A2 WRITING ASSESSMENT 2

A family gathering

Communicative goals:
 Make simple comparisons between people, places or things.
 Ask for personal details in written form in a limited way.
 Write short texts describing favorite objects, possessions or household pets.

1. Think about…

1. How often do you see your

extended family?

2. When do you see your whole

family?

3. Do you think it is important to

keep in touch with your family?

Whole: Complete, entire.

To keep in touch: To communicate
constantly with someone.

2. Words matter!
To do well in this lesson it is necessary to learn a number of words. Please complete
the following exercise. At the end you will learn more vocabulary.

2.1. Underline the expression that best matches the idea of the boldfaced word or
phrase. Have a dictionary at hand!

a. My two neighbors are very chatty. They’re like parrots and they talk all the time.

- A person who likes animals - A person who talks a lot.

b. Math classes were so boring at school, but now I like them a lot.

- Interesting - Dull

c. That girl over there drank 2 beers and is acting very weird. Maybe she’s already drunk.

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 - Strange - Sleepy

d. I’m more outgoing than my brother. I’m not shy and have a lot of friends.

- Smart -Sociable

e. People at work stress so much and I’m not like that. I’m very chill.

- Relaxed and calm - Cold

2.2. Match the word on the left with the meaning on the right. Write in the parenthesis
the corresponding letter.

Word
1 Hanging out ( )
2 Under the weather ( )
3 Get out of hand ( )
4 Not a big deal ( )
Meaning
A Things are out of control
B It does not represent a big problem
C Spending time with friends or family
D When a person is sick

3. Read a bit!

Read the following text called “Family gathering”, a story of a 16-year-old boy, Pete,
who lives with his parents, grandmother and his sister’s husband.

Family gatherings are the worst! I don’t

like them. I am 16 and I just want to be
in my bedroom listening to music,
hanging out with my friends or
playing with my cat, snowball. She is
small, playful and very caring. Cats are
a great silent company. In comparison,
dogs are big, dirty and bark constantly.

When my family gets together we just

talk and talk for hours about boring
things. Both, my mom and my dad,
usually talk about their jobs and how
rude I am to them.

Blah! It is not a big deal. Like my uncles, my aunts are always asking how my school grades
are, how my niece is and how my sister’s marriage is going. My brother-in-law is smart, super
outgoing and is very nice with me. My niece is little; she is 6 and is under the weather right
now. She likes to play with my cars which is really weird, but I think girls can also enjoy

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playing with cars. My aunts are very chatty and noisy women. My parents are the opposite,
they are very chill and sometimes introverts. Despite all of this, my mom always says that
family is the most important thing in life and I think it is true, but sometimes things just get
out of hand.

4. Tips for composition:

In this session you will find grammar elements and composition strategies that help
you with your writing production. Read the explanation; this is important for the
next step!

Useful adjectives – Nouns as subjects or objects in the sentence.

In the following chart you will find adjectives that will help you write more precise
descriptions about a person or object.

Remember that unlike Spanish and some other languages, in English the adjectives go
before the object that is described (noun), unless you are using the verb to be and the noun
described is not the object but the subject in the sentence. Pay attention to the following
examples:

 I have a brave dog: In this sentence the noun described (dog) is in the position of an
object, so the adjective goes before: (a brave dog, not a dog brave)
 My dog is brave: In this sentence the noun described (dog) is in the position of a
subject and the verb to be is being used, so the adjective goes after the verb to be,
not before the noun: (my dog is brave, not my brave dog is).

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4.1. Write 5 sentences in which you describe a noun placed as both: a subject and an
object in the sentence. Look at the example provided.

Noun as the subject of the sentence
Example: Danna adopted a rare pet
1. ___________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________
5.____________________________________________
Noun as the object of the sentence
Example: Carlos’ pet is rare
1. ___________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________
5.____________________________________________

Comparison and contrast based on descriptions

Now that you have more vocabulary to write complete descriptions, let’s see some tips for
comparing people, places or things. In the chart below, you will find some common
expressions that will help you during your writing process. Take into account the information
you are going to compare or contrast.

Look at the following examples using the words for comparison and contrast shown above:

COMPARISON:

 Both, dogs and cats are great pets.

 Like Argentina, Mexico has great food.

CONTRAST:

 Converse sneakers are very comfortable. On the other hand, Vans sneakers have
better designs.
 Unlike me, John has curly hair.

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4.2. Write 5 sentences using each one of the comparison words shown in the chart
above and 5 sentences using the ones for contrast.

SENTENCES WITH WORDS FOR COMPARISON:

1. Both: ________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Like: _________________________________________________________________________________________

3. In the same way: ____________________________________________________________________________

4. Similarly: ____________________________________________________________________________________

5. Likewise: ____________________________________________________________________________________

SENTENCES WITH WORDS FOR CONTRAST:

1. On the other hand: __________________________________________________________________________

2. On the contrary: _____________________________________________________________________________

3. In comparison: ______________________________________________________________________________

4: In contrast: __________________________________________________________________________________

5: Unlike: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Now you are ready for your writing test. Let’s write something!

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