Reading and Writing Portfolio 1

Reading an email about a holiday Writing

Describing a holiday informal writing: ellipsis of words Review
Past Simple; likes and dislikes

1 Read the email quickly.

a Who is the email from?

The email is from Ana.
Cancel
New Message Send
b Who is the email to?
The email is to her mother.

c What is the writer doing?

She is writing the email in the car.
2 Read the email again and choose the
best answers.
1 Who is Anna travelling with?
a David and her children. b
David’s grandparents. c
Her parents.
2 Which places have they been to so far?
a New York.
Hi! 1Writing this in the car. We’re driving to Province Town, a beach town
near Cape Cod in Massachusetts. We’re in the second week of our two weeks
away. And so far, Mum, it’s been really special. We spent two days in New
York. 2Hotel was a bit basic but it was safe and clean. We went to a few
exhibitions and Simon and Ailsa had us round for lunch – you remember our
ex-neighbours from Oxford, don’t you? NY is a wonderful place – really
exciting. The traffic got on my nerves after a while – 3worse than Cambridge!
4
Tuesday we drove up to New Hampshire. On the way, we said a quick
‘hello’ to David’s grandparents in Boston. And we’re going to go back and
stay with them later in the week. They’re well. They have dinner at about
4 p.m. these days – 5drives David crazy!

b New York and Boston.
c New York, Boston and Province Town.
3 What annoys David?
a He prefers cities.
b His grandparents have dinner
very early.
c The traffic in New York.
4 When did they stay in New Hampshire?
a Between Boston and Cape Cod. b
Between New York and Boston. c
Between Boston and Cambridge.
I can’t normally bear the country, Mum. You know me – I’m a city girl. But
New Hampshire is so quiet and so green – I fell in love with it. We stayed in a
beautiful house there – some friend of David’s grandmother owns it. Eve and
Harry had a lot of fun exploring the woods at the back of the house
– until David told them there might be some bears in there … then they
wouldn’t go back again!
6
Will write again before we come home.
Love,
Anna, David, Eve and Harry

5 What have they done on holiday so far?

a Had friends round for dinner. b
Visited friends and relatives. c
Both a) and b).

6 Why did the children stop exploring

the woods?
a Because they saw some bears in there.
b Because their father told them to.
c Because they were scared.
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 HELP WITH WRITING
Informal writing: ellipsis of words 5 a Imagine you are on holiday for two weeks. Write ideas in the diary.

3 a We sometimes miss out words in

informal writing when it is clear what or
who we are talking about. Look at this
sentence from the email.
1 I’m Writing this in the car. Day Week Month List

What types of words are missed out in Mon 1 Mon 8

sentences 1–6 in bold in the email? Leave home. Visit the iconic Palace of
1 pronoun and auxiliary
Fly to Mexico Fine Arts

2 article Tue 2 Tue 9

Stay with
pronoun and auxiliary GoBasilica
to of Guadalupe
3
My best friend Giorgina
4 preposition
Wed 3 Wed 10
5 pronoun
Basilica of Guadalupe
Stay at Kavia Hotel
6 pronoun
b Match words a–f to answers 1–6 Thur 4 Thur 11

in 3a. Leave forMerida

Travel to Yucatan
by bus
a I’m 1
6 Fri 5 Fri 12
b I
3 Visit Coloradas Lagoon
c it’s Visit Chichen Itza
2
d The
Sat 6 Sat 13
5
e it Visit Giorgina’s brother Go back to
4 Oaxaca
f On by
plane
Sun 7 Sun 14
4 Cross out the words you can miss out in
these sentences.
Go to Mitla
1 The exhibition was interesting. (1 word) Travel to Mexico City
2 In August, Sally and I go to Antalya.
(1 word)
3 I can’t find the map. (1 word)
4 I have not got any money! (2 words)
5 Have you had a lie-in today? (2 words)
6 We have been out for dinner. (2 words)
b Write an email to a family member on Monday 8th.
7 It is going to be sunny tomorrow. (2
words) ● Use your notes from 5a.
8 We are going to Agnieszka’s tonight. (2 ● Add information about what you liked and didn’t like during the first
words) week of your holiday.
● Organise your email into paragraphs.
● Use ellipsis of words where possible.
● Read and check for mistakes.
● Give your email to your teacher next class.

Tick the things you can do in English in the

Reading and Writing Progress Portfolio, p88.
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To: victorsc@gmail.com
Hi dad, writing this on the plane. My best friend Giorgina and I traveled to Mexico, we’re in
the second week, when we arrived here, I all the beautiful landscapes, the lagoons, the
beaches and the most significant places.
We visited to her brother Ricardo and together we went to visit some more friends.
Giorgina said to stay at Kavia Hotel, I had never seen a very luxurious and big room, it was
really incredible. The next day we went to Merida and we were on Coloradas lagoon, the
water there is very clean. Then, we left it by bus to travel to Mexico City, by the way, visit
the iconic Palace of Fine Arts and take some photos. We were anxious to go to the Basilica of
Guadalupe, mom always wanted to go there, I promise one day I'll take her.
Finally, we travel to Yucatan, where we visit Chichen Itza, one of the wonders of the world.
Definitely, this is the best trip I've ever had.
Will write again after we come home.
Love
Daniela