Review

Reference

Common mistakes

1. It was really good and nice. → genuinely breathtaking · refreshingly honest
   precise and vivid
2. Only description → What is particularly impressive is…
   evaluate as well as describe
3. No reservations → That said, the exhibition is let down by…
   balance
4. Weak ending → Go early on a weekday morning, though, if…
   end with a verdict and a tip

Review — Exercises

A C2 review

Circle the correct answer.

1. Which is the most vivid description? (The glass flowers rise from the floor and hang from the iron roof. / There were lots of flowers. / It had stuff in it.)
2. Which phrase introduces a weakness? (The exhibition is let down by its organisation. / The exhibition is let up by its organisation. / The exhibition is down let.)
3. Which praise is most precise? (genuinely breathtaking / very very good / nice)
4. What makes a strong ending? (a clear verdict and a practical tip / a list of prices / a new topic)
5. These frustrations do little to _____ a remarkable experience. (diminish / diminishing / diminished)
6. Which tone suits a C2 review? (engaging, sophisticated and personal / like a legal document / like a text message)

Complete the review phrase

Write the missing word or words.

1. It is every   as dazzling as its publicity suggests.
2. What is particularly   is the attention to detail.
3. Including failed pieces is a refreshingly   touch.
4. The café is overpriced and offers a   limited menu.
5. I would   recommend it to anyone interested in art.
6. Go early,  , if you want to see the flowers.

Write the review

An international arts website invites reviews of an exhibition, concert or show you have attended. Describe it vividly, evaluate it and give readers a clear recommendation. Write 280–320 words.

Review — Answer Key

A C2 review

1. The glass flowers rise from the floor and hang from the iron roof. — Precise, visual detail → vivid.
2. The exhibition is let down by its organisation. — let down by = disappointed by.
3. genuinely breathtaking — genuinely breathtaking.
4. a clear verdict and a practical tip — End with a verdict and a tip.
5. diminish — do little to diminish.
6. engaging, sophisticated and personal — engaging and sophisticated.

Complete the review phrase

1. bit
2. impressive
3. honest
4. disappointingly
5. wholeheartedly
6. though

Write the review

1. Model answer: Worth the Hype? The Glass Garden Exhibition Few exhibitions have generated as much anticipation this year as The Glass Garden, which has transformed the city's old railway station into a vast, glittering greenhouse of glass sculptures. Having finally visited last weekend, I can report that it is, for the most part, every bit as dazzling as its publicity suggests, though not without one or two shortcomings. The exhibition's central achievement is its sense of scale. Visitors enter through a narrow tunnel before emerging into the main hall, where more than three hundred glass flowers, some taller than a person, rise from the floor and hang from the iron roof. As the light shifts throughout the day, the colours change from cool blues to fiery oranges, an effect that is genuinely breathtaking. What is particularly impressive is the attention to detail: up close, each petal reveals tiny bubbles and imperfections that make the sculptures feel organic rather than mechanical. The smaller rooms devoted to the artists' working methods are similarly well conceived. Short films showing the glass being blown and shaped help to demystify the process, and the decision to include a few failed pieces, cracked and misshapen, is a refreshingly honest touch. That said, the exhibition is let down by its organisation. Timed tickets are supposed to limit numbers, yet the main hall felt uncomfortably crowded, and the explanatory labels were often too small to read without queuing. The café, moreover, is overpriced and offers a disappointingly limited menu. These frustrations, however, do little to diminish what is, at heart, a remarkable experience. I would wholeheartedly recommend The Glass Garden to anyone with an interest in art or design, and indeed to those who simply want to be amazed. Go early on a weekday morning, though, if you want to see the flowers rather than the backs of other visitors' heads.