1. You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Your heighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your houselflat.
Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter
- explain the reasons for the noise
- apologise
- describe what action you will take
Write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear ................. ,
model answer:
Dear James,
I was very shocked to get your letter saying that the noise from my flat has been spoiling your evenings and causing you some distress. I am really, really sorry about that. I had no idea that you would be able to hear so much, so I hope you will accept my apologies.
As you may have guessed, I am trying to refit my kitchen in the evenings when I get home from work. Unfortunately it is all getting longer than expected and I have been having problems with getting things to fit properly. This has meant to a lot of banging and hammering.
As the kitchen is still not finished, I have decided to call in a professional builder who will finish the work in the next day or two. He’ll work only during daytime hours, so you won’t be disturbed in the evenings again, I promis.
Sorry to have caused these problems,
Bill.
(157 words)
2.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Machine translation (MT) is slower and less accurate than human translation and there is no immediate or predictable likelihood of machines taking over this role from humans.
Do you agree or disagree?
Write at least 250 words.
Read the following sample answer.
Complete the answer by filling the gaps with a word or phrase from the box below.
on the contrary | for instance | especially | because |
for these reasons | in order to | it is true | of course |
similarly | however | it seems to me | for example |
It is true that there have been great advances in technology over the last forty years. .................... the use of mobile phones and e-mail communication are common these days. ...................., machines that translate from one language to another are still in their early stages.
.................... that a machine could never do as good a job as a human, .................... when it comes to interpreting what people are saying. ...................., machines can translate statements such as “Where is the bank?” but even simple statements are not always straightforward .................... the meaning depends on more than just words. .................... the word “bank” has a number of different meanings in English. How does a translating machine know which meaning to take?
.................... understand what people are saying, you need to take into account the relationship between the speakers and their situation. A machine cannot tell the difference between the English expression “Look out!” meaning “Be careful!” and “Look out!” meaning “Put your head out of the window”. You need a human being to interpret the situation.
.................... with written language, it is difficult for a machine to know how to translate accurately .................... we rarely translate every word. ...................., we try to take into consideration how the idea would be expressed in the other language. This is hard to do .................... every language has its own way of doing and saying things.
.................... I feel that it is most unlikely that machines will take the place of humans in the field of translating and interpreting. If machines ever learn to think, perhaps then they will be in a position to take on this role.