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ECCE Benchmark A: Letter

The short article or advertisement for this benchmark appears below, followed by the task the
candidate read before beginning the letter. The benchmark letter appears on the next page.

Text of Short Article:


The Ministry of Education announced that Claudia Lee, a graduate
of the city's schools, has given a large sum of money to support
local education. Ms. Lee wants the money to be spent on one
single project. She would like local citizens to decide what that
project should be. The Ministry of Education is asking for letters
with suggestions for how to use Ms. Lee's gift to improve local
schools.

Task:
Write a letter to the Ministry of Education giving your suggestion
about how to spend the money from Ms. Lee. Describe the one
project that you believe would benefit your school the most.
ECCE Benchmark A: Letter

Dear Sir/Madam: Comments:

I am a 17-year-old boy who attends highschool. I am writing to give Rich development; original
supporting details

my sugguestion on what to spend the money Ms. Lee has given to the organized logically and
coherently in paragraphs 2

Ministry of Educations. I think this a remarkable act, that must be always and 3.

The author uses a variety


remembered. To my mind, Ms. Lees gift should be used to buy the of cohesive devices
effectively.
students new text books. Otherwise, the money would be wasted.
Effective arrangement and
The main reason why I believe this is the best way to spend the communication of ideas all
throughout the letter,
money is because there has been a lack of text books in the last 10 especially in paragraphs 2
and 3. Clear letter format.
years. Since the study programs have changed, the books that used to be
Broad range of grammar
used in the past are not useful anymore. So, new books are required for used accurately (e.g.,
variety of verb tenses,
the students to read. But theres a shortage of these materials. For passive voice, relative
clauses, cause clauses,
example, it is common nowadays that a book has to be shared by three or conditional clauses,
gerund, infinitive and
four students. Thats why I believe books that have the topics that are participial phrases,
subordination and
taught in the class should be given to each student. coordination).

This way they would avoid many problems they currently have. For Broad vocabulary range
used appropriately (use of
instance, most of the times children who share a book cant get together synonyms, collocations,
idiomatic expressions).
to study. Also, sometimes they cant go to the public library. This issue is
of major importance for children who live far away from their school or
highschool. Finally, its obviously impossible for parents to buy these books
as they are very expensive.
Taking everything into account, it seems to me that the Ministry
should take advantage of this opportunity to solve this issue. Buying text
books would be the best way to use the money.
I hope my suggestions will be useful.
(comments on second page)
Comments
This is a detailed, linguistically complex essay. The writer selects a single topic to focus on,
describes the problem in detail, and explains why current approaches to the problem (e.g.
sharing books, going to the library) are unsatisfactory. This particular selection and arrangement
of ideas help the writer achieve his/her communicative goal.

Linguistically, the writing is extremely accurate, with only occasional deviations in grammar and
spelling. These are not distracting to the reader at all; rather, the reader must pay close
attention even to spot some of the errors. Many of the sentences and phrases are extremely
natural sounding, and the author successfully uses a variety of transitional and connecting
devices.

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