Part 1 - Hometown

Question 1

What kind of place is your hometown?

Answer 1

Student:
My hometown is a densely populated city (1) and is located in (1) the north of the country. It is renowned for (2) its bustling (3) city centre and is teeming with (4) people day and night. There is a wide range of shops, it could be described as a shopper’s paradise (5), however, it isn’t the most picturesque (6) place in the world and is best described (2) as a concrete jungle (7).

(1) Lots of people live there
(1) Passive form
(2) Famous for
(3) Very busy
(4) Full of
(5) Perfect place for people who love shopping
(6) As pretty as a picture (Very Beautiful place)
(2) Passive
(7) Full of buildings with few green spaces

Question 2

What are the most interesting things to do there?

Answer 2

Student:
There are loads of great things to do there such as (1) shop till you drop (8), then followed by (2) with afternoon tea in a fancy (9) café and maybe a bit of sightseeing. I would strongly recommend visiting (3) the art gallery. There are a few masterpieces (10) in there so it’s definitely worth visiting (4).

(1) Example
(8) Shop until you can shop no more (Shop for so long that yoy are so tired that you drop to the floor)
(2) Order & organization in answer
(9) Luxurious
(3) Collocation
(10) Famous work of art
(4) Worht + verb+ing
Sightseeing: دیدن مناظر دیدنی

Question 3

What kind of jobs do people do there?

Answer 3

Student:
There is a mixture of (11) jobs done (5) by the people who (6) live there. Firstly (3),
there is a large industrial estate (12) on the outskirts of (13) the city so many local residents (14) are employed (7) there. In addition (4), because of the increasing number of (15) shops there, a lot of the individuals (16) are employed (7) in the service industry (17).

(11) a range of
(5) reduced relative clause ~ are done
(12)Industrial area with a lot of factories
(13) at the edge
(14) Residents, individuals (14) Residents, individuals (try not to use word “people”too often)
(15) instead of saying “lots of”
(17) A business that does work for customers, and occasionally provides, but is not involved in manufactoring

Question 4

Would you say it is a good or bad place to live?

Answer 4

Student:
Although (5) there are drawbacks (18) of living in such a crowded and busy city (19), I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else because there’s always something to do. I’m a massive fan of (20) city living so at this point in my life (21), I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. In the future, the distant future (22), however (6), I might be tempted (23) to relocate (24) to the country because I don’t think the city is a place to bring
up (25) kids (26).

(5) Remember after ‘although’ you need to use a subject and a verb and you need another clause in the sentence to show what you are contrasting the first part of the sentence with.
(18) Disadvantages
(19) Such a + “Adj + noun” emphasises is very crowded and busy
(20) try not to use “I like because it won’t impress the examiner”
(21) now
(22) not the near future, but the fututre that is further away
(23) attracted
(24) move
(26) Informal not in writing

Question 5

How do you travel around your hometown?

Answer 5

Student:
I generally tend to (27) travel around by bus. The transport network (28) is pretty good (29) and it is reasonably cheap(30).
It is also quite reliable (31). Using a car is difficult because of the traffic jams(32) in the rush hour (33) and the city centre can get particularly congested (34).

(27) Complex way of saying “I usually travel”. The verb tend to is easy to use - ‘tend to + infinitive’ will impress the examiner
(28) Transport system
(29) It’s recommended to avoid using words like ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But if you say ‘pretty good’ it makes it more complex
(30) instead of saying ‘quite cheap’
(31) able to be trusted
(33) a time during each day when traffic is at its heaviest
(34) so crowded with traffic or people as to hinder or prevent freedom of movement

Question 6

Would you prefer to live in a bigger or smaller place?

Answer 6

Student: Despite the fact that (7) I can see the pluses (35) of living in a smaller place, such as
having clean air to breathe, I absolutely adore(36) living in a city. There is no time to get bored because it literally is the city that never sleeps (37). As I get older though (8), I think I will get sick of (38) the rat race (39) and will end up (40) living in a house in the country.

(7) Contrast
(35) Benefits
(36) love
(37) idiomatic way of saying: “ there are things to do at all times of day or night”
(8) contrast
(38) get tired of
(39) the way of life in which people are caught up in a fiercely competetive struggle for wealth and power- often associated with cities - Running around like little rats
سگ دو زدن - کار و رقابت سخت در زندگی برای امرار معاش
(40) Eventually happen