Speak

out Pre-intermediate

Writing Reference © Pearson Educación, S.A., 2012

1

Speakout Pre-intermediate

W

RITING

R

EFERENCE

U

NIT

8

Writing

a description of a product for an advertisement; adding emphasis

When you write a description of a product, it is a good idea to include adverbs of degree (fairly,
really

, etc.) to add emphasis. These words make your description more precise.

1 Read the product description in the advertisement and answer the questions.

a) What is the person selling?

b) Complete the table.

Condition

1 ________ good

Sound quality

2 ________ high

Speakers

3 ________ excellent

Price

4 ________ expensive

Excellent Stereo System for sale

•

I’m selling my stereo system.

•

It’s in extremely good condition because I haven’t used it much.

•

It has very high sound quality because the speakers are really

excellent.

•

It has all modern features and it’s really easy to maintain

•

The price is £500. You may think that’s fairly expensive, but it

originally cost £1,000.

Name the product

Description of
product and features
in bullet points

The price and why it
is a good deal

c) Look at words 1-4 in exercise 1b. Which is the strongest, and which is the weakest

in meaning?

2 Choose the options so that the sentences are true for you.

1 I am fairly / very / extremely good at English.
2 My mobile phone was fairly / very / really expensive / cheap.
3 My home town is fairly / very / really small / big
4 I think that football is a fairly / really / extremely interesting / boring sport.
5 Clothes today are very/really / extremely expensive / cheap.

Speak

out Pre-intermediate

Writing Reference © Pearson Educación, S.A., 2012

2

Practice

3 Choose a product from the list below and write an advertisement.

•

Mp3 player

•

laptop computer

•

leather jacket

•

mobile phone

•

DVD player

Before you write

Think about:

•

What product to write about?

•

What are the features?

•

What is the price and why is it a deal?

Writing plan

•

Give the advertisement a title with the name of the product.

•

Describe the product in 4-5 bullet points.

•

Say the price and why it is a deal.

Check your writing

Have you used language to add emphasis?

Have you followed the writing plan?

Have you said the price and why it is a deal?

Have you checked the text for possible grammar, vocabulary and spelling mistakes?