In the CAE part 1 you are required to write a formal essay about a topic.

Your essay must:

• Introduce the topic in an interesting way. (INTRODUCTION)
• Evaluate two areas related to the topic. (TWO MIDDLE PARAGRAPHS)
• Come to a conclusion about which area is the most important giving reasons to
support your argument. (CONCLUSION)

►Task analysis
►What is the problem you are being asked to help solve?
• Childhood obesity
• Children not interested in sports
►What is the question you have to answer in the essay?
• Which way is more effective? Parental example, government funding or school.
►Identify the problem and explain it in your introduction.
►Look at these three introductions, which one is inappropriate?

►Introduction
1. In this day and age a worrying percentage of children are showing signs of obesity.
The past few years have seen a steep decline in the number of school-aged children
taking part in team sports or getting regular exercise. What is the most effective way to
tackle this problem and encourage children to be more active?
2. In this essay I am going to talk about the problem of children not getting enough
exercise. I will start by talking about parental influence and then I will discuss the role
schools can play.
3. Hardly a week goes by without another article on the topic of childhood obesity
appearing in the media. This is clearly a growing issue which must be addressed
urgently. There are a number of ways in which this problem could be tackled.

►Language for introductions

 In this day and age…
 … is a hotly-debated topic that often divides opinion.
 … is a growing issue in today’s society
 We live in an age when many of us are…
 More and more families are choosing to have only one child.
 The trend nowadays is towards having smaller families.
 Over the past ten years or so the media have frequently carried reports
of ................
 Recent research indicates that the number of teenagers who smoke is increasing.
 Hardly a week goes by without another report of ................. appearing in the
media.

►Paragraph Plan
1. Do you think parental example has an effect on children doing sport or exercise?
2. Why? (Think of 2/3 reasons)
Paragraph 2 ________________________ (main idea)
 _________________________ (supporting idea)

 _________________________ (supporting idea)

 _________________________ (supporting idea/contrast)

Paragraph 2 - Parental example very important (main idea)

 Parents role-models for children (supporting idea)

 Parents take children to sports classes/camps (supporting idea)

 Children copy bad habits too (supporting idea/contrast)

In the exam you will have 45 minutes to write your essay, it is very important that you
spend the first 10 minutes thinking about the topic and planning your paragraphs.
 A topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph that announces the topic of
the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph is made up of ideas that support the
topic sentence.
 Topic sentences should refer to the question you have to answer in the essay.

 What do you think of these topic sentences?

1. Parental example clearly plays a crucial role in whether or not children take up
sports.
2. Now I am going to discuss the importance of parental influence.
 3. In my opinion, parental example is the most important factor when it comes to
encouraging children to do exercise.
4. It goes without saying that parental influence has an impact on a child’s decision
to play sports or lead an active lifestyle.

►Language for topic sentences

►Second Paragraph
 …. clearly/undoubtedly has an impact on…
 It is common knowledge that… plays a crucial role in…
 It is undoubtedly the case that…
 There is little doubt that…
 … is widely believed to contribute to…
 It is generally considered that…
 Recent research suggests that…
 Studies have shown that… has an impact/influence on…
 Few people would contest/dispute the fact that…

►Third Paragraph
 Another factor to consider is…
 On the other hand/In contrast…
 It is often claimed that…
 All the evidence suggests that…

►Language for introducing supporting ideas:

 For example,
 For instance,
 An obvious example of this is…
 A clear example of this is…
 This is illustrated by…
 As a case in point…

►Paragraph Skeleton
It goes without saying that ______________________________________ A clear
example of this is ___________________________________________ In addition,
___________________________________________________________________
____ Nevertheless, _____________________________________________

►Example
►Introduction
Hardly a week goes by without another article on the topic of childhood obesity
appearing in the media. This is clearly a growing issue which must be addressed
urgently. There are a number of ways in which this problem could be tackled.

►Second Paragraph
It goes without saying that parental influence has an impact on a child’s decision
to play sports or lead an active lifestyle. A clear example of this is the fact that
 parents set an example with their own actions, sporty adults are more likely to have
sporty children. In addition, such parents tend to sign their children up for local
sports teams and take them to training. This being said, bad habits can also be
passed on to the younger generation, children are unlikely to take an interest in
sports without parental encouragement

Language for conclusions:

 ►In light of the above, / Taking all this into consideration/account,…

 As far as I am concerned, / in my opinion, / as I see it, etc.
 … is the most effective way to… due to the fact that…
OR
 In light of the above, / Taking all this into consideration/account,…
 Despite the fact that… undoubtedly plays a role in… I firmly believe that…
is more effective due to the fact that…

CAE Essay Revision

Answer the questions with your partner:

1. What is the word limit?
2. This is a formal writing task True/False
3. You can use contractions (Wouldn’t/don’t etc.) T/F
4. You have to write about all 3 bullet points in the task. T/F
5. An essay needs a title. T/F
6. You have to include the 3 opinions from the task. T/F
7. You can use the same language to express the opinions from the task. T/F
8. An essay has paragraph titles (Introduction/conclusion etc.) T/F
9. An essay should be factual and objective T/F
10. In your conclusion you must state which of the bullet points is most
important/has the biggest influence. T/F
Example
Put the missing words back into the essay.
Hardly a week goes by without another report of the recent increase in online shopping
appearing in the papers. The decline of the high street shop is undoubtedly a major issue
in this day and _____. However, which aspect of shopping has the biggest influence
____ where people shop?
The first area to take into _______ is convenience. It is undoubtedly the ______ that
shopping online is much more convenient than shopping on the high street. A clear
example of this is that you can shop from the comfort of your armchair without lifting a
finger. In _________, the goods are delivered directly to your door whereas when you
shop in physical shops you have to carry it home yourself.
Another _______ to consider is cost. There are ______ who argue that cost has the
biggest _______ on where people decide to shop. This is _________ by the fact that
during the sales many people buy things in shops they would not normally enter.
__________, for some people the cost is not an issue, they buy what they want to buy
no matter the price.
In ______ of the above, it is probably _____ to say that cost has the biggest impact
on where people decide to shop due to the fact that most of the time, if you cannot
afford something then you will not be able to buy it.
On case age nevertheless those aspect account addition impact
illustrated light true
Formal Language
Match the formal words or phrases (1-10) that can replace the words/phrases in bold
(a-j) .
1. It goes without saying a) Lots of people think that museums are out-dated.
that b) Many museums do not cater for young children so
2. In light of the above, they must be updated.
3. It is widely believed c) The majority of public gardens are badly-maintained
that because local governments cannot afford to employ
4. Furthermore/ more gardeners.
Moreover d) Although many youngsters still play sports,
5. A great deal of + participation id decreasing due to the influence of
(uncountable noun) video games.
6. Due to the fact that e) To sum up, it is vitally important that local
7. A large number of + governments invest more in museums.
(countable noun) f) Obviously having access to good sports facilities
8. There are those who makes it easier to participate in both individual and
believe that team sports.
9. In spite of the fact g) Some people think that investing in public gardens
that is a waste of money.
10. therefore h) Also, many sports facilities are overcrowded due to a
rise in demand.
i) Local governments have already spent a lot of money
on upgrading the city’s parks and gardens.
j) A lot of local people have expressed their
disappointment with the cuts in public spending for
museums.
Introduction Phrases:
Hardly a week goes by without another The question on everybody’s lips
report of… appearing in the papers. nowadays is how/what/where…
Recent research indicates that… In this day and age, it is widely believed
that…
The current trending topic among (young
people/scientist/politicians etc.) is… (how An increasingly common issue facing
to…) (young people/scientists etc.) in this day
and age is…
 ►INTRODUCTION (1 PARAGRAPH)

►Starting your Introduction

More and more families are choosing to have only one child.
The trend nowadays is towards having smaller families.
Over the past ten years or so the media have frequently carried reports of ...............
Recent research indicates that the number of teenagers who smoke is increasing.
Hardly a week goes by without another report of ................. appearing in the media.
It is a commonly held belief that . . .
►Ending the introduction
This raises the issue of whether ................. (insert question to be answered in your
essay)
However, to what extent is this true? (after saying “it is often said” or something
similar. )

►MAIN BODY (3 – 4 PARAGRAPHS)

►Stating positives / negatives
One of the drawbacks of ....... is ..........
However, one of the benefits is that ............
►Changing topic
As regards the causes for this, ..............
Concerning the causes for this, .........
As for the causes, ...........
►Presenting arguments
One justification often given for ........... is that.................
Advocates/Proponents would claim that ..................
Those who object to ................. often argue that ...................
Another objection is that ......
However, it should not be forgotten that ..............
........... are opposed to ................ on the grounds that .................
From the point of view of .................
According to ....................
►Describing causes
One factor which has led to ............ is ..............
One of the factors which has brought this about is .........
The problem often stems from ....................
The situation has been exacerbated by ................
.............. has only made the situation worse.
One consequence of ................ is ................
►Proposing steps and measures
As regards the most appropriate response to this situation, one suggestion would be
to .........
The first step to be taken would be to ........
To alleviate the situation people should ...........
In addition they ought to ...............
To begin to tackle this situation society/individuals/the government need/s to ..........
.............. would certainly ameliorate the situation.
This can only be dealt with if ............
 To overcome this problem, ..............
Were the government to ..............., the situation would doubtless improve.
Individuals can do a great deal to ............
The burden of responsibility lies in the hands of ........
It is vitally important that .........
Legislation should be introduced to control .................
It would be a grave error if we .................

►CONCLUSION (ONE PARAGRAPH)

►Starting your conclusion
All in all it seems to me that ...........
The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that .......................
All things considered, .............
On balance, I tend to believe that ............
►Ending your conclusion
The world would surely be a better place to live in if ..............
If people stopped ....ing, we would have/ we could look forward to a ...............
The prospects for the future will be bleak/grim unless ...................

►GRAMMAR THAT WILL IMPRESS

►Participle phrases and gerunds up front:
"Burning plastics produces dioxins."
"Reducing the retirement age would create significant difficulties for pension funds."
"Having been bullied at school, I know how psychologically damaging this can be."
"Having been released from prison, many people subsequently reoffend."

►Conditionals with inversions instead of "If.."

"Were the government to ......... , we would .............."
"Had television not been invented, economic growth would have been slower."
"Had the police implemented the law more strictly, fewer people would now be
disabled."

►Cleft sentences
"What ecologists object to is ............"
"What many people would like to see is ......................"
"It is the ................. that I object to."

►Inversions,
"Not only are landfill sites unsightly, but they are also a source of pollution"
"Rarely do we see our political leaders riding bikes."

►Passives
"It is often forgotten that ..................."
"............. is considered to be ............."
"...... has been attributed to ......."
".......has been linked with ........"
"The conclusion to be drawn is that ............."