Formal Letter

If the question includes the instruction “Start your letter ‘Dear Sir'”, you don’t need to write the addresses or
date in the format. You may include the addressed and date, if no such instruction is given in the question.

Dear Sir,

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Letter
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Yours sincerely, / Yours faithfully, / Yours truly,

(Put your signature here.)

(Write your full name here.)

(Write your post here, if you are writing the letter in an official position, e.g.
The Secretary,
Drama Club
ABC School)
Informal Letter
Dear Uncle, / Ali, (Write the relationship if the recipient is a family member, and the name in case of a
friend.)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Letter
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Love, / Best regards, / Best wishes,

(Write your first name here.)

Report
1. In the recent years the following format has been given in the exam question, and you must follow this
one, if it is given in the question paper:

To the Principal,

(Put your signature here.)

(Write your full name here.)
(Write the date here in proper format, i.e. 3rd May, 2016)
If no instructions about the format are given in the question, then:

2. You can either use the format of the formal letter,

OR the following one:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Report
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

To: The Principal (The Recipient)

From: (Your full name)
 Subject: Report on the accident at Hassan Square (Write the heading for your report.)
Date: 3rd June, 2016 / June 3, 2016 (Follow the proper format for writing the date.)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Report
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Account
1. In the recent years the following format has been given in the exam question for the Account Writing
Question (June 2007 session), and you must follow this one, if it given in the question paper:

To the Police,

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Account
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Put your signature here.)

(Write your full name here.)
(Write the date here in proper format, i.e. 3rd May, 2016)

Newspaper Report / Magazine Article

A Headline: (Horrific accident claims five lives on Korangi Road)
Reported by: (Your full name.)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Newspaper Report / Article
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Speech
Ladies & gentlemen, (for general audience) /

Honorable principal, respected teachers & dear fellow students, (for school audience)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Body of the Speech
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Description
Consider these two descriptions of a room.

"The room was square with a window along one side. It had four chairs and a TV and video. There was a
drinks cabinet and computer in the corner. The carpet was red and the ceiling cream."

"The room was brightly lit by a large window and housed several modern pieces of electrical equipment but
the effect was softened by a drinks cabinet and a warm red carpet."
Argument
• Read the topic carefully.
• Underline the main point of the topic (such as Politics).
• Decide ‘for’ or ‘against’ (i.e. are you in favor or against?).
 • Jot down all the RELEVANT & LOGICAL points related to your opinion.
• Spend 5-10 minutes doing this in the form of notes. \
• No emotional reasons should be included.
Starting – No quotes are needed; BEGINNING of your essay, most preferably in the opening paragraph.
Manners in which you can start the essay:
• Ease into the topic then generally give your opinion. For example: “The trend of social media has
greatly increased over the last four years. Nowadays, it has become a necessity for teenagers. I
personally believe ……...”
• Start directly by exclaiming a valid point and giving your opinion. “Social Media, recently, has
had a great negative/positive impact on teenagers. My personal opinion is that ……...” Remember
this 3-point structure for the
MAIN BODY of your essay:
• General “For” Argument – Include all valid points that are logical and EMPHASIZE on them –
All points must be in favor of your opinion and they should be your STRONGEST points.
• Counter Argument – Pick out your strongest counter arguments and state them. Be completely
logical and honest when pointing the counter arguments. The reason for this is that if you’re writing
in favor, someone else will write against. You have to give both sides of the argument and prove
yourself right.
• Disputing Counter Arguments – After writing the counter arguments, you must dispute them and
prove them to be either wrong or not STRONG enough to win the argument.
Here’s an example:
A counter argument could be “Social media is required for teenagers, it
forms a platform for conversations, discussions and sharing valued
information “.
Disputing this counter argument “Although it does provide a medium for
communication, teenagers waste most of their precious time in
procrastinating since they needlessly read comics/have useless discussions.
Social media is one of main reasons why teenagers procrastinate. “You can
also add the fact that other mediums of communication such as e-mail,
messaging are also available.
Ending your essay, now, you don’t simply conclude an argument because it is a waste of words and time
since you’re only repeating what you’ve said. Two ways to end an Argumentative Essay are:
• Conclude your essay by restating your opinion in a different perspective, i.e. you could say, “Other
resources of communication should be adopted such as messaging and teenagers should be
encouraged to have outdoor activities rather than sit home and stick their heads to the computers.”
• After disputing your counter arguments – finish on a high by adding a strong ending sentence to
conclude your essay. For example, “Hence all these points show that Social media is indeed an
unnecessary part of life which has been forcibly indulged into the life of teenagers.”

Narrative
A narrative composition question requires you to write a story. Narrative compositions have the following
essential elements:
• A point of view and a point of view character. This means the perspective from which the story is
written. Usually stories are written from the author's point of view where the candidate has to make
 ample use of the pronoun 1. However, this is not always the case and you should always take your cue
from the question. For example:
Write a story based on one of the following:
Either a) His past had finally caught up with him.
Or b) After all the embarrassing things I had done. I never expected my parents to forgive and welcome
me back home
The first question requires that you write the story from the point of view of some other character (he),
it is up to you to provide a name and flesh him up. The second question requires a first-person point
of view where you will write the story as the main character.
• Characters: Most stones require at least one character (the Point of view character above). A good
story usually has more than one well developed characters who play important roles in furthering the
plot of your story
• Plot: This is the sequence of events in the story. Always take care to include only relevant events in
your composition otherwise it will become bloated with unnecessary details which increases the
chance of you making errors. Often plots are characterized by conflict amongst the main characters in
the story i.e. the protagonist and the villain, this is especially true in one-word questions for example
Love.
• Setting: i.e. the place where the events in your story takes place. You should use imagery to quickly
create the setting. Does the story take place indoors or outdoors? Is it in a small town or in the
countryside? Here the candidate should demonstrate their descriptive skills.
• Dialogue: Dialogue takes place between the characters of the story Unless you are good with your
punctuation you should avoid direct speech like a plague and instead rely on reported speech otherwise
you will lose valuable marks due to punctuation errors.
• Suspense: You should avoid cliffhangers i.e. needless suspense. You should carefully resolve and tie
up all loose ends in your story especially those that have a bearing on the question. Consider the
question above: His past had finally caught up with him. While suspense is a good thing you will lose
valuable marks if, you say for example, fail to bring out the past that is supposed to have caught up
with the main character in the story because it is a central requirement.
 Section 1: Directed Writing
You are advised to write between 200 and 300 words.

• You will be awarded up to 15 marks for following the task instructions.

• You will be awarded up to 15 marks for the language you use.
Task 1
You went on a trip. (It might be a trip with your school, your family, a club you belong to, or any other
trip you wish.) During the trip something very surprising happened. Your teacher asks you to give a
speech about this trip to your school assembly.

• Write your speech. You must include the following:

• when and where you went on the trip
• details of the very surprising event
• how the surprise affected you and the people you were with.
Cover all three points above in detail. You should make your speech interesting and informative.
Start your speech 'Good morning, everyone.’
Section 2: Composition
Begin your answer on a new page of your answer booklet.
Write on one of the following topics.
At the beginning of your composition put the number of the task you have chosen.
You are advised to write between 350 and 500 words. You will be awarded marks for accurate use of
language and relevant content: 30.
Tasks 2–6
Description
2- Describe two of your friends: the one who is most like you and the one who is least like you.
(Remember you can describe their appearance, personalities and behavior.)
Argument
3- Should there be rules about what people can say on social media or is it more important for people
to be able to say what they think? Give reasons and examples to support your view.
4- Which new subject or subjects would you like to add to the school timetable? Why do you think this
would be useful for people of your age? Give reasons and examples to support your view.
Narrative
5- Write a story which includes the words: ‘They both read their letters and then walked away in
opposite directions.’
6- Write a story about someone who became successful because of their determination and hard
work