Each exercise gives a short draft with one named problem. Revise it in your own words, then compare with the model.
These exercises follow the lessons in revising an English response without replacing the student voice.
Exercises
Exercise 1 (missing content): Task: write to your class teacher about a book fair. Include the day, the place and one reason to go.
Draft: “Dear Cikgu Mei, there will be a book fair on Thursday. It will have cheap books. Thank you.” What is missing?
Answer
The place is missing. The day and a reason (cheap books) are present.
Revision: “There will be a book fair in the school hall on Thursday. It will have cheap books, so students can buy a new one without spending much.”
Exercise 2 (missing content): Task: invite a friend to a birthday dinner. Include the time, the place and what to wear. Draft: “Hi Sara, come to my birthday dinner at Nasi Kandar Pelita at 7 p.m. It will be fun.” What is missing?
Answer
What to wear is missing. Add: “You can wear something casual.” The time and place are already there.
Exercise 3 (structure): Turn this list into a paragraph: “The library is noisy. Students talk. Some people sleep there. The librarian is strict.”
Answer
Main idea: the library is too noisy for studying.
Paragraph: “The library is too noisy for students who want to study. Some groups talk loudly at the tables while others sleep, so the room is never quiet. The librarian is strict, but she cannot watch every table. A quiet zone with its own rules would help.”
Exercise 4 (structure): Which opinion would you choose as the main idea?
The list: “Uniforms are hot. They look neat. They save money. I like my school colour.”
Answer
“They look neat” or “They save money” can be backed with an example. “I like my school colour” is only a personal preference and is harder to support. Choose the one you can support best.
Exercise 5 (register): Edit for a principal with minimal changes: “We’re gonna put up posters. It’ll look super cool.”
Answer
“We plan to put up posters. They will look very attractive.”
Only the casual words and contractions changed. The ideas and the shape of each sentence stay the same.
Exercise 6 (register): Is this edit acceptable? Original: “We’re going to sell cakes.” Edit: “We shall endeavour to sell confectionery.”
Answer
No. It is over-formalised. “We are going to sell cakes” is polite enough and sounds natural. Change only what would sound careless to the reader.
Exercise 7 (repetition): Tighten and keep the date, time and place: “The talk is on Tuesday. The talk is at 10 a.m. The talk is in Room 4. Students should go to Room 4 on Tuesday.”
Answer
“The talk will be held in Room 4 on Tuesday at 10 a.m.”
The day, time and place each appear once. The final sentence added nothing new.
If you got these wrong
Exercises 1 and 2 practise finding the missing content point. Exercises 3 and 4 practise turning opinions into a paragraph. Exercises 5 and 6 practise editing informal phrases, and exercise 7 practises reducing repetition.
Record repeat slips in the mistake log and paper-error review. To go through your drafts with a teacher, try online one-to-one English tuition.