Eighty Words to a Teacher: Choosing Register in the Part 1 Email
Paper 2, Part 1 gives you this task: 'Your school library will close at 3 p.m. during exam week. Write an email of about 80 words to your class teacher, Mr Rahman, explaining why this is a problem and asking for a later closing time.' Your friend Aina drafts: 'Dear Mr Rahman, Guess what? The library is shutting early - so unfair! We need it open till 5. Sort it out! Thanks, Aina.' You know the library is the only quiet place for 32 students in your class who share crowded homes, and you personally need it until 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. You have 15 minutes and about 80 words. You are tempted to use Aina's draft because it is short and clear, but something about the tone worries you. The task also says the examiner checks purpose, tone and paragraphing.
1. Identify two features of Aina's draft that do not fit the task, and explain their effect on Mr Rahman.
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First, 'Guess what?' is a chatty opener suited to a friend, not a teacher; it makes the email sound like gossip and delays the purpose. Second, 'Sort it out!' is an imperative that tells the teacher what to do, which can read as rude and presumptuous. 'So unfair!' adds emotion but no reason. The effect is that Mr Rahman may focus on the tone rather than the request, and the email may fail the task's purpose: to explain a problem politely and ask for a later closing time. 'Dear Mr Rahman' and 'Thanks' are acceptable; the problem is the middle, not the greeting.
2. Write the first two sentences of your email and explain your choices.
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Dear Mr Rahman, I am writing to ask whether the library could remain open until 5 p.m. during exam week. Many of us depend on it as a quiet place to study because our homes are crowded. These sentences do three things: they name the purpose immediately, they use a polite modal ('could') rather than a command, and they give a reason without emotional language. 'I am writing to ask' is a safe formal frame. The second sentence turns a personal complaint into a shared need, which is more persuasive to a teacher. Keep the tone calm; the request is more likely to be granted if it sounds reasonable.
3. You have about 80 words. What do you do with the detail about 32 classmates, and what must you not leave out?
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Compress the number rather than dropping the reason: 'many of my classmates' or 'over thirty of us' does the work without spending words on an exact figure. Keep the purpose (ask for a later closing time), the reason (quiet study space), and the specific times you need (Tuesday and Thursday until 5 p.m.). Those are task requirements; the exact number is supporting detail. Do not leave out the request itself while describing the problem. After drafting, count and cut any sentence that repeats the reason. A useful pattern is: purpose + reason + specific request + thanks, in that order.