Describing Environmental Issues

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Part 2 Preparation

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Learning Objectives

In this lesson you will:

Practice answering questions based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test.
Learn and practice some different ways to talk about environmental problems, and language for giving honest opinions.
Practice pronouncing /ɜː/ as in "work" and /ɔː/ as in "walk."

Exercise 1

Warm-Up: Pronunciation Practice

Listen and Repeat

Listen and repeat after your tutor.

A) work

B) walk

A) bird

B) bored

A) fur

B) four

A) shirt

B) short

A) sir

B) saw

Quiz

Your tutor will choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Quiz Your Tutor

Choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, your tutor will say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Tongue Twisters

Practice saying these tongue twisters with your tutor. First say them slowly, then try to speed up.

Four furry bored birds!
A short walk to work in my short sleeved shirt.

Exercise 2

Helpful Vocabulary

Listen and repeat these words with your tutor.

Describing Environmental Problems

flooding
air pollution
water pollution
water shortages
global warming
deforestation
drought

Tell your tutor which problems your hometown faces.

For example:

"Flooding is a problem for my hometown."

"Drought isn't a problem."

Problems and Solutions

Listen and repeat these words with your tutor. If you don't know a word, ask your tutor to read the definition and example sentence.

complication

Noun

mess

Noun

worry

Noun

issue

Noun

fix

Verb

answer

Noun

resolution

Noun

suggestion

Noun

Tell your tutor which words relate to problems and which relate to solutions.

For example:

"Complication relates to problems."
"Fix relates to solutions."

Reactions to environmental problems and solutions

Listen and repeat these words with your tutor. If you don't know a word, ask your tutor to read the definition and example sentence.

depressed

Adjective

confident

Adjective

hopeful

Adjective

relaxed

Adjective

worried

Adjective

irate

Adjective

frustrated

Adjective

optimistic

Adjective

Tell your tutor how you feel about the future using the words above.

For example:

"I feel hopeful about the future."

Exercise 3

Speaking Test Part 2 Response

Read the following instruction based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test.

Describe a problem that affects the environment where you live.

You should say:

what the problem is
how it happened
what is being done to solve it

And explain how you feel about both the problem and the solution.

Model Response 1

Listen and read as your tutor reads Phuong's response aloud. At the end, you will need to answer three short questions.

I'm going to talk about where I live: Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. In my city, flooding is a major issue. The area where I live floods a couple of times a year, usually during the rainy season, between April and September.

Just last month, the water was up to my knees. It was crazy! This flooding caused about 13 deaths in my city, and large numbers of animals were also killed.

To tell you the truth, I have no idea what is being done to fix the problem, and I'm not sure what could be done. I've read that flooding is often caused by poor city planning, so it's a very hard problem to address.

Honestly, I feel frustrated that flooding has been a problem for so long. I've seen on the news that parts of the US are also experiencing flooding every year. If one of the wealthiest countries in the world can't find an answer, I'm not optimistic that it'll happen here anytime soon, frankly.

Questions

What is the biggest problem facing Phuong's hometown?

What does Phuong think should be done to fix the issue?

Is Phuong confident that the problem will be solved?

Useful Language

Phuong uses these phrases to give an honest opinion. Listen and repeat them with your tutor.

To tell you the truth, ...
Honestly, ...
... frankly.

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

Read the response based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test and fill in the blanks.

Model Response 2

I live in Beijing, where there's a lot of air (1), which can be really bad for your health. Every day, I have to check whether I should wear a mask or if I can let my children go outside. To tell you the (2), it makes me very angry.

I think the pollution is mostly caused by factories, and all the cars and motorbikes. (3), I'm not exactly sure what is being done to fix this (4), but I think the government does have a plan to prevent the pollution from (5) worse. I once read that Beijing has some of the most polluted air in the world, which is really (6)!

However, I'm (7) that the government has realized what a big problem it is as it has actually improved a little over the past few years.

Choose answers from the options below that fit in blanks 1 to 7

Answer Pool (Questions 1-7)

mess
depressing
Honestly
pollution
truth
confident
getting

Exercise 5

Part 2 Test Practice

Complete this task based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test. You have 1 minute to prepare your answer and up to 2 minutes to speak. Your tutor will stop you when the time is up.

Describe a problem that affects the environment where you live.

You should say:

what the problem is
how it happened
what is being done to solve it

And explain how you feel about the problem and the solution.