1. Academic Style Do not use idiomatic or colloquial vocabulary: dad, guy. Use standard English: father, man. Be as precise as possible when dealing with facts or figures. Avoid phrases such as about a hundred or hundreds of years ago. If it is necessary to estimate numbers use approximately rather than about.

2. Academic Style Conclusions should use tentative language. Avoid absolute statements such as education reduces crime. Instead use cautious phrases: may reduce crime or tends to reduce crime. Avoid adverbs that show your personal attitude: luckily, remarkably, surprisingly. Do not contract verb forms: don’t, can’t. Use the full form: do not, cannot.

3. Academic Style Avoid the following: like for introducing examples  such as or for instance. thing and combinations: nothing or something  factor, issue or topic. lots of  significant/considerable number. little / big  small / large. get phrases such as get better / worse  improve and deteriorate.

4. Academic Style Do not use question forms such as What were the reasons for …? Instead use statements: There were four main reasons for … When writing lists, avoid using etc. or and so on. Insert and before the last item. Avoid using two-word verbs such as go on or bring up  continue or raise.

5. Re-write the sentences in a more suitable way: Lots of people think that the railways are getting worse. It is widely believed that the railways are deteriorating. Sadly, serious crime like murder is going up. Serious crime, such as murder, is increasing.

6. Re-write the sentences in a more suitable way: I think that there’s a big risk of more strikes, disorder etc. There appears to be a significant risk of further strikes and disorder. A few years ago they allowed women to vote. Women were allowed to vote in 1994.

7. Re-write the sentences in a more suitable way: What were the main causes of the American Revolution? There were two main causes of the American Revolution. The second thing is that most kids in that district will become criminals. The second factor is that the majority of children in that district may become criminals.

8. Re-write the sentences in a more suitable way: You can’t always trust the numbers in that report. The figures in that report are not reliable. Sometime soon they will find a vaccine for malaria. A malaria vaccine may be discovered in the next ten years.

9. These days a lot of kids are starting school early. Years ago, they began at five, but now it’s normal to start at four or younger. Why is this? One thing is that mums need to get back to work. Is it good for the kids? Jenkins has studied this and says that early schooling causes social problems like stealing, drug-taking etc. I think he’s right and we should pay mums to stay at home.

10. Currently, significant numbers of children are starting school at the age of four or less, whereas thirty years ago five was the normal age. There appear to be various reasons for the change; mothers, for example, need to rejoin the labour force. There are mixed views about the effects of this change on the children concerned. Jenkins (1989) claims that early school attendance causes social problems such as theft and drug taking. There seems to be considerable evidence to support his views and there may be an argument in favour of a state subsidy for women to stay at home with their children.

11. Why are there so many jams on the roads these days? One thing is that public transport like trains, buses etc is so dear. A long time ago cars cost a lot but now, unfortunately, they’ve got a lot cheaper. Another thing is that driving is a lot nicer than waiting for a bus. The trouble is that if everyone buys a car the roads get packed.

12. There appear to be two principal reasons for the growing traffic congestion. Firstly, public transport has become increasingly expensive relative to the falling cost of motoring. In addition, car ownership is much more convenient than using public transport. Together, these factors result in higher vehicle density.