Budding Writer

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Budding Writer

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Exercise 1

Vocabulary

budding

Adjective

ˈbʌdɪŋ

beginning to become successful; rising

Great things are expected from this budding young actor.

deny

Verb

dɪˈnaɪ

to say that something is not true

The politician denied all requests for interviews.

My boss denied my request for a day off.

He denied that he did anything wrong.

He denied any involvement in the failed plan.

Russia has always denied it has troops in Ukraine.

poignant

Adjective

ˈpɔɪnjənt

touching, evoking sadness

She found the romance novel strangely poignant.

sneering

Adjective

ˈsnɪrɪŋ

rude, insulting, disrespectful

My uncle always makes sneering comments about my decision to become an actress.

wet behind the ears

Phrase

wet bɪˈhaɪnd ðiː ɪəz

inexperienced

My new boss is really wet behind the ears.

Exercise 2

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogue aloud with your tutor.

Laura has just bumped into Alex at a coffee shop.
	Laura Alex, is that you?
	Alex Hey, Laura! Fancy seeing you here.
	Laura I know, I haven't seen you since college. What are you up to these days?
	Alex Just working a boring office job, putting up with my sneering boss who can't take a joke. How about you?
	Laura I'm sort of a budding writer these days.
	Alex Really? You'd be great at that!
	Laura I don't know. I'm still pretty wet behind the ears.
	Alex Oh come on, you've got talent, don't deny it. I used to proof-read your college essays. They were always so poignant and beautifully written.
	Laura Thanks, that's sweet of you to say.
	Alex Have you written anything I might have read recently?
	Laura Only a few articles for the local newspaper. But I'm working on my first novel. It's almost finished.
	Alex Well when you get it published you should let me know. I'd love to read it.
	Laura Okay, I will. It was good to see you.
	Alex You too.

Check your understanding:

How does Alex describe his boss?

What is Laura working on at the moment?

What does Alex say about the quality of Laura's writing?

Exercise 3

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

	Haruto Have you heard the announcement this morning? The journalist position is now officially open for our school newspaper.
	Liam Really? That's good news! I'm definitely going to apply. I'm sort of a (1) writer.
	Haruto You shouldn't (2) your talent. You may be (3), but you could be famous one day. What would you like to write about?
	Liam I'm not sure yet. I'm interested in really (4) human interest stories.
	Haruto Really? I would have guessed you would write (5) articles about politicians you don't like.
	Liam Maybe I will eventually. But at first I wouldn't want to upset anyone.
	Haruto That's probably smart. You should definitely apply. You may not have a lot of experience, but you're really talented.
	Liam Thanks!

Choose answers from the options below that fit in blanks 1 to 5

Answer Pool (Questions 1-5)

sneering
deny
poignant
wet behind the ears
budding

Exercise 4

Discussion

Do you like to write? Why? Why not?

Do you think that being good at writing is a talent that you're born with or is it a skill that can be learned?

What do you think about the job of a writer?

In your opinion, what makes a good article or novel?