Outcomes Advanced p 21. Mediation: write an email.

A friend of yours is travelling on a shoestring budget and is therefore looking for affordable accommodation in the UK. Your friend has come across the adverts below but does not understand what they are about. He writes you an email with the adverts attached asking you for an explanation. Write an email to your friend explaining, comparing and contrasting the adverts.

Advert 1

Booked your flight but don’t know where to stay?
Like the idea of meeting new people, experiencing new things and not spending too much money?
Why not check out
www.couchsurfing.org
Here at www.couchsurfing.org, you just sign up, create a profile about yourself, and start meeting new people. Choose whether you would like to host a traveller or if you are looking for a place to stay. Let everyone know a little bit about yourself and what you’re into.
So what are you waiting for?
Sign-up today!

Advert 2

Useful vocabulary to express  comparison:
Making comparisons  
This chart provides a comparison of the ways that teenage boys and girls in the UK spend their free time.  
In many cases, the results for boys and girls are virtually the same/identical. 
In many cases, the results for boys are virtually the same as/identical to the results for girls.  
Both boys and girls spend the bulk of their free time with friends. 
Most of the boys do more than two hours of sport a week, as do many of the girls.  
Like many of the girls, most of the boys spend a large part of their free time using the Internet.  
The girls particularly enjoy using social networking websites. Similarly, nearly all the boys said they spent at least two to three hours a week on these sites. 
The second half of the game was dull by comparison with the first.  
The tallest buildings in London are small in comparison with New York's skyscrapers
Our problems pale into insignificance when compared to theirs.
In terms of price there's no comparison (= one thing is much more expensive than the other). 
It is difficult to make a comparison with her previous book—they are completely different.
A comparison of the brain to a computer (= showing what is similar)  
It is difficult to make a comparison with her previous book—they are completely different. 
Comparisons between Britain and the rest of Europe 
A comparison of the rail systems in Britain and France 
A comparison of men’s salaries with those of women 

Useful vocabulary to express contrast:

 Highlighting differences  
This survey highlights a number of differences in the way that teenage boys and girls in the UK spend their free time.  
One of the main differences between the girls and the boys who took part in the research was the way in which they use the Internet.  
Unlike the girls, who use the Internet mainly to keep in touch with friends, the boys questioned in this survey tend to use the Internet for playing computer games.  
The girls differ from the boys in that they tend to spend more time keeping in touch with friends on the telephone or on social networking websites. 
Compared to the boys, the girls spend much more time chatting to friends on the telephone.  
On average the girls spend four hours a week chatting to friends on the phone. In contrast, very few of the boys spend more than five minutes a day talking to their friends in this way.  
The boys prefer competitive sports and computer games, whereas/while the girls seem to enjoy more cooperative activities, such as shopping with friends. 
When the girls go shopping, they mainly buy clothes and cosmetics. The boys, on the other hand, tend to purchase computer games or gadgets.