An apology needs all three moves — sorry, why it happened, never again — without the explanation sounding like an excuse.
20 min·≥ 150 words·Classic GT scenario
You held a party at your home last weekend, and the next day you learned that the noise disturbed your neighbour, who has a young baby. Write a letter to your neighbour. In your letter: • apologise for the noise • explain what the occasion was and why it became louder than planned • say what you will do to make sure it does not happen again You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Mrs Chen,
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. Tone, purpose and bullet-point coverage contribute to Task Achievement; there is no published half-score allocation for register.
Cover every bullet point.
Address and develop each bullet point. One paragraph per bullet can help you plan, but it is not a compulsory structure or a whole-task band cap.
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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Use plausible details
Letters benefit from relevant details that fit the situation. You can invent plausible details for the task; do not use sensitive personal information in public examples.