Homework, 28th November, 2016

Read the Top Gear complaint letter and answer the reading comprehension questions that go with it. 

This is due on Tuesday, 29th November. 

Charlotte Simpson

122 Evergreen Terrace

Springfield

SP1 8YH

14^th December, 2014

The Editor

Top Gear Magazine

13 Sunrise Road

London

W4 8GH

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to express my disapproval about an article I read in your magazine last week. The article was about the poor quality of the roads in Mexico.

As someone with Mexican heritage myself, I have to say I found the article to be extremely offensive, as it was very negative about Mexicans. Instead of focussing on the roads, the main argument of the article seemed to be that Mexicans are bad drivers because they are stupid, and, while this might be true about some Mexicans, it is equally as true about some English drivers, and is certainly not true of all Mexicans. To suggest that it is, actually borders on racism, because you cannot make judgments about an entire race of people based on the behaviour of a few.

I think it would be a very good idea for your journalist to rewrite the article in a more positive light, focussing more on the poor quality of the roads and the fact that not a lot of money is spent on maintaining them which is, after all, what the article was supposed to be about.

I hope you will take my suggestion on board and, if you wish to contact me regarding this issue, please use the address above.

Yours faithfully,

Charlotte Simpson

1. Scan through the article and underline the following words:

Disapproval     Quality     Heritage

Negative     Focussing        Rewrite

2. Complete the sentence: ‘I am writing to express my _____________ about an article I read in your ______________ last week.

3. What was the article about?

4. What group of people did the article apparently offend?

5. The article seemed to focus on the idea of them being bad drivers rather than what?

6. Complete the sentence: ‘To ___________ that it is, actually borders on _______________ because you cannot make _______________ judgments about an entire race of people based on the ________________ of a few.’

7. What does the writer of the letter suggest that journalist who wrote the article do?

Now, if you want to really challenge yourself, have a go at the following, slightly harder questions:

8. Why are the first and last paragraphs quite a bit shorter than the others?

9. Why would the writer of the letter be more offended by the fact that it is negative about Mexicans than if it was negative about, say, Italians?

10. Look at the second paragraph. The purpose of it is to explain why the writer is complaining. What is the purpose of the third paragraph?

11. In what ways do you think the letter is effective in getting its point across? Think about the language the writer uses, the details she mentions and how the letter is laid out.