C2 Proficiency. Writing Part 2. Article. Ireland.


I am now preparing for the C2 Proficiency test (fka CPE) and writing like crazy. I know most people get the lowest score for the writing component of English exams (find out why here), which is not something I want to happen to me, so I write. In this post, I want to share my Writing Part 2 article about being close to nature.

Task: 
A magazine is running a series of articles on people’s experiences of being close to nature, for example, visits to beautiful lakes and mountains, or encounters with wildlife. You decide to write an article in which you briefly describe an experience you have had when you were close to nature, and explain what you learned from this. You should also evaluate the role that contact with nature plays in people’s lives. (Cambridge English Proficiency 2, Test 1, Question 4).

My answer: 
Out of all the countries I have visited, Ireland stands out. Nowhere have I seen such scenic and serene places so close to city life. The country is literally lined with spectacular walking trails. Out of all the Irish trails I have walked, one stands out. It’s the trail leading up the Torc Mountain in Killarney National Park. Having climbed the mountain in annoyingly incessant drizzle, I was awarded with stunning views of the lakes and valleys below.

I made my way up in complete solitude - no other hiker in their right mind was willing to embark on this adventure in this weather - which made me realize a thing or two. Living in a city with a population of 7 million people, rarely do I get to enjoy silence. The Killarney soundtrack was noiseless wind which seemed to have taken my city stress away. When I got to the top, it dawned on me that it was the first time I had reached for my phone. Mind you, I had the urge to take a picture, not check my social media accounts. I was off the grid, and happily so. It felt like magic. On the way down, another magical thing started happening. My brain started coming up with ideas for work. I thought I was taking time off, but I turned out to become more productive.

This got me thinking. Why do we keep fighting this? Why do we keep staying home, glued to our TV or phone screens? Why do we keep destroying the areas of national beauty? We have nothing to gain by isolating ourselves from nature. In our increasingly busy and demanding lives, nature might be the only cure we have. Nature is what can effortlessly force us to take a break and clear our heads. Nature is what can effortlessly help us to get inspired and recharge our batteries. I am going on a hike next weekend. Who is with me?
326 words 

What I am presenting here is the second version. The first version was about Wicklow Way (also Ireland), but all my descriptions sounded too clichéd, so I decided to go for something different. It was also 360 words long, so I removed a couple of sentences. The perfectionist in me now sees some imperfections in the answer above, but I decided to share an honest version.

I am enjoying C2 Proficiency writing part 2 immensely. It is very different from IELTS or TOEFL. It is also very new to me, so your feedback will be much appreciated.

PS:
Here is a photo of me finally making it to the top. Luckily, the annoyingly incessant drizzle had stopped by the time we made it. Which reminds me. I lied a little in the article. There was another hiker who embarked on this adventure in this weather - Petr Filippov, who is also the author of the photos. 

Comments

  1. JCMay 14, 2021 at 9:09 AM

    I'm utterly amazed! Have you lived in Ireland long?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to tame your IELTS pie charts

Image
IELTS line graphs are easy to tame - you just go chronologically, so the description doesn't get out of hand. Information in pie charts, however, can be hard to organize because there are different directions you can go in. In this post, I want to share two IELTS pie chart answers I wrote for the same task. The task is from Cambridge IELTS 11 . The introduction and the overview are the same. As you read, pay attention to the organization and try to decide which description works better. ✼✼✼ Introduction  The pie charts compare the percentage of British students of one English university who knew foreign languages in 2000 and 2010. Main Body Version 1 The percentage of students in three groups grew. Speakers of Spanish formed the largest share in both years, rising by 5% from 30% to 35%. The increase was the same in the “Another language” and “Two other languages” groups. In 2010, the former amounted to 20%, while the latter comprised 15%, making up the second and third largest prop
Read more

My Fulbright application or a teachable moment on essay writing

Image
I did it one day before the deadline. I submitted my Fulbright application on 30 May 2014. Now, 14 months later, I am going to the USA as a proud Fulbrighter! The program I am participating in is called Foreign Language Teaching Assistant or FLTA for short. As a participant of this program I will be teaching Russian and studying at an American university for an academic year. When my students heard the news, they asked, “What did it take to get this grant?” I replied, “Well, there were several stages. First, I had to write a lot of text. Then, I … .” And one student said, “I am curious to read what you wrote.” I suppose many are, so I am going to let you in on one of my application essays. One of the essays I wrote is called “Objectives and motivations.” What I wrote is too long to upload here (1274 words, no less!), so I am only going to share my introduction and conclusion . Oh, and I see a teachable moment here, which I just can’t help using. Introduction "Albe
Read more

C2 Proficiency. Writing Task 2. Review (of a film I haven’t seen).

Image
I keep writing like crazy because I am preparing for the C2 Proficiency test (fka CPE). In my previous post, I shared my Writing Part 2 article . In this post, I want to share a review I wrote about a movie I haven't seen and give some insights into handling an unfortunate task. Task A film magazine has invited readers to submit reviews of films which are set in the future, but deal with themes relevant to today’s world, such as our relationship with technology or environmental problems. You decide to submit a review briefly describing such a film and explaining why its themes are relevant today. You should also consider how important it is for films set in the future to say something about contemporary society.   ( Cambridge English Proficiency 2 , Test 2, Question 4). This is a really unfortunate task for me because I watch very few movies, maybe 3 a year. But as I read it, I imagined myself sitting in the exam room not wanting to fail, so I had to come up with somethin
Read more

Top 8 mistakes Russian learners of English actually make

Image
Due to the nature of my job, every once in a while I stumble upon an article about N most common mistakes that learners of English make. I look at them and go, “Who makes these mistakes? Russians certainly don’t.” (For example, Russians don’t confuse your and you’re .) In this post, I want to talk about 8 common mistakes Russian learners actually make. These mistakes persist on different levels, but are not usually addressed in EFL course books. The list is based on my personal teaching experience. The order is random. 1. I with I often ask students “What did you do at the weekend?” and what I hear is “ I with my friends went to the cinema. ” The right way to say something like this is “ My friends and I went to the cinema ,” or “ I went to the cinema with my friends .” In English, the word order is “subject+verb” and prepositional phrases can’t go in the middle. 2. How to say When students don’t know how to say something, they ask me or murmur to themselves “ How t
Read more