Writing: Directed Writing
Practice Questions

A passage describes a proposal to build a new shopping centre in Nairobi. The directed writing task asks candidates to write a letter to a newspaper expressing their views. A candidate writes: 'The shopping centre will destroy local businesses. This is unacceptable. We must stop this development.' What improvement would gain higher marks for Writing?

1. Adding more exclamation marks to show strong feelings
2. Developing the argument with specific evidence and explanation
3. Using shorter sentences throughout for greater impact
4. Repeating the main point several times for emphasis

A passage about renewable energy in Germany provides information about solar panels, wind farms and government subsidies. The directed writing task asks candidates to write an article for a school magazine. One candidate writes: 'Germany has lots of solar panels and wind farms and the government gives money to help people buy them and this is good for the environment.' How could this sentence be improved?

1. By removing all references to the passage to show originality
2. By adding more connectives such as 'and' and 'also'
3. By breaking it into shorter sentences with varied structures and more precise vocabulary
4. By making it longer to include more information from the passage