Reading into Writing - The Reply That Misses a Point (integrated task)
Sofia's English friend Jack sends her a note:
Hi Sofia, I'm coming to your town on Saturday 14th for a football match. It starts at 3 p.m. Can I stay at your flat on Saturday night? Also, is there a bus from the station? Jack
The writing task says: 'Write an email to Jack. Write 25–35 words. Say he can stay, say what time you will meet him at the station, and tell him which bus to take.'
Sofia's draft:
Dear Jack, Yes you can stay my flat. The bus is number 7 from the station. See you Saturday. Sofia.
She is pleased with it because it is short and she checked every word for spelling.
1. Which content point has Sofia missed, and what checking routine would have caught it?
Read the worked answer
She has missed the meeting time. The task lists three things to say:
- He can stay - done ('Yes you can stay…')
- What time you will meet him at the station - missing
- Which bus to take - done ('bus number 7')
The routine: the three points come from the task instruction, not from Jack's note. Before writing, copy them as a short tick list:
- can stay
- meet time
- bus number
After writing, tick each one. A tick list of three items takes ten seconds and is the difference between a full answer and a two-thirds answer. Note also that Jack's note does not mention meeting at the station at all - Sofia invented the bus answer correctly but assumed the rest, which is exactly how a point gets skipped.
2. Sofia wants to add 'I am looking forward to seeing you very much.' Should she? Give your reasoning.
Read the worked answer
No.
- It is 9 words out of a 25–35 word budget - roughly a third of the whole text - and it earns nothing, because it is not one of the three required points.
- It is also too formal for a friend writing to a friend; the same meaning in her own register is 'See you soon' (3 words) or 'Can't wait!' (2 words).
The budget rule for A2 short writing: required points first, then one short greeting and one short closing. If the word limit is tight, the thing that goes is the extra polite sentence, never a ticked point.
Suggested full version (30 words):
Hi Jack, Yes, you can stay at my flat. I will meet you at the station at 1 p.m. Take bus number 7. See you Saturday, Sofia
3. Sofia is unsure whether she is allowed to use words from Jack's note. What is the right judgement?
Read the worked answer
Reuse the facts; rebuild the sentences.
Safe to take directly: names, days, numbers, and concrete nouns - Saturday, station, bus, flat, 3 p.m. Copying these protects her spelling and keeps her on topic.
Not safe to take directly: Jack's question. If she copies 'Can I stay at your flat?' she has asked the question back instead of answering it. She must change the direction of the pronoun and the verb: 'Can I stay…' → 'Yes, you can stay at my flat.'
Also fix the small slip: 'you can stay my flat' needs 'at' - 'stay at my flat'. The meaning survives without it, so this is a small accuracy point, not a communication failure; but it is free to fix when she reads the draft back.
General rule: copying from the input is allowed and sensible for facts; copying a whole sentence usually means copying the wrong grammatical person with it.