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Flatmate not washing up

Use the greeting, sign-off and paragraph plan below for this informal letter, write it on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model letter.

WRITING TASK 1

InformalComplaint

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

Your flatmate never washes his dishes and the kitchen is always a mess.

Write a letter to your flatmate. In your letter

  • describe the problem
  • explain how it makes you feel
  • suggest a fair system

Write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Daniel,

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

Plan your letter

Start with
Dear Daniel,
End with
Best wishes,

A letter to a friend ends warmly, for example Best wishes or Love, followed by your first name.

  1. 1OpeningSay who you are, if needed, and why you are writing.
  2. 2Paragraph 1Describe the problem
  3. 3Paragraph 2Explain how it makes you feel
  4. 4Paragraph 3Suggest a fair system
  5. 5ClosingSay what you would like to happen next, then sign off.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.

Band-8 model letter

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model letter (174 words)

Dear Daniel,

I wasn't sure how to bring this up face to face, so I thought I'd write it down. It's about the washing-up.

For the last few weeks, your dishes have been left in the sink or on the counter for days. When I came home yesterday, there were plates with dried food, three mugs and a frying pan that had been there since Sunday. The kitchen smells bad.

To be honest, it's really getting me down. I like cooking, but I now have to clean up before I can even start, and I'm often too tired to do that after work. I don't want us to fall out over something so small, but I'm starting to feel a bit resentful.

I wonder if we could agree on a system that is fair to both of us. For example, we could each wash up our own things straight after eating, or take turns doing all the dishes on alternate days.

What do you think? Let's talk about it this weekend.

Best wishes,
Tom

Key phrases

PhraseMeaning
I have to be honest,introduce a frank opinion
I was really annoyed whensay you were upset
It's just not fair.say something is unjust
Can you do something about it?ask a friend to help
Anyway, I just needed to get this off my chest.say you wanted to share a worry

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