Another essay The two texts explore the role home plays in people’s lives. For many home serves as a ‘safe haven’, place where they can forget their worries, relax and indulge in whatever activities they enjoy. Furthermore, they can contemplate the events of the day either alone or discuss them with their loved ones. Moreover, one’s home can often be a way to express their personality. People choose their flats, furniture, decorations, books and many other things in accordance with their tastes and tendencies. Thus, seeing someone’s flat and the way they organize and fill their living space can often tell a lot about their nature as well as about their habits. But at the same time not all people regard their homes with such attention and adoration. There are individuals who place little importance on the choice of sofas and the colour of carpets. In general, they view home as a place to store their stuff, as well as exercise basic activities such as sleeping and eating. They tend to find other ways to express their personalities – through their public image, outfits, activities they engage in. More than that, some people consider home the most drab and dull place where nothing is going on, and do their best to spend there as little time as possible. All in all, although for some home may be a safe and sacred place, as well as an effective way of expressing oneself, you should not judge everyone by their home – it may always turn out that it means to them nothing at all.

Letter of complaint Dear Sir, I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the service I received when staying in your hotel Gleenton in Jakarta, Indonesia. Because of the appalling service and exceptional rudeness of the personnel, what was intended to be a pleasant romantic holiday turned into a nightmare. Firstly, on our arrival to the hotel, we found the receptionist drunk and sleeping under the desk and, I must admit, it demanded considerable effort on our part to make him regain consciousness. Moreover, we were forced to wait for another fifteen minutes until he came to his senses enough to show us to our room. As if that was not enough, as soon as he left, we discovered, to our utter shock, that there was no hot water in the bathroom whatsoever. A passing maid, from whom we demanded explanations, had the audacity to declare that it was a common situation in Asia, since the tropical climate eliminates any need for hot water. It may be very well be so but not in a five-star hotel, I should think! Having mustered all his courage, my husband headed to take a cold shower when he realized that the worst was yet to come – a furry black spider was sitting in a shower cabin, huge and obviously irritated. And at this point, our patience came to an end. We took our luggage and proceeded to the reception desk to explain the situation to the clerk who, in his turn, showed absolutely no sign of sympathy or remorse. More than that, not only did he refuse to give us back the money we had paid but also dared to demand a tip from us for all the inconvenience we had caused. That hotel was the most pathetic place we had ever seen. We left bitterly disappointed with the experience. Given the circumstances it seems only fair that you should offer a full refund of the money paid for our failed stay. I would also appreciate a formal letter of apology from the hotel administration and hope that the necessary disciplinary action against the employees concerned will be taken. If you don’t give this matter your urgent attention, I shall have to take matters further. Best regards, Magda Schmidt

Thank you letter Dear Mrs. Peake, I am writing to thank your for the fantastic opportunity to take part in the Week Experience Course which took part in your office last month. It was a truly amazing experience and it helped me a great deal in understanding the difference between classroom studies and actually in a busy atmosphere of a real office. One of the best things about my experience, I must admit, were the people. Even in such a short period they really made me feel a part of the team and I am extremely grateful for that. Everyone was so supportive and understanding even when I made mistakes. But, after all, mistakes are an essential part of the learning process – this is the way you learn. I was so pleased to be given a chance to get first-hand experience with computers. Management being my major field of study, I have never been much into technical side of things. Working in your office have me opportunity to see things from a different perspective. Another point I would like to mention is the opportunity to talk to real public which was extremely valuable and awe-inspiring experience. Social contacts outside my immediate circle of friends and relatives have always been difficult to me. Practice which I got in your office will be of great benefit in dealing with it. I realise how important are social skills in my profession and this experience will be the first step in that direction. Finally, I feel that my experience is bound to stand me in good stead for my project work next semester. Not only have I received some valuable knowledge but also I am able now to look at the matters not from a point of view of a lone, inexperienced student but as a member of a real team of professionals. Besides, I have no doubt that my prospects for the future have been greatly improved by the time spent with you. I feel so much more confident and ready-to-action now. Thank you again for your time and kindness. Yours sincerely, Bogdan Schmidt

Essay Stress and what to do about it Nowadays it is hard to find someone who have never faced stress in their lives. With the rapidly increasing pace of life and ever accumulating responsibilities and concerns stress is quickly becoming one of the most widespread problems of the humankind. The two passages both discuss the topic of stress in our lives but from different perspectives. The first text outlines the troubles experienced by numerous companies worldwide as a result of stress and emotional disorders caused by it. Though this issue is still considered insignificant by many employers, losses suffered because of it are considerable. The text also mentions employers being encouraged to deal with stress more efficiently. The second extract focuses on the importance of talking about your problems when you are stressed. The author emphasizes that there is no shame in seeking help when you need it. Stress is an issue which can be easily distinguished and treated successfully if dealt with in a proper manner. From my point of view, both extracts did an excellent job describing harmful effects of stress as well as the best course of action on dealing with it. However, one point which the writers of the texts seem to have overlooked, is that instead of struggling with a problem it is sometimes easier to eliminate its causes. So probably we should look into our lifestyle instead and analyze what is making it so stressful and what can be done about it. To sum up, it is vitally important to help stressed people but a significantly more effective step could be getting to the root of the problem and try to make our lives less stressful in the first place.

A piece of formal writing Does it sound right? One of the main causes of prejudice is ignorance. Often people tend to have preconceived ideas about things they do not really know much about. For instance, people supporting ban on immigration are often those who have never actually had any contact with people of other nations nor have any ideas of what are the reasons forcing immigrants to leave their countries and seek shelter in distant lands.