Monica, can you come into my office please? Yeah... Oh my god! What!? Your office!?
This is your office!? Oh my god! Gross! What is this place!? Now, Monica I have called you here
because as the CEO of SMASH English I would like you to write me a report. Um... a report? Yeah. I
want to know what people like about SMASH English and what people don't like about SMASH English
also give me some recommendations or suggestions about what i could do as the CEO of SMASH English
to improve SMASH English because right now uh things aren't looking great... Oh my god!
Seriously? You want me to do that for you? Wow I feel like a business woman! Just go! Get to work!
Okay then Mr. Toby I'll get to work! Bye! For part two of the B2 First writing exam
you might decide to write a report but what is a report? And what do you
need to do to get the highest marks possible? My name is Toby, this is SMASH English and here is
everything you need to know about writing a report for the B2 First Cambridge exam!
Reports are so boring. Yes, really boring... but also easy! Why? Because they are so formal and
so mechanical. If you are not a creative person (and that's okay) then a report is a great
option for you in part two of the B2 First writing exam. So then let's look at Monica's question:
You recently received an email from the CEO of SMASH English... Thank you for your contribution
to SMASH English. SMASH English is always looking to improve its content. Please send us a report
outlining the positive and negative aspects of SMASH English and where we could improve
in the future. Okay so um SMASH English is okay but there needs to be more Monica in the videos,
so um put more Monica in the videos.... And we need... yeah we need more hot guys because I
need a boyfriend and the situation is getting urgent! So more hot guys... And I need more
clothes to wear because I wear the same thing in every video and I know, I know I look really
hot in what I wear but I think for the audience they would like to see me wearing something more
...sensual... Do you know what I mean? And anything else? Um yeah! Monica needs
sushi when she works. That's very important. I love sushi, oh my god! I'm finished!
No no no. First we need to plan! Oh my god this is so boring. This means we need to read the
question with a pen and underline the key pieces of information. Number one: who is the report for?
Who is the target reader? A report will always be for a superior so that means we must write
formally. We cannot use contractions, we cannot use informal phrasal verbs and we cannot use
idioms. Next we must underline what we need to do. A report will always ask you to do three
things and the third thing will always be to give a recommendation or a suggestion. Easy!
Okay so in this example I must: one: describe the positive aspects of SMASH English. Two:
describe the negative aspects of SMASH English and number three: I've gotta give recommendations
on how to improve SMASH English. So that's three tasks yeah. Oh and I'm writing to Toby, the CEO,
so I've gotta be super formal yeah. Next we need to organize our paragraphs. Every report needs an
introduction and then we need one paragraph for each task. So in this example paragraph one will
be our introduction. Paragraph two will talk about the positive aspects of SMASH English. Paragraph
three will talk about the negative aspects of SMASH English and paragraph four will give
a recommendation or a suggestion for the future. Also a report should be between 140 and 190 words.
This means that our introduction and conclusion should be between 30 and 40 words and our two body
paragraphs (paragraphs two and three) should be between 50 and 60 words. But please do not
count your words in the exam because you do not have time! The point is this: if you write too few
words - below 140 words - you probably have not included all the information necessary to complete
the tasks. If you write more than 190 words you are probably including irrelevant information
and that's a terrible thing. Both of these things will lose you marks and we don't want that! This
is why we plan to make sure that in each paragraph we are completing a task. Easy? Very easy!
Next we need to think of titles. Titles? Yes! Titles! This is super duper important! This is
very very very important! When you write a report every paragraph must have a title but don't worry!
These do not need to be creative titles. This is not an article (article writing,
click here! Bye!) No. This is not an article. Your titles do not need to be creative. They must
be factual. They must let the reader know what information will be contained in the paragraph.
So what is a very boring and factual title, Monica, for the introduction? Um how about
"introduction"?. Yeah exactly: introduction! Um what about the other paragraphs?
Um for paragraph two we could call it "SMASH English: the positive". And then paragraph three
uh "SMASH English: the negative" and then for the last paragraph we could call it um
"Recommendations for the future". Yeah? Done! Exactly! Please do not forget to write titles.
If you forget your titles you will die and please don't die because SMASH English needs
subscribers... Subscribe. So then how do we write our introduction? I'm going to tell
you about all the good and bad things about SMASH English and then recommend some stuff.
Finished. This is far too informal. An introduction for a report should do two
things: Number one: state the aims of the report. Why are you writing the report? What is the report
trying to do? And number two: state where we got the information from to write the report.
So then Monica, try again. This report has been written to describe both positive and
negative aspects of SMASH English and provide recommendations for the future. Notice here we
have used THE PASSIVE. This is because a report is IMPERSONAL. Oh but I want it to be all about me!
No we do not want the report to be a personal text so, as Monica has done here, try to avoid speaking
in the first person. The passive is a good way to do this. And now Monica, how are you going to
get the information to write the report? How are you going to discover what the positive and the
negative aspects of SMASH English are? Um, I'll use my brain. I have so many opinions, trust me...
No! Because this is too personal! A report is not a personal piece of writing. It is not about you.
So instead you could carry out a survey or conduct interviews to find out what people think about
SMASH English. Okay then I will interview the staff at SMASH English we'll see what they think.
Okay, yeah, good idea. So you must state this in your introduction. In order to do this interviews
were conducted with SMASH English staff. Here we have the formal linking expression IN ORDER TO.
We have used THE PASSIVE again to not put the focus on the writer and we have used the formal
collocation to CONDUCT AN INTERVIEW. Oh hey, Bruce! I'm going to ask you a few questions.
Um what do you think are the positive aspects of SMASH English? What do you want? Why are you
asking me this? I'm writing a report for Toby! Come on Bruce this is really important for my
career as a business woman! Uh yeah well... the best thing is I can uh I can drink at work.
Um okay and um, what's the worst thing? Uh and the uh... the worst thing is I have to, uh I have to
work sometimes. It's a.... It's very difficult. Oh my god I'll find someone else that actually takes
this seriously okay... [ __ ] Oh hi, Duke! Oh hi, Monica! You look very beautiful today! Um yeah
whatever. Um I'm writing a report for Toby. It's super important. Um, what do you think is the best
thing about SMASH English? That's easy! You of course! Monica, you're funny, you're beautiful and
you're intelligent! Yeah, Duke! This is great! I think the same so I'll write this down for both of
us. Remember the information you present in your report does not have to be factually accurate,
just invent stuff! That's fine! In our second paragraph: "SMASH English the positive" we
need to write about the positive aspects of SMASH English that we learned about from our interviews.
Of those interviewed one hundred percent reported that they highly enjoyed the involvement of Monica
in videos. One participant remarked that Monica was beautiful, intelligent and had great skin.
From the interviews it seems that Monica is an essential component of SMASH English and
many would not watch if she were not a part of the organization. Monica, seriously? Um Toby
this is science, yeah? I did interviews! You cannot argue with science that's like
a scientific fact. This paragraph starts off by describing the findings of the interviews.
Yeah that I'm great! Then it describes what we can learn from the interviews. That we need more
me! Yep okay so the findings are that the people interviewed love Monica and what we learned from
this is that Monica is very important to SMASH English. Notice we have used the reporting verbs
REPORTED and REMARKED to document what people said. We have also used a SECOND
CONDITIONAL to describe what we can learn from the interviews. Great grammar! Absolutely great!
And now we need to do the same thing for our third paragraph: "SMASH English: the negative". And
what about the worst aspects of SMASH English, Duke? Is there anything you don't like? Um...
What about Bruce, Duke? Um do you like Bruce? Eww, Bruce... Horrible... Horrible, isn't he? Oh no!
I'm scared of Bruce... Oh yeah! I hate Bruce too! Eww, Bruce... Let's say then that we hate him,
um we don't want him here and he drinks too much... and he smells. Yeah um okay,
yeah, yeah sure. Hey so uh, Toby? I've done all of my super scientific formal
interviews... they're here. 100 percent of people interviewed complained about
Bruce. They explained that Bruce's behavior often made viewers feel uncomfortable. Several
of those interviewed felt that Bruce's behavior towards Monica was particularly
offensive. This suggests that Bruce has a negative impact on SMASH English. Like the last paragraph
we have outlined the findings of our interviews and then described what we can learn from them.
So here we have discussed negative comments about Bruce and the lesson that we have learned is Bruce
has a negative impact. Again we have used the reporting verbs EXPLAIN and FEEL. Please remember
not to use the first person. Instead of saying "I therefore think that Bruce has a negative
impact on SMASH English" we said "This suggests that...". Remember do not make things personal.
And now we need to write our conclusion and this should complete our last task. We must
give a suggestion or a recommendation about how to improve SMASH English in the future but
remember this suggestion or recommendation must be linked to what we talked about in paragraphs two
and three. It must be connected to the results of your interview or your survey in this case
interview. So I think Monica should be in every video and Bruce must be fired! Bye!
Monica, slow down! This is a report! It is not a personal text and I do not care what you think.
Instead you need to interpret the findings of the interviews and state what you think they suggest
we should do in the future to improve SMASH English. This recommendation is not based on your
thoughts, they're based on evidence and how you interpret that evidence. Okay so the findings of
my scientific research were that the people love Monica but the people also hate Bruce so SMASH
English should have more Monica but less Bruce, right? Yes, yes exactly! So do it! Based on the
interviews it is clear that Monica is incredibly popular. Therefore Monica should be promoted more
on the channel. On the other hand Bruce is unpopular with SMASH English staff. As a result,
his involvement with the company are to be terminated. Notice how we have
immediately stated BASED ON THE INTERVIEWS. Thus we are not discussing our opinions but something
factual. Our recommendations are therefore a result of research and not random opinion.
So here is our final report, complete with titles for each paragraph. Oh my god,
guys! Do you like it? I'm so proud of it! It's uh... It's marvellous. So remember:
Number one: a report is between 140 and 190 words. Number two: underline each task that you need to
complete. The third task is always to make a recommendation or a suggestion. Number three:
organize your paragraphs and please remember to give each paragraph a title. Number four: be
formal! Avoid talking in the first person! Using the passive will help you with this. Number five:
invent data to present in your report. This can be in the form of interviews or surveys. Number six:
in your introduction state the aims of the report and state what research you did
in order to write it. Number seven: in the next two paragraphs. paragraphs two and three,
present your data and state what can be learned from it. And number eight: in your conclusion
please give your recommendation based on the findings of your research. See? That was easy...
I don't have to do the exam. I speak really great English already so... Good luck!
Excuse me! I don't want to disturb your little game but what is this? Oh hi, Bruce.
I did a report for Toby and it says that you are fired, so go away please. Great skin?
Monica, who said this!? You've got a beard! Oh my god, Bruce! You are so ignorant! I did research!
You cannot argue with science! You're literally a science denier! Oh my god! And with that we are
finished! Now you know everything you need to know about writing a report for the B2 First Cambridge
exam. If you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe if you
haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this was SMASH English...