Oxford University Press

Headway Plus INTERMEDIATE Writing Guide

UNIT 3
Writing Task: Write the story of your worst holiday
Worksheet 1: PRE-WRITING
Exercise 1
Match the adjectives to the nouns. Some adjectives can go with more than one noun.
missed
full
delayed
terrible

boring
noisy
over-priced
unfriendly
damaged

dirty
fake
over-crowded
slow
closed
lost
long

expensive
cancelled
disgusting
poor
rude

luggage
flight
hotel
destination
people

transport
tourist sites
souvenirs
exchange rate
food

Exercise 2
How often do these problems happen on holiday? Write them in the correct column.
Add more from Exercise 1. What other problems can you think of?
rains everyday
nothing to do
often

camera stolen
visa problems
long queues
poor hotel facilities
expensive taxis
medical problems
sometimes

hardly ever

Exercise 3
Change the adjectives to adverbs and put them in the correct place in the sentence.
1. heavy / unfortunate / incredible
______________, the plane was _______________ late because it was raining ______________.
2. desperate / absolute / fortunate
The food in the hotel was _______________ terrible and we searched the town _______________
for a good restaurant. _______________, we found an excellent one nearby.
3. terrible / slow / sad / annoying / surprising
We tried to visit the museum, but _____________ it was closed. Then we drove to the shopping
centre, but the traffic was moving so _____________ that _____________ it was closed, too. We
arrived back at the hotel _____________ late and, _____________, the door was already locked, so
we couldnt get in.

Oxford University Press

Headway Plus INTERMEDIATE Writing Guide

UNIT 8
Worksheet 2: PRACTICE
Exercise 1
Match the questions to the sentence parts
(numbered).

What did you do after the event?

Who did you go with?
Where did you go?
When did you go?
Why was it bad?

I last went on holiday two years ago, 2when we went to Canada for a month. 3I went with my father,
two cousins and four brothers. 4Unfortunately, I had the scariest time of my life. 5It was so incredibly
frightening, that we didnt leave the hotel for two whole weeks after it happened. Let me tell you
the story.
introductory

Which paragraph is this in the story?

eventually
unfortunately
immediately

Exercise 2
Add the words to the story.

body
finally
as soon as
luckily

concluding
just
suddenly

One lunchtime, we decided to go for a picnic in the woods. _____________ as we finished

putting the food out, we heard a noise. _____________ a bear appeared from out of the trees. My
older brother _____________ started shouting at it, jumping up and down. _____________,
the bear wasnt very afraid. _____________ we saw this, we all ran for the car and locked ourselves
inside. _____________ we had a phone to call for help, but we were 100 km from the nearest town.
_____________ the police arrived with a cage. However, the bear did not want to be caught, and it
took two hours to catch it. _____________, the bear was safely locked inside.
Which paragraph is this in the story?

introductory

body

concluding

Exercise 3
Write the numbers of the sentences, below, in the correct boxes in the paragraph above.
1. However, it didnt stop coming towards us.
2. after we had spent the morning visiting museums,
3. While we were driving back to the hotel, I fell asleep and had a dream about a huge, horrible bear.
4. He had seen how to do this on a TV nature show.
5. That night, my father was angry because the day before he had warned us not to go there.
6. The sun was shining and we were feeling very happy, and very hungry.
Exercise 4
Write the numbers on the timeline in
the order the events happened.
past

now

1 arrived back at the hotel

5 arrived in the woods
2 brother watched the TV show 6 father warned us
3 got in the car
7 phoned the police
4 saw the bear
8 visited museums

Exercise 5
Read the paragraph.
When I think back about the holiday, I think about how lucky we were that my brother had watched
the TV program about bears! It will be a long time before I go for a picnic again.
Which paragraph is this in the story?

introductory

body

concluding

Oxford University Press

Headway Plus INTERMEDIATE Writing Guide

UNIT 8
Worksheet 3: WRITING
Exercise 1: Writing a First Draft
Write the story of your worst holiday.

Start with an introductory paragraph.

Write two body paragraphs.
End with a concluding paragraph.
Use adjectives and adverbs practiced in the unit.
Write about 150 words.

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Read your essay and check:

Introductory paragraph
Two body paragraphs
Concluding paragraph
Adjectives + adverbs
Spelling (use a dictionary)
Punctuation capital letters, full stops, commas
Exercise 2: Writing a Final Draft
Make corrections and write out the story again neatly.