Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1a) Task 1 requires you to complete a simple form with your personal details. You should have no difficulty getting all 3 marks. But the writer of the answer below will not get full marks. See how many mistakes you can find: You want to join a library. Fill in the form. You have 3 minutes.
Aptis Library
Full name: Date of birth: Day City / Town / Village: First language: Interests (list 3): A. Ibrahim 24 04 Month (write in full) 1984 Year
Task 2 minutes
5 marks - 7
2a) Read the answer below and compare it with the checklist underneath. How many marks out of 5 do you think the writer will get? You are a new member of a library. Fill in the form. Write in sentences. Use 20-30 words. You have 7 minutes. Aptis Library Please tell us about what you like to read and when you would like to use the library.
Jason Anderson for The British Council, 2013 The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities. British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)
7 marks -
3a) Read the task below and discuss these questions. Guess if youre not sure: How many answers will you have to write? Do you have 10 minutes per answer or 10 minutes for all your answers? Will the computer respond to your answers? You are a member of a library. You are talking to M. in the online library chat room. Talk to M. using sentences. Use 30 to 40 words per answer. You have 10 minutes. Hi! Ive just joined the library. I joined because I wanted to get some recommendations of good books to read. Why did you join?
Thats interesting. What are the best things about being a member?
Pos t
I know what you mean. What do you think about the new reading caf theyve just opened?
Pos t
Jason Anderson for The British Council, 2013 The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities. British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)
Task 4 minutes
9 marks - 30
4a) Read the exam task and the example answer. How many marks do you think it would get? You are a member of a library. You have just received the following email from them. Dear Library Members, Due to high membership, two new rules will be introduced from today: members are only allowed to take out 2 books at a time, instead of 4 books previously allowed all members will be charged $5 per day for books that are overdue, increased from $1 We hope you understand these changes are in the interest of all members. Please feel free to email us about this: library@aptis_library.com Write an email to a friend. Write your feelings about the new rules and suggest possible alternatives. Write about 50 words. You have 10 minutes.
Subject: Library blues! Hi Susan,
Jason Anderson for The British Council, 2013 The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities. British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)
Also write an email to the library, explaining your feelings about the new rules and suggesting possible alternatives. Write 120-150 words. You have 20 minutes.
Subject: New Library Regulations Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the new library regulations. While I understand that your library has limited financial resources, the changes you have introduced are, I feel, unwarranted. Firstly, two books are not sufficient for fast readers like myself. I will now need to make two visits to the library per week, instead of one. Secondly, the $5 per day overdue penalty seems extremely harsh, and represents a large increase on the previous penalty. May I suggest an alternative solution to your problem? If you were to charge a small membership fee, this would reduce the number of members while also providing a modest income to purchase more books. I would imagine a fee as small as $20 per annum would suffice. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Yours faithfully, Ali Mohammed
4b) Notice the difference in register between the two emails. The first uses an informal register, the second uses formal. Working in pairs, find equivalents in the first email to the underlined expressions / words in the second email. 4c) Notice what does and what doesnt change when we switch between formal and informal registers. Working in pairs complete the following table. What changes? Length of sentences Spelling Vocabulary choice Verb tense choice
Often longer in formal emails. No change (except in text slang - CU L8er). Use standard spellings in Aptis exam.
E.g. informal
Im really annoyed by -
Formal equivalent
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with -
Jason Anderson for The British Council, 2013 The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities. British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)
Jason Anderson for The British Council, 2013 The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities. British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)
Verb tense choice Linking expressions (conjunctions & discourse markers) Punctuation Use of paragraphing Directness of criticism Salutations and valedictions (how we open and close emails)
Secondly, while
Im really annoyed They didnt even ask us!!!! are ridiculous Hi Susan, Cheers, Ali
I am writing
seems extremely harsh Dear Sir or Madam, Thank you for your attention. Yours faithfully, Ali Mohammed
Jason Anderson for The British Council, 2013 The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities. British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)