Exam Buster
Study Tip
Writing
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• When you have to do any type of written questions, always try to use your own words and avoid repetition by using synonyms.
Reading and correcting
1a Read this student’s summary about English highwayman* Dick Turpin. There is too much repetition of the same words. Using the synonyms below, try to improve the text by changing the highlighted words.
arrested executed however began
Your money or your life?
Dick Turpin was an English highwayman who was born in 1705. At first he worked as a butcher* but, by the early 1730s, he had started stealing* animals. He then started attacking and robbing* stagecoaches*. In 1737, Turpin shot* and killed a man who tried to capture him. Turpin escaped* but he was captured two years later. At his trial* he was found guilty* of stealing horses, not of murder*. His punishment was to be hanged*. He was hanged in York.
Study Tip
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• Another way to make your written work flow better and avoid repetition is to use a mixture of real names and pronouns.
1b Read this student’s summary about the Australian bushranger* Ned Kelly. There is too much repetition of Ned’s name. Replace some of them with correct pronouns to make the text better.
Bushranger – an Australian outlaw*
Ned Kelly was born in the mid 1850s in Australia. As a young man Ned was often in trouble with the police and involved in stealing animals. Then, in 1878, when the police were looking for Ned, Ned shot and killed three policemen. It took two more years before the police caught Ned and Ned’s gang. In the final shoot-out* Ned and Ned’s gang (the Kelly Gang) wore metal armour. Ned was hanged in 1880. Some people think Ned was a cold-blooded* murderer, other people think Ned was an Irish-Australian hero who fought against the tyranny of the Anglo-Australian elite. There are lots of songs, books and films about Ned’s life.
Writing
2 Use the cues to write a summary of the life of American outlaw, Billy the Kid.
Teenage outlaw
Billy the Kid born America 1859 / poor family / never knew father / mother died when Billy 14 / first worked hard to earn money / but got into bad company / soon Billy an outlaw in a violent society / killed several people (nobody knows how many) / Pat Garrett killed him / died aged 21 / Billy: a cold-blooded murderer or defender of weak?
Words to remember
bushranger: guardia forestale
butcher: macellaio cold blooded: a sangue freddo escaped: fuggì guilty: colpevole
highwayman: bandito murder: omicidio outlaw: fuorilegge shoot out: sparatoria shot: sparò
stagecoaches: diligenze started robbing: iniziò a derubare started stealing: iniziò a rubare to be hanged: essere impiccato trial: processo