Cover of the textbook Outcomes Intermediate - Student's Book

The key answer of exercise 2

The key to exercise solutions in chapter Writing 5 - Formal emails for the textbook Outcomes Intermediate - Student's Book with authors Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley from National Geographic Learning

Question

Read the email below. If you were Ms Roberts, would you agree to the change? Why? / Why not? What ways does Simon Holden use to try to persuade Ms Roberts?

Answer

The request seems reasonable and is politely phrased, but Ms Roberts might not agree to the change, e.g. because of health and safety issues, the need for risk assessment, or other issues that we don’t know about. Simon tries to persuade her by being very polite and thanking her for her hard work. He is very positive about other aspects of the trip. He points out that 10 out of 14 students are keen to go to the Grand Prix, and the others don’t mind going. He offers to pay for the cost, and suggests an alternative date for the zoo.