Linking ideas with and, but and so – A1 English Writing Test

1   Reading

a   Jessica wants to sell her apartment. Read her advertisement on the Internet and tick (✓) the pictures that she talks about.

Apartment for sale

Hi, I’m Jessica and I need to sell my apartment because I have a new job in another city.

The apartment is about seven miles from the city centre, but there’s a metro station ten minutes’ walk away. There are six rooms in the apartment. There’s a big living room with a balcony. You can see a lovely park across the street. In the bathroom, there’s a small bath and a shower. The kitchen has a sink, a cooker and a lot of cupboards. There are three bedrooms — one is very big, the other two are quite small. I don’t need the curtains and wardrobes, so I can sell them with the apartment. The neighbourhood is busy in the day, but at night it is quiet and the neighbours don’t make a lot of noise.

If you want to see the apartment, click on the reply button and I will email you back.

Reply

Posted 1 week ago

b   Read the advertisement again. Are the sentences true or false?

1   The apartment is near the centre of the city.

2   The metro station is near Jessica’s apartment.

3   You can’t see anything nice from the windows.

4   Jessica wants to sell some furniture with the apartment.

5   It’s difficult to sleep at night in Jessica’s neighbourhood.

2   Writing Skills - Linking ideas with and, but and so

Underline the best words to complete the sentences.

1   Jeff hasn’t got a lot of furniture and / but / so his apartment’s not very big and / but / so it’s not a problem.

2   I live near the city centre so / but / and I don’t need to use the metro — I can walk.

3   Simon’s house is next to the river so / and / but there’s a small park behind it as well.

4   We have a really big TV in our living room so / and / but it doesn’t work and / so / but we usually watch programmes on the Internet.

5   My neighbours have got eight children but / and / so it’s always very noisy.

6   There’s a great market near my house so / but / and it’s easy to get fresh fruit and vegetables.

3   Writing

Imagine you want to sell your house or apartment. Write an advertisement to put on the Internet. Remember to:

•   say why you want to sell your apartment

•   say where it is in the city or town

•   say how many rooms it’s got and what they are

•   say what furniture you also want to sell

•   talk about the neighbours

•   use adjectives (e.g. big, modern, quiet ...)

•   include any other important information about your home

•   use and, but and so when you can.