- Messages
- 145
- Reaction score
- 120
- Points
- 53
Here are some model answers of paper 3 question 2:
Question:
‘Entertaining relatives: heaven or hell?’ Write a magazine article, drawing on your own or your friends’ experiences, explaining how to make things go as well as possible and pointing out what should be avoided.
A* response:
We can all sympathise when it comes to entertaining the family. And just this once, it would be so good to ensure the whole event runs successfully and smoothly, whether you’re entertaining four or forty. First of all, a truly happy family is a well-fed family; keep them quiet for as long as possible by cooking and presenting an enormous and magnificent meal and insisting no-one leaves the table until every last tasty dish of food is gone. This may also provide an excellent chance to catch up with those whom we don’t get to see so often (out of choice or chance). Conversely, it’s best not to end up sitting next to the aged relative who will bore the life out of you by droning on about the weather or an excellent shot they made in golf that morning. It may be wise to have some sort of elaborate seating plan; that way, any potential arguments between certain relatives who nearly came to blows at the last family gathering can be avoided for as long as possible.
Secondly, ensure some form of entertainment is provided. Bored relatives are even less fun than unfed relatives, and again, all dull conversations can be kept to a minimum. Board games work fine, but any team games are fantastic at bringing the different age groups of the family together. Warning: some relatives (Uncle George) may get over-competitive; avoid this by making regular offenders the judge or host of the game.
And finally, always make sure your relatives know when to call it a day – it is possible to have too much of a good thing! Subtle hinting on your part may be necessary, my personal favourites including, ‘Gosh, isn’t it getting late?’, accompanied by looking at your watch every five minutes. Be warned. This does only work at night – I would suggest the former at two-thirty in the afternoon.
But I reckon the main thing to remember, however your day pans out, is that you should just make the most of your family’s company – blood is thicker than water, so make the most of your relatives while you can – and perhaps keep Auntie Dorothy away from the wine. Again.
Question:
‘Entertaining relatives: heaven or hell?’ Write a magazine article, drawing on your own or your friends’ experiences, explaining how to make things go as well as possible and pointing out what should be avoided.
A* response:
We can all sympathise when it comes to entertaining the family. And just this once, it would be so good to ensure the whole event runs successfully and smoothly, whether you’re entertaining four or forty. First of all, a truly happy family is a well-fed family; keep them quiet for as long as possible by cooking and presenting an enormous and magnificent meal and insisting no-one leaves the table until every last tasty dish of food is gone. This may also provide an excellent chance to catch up with those whom we don’t get to see so often (out of choice or chance). Conversely, it’s best not to end up sitting next to the aged relative who will bore the life out of you by droning on about the weather or an excellent shot they made in golf that morning. It may be wise to have some sort of elaborate seating plan; that way, any potential arguments between certain relatives who nearly came to blows at the last family gathering can be avoided for as long as possible.
Secondly, ensure some form of entertainment is provided. Bored relatives are even less fun than unfed relatives, and again, all dull conversations can be kept to a minimum. Board games work fine, but any team games are fantastic at bringing the different age groups of the family together. Warning: some relatives (Uncle George) may get over-competitive; avoid this by making regular offenders the judge or host of the game.
And finally, always make sure your relatives know when to call it a day – it is possible to have too much of a good thing! Subtle hinting on your part may be necessary, my personal favourites including, ‘Gosh, isn’t it getting late?’, accompanied by looking at your watch every five minutes. Be warned. This does only work at night – I would suggest the former at two-thirty in the afternoon.
But I reckon the main thing to remember, however your day pans out, is that you should just make the most of your family’s company – blood is thicker than water, so make the most of your relatives while you can – and perhaps keep Auntie Dorothy away from the wine. Again.
