IELTS Writing skills- Worksheet No 8

Name:ClassDate:..

Task 1.2
All the punctuation has been removed from the text below. Read the whole text and put in slashes where there you
think the sentences end. Then punctuate each sentence.

the university of edinburgh unlike other scottish universities is composed of colleges there are three of them sciences
and engineering humanities and social sciences and medicine and veterinary medicine each college covers both
undergraduate and graduate programmes of study although students are generally admitted to one college only they
may have the opportunity to study subjects of another undergraduate programmess generally last three years or four
for honours there is an extensive variety of postgraduate programmes of study including a 9 month diploma a 12
month masters and doctoral research programmes lasting at least 36 months

Passive
Can you make the academic sentences passive?
Make the sentences below passive if it is possible (sometimes it is not). Leave out the actor (= subject of the active sentence) if it
is likely to be obvious or unimportant.
A
The economy exposes wage earners to risk.
The red line represents median age.
Companies require more patents when they already lead their industries.
Forecasters expect a drop in business confidence.
We analysed the data in two ways.
We didnt achieve the previous results by this method.
We filled the space with silicone gel.
We have divided the data into two categories.
This topic interests many researchers.
Nobody had manufactured it in this way.
B
Researchers think that
People say that
Experts believe that
FORMALITY
Six of the sentences below sound too strong because they are opinions rather
than facts. Soften these six sentences by adding less definite verbs.
e.g. Smoking kills people. Smoking can kill people.
1. Learning a language makes students more open-minded.
2. Learning a language takes time.
3. The Internet will replace books.
4. The Internet is global.
5. Qualifications are useful in finding a well-paid job.
6. Qualifications result in a well-paid job.
7. Water boils at 100C at sea level.
8. Democracy is not the best political system.
9. The Euro will collapse next year.
10.Doing regular exercise leads to a long life.

Add adverbs to make these sentences more precise. Where you see (+), make
the sentence stronger; where you see (-), make the sentence weaker.
e.g. Smoking kills people. (+) Smoking definitely kills people.
1. Learning a language makes students more open-minded. (-)
2. Learning a language takes time. (+)
3. Qualifications are useful. (+)
4. Qualifications are useful. (-)
5. Democracy is not the best political system. (-)
6. The evidence was weak. (+)
7. The unemployment rate rose. (-)
8. The unemployment rate rose. (+)
9. The tutor was on time. (-)
10.Cheating is wrong. (+)

IDEAS:
Brainstorm 3 advantages / 3 disadvantages of nuclear weapons
1 advantage of nuclear weapon from the viewpoint of 1 disadvantage of nuclear weapon from the viewpoint of
governments governments

1 advantage of nuclear weapon from the viewpoint of 1 disadvantage of nuclear weapon from the viewpoint of
companies companies

1 advantage of nuclear weapon from the viewpoint of 1 disadvantage of nuclear weapon from the viewpoint of
humans humans
JEOPARDY
Word formation
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/word-formation3
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/word-formation2
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/cae-word-formation
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/bjo-word-formation
Learning a language can/might/may/could/would appear to make students
more open-minded.
3. The Internet can/might/may/could replace books.
6. Qualifications can/might/may/could result in a well-paid job.
8. Democracy might not/may not be the best political system.
9. The Euro might/may/could collapse next year.
10. Doing regular exercise can/might/may/could/would appear to lead to a long
life.
B
1. Learning a language possibly/probably makes students more open-minded.
2. Learning a language definitely/always takes time.
3. Qualifications are definitely/always useful.
4. Qualifications are possibly/probably/sometimes/rarely useful.
5. Democracy is possibly not/probably not/sometimes not/rarely the best
political system.
6. The evidence was definitely weak.
7. The unemployment rate rose slightly/gradually.
8. The unemployment rate rose sharply/dramatically.
9. The tutor was sometimes/rarely on time.
10.Cheating is definitely/always wrong.