Oxford University Press

Headway Plus PREINTERMEDIATE Writing Guide

2011-12

UNIT 6
Writing Task: Write a description of your city
Worksheet 1: PRE-WRITING
Exercise 1: Brainstorming and gathering information
Answer the following questions about your town or city:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

What is the name of your city? ........................................................................................................

Where is it? ......................................................................................................................................
What is the city like? ........................................................................................................................
What are the buildings like? ..............................................................................................................
What is the weather like? ..................................................................................................................
How big is the city? ..........................................................................................................................
What is the best thing about it?.........................................................................................................

Exercise 2: Check your vocabulary

Write the adjectives in the correct column. Some can go in more than one column.
wonderful
tall
old
weather

sunny
cold
noisy

dry
luxurious
beautiful

exciting
crowded
cosmopolitan

wet

buildings

modern
busy
hot
interesting
big
small windy

city

Exercise 3: Extend your vocabulary

Which adjectives from Exercise 2 describe your city?
Can you think of more?
Can you think of any synonyms and antonyms for the adjectives?
adjectives for your city
weather

buildings

city

synonyms

antonyms

Oxford University Press

Headway Plus PREINTERMEDIATE Writing Guide

2011-12

UNIT 6
Worksheet 2: PRACTICE
Exercise 1: Sentence building 1
Use your answers to Exercise 1 / Worksheet 1 to write complete sentences about your city. Use
vocabulary from Exercise 2 & 3 / Worksheet 1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................

Exercise 2: Comparatives/superlatives
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of the adjective.
1. London is the _______________ (big/bigger/biggest) city in the United Kingdom.
2. Manchester is _______________ (wet/wetter/wettest) than Rome.
3. Munich is not as _______________ (cold than/colder as/cold as) Moscow.
4. I think that Istanbul is the ___________________ (more beautiful/most beautiful /beautifullest)
city in the world.
5. In my opinion, Tokyo is ____________________ (more interesting/as interesting/interesting) as
Mumbai.
London

Simon was born there.

Exercise 3: Who/which/where

Simon goes for picnics in the parks.

Complete the sentences about Simons city,

The Queen lives in Buckingham Palace.

London. Write a relative pronoun in the box.

Harrods sells luxury goods.

Simon likes the British Museum the best.

1. London is the city

.......................................................................................................

2. London has a lot of parks

............................................................................................

3. The Queen is the person

.............................................................................................

4. Harrods is a famous shop

5. The British Museum is the museum

..........................................................................................
.............................................................................

Exercise 4: Sentence building 2

Rewrite the sentences from Exercise 1 / Worksheet 2. Use relative pronouns to write longer
sentences and add extra information. Make sure you put the sentences in a good order.
................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................

Oxford University Press

Headway Plus PREINTERMEDIATE Writing Guide

2011-12

UNIT 6
Worksheet 3: WRITING
Exercise 1: Writing a First Draft
Write a description of your city. Start with a topic sentence and use relative pronouns. Write at least
75 words. Finish with a concluding sentence.
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....

Read your paragraph and check:

Topic sentence
Adjectives for your city
Comparatives and superlatives
Relative pronouns who, which, where
Sentences in a good order
Concluding sentence
Spelling (use a dictionary)
Capital letters for the names of places
Capital letters at the start of sentences
Full stops at the end of sentences

Exercise 2: Writing a Final Draft

Make corrections and write out the paragraph again neatly.