BCS Pre-Intermediate

Module 2
Reading Skills

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit you should be able to

o Understand the various ways of Reading a text
o Learn the strategies to develop your reading skills
o Compare formal and informal language by reading emails.
o Write an informal /formal email using the given phrases

Task 1: Ways of Reading (5 minutes)

ii) Do you read a bus

timetable the same way
you read an email?

i) What kinds of texts iii) Think of all the

do you read in a day? texts you have read
today. How did you
read them? Did you
pay the same amount
of attention to each
one?
.

Task 2: How do you usually read in your L1 (mother tongue)?

(15 minutes)

Read the following ‘reading strategies’; identify all the strategies that help you
read easily in your mother tongue. Tick the appropriate boxes

1. You try and understand every word in the text. ☐

2. If you don’t understand a word you immediately look in a dictionary. ☐

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 BCS Pre-Intermediate
Module 2
Reading Skills
3. You read the headline and decide whether you want to read further or not. ☐

4. You try and understand the meaning of each paragraph. ☐

5. You try and understand the meaning of the whole text. ☐

6. You summarise the text to remember it. ☐

7. You read to understand the writer’s point of view. ☐

8. You read and understand the tone- does it sound polite or impolite. ☐

9. You read to get more information about the subject. ☐

10. You read to learn new words. ☐

11. As you read you decide if the text has the correct tone. ☐

Task 3:
A. Look at the following 2 emails. Answer the questions that follow. (20
minutes )
Email 1

Subject: Enquiry: large scale printing service

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the brochure you sent me last week with details of the services you offer. If I understand
correctly, you facilitate large scale and fast printing for large quantities of text. I would like to enquire about
the procedure involved for these services. I would appreciate it if you could tell me when I could call you to
discuss T & C’s.

 Are the files transferred online, or should the titles be sent to you on a CD by standard mail?
 How long would it usually take to produce approximately 500 copies?
 Do you offer any discounts on large quantities?

We are looking to print a large order of in-house material to be distributed to our customers and our deadline
is quite short. I can share details with you when we speak. Please let me know when I can call you.

I look forward to your response.

Jack Finley
Sales Manager, Young Talent Inc.
(709) 567 - 3498

*enquire: ask for information

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 BCS Pre-Intermediate
Module 2
Reading Skills

Email 2:

Subject: Enquiry: large scale printing service

Hi,

Thanks for sending the brochure I see that you offer fast printing for large quantities of text. I have
a few questions about this. How do I send the files- should I transfer online or by standard mail?
How long do you usually take to produce approximately 500 copies? Are there any discounts for
larger orders? Please let me know when I can call to discuss T & C.

We need a large number of copies of material developed in-house to be mailed to our customers
asap. I can share details over the phone.

Looking forward to your reply.

Jack Finley
Sales Manager, Young Talent Inc.
(709) 567 – 3498

1. Tick the correct option –

a. Email 1 – Formal ☐ Informal ☐ b. Email 2 - Formal ☐ Informal ☐

2. How did you decide if it was formal or informal?

______________________________________________________________________________

3. How much time did you take to identify if it was formal or informal?

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Did you read every word ?

______________________________________________________________________________

5. Did you highlight things that are different in both the mails?

______________________________________________________________________________

6. If you didn’t understand a word , what did you do ?

______________________________________________________________________________

7. Did you look at the way the sentences were structured?

______________________________________________________________________________

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 BCS Pre-Intermediate
Module 2
Reading Skills
8. Did you look at the way the paragraphs were structured?

Task 4: (20 minutes)

Can you fill the table below with the formal or informal sentence as required?
The first one is done for you (from Task 3).
Formal language Informal Language
Dear Sir Hi

I would like to enquire about….

Please let me know when I can call

I look forward to your response.

(a)Here is a formal email. Choose formal sentences from the email and match
them to the informal sentences in the box.

!Subject: Request for complete report doc- For your immediate action

Dear Raj

Thank you for sending me your report, I received it just this morning. However, I only received a few pages
in the document. Could you please send the entire one immediately?

I assure you that I will send you my comments today, by the end of the day. I am afraid we are on a tight
deadline; so I would like to remind you that you are required to submit the completed report by tomorrow,
end of day.

I apologise for the short time frame given to you. Please let me know if you require any help in order to be
able to complete this on time.

Regards

Emma Watson
Senior Partner
XYZ Consultants.

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 BCS Pre-Intermediate
Module 2
Reading Skills

Informal Language Formal language

1. Thanks for the report.

2. But I only received …

3. Please send ….?

4. I promise to send you my comments….

5. by EOD

6. Don't forget that…

7. You need to …

8. Sorry for the short notice.

9. Let me know what you need any help….

10. to complete it….

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 BCS Pre-Intermediate
Module 2
Reading Skills

b. Rewrite the formal email in (a) above in an informal way. Use the informal
expressions in the table.

Subject:

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