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Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): How to Write an Essay

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Introduction

An essay in the C1 Advanced Writing paper is usually written for an academic tutor and may be written as a follow-up to a class activity, such as attending a seminar or watching a documentary. The main purpose of the task is to underline relevant salient issues on the stated topic, and to support an argument with subsidiary points and reasons. An essay should be well organised, with an introduction, clear development and an appropriate conclusion. It should hold the target reader’s attention and communicate complex ideas using an appropriate range of vocabulary and structures. Source: Cambridge English C1 Advanced handbook for teachers

Essays are part of the first section of the CAE Writing paper. The task is mandatory, which means that you always have to write an essay unlike the other texts ( emails/letter , proposals , reviews , reports ) where you can choose which one you would like to tackle in the exam.

Essay writing is not that difficult…

…if you know what you are doing. For most students, essay writing feels like this huge obstacle that they won’t be able to clear when, in fact, it is not as bad as you might think.

Just like every other writing task in C1 Advanced you can apply a specific structure because the different tasks share the same characteristics. Obviously, the topic changes and the input you get from the question differs, but, essentially, it is like repeating the same task over and over again. For this, you can become pretty good at essay writing in a short time just by practising regularly until most of it becomes almost automatic for you.

Long story short, in this article I’m going to take you by the hand and guide you through all the different aspects of essay writing. We’re going to see what a typical essay task looks like, the structure and language and, of course, common problems and mistakes you should avoid on your way to mastering essays.

What a typical essay task looks like

As mentioned earlier, essay tasks in C1 Advanced look very similar to each other and once you understand what those common features are, you will see that everything becomes a lot easier. A typical task might look like the one below:

Every essay writing task looks like this with the content changing, but the structure staying exactly the same.

There are also a few things highlighted for you in bold which are definitely important for you to consider when you plan and, later, write your text.

First of all, in the bigger box there is always the question you have to answer and three option s to choose from and, as the rubric tells you, you have to pick two of them . These two points need to be discussed and compared and then you explain (with reasons!) which option you think is better, more suitable, nicer or whatever the task asks you to do (Here: Which facility is it more important for local authorities to give money to?).

Apart from that, you are also gifted a few ideas in the smaller of the two boxes . You can use these in your essay (You don’t have to.), but make sure that you don’t just copy them word for word. Instead, paraphrase them and make them your own, or simply come up with your own ideas.

If you have ever written a Cambridge B2 First essay , you will immediately see the similarities between the tasks, but in C1 Advanced there is less support for you and you have to make more decisions on your own before you can even start to make a plan for your text. Read the whole task very carefully and then choose wisely based on what feels best for you in any given case .

Formal or informal language in an essay?

I’ll keep this short for you because this works in every single task: Keep your language formal , which means no contractions ( I’m , don’t , etc.), no colloquial expressions ( Hey, what’s up? , I liked it heaps ., etc.), and no slang or phrasal verbs that convey informality ( I’m bursting vs. I have had enough to eat; carry on vs. continue).

How to organise your essay

OK, we know now what we have to do and what kind of language we have to use so it’s time to look at the organisation and structure of a good essay.

When organising a piece of writing you should always think about what it is that you have to include in your text. In a C1 Advanced essay there are basically four things:

• First topic point
• Second topic point

From that, we can make four paragraphs and this applies to every single essay you are going to write to practise or in the official exam.

Let’s have another look at our example from earlier. The three options are museums, sports centres and public gardens. Museums and sports centres are both buildings and probably similar to talk about so I’m going to choose sports centres and public parks, just because we can contrast them better in my opinion.

Adding our two topic points to the list from before, this specific essay structure looks like this:

• Sports centres
• Public parks

So there you go. I think that the process up this point is fairly simple and from there most students jump right into the deep end and start to write their essay – but not so fast!

Plan before you start writing

One of the most crucial yet most undervalued tools for excellent writing is a good plan. Unfortunately, I see too many students skip this step and they often end up revising their texts over and over until they run out of time and the result is still not satisfactory.

Please don’t make the same mistake. It takes around five minutes to make a plan which helps you organise your thoughts and ideas in a way that makes sense. You will be able to focus on your language and arguments instead of worrying about possibly forgetting to include content while saving you time. It works and you should do it as well.

To make your plan just take the list we created above and add a couple of thoughts to each point so you know what you want to write about.

• Introduction (panel discussion, local authorities, sports centres & public gardens –> Which one is more important?)
• Sports centres (public health, wide variety of activities, social aspect)
• Public parks (green lung of the city, place to relax from city life, social outdoor activities)
• Conclusion (sports centres better choice –> more variety, more social, greater health benefits)

It took me 4 minutes to create this plan. I used the idea from the task for sports centres (“Sports centrs mean healthier people.”), but I paraphrased it (public health) while the idea for public parks seems too vague for me so I left it out. Remember that it is optional to include these thoughts in your essay. if you feel that you have better ones, go for it.

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The different parts of an essay

So far, we’ve looked at a typical essay task and we put everything in order. The next step, of course, is to put our pen to paper and turn our ideas into a great essay. Please be aware that these are simply my recommendations and if you feel that they are helpful, you’re welcome, and if not, modify them or change whatever you think makes more sense for you.

The introduction to your essay serves several different purposes. It presents the topic/question to the reader and puts it in context, introduces the topic points you are going to discuss and creates interest and anticipation in the reader.

All of this sounds like an awful lot of stuff to include, but with a little bit of practice you’ll find out that it is a fairly repeatable process. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll produce one great introduction after another without having to think about it too much.

With all that being said, let’s look at a possible introduction for our example task.

In recent years, public funding for local facilities has become more problematic for many towns, which has become more obvious to me after listening to a panel on the financial needs of several different local facilities like sports centres and public parks. As these places battle for funds, the main question is which ones deserve the money more.

Let’s have a closer look at this intro. At the beginning the whole issue is put into the context of the financial problems many local authorities have experienced. Sports centres and public parks as our two topic points are included as well and, last but not least, a question is asked to create a little more interest in the reader.

With all our boxes being ticked we can now move on to the next part of the essay.

After you finish your introduction, you can turn your attention towards the main topic paragraphs. These are called ‘the body’ of you essay. I always compare it to a hamburger where the introduction and the conclusion are the bread bun while the patty, lettuce, tomatoes and sauce are the body. You want to make your essay tasty so make sure that the body is just as great as your intro.

Your topic paragraphs should be longer than the introduction and conclusion, but at the same time balanced and about the same length between the two of them. Remember, however, to stay within the limit of 220-260 words total.

A couple of characteristics that are useful and important for every topic paragraph are the following:

• Start with a topic sentence that makes it clear what the paragraph is about.
• Always support your arguments with reasons and/or examples .
• Avoid being too personal unless you give your own opinion at the end of the paragraph.

This is not rocket science, but let me show you what I mean in a couple of examples.

It is widely known that sports centres provide many different benefits to the local community. Someone on the panel mentioned that, from a public-health standpoint, it is crucial to offer opportunities to exercise in order to keep everyone healthy physically as well as mentally due to the social character of sports. In addition to that, exercise comes in many different shapes and forms, from team sports to individual activities like swimming, so there is something for everyone to enjoy in a dedicated group of people. While green spaces in a town or city have their own benefits, it can be difficult to maintain such large areas in order to keep parks pleasant and inviting to everyone. Nevertheless, considered by many as the green lung of a city their use as a refuge from hectic city life cannot be debated, and groups of people as well as individuals can be seen following their favourite pastime or socialising with others, which makes the discussion about allocating funds even more difficult.

At the beginning of each paragraph it immediately becomes clear what to expect as I mention sports centres and public parks (green spaces, parks). I managed to include all the points from our plan and I supported my arguments with some examples . Also, you can see that, for example, I didn’t use the word ‘I’ in these paragraphs at all even though my opinion on each point is pretty clear. Instead, I used more general statements (“It is widely known that…”, “considered by many as…”, “…can be seen”) which help convey your opinion without simply stating it .

Last but not least, both parts are balanced in terms of their length, but I don’t want you to think that they have to be perfectly equal. If there is good reason to give one part a little bit more attention over the other, that’s fine. For example, you can say in your essay that one of the ideas is more complex than the other, which tells the examiner that you actually thought about this instead of just having messed up your text. Be clear about it and think it through before you even start writing.

Finally, the conclusion of your essay is there to summarise and to give your opinion on the topic as well as to answer the question in the task (Which facilities should receive money from local authorities?). Your opinion can be nuanced and doesn’t have to be simply black or white as long as you can justify what you say.

In our example, a conclusion might look something like this:

Taking into account all the positions from above I come to the conclusion that funding should be allocated to both facilities as they provide essential resources to the local community. However, due to their more social character and possibly greater public health benefits I would give more funds to sports centres.

There you have it. The conclusion summarises the findings from the body of the essay and I answered the question giving my opinion. That’s really all you have to do in order to finish off your text well.

Time to start practising

With all the information provided in this article I hope you feel ready to start your journey to become an excellent essay writer. As you can see, the structure is clear and the tasks are always similar. Practise regularly in order to improve until essay writing becomes second nature for you.

Lots of love,

Teacher Phill 🙂

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CAE Writing Phrases

Just a quick note…

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I stumbled across this amazing and exhaustive list of phrases for advanced writing. I don’t know who made it but a big thank you to whoever it was! It’s gold dust!

You can download it here:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!439&authkey=!AHr7Ja0Lshhl2Y0

CAE – WRITING AND VOCABULARY

1)  FORMAL WRITING (Reports and proposals)

Making recommendations and concluding

– Do not use contractions.

-Use passive forms whenever possible.

-Use relative clauses to join ideas: The period during which he lived was full of uncertainty.

-Use these formal words:  like à such as   /   kids à children

a lot (of) à many / a large number of  + countable noun

a lot (of) à much / a great amount of / a great deal of + uncountable

a lot (intensity)à very much / significantly / dramatically

– Avoid using the word things / something,  etc. Use a more specific word ( problems, situation, solutions,

  subjects , and so on).

2)  SEMI-FORMAL WRITING

Adressing  the reader

-Have you ever wondered (what the college would be like if)…? If the answer is (yes)…, you…

–If you want a different kind of experience,… / As you know,…

-Doesn’t it just make everyone feel (positive about…)?

-If you have a few hours to spare,…is worth seeing.

-Never omit the subject pronoun: Many people

believe IT is important to…    I believe IT is a good  idea

  study…

– Do not use unnecessary subject pronouns: This is a problem which  it  is essential to solve.

-Make sure the subject and the verb agree: Attracting tourists involves improving local facilities.

  (SINGULAR SUBJECTà attracting tourists + SINGULAR VERBà involves)

Attitude clauses and phrases

Generally speaking,…

Annoyingly,…  Naturally,…  Strangely,… Surprisingly,… Evidently,…

Indeed,… In fact,… Admittedly,… Presumably,…

.  .   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   .  .  .  .  .  .  .

RELATED WORDS AND PHRASES

-A great number of people share the view that tourism will have a negative impact on the island.

-Today there is general / widespread agreement that pollution from cars and planes is threatening the

future of our planet.

-I t is now widely accepted that the universe began with the so-called ‘big bang’.

Disagreement

– Opinions differ about the proper relationship between the mass media and society.

– There is considerable disagreement among experts about the usefulness of these tests.

– There has been a great deal of controversy over abortion in the US.

Advantages and disadvantages

-Regular exercise has many benefits , including reducing the risk of heart disease.

-Despite a few problems with the design, the car’s advantages clearly outweigh its disadvantages.

– The major drawback of this method is that it can be very time-consuming.

– The downside of running your own business is that you are responsible if anything goes wrong.

– lead to : The research could lead to a cure for many serious illnesses.

– result in : The fire resulted in damage to their property.

– be responsible for : He was responsible for the accident.

– bring about :The war brought about enormous social change.

– give rise to: Poor performance in exams can give rise to depression and even thoughts of suicide.

– trigger :to make something suddenly start to happen, especially a bad situation such as a crisis or a war, or

a medical condition: Certain foods can trigger allergies.

– contribute to : Passive smoking could contribute to the development of respiratory diseases among

nonsmokers.

– factor : Cost is often the deciding factor when choosing any product.

– impact on : His work has had an enormous impact on the study of genetics.

– influence on:   In his book, he examines the influence of the media on our society.

– affect : (v) The disease affects women more than men.

– influence : (v) She has influenced him a lot.

– implications :  The results of the study could have important implications for future educational policy.

Emphasizing

-I would like to stress that the research is still at an early stage.

– It should be noted that there are a number of alternative methods available.

– It is worth bearing in mind that 90% of the scientists researching herbicides in the US are employed by

  chemical companies.

-Factors such as temperature and acidity play a crucial role in determining how well the process works.

-These insects play a vital part in the food chain.

– It is essential that the work is carried out as soon as possible.

-The climate is much colder, especially in the far north.

– issue : Issue is used especially about problems that affect a lot of people in society:  International terrorism

  is the biggest issue (=the most important issue) facing the world today. Previous governments failed to

  address (=try to deal with) social issues such as unemployment and homelessness.

– challenge: something difficult that you must do or deal with, which needs a lot of skill, effort, and

  determination: She said she was looking forward to the challenge of starting up a new business on her

– difficulty :  The company has managed to overcome (=deal with) its recent financial difficulties.

  Many people experience difficulty in sleeping at some time in their lives.

– trouble:   a problem or several problems that make something difficult, spoil your plans etc:  Students of

  English often have trouble with phrasal verbs.  The company ran into trouble (=started to have problems)

  when it tried to expand too quickly.

– setback:   something that happens which stops you making progress or which makes things worse than

  they were before:  Despite some early setbacks, his campaign for the presidency was successful.

– obstacle:   Criminal gangs are the biggest obstacle to democratic reform.

– dilemma :  The doctors were faced with a moral dilemma.

– vicious circle :  Some developing countries get caught in a vicious circle. They cannot afford to pay their

  debt repayments, and so the debts get even bigger.

– complication

– increase by (percent) :  Last year, the number of burglaries increased by 15 percent.

– go up : Last month unemployment went up from 1.6 million to just over 1.7 million.

– grow:   The volume of traffic on our roads continues to grow.

– expand :  After two years of no growth, the economy started to expand again in 2003.

– double/triple/quadruple : Since 1950, the number of people dying from cancer has almost doubled.

-growth: (n) There has been a huge growth in sales of big 4-wheel-drive vehicles.

– decrease by (percent) :  The average rainfall has decreased by around 30 percent.

– go down : The percentage of fat in our diets has gone down.

– fall: The number of tigers in the wild has fallen to just over 10,000.

– drop:   At night, the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees.

– decline: decline is used about numbers or amounts, and also about the level or standard of something:

In rural areas, the standard of living continued to decline.

– respect / look up to

look up to : The children need someone they can look up to.

– think highly of:  Most of the students and staff think very highly of Dr. Smith.

– think highly of

have a high opinion of

– highly regarded/respected

highly regarded/respected : a highly respected surgeon

be an admirer of

– sophisticated / high-tech (equipment) / state-of-the-art (technology)

SURPRISING  (Avoid using “colourful” vocabulary in formal writing!)

– amazing / unbelievable / incredible / astonishing / staggering

– come as a surprise / come as a shock / amaze / astonish

SURPRISED  (Avoid using “colourful” vocabulary in formal writing!)

– amazed / astonished / speechless / be taken aback (He was taken aback by the news)

EXCITING  (Avoid using “colourful” vocabulary in formal writing!)

– thrilling / gripping / exhilarating / action-packed

– dull / tedious / monotonous / uninspiring

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE     (Avoid using “colourful” vocabulary in formal writing!)

– attractive / good-looking / gorgeous / striking / stunning

BEAUTIFUL PLACES     (Avoid using “colourful” vocabulary in formal writing!)

– breathtaking / stunning / awe-inspiring / striking / spectacular

– spotless : very clean

UGLY PLACES / PEOPLE      (Avoid using “colourful” vocabulary in formal writing!)

– unattractive / unpleasant / unsightly / hideous (=extremely ugly)

– filthy : very dirty

IN BAD CONDITION  (PLACES)

-i n bad condition / dilapidated / run-down

– latest / brand-new / innovative (idea or system)

– old-fashioned / outdated / obsolete

– absolutely  / extremely / highly / incredibly / remarkably

GOOD PERFORMANCE / PIECE OF WORK

– excellent / outstanding / impressive / exceptional

GOOD FOR A PARTICULAR JOB, PURPOSE, ETC

– suitable / right / proper / appropriate / be suited to

WRONG INFORMATION / NUMBERS

– incorrect / inaccurate / misleading

NOT REASONABLE / NECESSARY

– unjustified / unreasonable / without good reason

– unwind / wind down : Set in spectacular countryside, the Shiga Hotel is the perfect place to unwind.

– make someone feel at ease

– relaxed / feel at ease / laid-back (not easily worried or annoyed) /

– tense / uneasy / anxious / be under stress

PUBLIC SERVICES

– facilities : The facilities at the hotel were excellent — tennis courts, swimming pool, several bars and a good

restaurant.

– amenities : things such as shops, parks, or restaurants that make living or working in a place more pleasant

I prefer this part of the city because there are plenty of good amenities.

COMPARISONS

– a great deal / far / much + comparative (cheaper / more economical than)

– a bit / slightly / barely + comparative (cheaper / more economical than)

– by far / easily the + superlative (This is easily the best solution we can think of)

VERY MUCH / NOT VERY MUCH

– dramatically / significantly / slightly

– As well (as) / in addition to :   Over 600 people will lose their jobs, in addition to the 400 people who left

the company last year.

– In addition : A fifth of the world’s population lives on less than $1 a day. In addition, over 100 million

children are living on the streets.

– Furthermore / Moreover :  used at the beginning of a sentence when adding an important fact that is

connected with what you have just said:  The drug has strong side effects. Furthermore, it can be

– as long as / on condition that / provided that

– alternatively : You can go up into the mountains. Alternatively, you can stroll around one of Switzerland’s

delightful cities where the old mixes with the new.

– on THE one hand … on the other (hand)

– As  / since :  As it was a hot day, they decided to leave all the windows open.  Since it is difficult to predict

how the climate will change, it is not possible to say which countries will suffer the most.

– thanks to

– due to/owing to + NOUN   

The delay was due to a problem with the ship’s engines.

– due to/owing to + THE FACT THAT + subject + verb

The men did most of the work in the fields. This was partly due to the fact that the men were stronger.

But/although

– While / whereas / by contrast

– However:   However is usually used in the middle of a sentence, separated from the rest of the sentence by

commas: Jack and his family managed to escape before the soldiers arrived. Other families in the village,

however, were less lucky. Or it comes at the beginning of a sentence: He began his academic career as a

mathematician. However, his main achievements were in the field of nuclear physics.

– Nevertheless : Nevertheless is usually used at the beginning of a sentence, or at the end.

– in spite of/despite + NOUN   

Despite his lack of formal education, he became one of the world’s leading mathematicians.

– in spite of/despite + verb + ING  

This was a dinosaur that weighed only 10 tons, in spite of being some 28 metres long.

– in spite of/despite + THE FACT THAT + subject + verb

Many people are worried that cellphones may be dangerous to health, despite the fact that most of the

research suggests that there is little risk.

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Author: Tim Warre

Barcelona based English Teacher, blogger and sometime actor and director. View All Posts

6 thoughts on “ CAE Writing Phrases ”

• Pingback: CAE Writing Phrases | STUDY CENTRE IH CÓRDOBA
• Pingback: Advanced Exam writing phrases | susiesays

I am blown away. This is one of the best and full documented list of phrases. Indispensable tool for people that are about to take the exam.

In case you are willing to check model answers of CAE essays you can click on http://examwriting.blogspot.com

Thank you very much. This list is very helpful for my studies.

pisha, que bueno e este sitio, felicitacione

Love this blog! Children need someone to look up to, a role model.

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Essay – examples & model answers | C1 Advanced (CAE)

CAE Essay Example & Model Answer:  Younger people

Example exam task:.

Write an  essay  discussing only  two points . You should  explain which point is more important , giving reasons in support of your answer.

CAE Essay: Example Answer (Grade: 3-4)

Example answer:.

Adults can influence younger people in a good way, but also in a bad way. There are various possibilities how this can happen.

On the one hand, setting a good example is a quite useful way, because younger people will be able to see the adult’s behaviours and ways of thinking. They will see and feel the adult’s values and lives and may decide to become like them someday or at least to try to behave and think like adults.

On the other hand, offering advices seems to be the better way for me, how adults can influence younger people. Because, setting a good example to follow can be useful, but it also is pretty exhausting for adults and they may have some pressure as well. In addition, it’s just an opportunity for younger people, because they’ll decide rather they want to become like these adults or not.

In my opinion, younger people should try to learn how life works on their own. This will lead to more failures, but in my opinion, failing is normal and necessary. Of course this way of influencing is more exhausting for younger people, but I guess they’ll figure out how to do things on their own.

Failures are crucial for learning and for success, therefore I think that adults just should offer advices and show them, that they believe in them. That’s going to encourage younger people and they will try to learn and believe in themselves. That’s why I think, that offering advices is the better way how adults can influence younger people.

FCE, CAE, CPE

Practice, write & improve, examiners comments & grade:, cae essay: model answer (grade: 4-5).

Many parents, struggle with bringing up their child into be responsible adults and are unsure how to influence them. There are of course, many ways of influencing young adults, and I want to present and discuss two of them: giving rules to obey and offering your children advice.

First of all, it has to be said that advice is easy to ignore, and that children especially in their adolescent years, don’t even want advice, and will tell you so, too: ‘I don’t need your help’, they will say to you or even shout at you. Kids often feel misunderstood they think their parents can’t understand them, because they are ‘too old’. If your son or daughter has a problem, it is important to make him or her feel that you do understand and only want their best and are, therefore, offering some advice, hoping it will help them.

Then again, there are rules. Rules can be placed differently, they don’t need to be a stone-hard barrier to your child’s freedom. Adolescents will often bend rules or utterly break them all because they need this certain feeling of rebellion and freedom. Rules also help the maturing of the conscience. If a child doesn’t need to follow rules, it’s conscience will never mature and it will not know wrong from right. If, however you place rules, and punishments should they not be followed, your son or daughter will learn not to steal, to be home on time simply because he or she doesn’t want to be punished. Don’t overdo it, though. Placing too hard punishments could also lead to destruction of the conscience your child never being able to make it’s own decisions.

I think that giving rules to obey is the best way of influencing young people. Wherever you go, you find certain rules. Not every rule is absolutely sensible, but while growing older, your child will learn by itself which rules should be followed and will follow them of free choice.

CAE Essay Model Answer: Crimes

The documentary investigated what makes young people commit crimes. It seems to me that the most important reason is lack of appropriate control by parents.

To put the blame for youth crime on parents may seem rather unfair, but a lot of the interviews and information in the documentary backed up this belief. There is more than one reason why many parents fail to control their children. Some parents believe that it is wrong to discipline children in any way, and think that children should be free to do whatever they want. Some parents are simply too lazy and selfish to control their children, preferring to let them behave badly so that they can continue doing what they want. Another reason is that some parents did not grow up being disciplined by their parents and so they do not do that with their own children.

Factors such as economic position and influence from peers can of course play a major role in causing young people to turn to crime. However, it is my view that how children am brought up is more important than either of those. They need firm rules to be given to them by parents who they respect, and if they are not given firm guidance by parents, some of them are bound to behave badly. Some of this bad behaviour will be criminal. If you do something wrong and you get away with it, you will do it again or do worse things.

CAE Essay Model Answer: Talent Shows

The discussion focused on various issues connected with TV shows that feature members of the public. They have been a worldwide phenomenon for some time and views on them vary greatly.

One of the main aspects of these shows is the entertainment they provide for viewers. Obviously, they would not be watched by so many people if audiences didn’t find them entertaining. During the discussion. It was said that the shows are enjoyable to watch and do no harm. People enjoy watching ordinary members of the public living their lives, doing their jobs or taking part In talent competitions because they can relate to those people. I think that this 15 true. Although I don’t personally find them interesting and therefore seldom watch them, I agree that many people find them very entertaining.

However, a morn serious aspect was discussed and that Is the Influence these shows can have on people. especially young people. This, I think, Is the most Important aspect. Many young people are Influenced by these shows and the people on then They too want to appear on TV, to be ‘famousjust like the people they see. Rather than thinking realistically about their futures and about getting jobs and careers. they get the Impression that anyone can be famous. Instead of focusing on building a life in a practical way, they dream of being like those people on the shows. I think this 15 the most important consequence of these shows and It is a harmful one.

CAE Essay Example & Model Answer: Facilities

Facilities in need of funds

Having listened to today’s radio programme about facilities that need financial help, I realised that sports centers and public gardens have been neglected over the years by the local authorities.

There are few sports centers out there that meet the right characteristics that a good sports center must have. This is one of the many reasons that people avoid sport. We see lots of kids nowadays suffering from obesity and other health problems caused by the simple fact that they don’t do sport.

Another reason for this is that people have nowhere to go out for a walk or to run in a nice place. Public gardens, parks for example are also lacking in numbers. The ones that are already there are not very nice and they don’t look very good. I think that by improving this two facilities the population can benefit from this. By creating more sports centers, there will be some more jobs offered, and some kids might even follow a sports career. By making more public gardens people can get out more often and spend some good quality time relaxing.

I think that local authorities should invest money in both facilities because, this is a good way to increase the populations health.

Example Answer:

In regard of a recent discussion about the facilities, which are financially supported by local authorities, I would like to write a few of my personal thoughts. Whether we are talking about sports centres or public gardens, there is no doubt that they are both a good thing to have in the city and should both be supported somehow. The only question then is which one of these is more important, what are the pros and cons of each one?

Let me start with the sport centres as I think these are a bit more problematic. Obviously, in our times where lots of people spend days sitting in their office staring at a computer, some sort of physical training is very important. We have to balance that shift in our lifestyles. The problem I see with supporting the sports centres is the number of activities that you can do at these days. There is almost countless list of either individual or team sports that we can think of, and each centre is usually designed for a specific type or at least a group of sports similar in its nature. Therefore I think that it is too difficult to support them equally and we can’t say which activity is better than the others either. Another reason for not financing sports as much as green parks is their commercial use. What I mean by that is that we usually pay for everything the centre offers us to do and therefore they are more able to last from their own money than gardens.

Regarding of the green spaces, the situation is much clearer I think. Every city needs gardens where people can sit and relax, but nobody is going to pay a tax for just walking around.

These factors lead me to my conclusion, that the public gardens are definitely a facility which should be financed from public money, whereas in the case of sports centres, the situation is questionable.

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Breakout English

Advanced (CAE) Essay Questions and Sample Answers

The Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) essay is a formal, academic writing. You’ll find it in Part 1 of the CAE writing exam and, just like at other levels, Part 1 is mandatory. That means whether you like it or not, you’ll be writing an essay for your C1 Cambridge exam. Considering that, it’s probably a good idea to practise. The good news is, the CAE essay can be quite formulaic. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll notice the structure and style are always pretty similar. Before you know it, you’ll be writing them in your sleep! In this post, you’ll find some useful CAE writing tips and three essay questions with sample answers.

If you’re looking for a complete overview of the CAE writing exam, with CAE writing tips and much more, check out Advanced Writing Plus , our complete self-study course.

Topics for Advanced (CAE) essay questions

At C1 level, you are expected to be able to write about pretty much any topic you can imagine. However, CAE essay topics are generally going to be quite formal. You’re not going to be asked about your plans for the weekend!

These are some of the topics which are most likely to come up in an Advanced essay question:

• Environmental issues
• Public projects
• Science and nature
• Global issues

Make sure you’ve looked into these topics and studied relevant vocabulary. You can also read different articles and listen to radio broadcasts (or podcasts) related to the topics. Don’t forget to note down important vocabulary so you can remember it for your writings!

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay Tips

You’ve probably got plenty of experience writing in English if you’ve reached a C1 level. Students who prepare for this exam often need their skills focused in the right way rather than being taught brand new ideas.

Here are my top tips for preparing the CAE essay task.

• Don’t do anything too strange – The essay question is likely to be on quite an interesting topic. It could even be on something you feel strongly about or specialise in. But be careful! When essays start to ramble too much or go too far, they lose their strength. This essay isn’t going to change the world, so don’t go overboard!
• Use advanced language – Remember that to get top points, you must use advanced structures in your writing. Take some time to practise inversion, cleft sentences and participle clauses, then use them in your essay.
• Don’t be stingy with linking words – Linking words (and expressions) are the glue of a writing. Without them, everything falls apart. This doesn’t mean you have to use ridiculous uncommon linking words, but you should use them frequently, probably more than you expect. Take a look at our post about linking words for some ideas.
• Be stylish! – An essay needs to read like an essay, just like a report needs to read like a report. This means it is a formal, academic text. Formal means no contractions, few phrasal verbs, complex sentences and an impersonal style. The essay needs to include your opinion, so you need to express that opinion through style and substance, supported by facts.
• Focus on argument and coherence – To score high in the CAE essay, it’s important to have a clear argument and structure. Plan your essay and stick to the plan, making sure each paragraph has a clear purpose. Ensure that your points are logically connected and that your writing is coherent.
• Use a variety of sentence types – Varying sentence types and lengths keep the reader engaged and demonstrate your writing skills. Mix simple and complex sentences to add interest to your writing.
• Check your writing! – Proofreading is critical for writing a top-scoring CAE essay. Check for grammatical and spelling errors and make sure the writing flows well. Also, don’t forget to check your writing style and tone to make sure you sound professional and academic.
• Practice, practice, practice – Finally, practise writing essays under timed conditions. This will help you to improve your time management and build confidence for the actual exam.

The materials

Here are three Advanced (CAE) essay questions. They each use different CAE essay topics. Use them to practise and improve in preparation for the Cambridge C1 Advanced exam. After completing your own essay, check the example answer and compare.