Composition Writing for the B2 (Lower) Exams

In this post I analyse, with examples, the various types of composition writing in the B2 (Lower) exams in Greece.

1. Telling a story (Narrative Composition)

2. Description (Descriptive Composition)

3. Letters (to a friend / semi-formal / formal)

4. Discursive writing (Advantages – Disadvantages)

5. Speech / Talk

6. Instructions (Explanations)

   1. Telling a Story / Μερικές σκέψεις για αφηγηματικές εκθέσεις: 

   Κάθε μέρα διαβάζουμε αφηγήσεις. Στα blog πολλοί μας λένε τι γίνεται στην προσωπική ή κοινωνική ζωή τους. Οι ιστορικοί συγγραφείς αφηγούνται ‘πράματα  και θάματα’ από το παρελθόν, οι δημοσιογράφοι αφηγούνται τα καθημερινά γεγονότα, οι λογοτεχνικοί συγγραφείς αφηγούνται ελκυστικές ιστορίες.

   Άλλοι γράφουν ή στέλνουν μηνύματα στις εφημερίδες και στους ραδιοφωνικούς σταθμούς  διαμαρτυρόμενοι (συνήθως) για κάτι.

Εμείς, που προετοιμαζόμαστε για τις εξετάσεις B2 (Lower), ενδιαφερόμαστε για την  απλή αφήγηση κάποιων γεγονότων.

A.     Τα γεγονότα αυτά πρέπει να ‘δεθούν’ μεταξύ τους στο χρόνο, δηλαδή πρέπει να αναφερθούν στη συγκεκριμένη χρονική σειρά που συνέβησαν. Με αγγλοελληνικά λόγια(!) πρέπει να έχουν μια strong and clear chronological order.

Σ’αυτή τη σειρά των γεγονότων που αφηγούμαστε θα πρέπει να υπάρχουν συνδετικές λέξεις όπως:

Link words:

• First …………………………..
• At once ………………………..
• Meanwhile ……….. ………….
• Two seconds later) …………..
• Within minutes……………….
• At last …………………………
• Finally ………………………..
• In the end …………………….

B.     Οι εξεταστές πάντα αναζητούν αποδείξεις από τους υποψηφίους, που ‘δείχνουν’ ότι  οι εξεταζόμενοι έχουν γνώση (τουλάχιστον), των βασικών παραμέτρων μιας αγγλικής πρότασης:

Participles:

• On finding ………….
• After finding ……………
• Having found ……………..
• On being found ……………..
• Having being found …………..

Time:

• After + Past Perfect ………………..
• As soon as …………………..
• While + Continuous Past ……………
• Before …………….
• Until ……………
• Once ………………..
• By the time ……………….
• Since …………………..

And don’t forget the Absolute Construction:

e.g. The weather being fine, we decided to go swimming.

Result:

• ………….. so ………….. that ……………….. such ………… that ………….

Purpose:

• Same subject = to, in order to, so as to + infinitive
• Different subject = so that , in order + will, may, can / would, might, could

Don’t forget:

• LEST = for fear that …………. so that not ………….

and

• IN CASE = for fear that …………. so that not ……….

Comparison:

• as ………… as ……………..
• (sooner) than (I had expected)

Manner:

• As if (he were drunk)
• As though (he had just seen a ghost)
• As (he usually did)

Place:

• Where (he always parked his car)

Reason:

• ………..because…………
• ………..since……………
• ………..as……………….

Condition:

• (especially the third Impossible type)
• If I hadn’t jumped aside, the rock would have crushed me to death.

Concession:

• Although ……………..
• In spite of the fact that ( I was feeling quite ill ……………)
• No matter how hard I tried, I could not escape.

Inversion:

(This will impress the examiner)

• No sooner + Past Perfect ………….. than ………..
• Hardly + Past Perfect ………….. than ………………
• Rarely ………..(have I seen such …………)
• Seldom ………… (have I been……….)
• Only then …………….(did I realize………..)
• So surprised was I that ……………

Relative Clauses:

• …………..that………who……….whose…………….which…….

Passive Voice:

• This should be used where suitable.

Indirect Speech:

• This should be used freely. No Inversion with Indirect Questions.

_____________ . _____________

Pick out examples of the above in the following model:

Two weeks ago, while driving to Salonica, I witnessed a frightful road accident, which I shall never forget as long as I live. I was in the inside lane, doing about 80 kilometres an hour, when in my mirror I noticed a car coming up behind me. It must have been doing about 120 kph because, within seconds, he had overtaken me. It was a young man in a yellow Porsche. Hardly had he passed me, when at a sudden bend in the road, the driver seemed to lose control of the car and it skidded wildly to the left, right into the stream of the oncoming traffic. First it hid the side of a bus, and then crashed head on, into a large lorry. With a screeching of brakes the traffic came to a halt. Drivers ran to see if they could help. Unfortunately nothing could be done: the fine sports car was a mass of twisted metal, and the young man lay dead in the wreckage. Still quite shocked, I drove away and soon met a police car and an ambulance racing to the crash, their sirens wailing. I suppose a tyre must have burst or perhaps his wheels skidded in a patch of oil.