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Model answer

General Training Task 1 model answer 2: Discount an online order

A high band model answer to a real General Training Task 1 question, with the task it answers. 20 minutes, at least 150 words.

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This is a model answer to a real General Training Task 1 question. Read the task first, write your own answer, and only then read the model. Reading it first tells you very little about your own writing.

A model answer shows you the target. It does not show you the gap between your answer and that target, which is why the band sample answers with corrections are worth reading alongside it.

The task

The General Training Task 1 question

Write your own answer before reading the model.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You recently ordered an item that was advertised as having a discount from the normal price, but you have found that when you paid, you did not get the discount. Write to the company. In your letter

  • Explain that you did not get the discount
  • Tell them where you saw the discount advertised
  • Tell them what you would like them to do about the situation

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear…

Write at least 150 words.

The answer

The General Training Task 1 model answer

Written at the length the test actually asks for.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing with some concern about an item I recently purchased from your company. It was a new digital camera from the Nokia range, model number SL452. The item was ordered using your telephone ordering system and I read my credit card number to the sales person on the other end of the line.

I was persuaded to buy the item based on a 20% reduction that was advertised, but I was surprised to find that when my credit card statement arrived, I was charged the full price. I saw the reduced price offer in our local newspaper, in which your company had taken a full page advertisement with all items on the page discounted.

I am very satisfied with the camera itself, and do not wish to return it, but I would like the advertised 20% of the cost of the item refunded to my credit card. If this is not possible, then I would regretfully send the item back as I can obtain it for a cheaper price in other stores.

Regards,

R G Peterson

180 words

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A model answer cannot mark your writing

It shows you what a strong answer looks like. It cannot tell you what is wrong with yours, and that is the information that actually moves a band.

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