Exercise 1 Writing Skills

EX1:
Read the text and complete the gaps with the right word from the table:
CAR FREE DAY
September 22 is a day when humans might damage the ozone layer 1____________
than on other days. Why? It is 2______________ car free day. which is celebrated
3_____________by over 100 million people in about 1,500 cities. The
4___________event is a day for people to leave their cars at home. This means car
drivers can help 5___________global warming and perhaps get some exercise
instead. It is also aimed at encouraging motorists into considering more
environmentally friendly alternatives to cars. Many cities will close off whole roads to
6______________.
In Europe, the day forms part of European Mobility Week (EMW). It has the theme
“clever commuting”. The EMW website* states: “European citizens will have the
opportunity to enjoy a 7____________week of events dedicated to sustainable
mobility.” Clever commuting aims “to encourage alternative modes of transport…to
reduce 8_____________ congestion, transport-related greenhouse gases and improve
the 9_______________ and quality of life.” Participating this year is particularly
important, as it is the year the Kyoto Protocol is implemented.
health

worldwide

international

locally

national

more

increase

habits

half

bicycles

less

global

cars

reduce

full

traffic


Write a similar story about a “nightmare journey”.
NIGHTMARE JOURNEYS
We asked you to tell us about your nightmare journeys. Jutta from Germany wrote
to us about hers…
A nightmare journey I remember was three years ago when I (go)______________ to
the airport with my friend. We (go) __________________ to Mallorca on holiday
and we (have)____________ to be at Dresden airport two hours before the flight.
We (leave)_____________ home with plenty of time, but when we
(get)________________ to the motorway (there, to be) ________________ a huge
traffic jam! The traffic (not,move)__________________ at all. We (not,

know)____________what (do)___________. It was too late to go another way, so we
just (sit)____________ in the car (get)____________ more and more stressed. After
ten minutes, the traffic (start)_______________ moving slowly. We
(decide)_____________ to leave the motorway and (try) ________________ to find
another way to the airport, but I wasn’t sure of the way and we
(get)___________completely
lost.
We
(be)__________
sure
we
(miss)____________the flight. We finally (arrive)_____________at the airport just
thirty minutes before the plane (leave)_________________. The woman at the checkin-desk said we (can, not)____________ ckeck in our luggage because it was too late,
so we had (run)____________with all our cases to the departure gate.
Although my friend (fall over)____________ and (hurt)_____________her leg, we
(manage)_________________ to get to the gate in time and we
(catch)_____________ our flight.
KEY: A nightmare journey I remember was three years ago when I was going to the
airport with my friend. We were going to Mallorca on holiday and we had to be at
Dresden airport two hours before the flight.


We left home with plenty of time, but when we were getting to the motorway there
was a huge traffic jam! The traffic wasn’t moving at all. We didn’t know what to
do .It was too late to go another way, so we just sat in the car getting more and more
stressed. After ten minutes, the traffic started moving slowly. We decided to leave
the motorway and tried to find another way to the airport, but I wasn’t sure of the way
and we got completely lost. We were sure we were going to miss the flight. We
finally arrived at the airport just thirty minutes before the planewas going to leave.
The woman at the check-in-desk said we couldn’t ckeck in our luggage because it

was too late, so we had to run with all our cases to the departure gate.
Although my friend fell over and hurt her leg, we managed to get to the gate in time
and we caught our flight.
MY NIGHTMARE JOURNEY
Tips for writing
Paragraph 1

When was the journey?, Where were you going? Who with? Why?

Paragraph 2 What went wrong? What happened? (the flight was delayed, your car
broke down, you got lost, you missed your flight, there was a traffic jam, you got a
puncture, you gorgot you rpassport, your flight was overbooked).
Paragraph 3

What happened in the end?

WHY I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
When Lydia Nash 1___________ on the TV programme “Who wants to be a
millionaire?” and was 2__________ enough to win 16,000 pounds, she decided to
give all the money 3________. This wouldn’t have been 4_____________ if she had
been rich and famous, but Lydia is a 19-year-old student.
Lydia gave all the money to a 5___________ which helps orphan children in Thailand
and where she 6__________ also worked as a volunteer for the 7____________ three
years. ‘I first visited the orphanage when I was seventeen, and I felt very
8__________ by what I saw. When I got back to England I felt angry- 9___________


around all I could see were people who were 10___________ with money. That
convinced me to return to Thailand the 11_____________ year’.
After she 12__________ the money some of her friends at university thought that

maybe she had made the 13___________decision.’ Some people said I should have
14__________ it for a deposit to buy a house or to pay 15_________ my student
loan’. Lydia said. ‘That really 16___________ me. Students seem to live in an unreal
world, where they constantly complain about being poor. But there’s an enormous
difference between our situation and people who have absolutely 17____________
money’.
With the help of the money Lydia gave them, the charity has 18__________finished
building ‘Rainbow House’, a new 19__________ that will house 50 young children,
where they will live until they are 20______________.
If Lydia had won a million pounds and not only 16,000 pounds, would she still have
given away all the money? She said, ‘Before 21__________on the show I thought a
lot about what it would be like to have a lot of money and I realized that I wouldn’t
like it at all. And then, of course, as I had been to the orphanage and had seen all the
work that needed to be done, I knew how 22________ that money could be. It was far
more important for the charity than it could ever be for me. I definitely think I got
more enjoyment out of giving the money away than if I had kept it for 23________.’
wrong

has

had

annoyed

following

fortunate

up

away

surprising

earn

no

watching

previous

surprised

appeared

don’t have

ago

going

useful

looking


charity

won

obsessed

adopted

saved

any

spent

back

depressed

to go

just

myself