CAE ESSAYS

1) What do you remember about CAE essays? Brainstorm some ideas.

2) Read the rubric and the answer below. Do you think this is a good or a bad
example of an essay? Why?

Recently, a heated debate (a) as to how important competitions in general are for
young people has been taking place(1). Among their (b) many benefits, teaching
youngsters to excel in any future undertaking and building team spirit seem to be the
most salient ones (c) (2).

Firstly (d), that competitions teach young people to strive for excellence cannot be
denied (3). This is on the grounds that (e) discipline lies at the root of any competitive
activity such as (f) sports, so (g), for teenagers to be proficient competitors, they
should comply with the rules (which are) imposed on them (h) by their trainers (i)
and follow a strict routine if they are to succeed when competing. It goes without
saying that (j) discipline is an asset anyone can benefit from on a daily basis, as it
provides people with rules to live their lives efficiently and effectively by creating habits.
(4)

Moreover (k), it is often said that competitions are of the essence to build team spirit
(5). This is because (l) teammates are likely to rely on each other’s skill and expertise
to, for instance (m), defeat an opponent. As a result of (n) building team spirit when
youngsters, these people(o) may be better than others, for example, when working as
a team in their future workplace, which might be an advantage over other workers, as it
is a widely known (p) fact that teamwork encourages company culture and creates
efficiency. (6)

To conclude, of the two aforementioned advantages of engaging in competitions, even

if building team spirit may be beneficial to some extent (7), I am of the opinion that
teaching youngsters to do their best is even more so (q) (8). This is because while
knowledge of how to work as a team can be an asset in teenagers’ future workplaces,
striving for excellence is one (r) that a person can apply to any situation, be it at work
or life in general. (9)
 3) Comment on the structure of the essay taking into consideration the numbers
given (1-9)

1) Introduction to the topic (general)

2) Thesis statement  help the reader anticipate what the writing is about. The ideal
thing is to mention the two points you’ll discuss. OR another alternative is to say that
there are two (benefits)

3) Topic sentence summarises the paragraph

4) Supporting sentences  explain the topic sentence with reasons and examples

5) Topic sentence  summarises the paragraph

6) Supporting sentences  explain the topic sentence with reasons and examples

7) Concession clause (similar to a clause of contrast) acknowledges the existence of

another point.

A) ALTHOUGH + CLAUSE

B) HOWEVER + ADJECTIVE (meaning= to whatever extent/ degree) From the two

aforementioned advantages of engaging in competitions, however important building
team spirts seems to be, I am of the opinion that…

C) EVEN THOUGH + CLAUSE (even though is a bit more emphatic than “although”)

D) EVEN IF + CLAUSE

8) Stating which point is most important (writer’s opinion)

9) providing a reason for our opinion (by going back to what we said in p.2 using other
words)

4) Comment on the underlined words and expressions (a-q). Grammatically

speaking, what are they? Why do you think they are used?

a) collocation  we use collocations to sound more natural (language)

b) Possessive adjective  avoids repetition  the writing is more organic

(organization)

c) Pronoun  used to avoid repetition, substitution (organization)

d) Connector  used to list points (organization)

e) Connector  reason (organization)

f) Connector  example (organization)

g) Connector  result (organization)

h) Pronoun  used to avoid repetition, substitution (organization)

i) Passive voice  reduced relative clause (pronoun + be have been elided) (language)
/ (communicative achievement)
j) Phrase  states sth that’s obvious (organization)

k) Connector  addition (organisation)

l) Connector  reason (organization)

m) Connector  example (organization)

n) Connector  result (organization)

o) Phrase  avoid repetition (organization)

p) collocation  makes the writing more natural (language)

q) Pronoun  used to avoid repetition, substitution (organization)

r) Pronoun  used to avoid repetition, substitution (organization)

5) Which other examples of advanced language can you find? What do they
mean?

 (C2) Excel in sth (verb) to do sth very well

 Proficient (adj)  skilled/ experienced
 (C1) Aforementioned (adj)  previously mentioned. (The word is usually
followed by a noun)
 (C2) Undertaking (noun)  a task, usually a challenging one.
 (Formal) salient (adj)  the most noticeable or important
 (C2) Strive for sth / Strive to do sth (verb)  to try hard to do sth
 Lie at the root/centre/heart of sth (phrase)  to be the most important part of
sth “Studying long hours lies at the root of academic success”
 (C1) comply with (ph v)  follow/ obey
 (C1) asset (noun)  a good quality
 (Formal) of the essence (phrase)  important
 Expertise (noun)  a high level of knowledge of sth
 (C1) workplace (noun)  the place where people work (office)
 (C2) engage in sth (ph verb)  take part in sth

6) Comment on the language of essays when compared with reviews.

Reviews Essays
Register (define) Informal / semi-formal Formal
Tone (define) Friendly/ engaging Distant
Addressing the reader YES NO
directly (YES or NO?)
Using idioms and YES (be careful because if NO (you may include
contractions (YES or the register is semi-formal formal idioms, but you
NO?) you won’t include a lot of must make sure they are
 these) formal)
Using passives (YES YES (The film is directed YES
or NO?) by…)
Using strong language YES NO
(YES or NO?)