The IELTS speaking section is a crucial part of the IELTS exam. It consists of 3 tasks: A personal introduction, talking about the cue card, and a longer discussion on the cue card. This blog contains 3 sample responses to the cue card prompt "Describe a Place You Visited Where the Air Was Polluted". Also, you will find the follow-up question with their answers that the examiner can ask after the IELTS speaking part 2. Later in this text, you will get tips to excel in cue card tasks. First, let's understand what IELTS cue cards are.
Table of Contents
There are a total of three parts in the IELTS speaking section. Cue cards are the second part of this section, where you are given a topic to discuss for around 2 minutes. This card will contain a situation where you have to explain it or give an answer to a question. Like in this cue card, you will get the answer to the question of what place you visited that was polluted. Moreover, you will need to create a plan for how you will approach that response. Furthermore, after the IELTS speaking part 2, you will discuss the same cue card in 3rd part, which will contain follow-up questions based on your response. Now, in the next section, you will read about the ways to answer a cue card.
A cue card holds a lot of importance in your exam as it checks your fluency in the language and also evaluates you based on your thinking on a particular topic. Moreover, while speaking about your topic, you first need to introduce the topic and then continue with the pointers that you will include in your cue card. Always keep in mind that you will have 2 minutes in total to submit your response. Moreover, the examiner will be scoring you based on 4 criteria: Fluency, Lexical resources, accuracy, and punctuation. Moreover, the student should work on their vocabulary for IELTS. This is because your word bank can leave a positive impact on the examiner. In addition, the topic can be of any type, but here, we will discuss the topic “Describe a Place You Visited Where the Air Was Polluted” with sample answers.
You can use the following pointers in your response:
Describe a Place You Visited Where the Air Was Polluted
You should say
And Explain How Did This Experience Make You Feel?
Let us show you that how your cue card may look like in the IELTS exam. Refer to the image below.
Now, let us read the responses you can give to score good in the first attempt. In the next sections, there are 3 samples for the cue card. So you can adopt the appropriate approach and tone of response for your test.
Here is the first example of the cue card. You can use the structure and tone of the response to score well in the IELTS exam.
Introduction
Last year, I got an opportunity to become a part of the boot camp organized in Sonipat, where I grappled with the issue of poor air quality.
Where Is the Place?
Sonipat is an industrial city in Haryana, which is around an hour away from Delhi. Now, Delhi in itself is known to be the worst city in case of air quality. Thus, the cities around the capital are known to have the worst air quality as the major factories and industries are in the neighboring cities such as Sonipat, Gurugram, Noida, and Faridabad, also known as NCR.
When Did You Visit?
So, I visited this place in mid-June last year, which is peak summer in India. The place was sweltering because of the poor air quality. There are a lot of factories around the city that make it not suitable for living there. However, the monsoon season was about to come, which did some amelioration of the crises. Despite being the monsoon season, the place was very hot, imagine if it never rained there that year.
Why Was the Air Quality Poor?
There are several reasons that make Sonipat a polluted city. This city is renowned for automobile components. Apart from this, bicycle manufacturing is also a huge industry there. Thus, all these industries adds up to the poor air quality of the region.
And Explain How Did This Experience Make You Feel?
The entire boot camp was organized on a university campus, allowing us to spend the majority of our day indoors. But some events like DJ nights, daily sports sessions, and some leisure time were full of watery eyes and sneezes for me. Moreover, because I am a sinus patient, it exacerbated the issue worse several times. I felt a sense of oppression and discomfort due to the pervasive smog and pollutants.
Here is another sample response to the cue card. This will help you with variations in the cue card answer.
Introduction
In recent years, the air quality in some parts of India is becoming progressively worse. There are several cities that are manufacturing hubs and produces a plethora of carbon in the air. One such city that I will be talking about today is Byrnihat.
Where Is the Place?
Byrnihat is situated in Meghalaya, which is a part of seven sisters. Now, it may be hard to believe that any part of the seven sisters, which is the most beautiful portion of India has that much pollution. But the stark fact is that this city is known to be the world’s most polluted city.
When Did You Visit?
I visited there in December, and it is believed that winter aggravates the air quality worse. There was no specific purpose for me to visit such a polluted city but I was curious after knowing that this place is named the most polluted city in the world. And I was amazed that anywhere you go, it's smoke only.
Why Was the Air Quality Poor?
The reasons because of which Byrnihat is so populated is because of several reasons such as vehicle exhausts, industrial emissions and the burning of wood or crop waste. Moreover, due to the rampant industrialization of the town number of factories such as distilleries, iron and steel factories, and cement plants, added to the poor air.
And Explain How Did This Experience Make You Feel?
To be honest, I was astounded by the situation in that place. I was perplexed by how people live there on a regular basis and also about the workers in the industries. Moreover, the smoke is so much that it is hard to see sun for a lot of days. I would never want to live around such city. I felt a sense of dismay and unease during my visit.
This is the last sample response of the cue card. By these 3 samples, you will learn how you can do variations in the responses.
Introduction
The entire world is suffering from the environmental issues and it is a veritable fact that air quality is declining on a daily basis. The most popular cities of the world are among the most populated cities in the world. I got the opportunity to visit one such city, Milan.
Where Is the Place?
Milan is a Metropolitan City of Italy, popularly known for being one of the world’s four fashion capitals. Almost every luxury fashion brand in the world has their headquarters there. The air quality of this city is very bad and makes it hard for people with pulmonary vulnerabilities to breath properly.
When Did You Visit?
I visited Milan to see how the fashion capital would look like and also to visit the famous spots of the city such as churches. It was a worthy trip but I was surprised the moment we landed in the city. There was a pervasive haze everywhere and it was hard to breath for a good period of time.
Why Was the Air Quality Poor?
After talking to people there and looking on the internet, I got to know that this place was polluted because of Biomass combustion for heating, emissions from hazardous pollutants from industries and factories as well as from incinerators and refineries and various agricultural activities. Moreover, the corridor of heavy industry across Lombardia, together with the use of agricultural waste, forms a toxic cocktail of pollutants.
And Explain How Did This Experience Make You Feel?
The trip there was great overall but what shocked me the most is that such a popular tourist destination is also very polluted and there are almost zero efforts from the government to resolve the issue. Milan is a beautiful city and some efforts and initiatives can attract more tourists.
To improve your vocabulary and word bank, learning new words is important. It will help you in setting a positive impression on the examiner. So, this section mentions some advanced words from the samples with their meanings.
Overall, this is the list of some words that you can use during the IELTS speaking section to ace up your score.
| Lexical Resources | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Grappled | Struggled |
| Sweltering | Uncomfortably hot |
| Amelioration | Improvement |
| Exacerbated | Make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse |
| Oppression | Distress |
| Pervasive | Spreading widely throughout an area |
| Progressively | In stages |
| Plethora | A large or excessive amount of something |
| Stark | Severe or bare |
| Aggravates | Make (a problem, injury, or offence) worse or more serious |
| Rampant | Spreading unchecked |
| Astounded | Shock or great surprise |
| Perplexed | Very puzzled |
| Dismay | Concern and distress caused by something unexpected |
| Veritable | Used for emphasis |
| Pulmonary Vulnerabilities | Lung weakness |
| Pervasive Haze | Smoke spread in a huge area |
| Hazardous | Dangerous or poisonous |
Now, let's examine some possible follow-up questions the examiner can ask you in the third part of this section with their answers.
After you complete the cue card part of the speaking section, the examiner will ask you follow-up questions related to your response only. This part generally lasts 4-5 minutes. Here, you will get the possible cross-questions the examiner can ask based on your IELTS speaking part 2. Read them for a better understanding of the examiner's behaviour.
1. In what ways can air pollution be reduced effectively?
There are several ways by which air pollution can be reduced effectively. Some individual steps such as carpooling, using public transport, walking or cycling for short distances if possible are very effective in saving the environment. Moreover, if the government is a smart city, sustainable energy such as solar and mills can also add a great contribution to this initiative.
2. What can factories and power plants do to reduce pollutants?
There are ways that factories and power plants can follow, which are a bit costly but are beneficial in the longer run. So, installing advanced filters to clean emissions can make a very huge impact on the air quality. They should also implement efficient waste management practices to minimize environmental impact.
3. What factors contribute to the air pollution in your city?
Air pollution is caused by solid and liquid particles and certain gases that are suspended in the air. So, in my city, factors such as car and truck exhaust, factories, dust, pollen, and mould spores contribute to the bad air quality.
4. What measures could be taken to reduce air pollution in cities like Delhi?
Some measures have already been taken in Delhi such as running H2O buses, which leaves water from the exhaust is a very big step taken by the government. Moreover, better implementation of policies such as odd-even can also add to it as apart from the huge factories and industries, traffic is a huge contributor to the bad air quality.
Go through these questions and solve them to improve your IELTS score. Now, that you have read the samples, lexical resources, and possible follow-up questions, it is time to understand how you can improve your score on this test.
You should keep a few things in mind while appearing for the IELTS speaking section. Here, you will get some of the tips that you can practice to improve your score in IELTS.
In conclusion, there are some strategies and efforts that you need to score well in IELTS speaking part 2. Here, you will get detailed information about “ Describe a Place You Visited Where the Air Was Polluted”. Moreover, there are 3 samples for this topic and some follow-up questions the examiner can ask in the 3rd task. Also, the tips mentioned above will help you in getting a better score. So, this blog has everything you need to understand the IELTS speaking section. Moreover, if you still face any issues in your IELTS preparation, there is an option to opt for online IELTS classes, which will help you with expert guidance. So, start your IELTS journey now to make your dream of studying abroad come true.
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