W.2 · Preliminary writing: article or story

Writing Part 2 gives you a choice 二选一: an article 文章 for a magazine or website (~100 words, with a title question like "What's your favourite place?"), or a story starting from a given sentence.

• Both are ~100 words. Both want organisation, a clear voice, and correct, varied language.
• Memory hook: the article answers the reader; the story moves the reader. Pick the one you can write better today — there is no prize for choosing the harder one.
• Choose fast: 30 seconds of deciding, not five minutes. The clock is a budget.

Structure: title question → your answer → two reasons or examples → a closing line, all with personality 个性.

• Open by answering directly: My favourite place is the school roof at sunset. Then two reasons: what you see, how it feels. Close with an invitation: Go there once. You'll see.
• ⚠ An article is not an essay 议论文. It's a magazine page: direct, personal, a little lively. You-questions are welcome: Have you ever watched the sky turn pink?
• The examiners reward a voice 声音: an opinion, an example, a small joke. Correct and boring is a C; correct and alive is a B.

The task gives the first sentence: "The door opened slowly, and I couldn't believe my eyes."

• The given sentence is a springboard 跳板: continue it, don't restart it. It sets tense (past), place and mood — inherit 继承 all three.
• The story machine from A2 Part 7 works here: background (past continuous), events (past simple), one feeling per paragraph, connectors to move time.
• End with a turn 转折 or a feeling: I never found out who left the key. I never needed to.
• ⚠ 100 words is short. One scene, one moment, one turn. A story that tries to fit a whole week reads like a timetable.

• ⚠ Don't write the 八股. The template essay — Nowadays… With the development of… In conclusion… — is instantly recognisable and quietly penalised 扣分. Write like a person with a favourite place.
• ⚠ Choose one task and commit. Marking both costs you nothing except the better mark: only one is marked — pick, write, check.
• ⚠ The article needs the title question answered in line one. Don't warm up for three sentences; the reader (and the examiner) is impatient.
• ⚠ The story must stay in the past. The given sentence is past tense; the story follows it. Drift is the mark-loser, as always.

Article: "What's the best season in your city?" — answer in line one, two reasons, an invitation at the end.

Story: "When I opened the box, I found something I had lost three years ago." — continue: what was it, how did it leave, how does it feel to hold it again.

Answer first, then read the explanation.

1. Article or story? — The one you write better today. No prize for difficulty.
2. The article's first line — answers the title question directly.
3. The story's given sentence — inherit its tense, place and mood.
4. Nowadays, with the development of… — ✗ → write like a person, not a template.
5. Length — ~100 words, one scene, one turn. A week in 100 words reads like a timetable.