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FilmsWARM-UPLook at the pictures. In pairs, ask and answer the following que stion s.• Have you seen any of these f ilms? Did you en joy t hem?• What do you th ink the ones you haven't see n are about?• What's your favourite film? Why?

DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS /

Formal or informal?Read t hese ext racts from differe nt pieces of writ ing about films, and decidewhether the language is generally formal or informal. Circle the appropriate wordabove eac h extract.

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A formal /informalI saw a great movie last night with Helen.You'd have loved it! It's called The Score. andit's about a robbe ry. De Niro is fab as one ofthe robbers, and Edward Norton - as usual ­is realty cool! Great twist at the end, too. 1reckon it's gonna win loads of Oscars.

B formal / informalI would be extremely grateful if you couldlet me know how long I will have to waitfrom the date of my order until the satellitedish and programme decoder are installed.

C formal / informalAlthough there may well be some kind ofconnection between vio lence on TV andviolence in society. it's really not clear whatthat connection is. It ce rtainly is not thecase that the majority of people. afterwatching a violent film, feel an increasedneed to commit vio lent acts. In fact . possibl yquite the opposite.

D fo rmal / info rmalAs requested, I have visited the threeoutdoor cine mas currently taking part in thefilm fest ival. I have co mpared them in termsof t icket pricing, facilities, comfort , soundquality and picture quality. My findings areoutl ined below.

E formal /informalTo conclude. cinema appears to beincreasing in popu larity amongst youngerage groups. despite t he availability ofhigh-quality video and DVD. The evidencesuggests that t his is due partly to th esocial element involved in going to t hecinema , and part ly to the benefits of alarge screen and state-of-t he-art soundsystem.

F Kyle's language: fo rmal / _iof9rma(The writer's language: formal/ informal'Oh, I really don't fancy going to t hecinema tonight. Can't we just stay in andwatch a movie on TV or something?' saidKyle. His tone of voice revealed t hat hewas hiding his real reasons for wanting toremain at home.

G formal /informal- --

Furthe rmore. your advertisement stated that theDVD contains interviews with the stars and t hedirector.The copy which I received unfortunatelyconta ins the film and nothing more.

H formal / informalAs you will see from my C.V. (attached), I haveworked as an extra on a number of films. I believethat my references from those films demonstratethat I am professional, reliable and hardwork ing.

How did you know?Look again at ext racts A, Band C.Write a word or short phrase from t he ext racts on the lines provided.

extract A1 Find two examples of informal grammar.2 Fi nd an example of an informal verb.3 Fi nd an example of informal punct uat ion.4 Find a sentence without a verb.S Find an example of VERY informal spelling.6 Which word is short for 'fabulous'?7 Which phrase means 'many'?

extract B1 Which phrase mea ns 'Please te ll me ..: ?2 Find one example of the passive.

extract C1 Find one example of formal grammar.2 Find one example of informal grammar.3 Find a more formal phrase for 'It's not tru e at all ...'.4 Find a more formal phrase for 'most'.

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DEVELOP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

Match the text typesNow look at all the extracts again. Match each extract with a text typebelow, by writing A-H on the lines provided.

1 letter of application2 letter of complaint3 letter request ing information4 letter to a penfriend5 composition for your teacher6 art icle fo r a young people's magazine

7 report8 short sto ry

Discuss~Discuss your answers. Do you agree on the text types?

What do you think?Write T for True and Ffor Fa lse next to these statements about writing.

1 In an article for a young people's magazine. you shouldn't usecontractions (don't. can't . it's. etc) at all.

2 In a composition for your teacher. you should avoid using contractions.

1 Only grammar is formal or informal; vocabu lary isn't.

4 Phrasal ve rbs are usually (but not always) informal.

5 When you write a piece of writing, th e level of fo rmality depends on whoyour reader is.

6 You only need to have paragraphs in a formal piece of writ ing.

7 You can be quite chatty and co nversational in a lette r of ap plication.

8 A co mposition for your teacher is more formal than an art icle for ayoung person's magazine.

9 An art icle fo r a young person's magazine is the same level of formalityas a letter to a penfriend.

Study the modelQuickly read model co mposition 1on page 100 and find informal words andphrases that mean the same as these more form al words and phrases.

1 Thank you very much 5 bought

2 I am very plea sed 6 much

3 Yes 7 however

4 diff icult 8 I have to

Now find three examp les of informa l grammar and two examples ofinformal punctuation and circle them in the model.

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COMPOSITION DEVELOPMENT~Read th is composit ion question and do t he exercises that follow.

You saw an interesting film at the cinema last night. Write a letter to your penfriendexplaining why you enjoyed the film so much and recommending that they see it.

Write your letter.

BrainstormingAnswer the followin g quest ions using your imagination . Discuss your answers with the class.

What 's the name of your penfriend? _

What will you refer to from t heir last letter. or what will you ask them, BEFOREyou ment ion th e film? _

Who did you go to th e cinema wit h? _What was th e name of the film you saw? _What kind of film is it? _

Who is in it? Who directed it? _What is it about? _

Why did you parti cularly enjoy it? _Why do you think your friend will enjoy it? _

What reason will you give for ending your lette r? _

Th in k ab out fo rm a li t yCircle the sentences which would be appropriate for this kind of lette r.There might be more t han one sentence in each group which is ap propriate.

Paragraph 1a I am writing to thank you for your letter.b Thanks a lot for your last lette r.e I'm writing to thank you for your last lette r.

Paragraph 2a Anyway, a bunch of us went t o the cinema

last night.b My news - I went to th e movies last night

with Darren and Angie.c I would like to de scribe an interesti ng film

I saw at the cinema last night.

Paragraph 3a Bruce Willis was great as the baddie!b Furthermore, we were all ext remely

impressed by both the quality of the actingand the direct ion.

e I'd t he refore recommend that you see it assoo n as you get th e chance.

Wr r ing Sk ill s / Unit

d Go and see it if you get th e chance ­I think you'll love it!

e I would st rongly suggest that you go andsee thi s movie.

Paragraph 4a To concl ude , th e film was marvellous.b Well, I'd better go now as I've got to do

some homework.e That's all from me for now. I'll be in touch

again soon .

Closing expressionsa Yours,b Yours faithfull y,c Yours sincerel y,d Take care,e Lots of love,f Bye for now!

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Wordperfect

Plan your paragraphsComplete t he fo llowing paragraph plan,making notes on what yo u are going toinclude in each paragraph.

I",-Poy"",,,,,l let+ey pI""",

De"",.,. ,

P""''('''B'"'''''Pl.-. I

PO\v",~..O\pv., 2

P(>\YO\BYO\pV. .,

PO\YO\BYOI.pI.-.4

Closi....Be,cpvessio.... (s)

Yo..." .p(vst11.<?\......e

mHomeworkNow write your letter.Read t his chec klist. When yo u havewritten your letter, tick t he boxes.

• J have used informal grammar(incl uding contractions). D

• I have used info rmal vocabulary. D• I have used some info rmal

lette r expre ssions. L• I have mention ed my penfrlend's

Clette r in paragraph 1.

• I have recomme nded that my'Jpenfriend sees t he film.

• I have used at least one informalclos ing expression. ::::J

• I have written my first name at thebottom of the letter. 'J

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Read t hese sente nces and then use t he words inbold to complete t he sentences below.

• You can get your tickets at th e box office at thecinema.

• We don't watch many videos these days; weten d to watch DVDs - the quality is bette r.

• The film is about a guy who t ravels back in t imeto save t he planet.

• The Score stars Robert De Niro, Marlon Brandoand Edward Norton.

• In t he film, De Ni ro plays a jazz dub owner whois also a maste r t hief.

• Gone with the Wind is set in t he AmericanCivil War.

• Shall we go to the video store/club and get avideo out for tonight?

• Most foreign-language films have subtitles atthe bottom for you to read.

• Some foreign-language films are dubbed, whichmeans t hat t hey put all t he voices into yourlanguage.

• A twist in t he plot is when something veryunexpected happens.

1 I hate it when foreign films are___ _ _ _ _ ; I like to listen to t hem intheir original language.

2 The film is on anotherplanet . but it's really about modern-day issueson Earth.

3 Let's get our t ickets from the_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ first and t hen get somepopcorn.

4 There's a very near here butit doesn't have many recent films.

5 Leonardo Di Caprio astruggling art ist who falls in love with a rich girl.

6 It's a comedy a group ofpeople who work in a TV studio.

7 I'm going to t ry not to read the_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ; it' ll help me pract ise myEnglish.

8 There's a great at t he end -it t urns out that he's actually a ghost !

9 Ast he price of the players comes down,____ _ _ _ _ are going to become moreand more popular.

10 The film Brad Pitt, and wasdirected by Robert Redford.