IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS UNIT 8

A news story

Practising prepositions
1 Circle the correct alternatives.

1 Im not interested in/of filing a report.

2 Amy was worried for/about her mothers health.
3 She was annoyed at/with me because I didnt help her.
4 Im so happy about/on my good grades.
5 Fred is mad at/about American football.
6 Dan is excited with/about winning the first prize.
7 Annie was annoyed about/of missing the train.
8 I was bored by/from life in a small village.

Improving your writing

2 Read the news story and note the examiners comments.

Text Initiative TRB1 Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2015

Muggings on the increase in Whitefield

Yesterday morning another mugging took place in Whitefield shopping centre. The
victim was Mrs Sheila Green, a 65-year-old lady. A man pushed her in the back and
stole her handbag.

Eyewitness John Jackson told our reporter I was sitting at the Comfy Caf reading
the sports news. Im mad 1 at football and I was happy 2 on my teams victory in last
nights match. Suddenly I heard a shout and saw a young man running out of the
main door of the shopping centre. He was carrying a handbag. He had short, fair hair
and was wearing jeans and a baseball cap. There was an old lady lying on the ground.
I was worried 3 for her so I ran over and helped her. She wasnt hurt, but she was
upset and she was very annoyed 4 of losing her handbag.

The police were called and they are interested 5 of speaking to anyone who can help
them in their investigation.

Crimes like this seem to be happening more often in Whitefield. We are annoyed 6 at
the managers of the shopping centre for failing to protect honest citizens.
We say there should be more security guards patrolling the area.

Examiners comments
Include only facts in paragraphs 2 and 3. Wheres the writers opinion? Take more
care with prepositions!

3 Correct preposition errors 16 in the news story in Ex 2.

1 ______________ 3 ______________ 5 ______________

2 ______________ 4 ______________ 6 ______________

4 Underline any non-factual information in the news story in Ex 2.

5 Which of the sentences contain factual information? Mark where they could
go in the news story in Ex 2. Which non-factual information could you
include in the writers opinion paragraph?

1 He had short, fair hair. ______________________________

2 You dont expect to see crime here. ______________________________
3 First, he pushed her in the back. ______________________________
4 I dont like baseball caps. ______________________________

Text Initiative TRB1 Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2015

5 He escaped into the High Street. ______________________________

Text Initiative TRB1 Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2015

6 Read the dialogue below. Imagine you are Tom and you want to write a news
story for the school paper. Write the news story (about 100 words) with
information from the dialogue.

Include:
the witnesss name, the date and location
factual information about the incident
the writers opinion.
Tom Did you hear about the burglary at Middleton School yesterday?
Lucy No. What happened?
Tom Well, a 15- or 16-year-old boy stole a computer.
Lucy Really? How?
Tom Well, Im not sure, but somewhere around ten last night he climbed
through a window into the computer room and took a computer. I really
think the school should lock all the windows at night. Its terrible that they
dont do that.
Lucy I agree.
Tom Anyway, next morning the caretaker found the window wide open and a
computer missing. Then a girl, who was on the way home from her friends
house, called the police and said shed seen it all.
Lucy Shed seen everything?
Tom Yeah. She said she saw him climb in and come out three minutes later with
a computer. She saw him clearly enough to give the police a description
a short, slim guy with dark hair and glasses, apparently, in jeans and white
T-shirt.
Lucy She must have been shocked.
Tom Yes, she was. Her names Alice Watson

7 Check your written work carefully and correct any errors.

Text Initiative TRB1 Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2015