A2 reading and writing practice
Practise A2 reading and writing: understand an article and a notice, then write an email and a short story.
In this lesson you will
- Read for gist and detail
- Guess meaning from context
- Write a clear email and a short narrative
Learn
Reading: first read quickly for the main idea (gist), then read the questions and find the details. Underline key words in the question and look for words with the same meaning in the text.
Unknown words: look at the words around them and the type of word (noun, verb, adjective) before reaching for a dictionary.
Emails: greeting → reason for writing → details in short paragraphs → closing line (Hope to hear from you soon) → sign-off.
Stories: background (was/were) → events in order (past simple + sequencers) → ending and feelings.
Examples
- Gist: “The article is about a village that banned cars.”
- Context: “The streets are so tranquil now — you only hear birds.” → tranquil = quiet and calm.
- Email close: “Hope to hear from you soon. Best wishes, Kim”
Vocabulary
gist
the general meaning
detail
a specific fact
tranquil
calm and quiet
ban
officially not allow
resident
a person who lives in a place
In real life
Read the article.
The village without cars. Five years ago, the residents of Brenton voted to ban cars from the village centre. At first, some shop owners were worried that they would lose customers. But the opposite happened. Families started walking and cycling into the centre, new cafés opened, and the streets became so tranquil that you can hear birds in the square.
Not everyone is happy. Some older residents say it is harder to carry heavy shopping, so the village now runs a free electric minibus every twenty minutes. ‘It isn’t perfect,’ says the mayor, ‘but most people wouldn’t go back.’
Practice
What is the article mainly about?
Speaking
Summarise the article in four sentences, then say whether you would like to live in a car-free village and why.
Writing
Write an email (80–100 words) to a friend telling them about a change in your town or neighbourhood — what happened, what people think and what you think.
- ☐ Greeting and reason for writing
- ☐ What changed and when
- ☐ Different opinions
- ☐ Your opinion + closing line
Lesson quiz
Reading for gist means reading for…
Review
Key points
- Read for gist, then details.
- Guess words from context.
- Emails: purpose → details → closing.
- Stories: background → events → ending.
What you learned
- ✓ I can understand an A2 article.
- ✓ I can guess meaning from context.
- ✓ I can write a clear email.