A persuasion letter: anticipate the landlord's objections (noise, damage, neighbours) and answer them before they're raised.
20 min·≥ 150 words·Classic GT scenario
You rent your home and would like to keep a pet, but your tenancy agreement says you need the landlord's permission. Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter: • say what pet you would like to keep and why • explain how you will make sure the pet causes no problems • offer something in return for the landlord's agreement You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Mrs Ellison,
How to crack it
A 4-step plan for the letter
Fix the register first.
Who is the reader — stranger, acquaintance, or friend? That decides every word from "Dear…" to the sign-off. Register is half of Task Achievement here.
One bullet = one paragraph.
Three bullets, three body paragraphs, in the same order. The examiner literally ticks them off — a missed or thin bullet caps the band.
Open with the purpose.
"I am writing to…" (formal) or "Just wanted to tell you…" (informal). The reader should know why you're writing by the end of line one.
Close in the same voice.
"Yours faithfully" after Dear Sir or Madam; "Yours sincerely" after a name; "Best wishes" to a friend. A mismatched sign-off is a register error in the last line they read.
What loses you the band
The four traps this question sets
Mixed register
"I am writing to inform you" next to "gonna" — pick one voice and hold it.
A skipped bullet
All three bullet points must be covered AND developed. Two done well is still a penalty.
Copying the prompt
Paraphrase the situation in your own words — lifted lines don't count toward 150.
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No invented detail
Letters need specifics: names, dates, model numbers. "The product" all the way through reads as memorised.