IELTS Energy 1453: Band 9 Part 3 Answers About Cities
16:04 Share

This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1453, Band 9, Part 3 Answers About Cities.

Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with former IELTS examiner Jessica Beck and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com

Today, you'll hear us give Band 9 answers to IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions about cities. Not only will you learn amazing vocabulary for your own Part 3 answers, but you'll also get excellent guidance for how to score highly no matter what the topic is.

The NFL playoffs are better with FanDuel because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That's $300 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL.

21 plus and present in select states. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Aubrey, do you like the city you live in?

Yes and no. I have thoughts. You know, if I could choose any city, there are definitely more exciting cities to live in than Phoenix, Arizona, but it definitely has its advantages. What about you? I love Portland. If I could choose a city to live, Portland's up there for me. I do love my city. And anytime we get to do aisle sample answers that have anything to do with hometown or where you live or anything like that, I always have a lot to say because Portland,

an exciting town. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad, right? Like in every place. But it's also just a super cool place to be. Yeah, but some of these questions that we're going to talk about today might be difficult for you if you live in, you know, maybe a more rural place, a slow town, not a ton going on, right? So you'll need to think about that, right? If you get questions about your town or city, what would you say? You need to be ready.

Totally, totally. All right. So today, guys, we are going to give you some Model Band 9 Speaking Part 3 answers. And we're talking about cities, as I'm sure you have gathered. Before we get into these model answers, though, Aubrey, what is important for our students to know about IELTS Speaking Part 3? Well, it's an interesting... The Part 3, I think, what's most difficult for students

is that you need more topic specific, less common vocabulary. These questions are not really about your personal life. They're more about society as a whole. And so often you are going to need to be listening to news, right? Podcasts in order to get the vocabulary you need for these questions.

You can talk about yourself, right? If you're asked about a city, absolutely, you can share about your city as well. But you're going to need some interesting topic-specific vocabulary. So these answers take a lot of preparation. Yes, you need to practice a lot. And today's sample answers will, of course, help you. Before we get to that first question, Aubrey, there was a poll that we wanted to announce.

Yes, we promised to announce the results of this and it was very fun. It was from episode 1445 when we were talking about transition phrases and the word Eve. And we asked the question, do you celebrate Christmas Eve? And 71% of our audience said yes and 28% said no. So a wide variety of holidays that are celebrated out there, but the majority, at least of the people who answered the poll, do celebrate Christmas Eve. Yeah.

That surprised me. I was expecting a lower number for yeses. Interesting. Who knows? That's why we do these polls, right? We're interested. We want to know what you guys do. What do you like? Yeah. So if you're listening to us in Spotify, remember that we do have a fun poll question for every single episode. So don't forget to check those out.

All right, let's get to it. Aubrey, I'm going to ask you first. Are you ready? Yes. And as a quick reminder, we will have a fun poll at the end of this episode. So be sure to stay to the end so you don't miss that so you can fill out today's. And yes, I am ready. All right. In your opinion, what makes a city a good one to live in?

Wow, this is tricky because it depends for me personally who lives there. Are there family members and friends close by? So number one on my list is not the tourist attractions or what you could do on the weekend. I'll survive with whatever kind of nightlife a city has, but I want to live by loved ones close by, right? And also, I think it's vital that...

A person lives someplace with good weather. Weather is very key for me. So I don't want to live where there's humidity or lots of snow. So we take the good with the bad, but I'm avoiding a cold winter. Thank you. All right. That was awesome. So a couple of phrases that you guys should write down because you can definitely use them in your own speaking part three answers.

I just tripped over my words. Oh, that was funny. It happens to everyone. So when you're giving your opinion, a phrase Aubrey said, I think it's vital. So not only is vital a great vocabulary word,

but it's a more interesting way of saying like i think this is very important right um and then you said weather is very key for me that's also a paraphrase for this is very important right so something is key for me this is like this is my priority this is super important nice okay are you ready for your first question yes what are the advantages of living in a city

Wow. So, well, there are so many advantages. If I think about the cities I have lived in and what I have enjoyed most in living there would probably be culture, culture aspects. Having a variety of performances that you can choose to go see, anywhere from like music to plays, right? Live theater is amazing.

such an important experience. And I think that's a big advantage of being in a city. There are more talented artists there that are showing off their work, but also just options for everything, right? If you want to try different cuisines or you want a new hobby, you want to join a club, all of these things are options in a city.

Excellent answer. I love how packed it was with great vocab when you started naming examples of the cultural things you could see, right? Music, plays, talented artists, cuisine. So you can see how because Jessica was sharing specific details, you don't want to stay general and just say culture. You want to share all the details because this pulls out interesting vocabulary. And then I also want to highlight this phrasal verb you use, showing off. Artists showing off their talents.

This is a great phrasal verb that means highlighting or displaying, but it's kind of more fun, showing off. And we use this so many different ways in English, so don't be confused by this vocab. There's the noun show off, which is sort of someone that's like bragging. And then often we'll be like, you're just showing off, which means sort of like bragging like overtly. But then the way Jessica used it just would mean like to show.

show just to like it doesn't have that connotation exhibit right yeah interesting

Build a routine with Ollie that supports your wellness needs, like getting your daily vitamins and minerals with Ollie's Multigummies, or keeping your mood upbeat with all the vitamin D in Hello Happy. Give your gut health some support with probiotics, and wake up feeling refreshed after taking Ollie's sleep. Do wellness on your terms. Find Ollie at a Walmart or Target near you, or at Ollie.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

All right. Next question for you, my friend. Let's move on from the positive aspects of cities to the negative aspects of cities. In your opinion, what are the negative aspects of living in a crowded city?

Crime. First of all, even Phoenix is not the most crowded city in the world, but we still have a ton of crime. There's actually this gang right now called the Gilbert Goons near where I live. That is a group of kids that have just been like beating up teenagers. And it's mind blowing that this level of crime, several of them have them have been convicted for murder.

And it's shocking that anywhere you live, crime could be so rampant, but especially in a big city, right? New York, London, these bigger cities are definitely more crowded and are going to have issues with crime. But also traffic, congestion, right? Taking a long time to commute or just long lines wherever you go is always going to be more of an issue the bigger the city is.

Nice. All right. So again, just how Aubrey, Aubrey talked about the details that I put in my answer. Aubrey did the same thing, right? And you have to get specific in order to show the good vocab. So talking about crime, and you had that very sad, unfortunate example, the Gilbert goons.

Funny name, but terrible things they're doing. But it brought out very specific crime related vocabulary, right? Like convicted for murder. Something is rampant. That is a phrase that you can use in a lot of different ways to say something is rampant just means it's evergreen.

everywhere, right? It's very common. And then you realize that you had to give another example of how it's negative to be in crowded cities besides crime. So you added on the traffic and then use the parallel expression congestion to show even more vocabulary. So that was great. Nice. Awesome. Are you ready for your next question? Yes, I am. Question today. Here we go. How can governments improve living standards in crowded cities?

I think the most important thing, and this is something that I see firsthand every day in Portland, is to make sure that everybody has a place to live, which is not something that my city does. And I think that's the number one thing to improve living standards for everybody, not just those who are unhoused, as they say now, but also the people who are dealing with homeless people living in front of their buildings or

putting tents up on the sidewalk and they can't get around. I mean, not to be disgusting, but they go to the bathroom outside, like they do everything outside. And it's very unhealthy for everyone living in that city. So I think that's the most important thing is to make sure everybody has a place to live. But then also,

Ensuring access to nature, like having enough green spaces for residents, I think is very important. And quality of food on offer, making sure that everyone has a market with fresh food that they can access instead of just being surrounded by convenience stores and fast food joints, right? So there's a lot of urban planning aspects that go into making living standards higher for everyone in a city.

Okay, amazing answer. The first thing I want to highlight, something I made note in your first answer, and you did it again in the second answer, which is so important for your pronunciation score, you guys. When Jessica uses adjectives and adverbs, you hear her intonation changing. With the first one, she said, so.

many advantages. And here she said, the most important thing, right? You do not want to say something like that with a flat, like the most important thing. So many advantages, right? Use that as an opportunity to vary your intonation. That is a must for seven or higher for your pronunciation score. And so listen back to Jessica's answer so you can hear how she did that. Mimic it, shadow it. Because listen,

That's one of the biggest problem our students have is just speaking with a monotone because they're thinking so hard about the vocab and the grammar that they're not thinking about their intonation changing. And then also, I love this phrase to say something that I see firsthand. You could add this to so many speaking answers. If whatever you're talking about, if it's something you have seen personally, add that.

like Jessica did, this section to say, and this is something that I see firsthand or that I have seen firsthand. That means you have personally witnessed it.

Yes, so much great vocab today, guys. I think the takeaway today from these sample answers, two things that you guys need to work on and practice for your own part three, the intonation that Aubrey was just describing, shadow, mimic, like she said, and secondly, details, always providing specific details as much as possible in your part three answers.

Absolutely. That's a really good takeaway. And remember that it's going to overwhelm you if you try to think of 10 things right now that you can do for your answers. So take those two, make it manageable, work on speaking practice answers today, doing those two things to chip away at what you need to work on.

Yes, totally. And what is the poll that students should answer in Spotify for today's episode? Yeah, we want to know, do you like the city you live in? Yes or no? And answer that out loud as an IELTS speaking question. What would you say on the speaking exam if you were asked that? Yeah, nice. All right, guys, thanks for tuning in today and we'll see you next time. Awesome. See you next time. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash myscore. Ryan Seacrest here.

When you have a busy schedule, it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to ChumbaCasino.com. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino games like Spin Slots, Bingo, and Solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes.

So hop on to ChumbaCasino.com now and live the Chumba life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply.