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Sprint 5.6: Accurate And Simple Beats Complex And Broken

Learner chooses the version of a sentence they can finish correctly, and stops reaching for a structure they cannot control.

7 micro-lessons

Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free

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Which One Would You Submit?

Six pairs. Three times the ambitious version wins.

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A: Although the subsidy is expensive, but most cities keep paying it. B: The subsidy is expensive. Most cities keep paying it. Which would you submit?

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The Descriptor Asks for Both

Two halves pulling against each other, the test, and what this is not.

Two halves, pulling against each other

a variety of complex structures
frequent error-free sentences

You are marked on both.

Reaching for the first is how candidates lose the second.

The descriptor punishes that in the sentence that rewarded them.

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Reach and Grip

A hold within range, and a hold just past it.

The question 'Can you finish this structure correctly, right now, without checking?' over a YES / NO split, with the two band descriptors along the bottom.

Click to zoom

The hold you can close your hand around is the one that counts.

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Submit It, or Simplify It

Ten sentences. Four go in as written.

Sort each item into the correct category

Submit it as written

Simplify it — you cannot land this

Unassigned

Although the subsidy is expensive, but most cities keep paying it.

Although the subsidy is expensive, most cities keep paying it.

Having reviewed the evidence, the conclusion was that fees deter applicants.

Faced with falling enrolment, the university capped its fees.

The fact that the committee which met in March ignored the report angered residents.

If fees were abolished, applications from poorer households would rise sharply.

If the council invested more, congestion will fall within two years.

The scheme, which began in 2019, which was extended twice, and which four cities copied, worked.

The report written in June recommended closure of all three sites.

Because rents have risen, and because wages have not, so households are leaving.

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Two Versions, One Choice

Six ideas, each written twice. Neither version is marked wrong.

Write each idea twice: once as you would attempt it, once as the version you are certain you can finish. Both are collected and neither is wrong — the pair is the exercise.

0 of 8 blanks filled

Idea: the subsidy is expensive, and cities keep paying it. Attempt: Certain:
Idea: the committee met in March, ignored the report, and residents were angry. Attempt: Certain:
Idea: if fees were abolished, more poor students would apply. Attempt: Certain:
Idea: enrolment fell, so the university capped its fees. Attempt: Certain:

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The Version You Would Submit

Three sentences you are confident you can finish.

Write three sentences you are confident you can finish, then name one structure you deliberately did not attempt.

Prompt: should governments fund free public transport?

Box 1: three sentences — each one the version you are certain you can finish correctly. Box 2: name one structure you deliberately did not attempt, and why.

At least one of the three should be complex. A correct simple sentence is not a failure here.

Your three sentences*

The versions you are sure of.

One structure you did not attempt, and why*

One or two sentences.

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What Did You Decide Not to Try

What would you need to be sure of before using it?

Learners can ask follow-up questions and keep the thread going.

Name one structure you chose not to attempt in your paragraph.

What would you need to be sure of before you would use it in the exam?

just now

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