Housework and History

If you stop to think about it, the history of housework is the history of everything. Housework 1. ____________ (change) an amazing amount in only the last hundred years or so. The 2. ___________ (invent) of electricity was very important, and it led to the 3. _____________ (arrive) of the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the dishwasher, and so on. Housework 4. __________ (be) much harder without them fifty years ago. It’s not just technology that’s different – these days, most husbands 5. ___________ (expect) by their wives to share the housework. Overall, then, we can see a great 6. _____________ (improve) in relation to housework, especially for women – although the environmental cost of modern housework is high.

5. WRITING EXAM Read the task and the advertisement in exercise 6 carefully. Then read the message below and decide if the writer has included all the requested information. Tick the appropriate box.

1. __ who / you? 4. __ when / eat?

2. __ where / from? 5. __ when / study?

3. __when / sleep? 6. __ what / else?

I’m David. I sleep like a log from 10 p.m. until the alarm goes off at 7 a.m. I have breakfast at 7.30 a.m., lunch at midday and then dinner at 6 p.m. I really don’t like doing homework. I try to play football as often as possible, and usually managed to every day.

6. You see this advertisement in an Internet forum. Write your response in an email of 40-50 words. World daily lives

Survey

Are people the same everywhere? Or totally different? Help us to find out! Send us an email and tell us:

• who you are and where you’re from

• when you sleep, eat and study

• what else you do in a typical day.

EXAM TIP

When you write a short text, such as an email message, always check you have included all necessary points from the instructions.

7. WRITING AN INFORMAL LETTER Are these statements about writing informal letters true or false?

1. It’s normal to use contractions, like they’re for they are, in informal letters. T/F

2. You don’t need to use paragraphs in informal letters. T/F

3. Planning what to write is less important for informal letters than for formal letters. T/F

4. You should try to make informal letters as interesting as possible, for example by using a range of verbs and adjectives. T/F

5. The most common tense used in informal letters is the Present Continuous. T/F

6. Informal letters tend to be shorter than formal letters. T/F

7. You should think carefully about the reader of informal letters. T/F

8. Below is the part of a letter you receive from your penfriend abroad. Write your reply in 100-120 words.

....my daily routine. So I’d really like to know about your daily routine. What do you usually do in a typical day? What are duties about the house? What do you prefer doing in your free time?

EXAM TIP

Always plan your writing carefully. Look carefully at the topic or question and let ideas come into your head. Then start to organize them into a suitable order. Then write one or more sentences for each idea. Build the series of sentences into paragraphs. When you have finished your first draft, check very carefully for mistakes.

9. Higher level Read the newspaper article on how fathers take part in looking after their children. Choose the best answer.