CAE Essay Revision

The task
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
that
2. In light of the above,
3. It is widely believed that
4. Furthermore/Moreover
5. A great deal of +
(uncountable noun)
6. Due to the fact that
7. A large number of +
(countable noun)
8. There are those who
believe that
9. In spite of the fact that
10. therefore
a) Lots of people think that museums are out-dated.
b) Many museums do not cater for young children so they must be
updated.
c) The majority of public gardens are badly-maintained because
local governments cannot afford to employ more gardeners.
d) Although many youngsters still play sports, participation is
decreasing due to the influence of video games.
e) To sum up, it is vitally important that local governments invest
more in museums.
f) Obviously having access to good sports facilities makes it easier
to participate in both individual and team sports.
g) Some people think that investing in public gardens is a waste of
money.
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 report of… The question on everybody’s lips nowadays is
appearing in the papers. how/what/where…

Recent research indicates that… In this day and age, it is widely believed that…

The current trending topic among (young An increasingly common issue facing (young
people/scientists/politicians etc.) is… (how to…) people/scientists etc.) in this day and age is…