Letter to the editor: A complaint

1. Doping and sport.

Read a letter to a newspaper complaining about the consequences of doping. The letter is divided into five paragraphs. Choose the correct topic for each paragraph.

2. Talking about coercion.

Look at different sentences expressing coercion, similar to those in the letter in exercise 1.

I'd persuade my child to take up another hobby if he showed promise as a cyclist.
The only solution is to make athletes take blood tests all year round.
Nobody forces athletes to take drugs.
They know the risks and we should let them make their own decisions!
We won't get athletes to change their behaviour till we change ours!

Click and drag each verb below onto the correct box.

3. Talking about coercion.

Write what a young athlete's trainers made her do. Use the verbs in brackets.

For example:

"You must train for eight hours a day." (make)
They made her train for eight hours a day.

4. Write.

Look at the phrases which the writer uses to complain:

to complain about (something)
to object to (the fact that / something)
to take the matter up with (somebody)
to lodge a complaint
to be (extremely/very) unhappy about (something)
it is (extremely/very) unfair that...

Write a letter to a newspaper complaining about ONE of the following situations:

  • A doctor made you have an operation which you didn't need.
  • The police stopped you in the street and harassed you.
  • You had to pay a large telephone bill although it was not yours.
  • Any other situation in which you were made to do something you didn't want to do.

Use the letter from exercise 1 as a model. Divide your letter into five paragraphs, and try to use some of the same expressions which the letter uses. Check spelling, grammar and the organisation of your story carefully.