The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

Name Kateryna Kirichenko

Paper & Task Score Tutor Comment

P1 Task 4a 5/5 One mark per correct point plus example up to a maximum of 5.

An excellent start to the exam practice this week, in which

you’ve gained more than the maximum marks available.
It’s good to see you’re using CLOGS to provide a range of
features, and setting your answers out clearly and
concisely.

However, you’re writing too much for this question at the

moment, and this won’t leave you enough time to answer
the other parts of this question in the exam, which are
worth a lot more marks. If you have time, add an extra
feature, so six in total, but no more than that in order to
leave yourself enough time for other tasks.

As ever, study the GLAs for more examples of what’s

accepted here.

P1 Task 4b 8 One mark per correct point up to a maximum of 35 for 4b, 4c and 4d.

Some useful marks scored here, and it’s good to see you
separating your answers under separate headings of form
and meaning/use.

Make sure you provide enough detail in your answers. For

example, for ‘reader’, you need to say that it’s formed with
the infinitive/base form of the verb read +er, and also that
it’s the direct object.

Do study the GLAs and look back at the exam training for
this question, in order to see where else you could have
scored marks.

P1 Task 4c 8
Some more useful marks here, and it’s good to see you
setting your answers out concisely. As you study the GLAs,
however, you’ll see that there are quite a few more marks
available for noting the small, seemingly obvious points,
such as describing exactly what the relative clauses refer
to.

P1 Task 4d i8
ii 1 You’ve picked up some useful marks here by commenting
on form and meaning/use, though as with 4b you’d be able
to take this further by separating your answers for form
4d = 9 and meaning/use here. Again, studying the GLAs you’ll
notice you can go further in the features you identify. You
Total: 30/40 need a bit more accuracy here, too e.g. by identifying
‘found’ as the past participle, not the past tense. Check the
Excellent difference between elision and ellipsis, too.

You’ve gained one of the pronunciation marks, but

remember that in order to score marks consistently here
you need to state what the problem is as well as the
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

feature, which you haven’t done for the second example.

P1 Task 5a 10/16 One mark per point made for each correct strength and weakness up to
a maximum of 3 marks for each. One mark for each correct
example/illustration up to a maximum of 3 for each correct strength or
weakness (maximum 12). In addition, up to 4 additional marks for
knowledge and insight into how the strengths and weaknesses aid or
negate the effectiveness of the text.

You’ve scored more than the maximum six marks for

strengths and examples, but haven’t done quite so well
with weaknesses. You might find it easier to organise all
your strengths and all your weaknesses together though,
as you’ll find that not all the areas given have both
strengths and weaknesses, and this will avoid you writing
too much in the short time available.

It’s good to see you also going for the 4 additional marks
available here for additional comments on how the
strength or weakness contributes to the overall
effectiveness of the text as a whole (and not possible
reasons for the strength/weakness), and you’ve scored two
of these. Remember that use of a simple stock phrase
such as This makes the text more/less… Can be a simple
way to pick up these marks.

P1Task 5b 0/6 One possible mark for each point made up to 3 marks. One additional
mark is awarded for each justification that is fully developed .

Unfortunately, you haven’t scored any marks here, as the

Total: 10/22 key weakness you’ve chosen is too broad, and so wholly
Need to appropriate. Remember that you need to choose one of
improve the key weaknesses here, and not an assessment area
given in the rubric. Had you chosen, for example,
paragraphing only here, that would have been accepted.

Overall P1 Task 4 30/40 Excellent

Evaluation P1 Task 5 10/22 Need to improve
Overall
Comment Some good exam practice this week, Kateryna, especially in T4. You clearly
have a good understanding of what’s required here and are setting your
answers out accordingly.

A few things to bear in mind:

 Working through some of the language analysis tasks in books such

as About Language by Thornbury and Grammar for English Teachers
by Parrott will help you deepen and extend your language analysis
skills – there are still further points you can make with meaning/use.
 In T4 put down on paper as much as you can in the time even when it
may seem obvious.
 Make sure you discuss learners’ problems with pron in T4d and not
just discuss it, if that’s what the rubric asks for.
 Think about how to set out your answers in T5a.
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

 Make sure you choose a key weakness, not area, in T5b.

As ever, study the GLAs carefully to see what kinds of answers are accepted
for each question.

Good luck with unit 6.

Tutor: Damian Williams

Paper 1 Task 4
a)
Layout

 typical layout of a website home page with the text in the middle,
text boxes with links to other pages of the site (Sign up) and the
administrative links at the bottom of the page; and advertising
(Limited Edition Bookplates) 

Organisation

 information is laid out in short paragraphs with the first paragraph

as a welcome (Welcome to BookCrossing) an introduction
( 791,837 people in 130 countries ... share their passion for
books... ) and the following paragraphs adding the details and
further explanation of how the organisation works ( earth-friendly,
leave it on the bench...). 
 invitations to join are inserted into the text (Simply click on the
links and sign up for free) and is a part of the closing (Join
BookCrossing) (links, under content)

Style

 neutral written style: contraction is used once (...that’s it),

exclamation marks used throughout the text (...might find a new
reader! ... and more!) . and phrasal verbs ( is up to fate, right up
through...).

Grammatical features
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

 use of imperatives to persuade the reader to join (simply click on

the link and sign up; Join hundreds of ... ; Join BookCrossing) 
 use of Present Simple to give information about the how the
organisation works (gives you a way to share your books;
BooksCrossers give life to books)

Lexical features

 lexis related to internet (click on the link, bookmark us at

StumbleUpon...) 

b)
1) our unique method of recycling reads

Form:

 countable noun
 plural
 converted into a noun from the verb ‘to read’. 

Meaning/use:

 in this context means “books” 

 used as an object in a dependent clause in a compound sentence
 separated from the main clause by a comma

2) a new reader

Form:

 countable noun
 singular
 formed by affixation (suffix -er) from verb ‘to read’

Meaning/use

 an object in a finite clause in a multiple compound sentence

 in this context means the next person who picks up the book

3) reading becomes an adventure

The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

Form:

 gerund 

Meaning/use:

 used in a statement of fact.

 acts as a subject of a sentence in a main clause

4) to be picked up and read by others

Form:

 present passive with infinitive

 formed with auxiliary verb to be
 has a specified agent (others)

Meaning/use:

 used to give a definition (formal written style)

c)
1) BookCrossing, where 791,837 people in over 130 countries come
to share their passion for books

 non-defining relative clause that provides additional

information and as such is separated by a comma
 question word ‘where’ acts as a relative pronoun

2) A book registered on BookCrossing is ready for adventure

 a defining relative clause that doesn’t require a comma

 ‘reduced’ relative clause  (pronoun that and verb to be (singular,
present form, 3rd person) are left out)

3) ...by others, who then do likewise.

 relative clause that qualifies the main clause and therefore follows
it.
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

 question word ‘who’ acts as a relative pronoun

d)
1) Used Books (title bar)

Form:

 a single adjective 
 past participle form

Meaning/use:

 used before the noun it describes

 means ‘owned by someone else before you’

Pronunciation problems:

 elision of /d/ between two consonants /z/ and /b/ in connected

speech. If it is not elided the speaker may sound over-meticulous
and sharp

2) Found a BookCrossing book?

Form:

 a verb in past simple tense

 placed at the beginning of the sentence as a result of inversion to
form a question

Meaning/use:

 situational elision (auxiliary verb ‘have’ and pronoun ‘you’ are left
out)

3) with like-minded people

Form:

 multiword adjective made up of adjective like and a past participle

minded
 placed in front of the noun it describes
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

Meaning/use:

 means having a similar or identical opinion, in this particular

context people who enjoy reading books on a particular topic

4) as it is passed on

Form:

 present passive without an agent

 transitive phrasal verb

Meaning/use:

 to give someone something that someone else has given you

Pronunciation problems:

 -ed in passed is pronounced as /t/

 liason of as it is (intrusive /j/)

Paper 1 Task 5
a)
Task Achievement

Strengths:

 the purpose of the letter is clearly stated (I’m writing about my

problem. I’ve lost my suitcase) and the points are in logical order
(purpose first, then the description of the suitcase and what was
in it followed by a request to find it or compensate for it). This
would make it easier for the reader to understand the writer’s
message. C
 the writer has generally fulfilled the task regarding lengths (156
words) and has included all required information  (what
happened, description of the suitcase and a request to find it). 
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

Weaknesses:

 the writer ‘s description of what was inside the suitcase is

insufficient (only mentions paper) and might cause confusion for
the reader.
 the writer includes a lot of irrelevant information about the paper
in the suitcase and where he’s staying at the moment. This might
cause confusion for the reader and cause difficulties extracting
relevant information from the letter

Organisation and cohesion

Strengths:

 the writer uses pronouns as cohesive devices (it – suitcase, them –

staff, etc) and basic linking devices (and, because, but, etc.) to
connect the sentences and clauses. 

Weaknesses:

 The paragraphs are not clearly defined which might cause

difficulties for the reader. It is important for a pre-intermediate
student to know that the use of paragraphs is important in writing.
 most of the conventions of the email writing are not followed. The
writer didn’t use appropriate salutation (Dear sir, instead of Dear
Sir/Madam,) didn’t include a closing statement or a sign off. 

Range and complexity of grammar

Strengths:

 the writer attempts to use a variety of tenses (Past Simple,

Present Simple, Past Continuous) which is appropriate to the
level (even though often they are used inaccurately).

b)
I would choose the organisation of a formal letter for the following
reasons:
The Distance Delta Exam Practice Report Unit 5

 for this kind of writing the organisation is very important as it

helps the reader to understand the writer better.
 it is easy to rectify and therefore motivating for the learner. It is
easy to see the improvement (paragraphs, appropriate salutation
and sign off,etc).
 writing letters is a real life skill and it can also be transferred to
other types of letters and other written communications such as
emails.