaced by candlelight, which creates a romantic feel.

Conclusion
Despite some minor downsides, in general, Le Monde Restaurant appeals to customers of all ages. Besides it is the perfect place for a glamorous graduation night.

(176 words)

Model D - Report made for a tourist guide book – Semi formal

London’s Disco Inferno

Introduction
There is more to London’s night life than people could ever dream of. London boats one of the most popular night clubs among teenagers – the acclaimed Thorntree Disco

Opening Hours
To begin with, the Thorntree Disco does not open until 9pm weekdays and 10pm on weekends and it has been confirmed to close after the last client has paid their bill.

Facilities
More suitable for older teenagers and young adults, there are 4 well ventilated toilets in each of the 4 floors, which is a good number considering the amount of clients. Therefore, hardly ever there is a queue. There are three dance floors playing different music styles where couples and friends can enjoy dancing. To go from one floor to another you can climb the stairs or get a ride on the elevator and have a panoramic view of London by night. On the third floor there’s a sushi bar and a pub where you can have a bite to eat or drink some extravagant cocktails.

Décor
The interior is decorated as a living room with quaint pieces of furniture. On the third bar there are many sofas and comfortable chairs around large coffee tables, which resembles Friend’s Central Perk pub.

Conclusion

What really makes Thorntree Disco unique is the attractive décor and the multiplicity of music styles. I recommend it to people of all ages and especially for those who love listening as well as dancing to good music.
(240 words)