6.1. How Part 3 Works
Hear what kind of question it is, give a view, a reason and a short example, and ask if you did not catch it.
We've been talking about this topic, and I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general questions related to it.
Let's talk about everyday possessions.
- Why do some people become attached to ordinary things they use every day?
- Do people in your country usually repair belongings or replace them?
- How has advertising changed the everyday items people choose to carry?
The short version
4 to 5 minutes. Four to six questions on the topic of your Part 2 card, about people in general.
Four kinds of question: why, compare, predict, agree. Hear which one before you speak.
One answer is a view, a reason and an example: three to six sentences, 20 to 40 seconds.
You may ask the examiner to repeat or explain a question. This is allowed in Part 3.
What you have to do
There is no card and no preparation time. The examiner asks four to six questions on the topic of your Part 2 card, about people in general. Each answer is a view in one sentence, then a reason, then a short example. A brief personal one is fine. A long story is not. That takes 20 to 40 seconds. The examiner may follow up with why? or can you give an example? It is marked on the same four criteria.
Four kinds of question
Each kind wants a different first move, so hear the kind before you answer.
Why do some people become attached to ordinary things? Give one cause and explain how it works. One explained cause beats five named ones.
Do people usually repair belongings or replace them? Say which is commoner. Name one real difference, rather than describing each in turn.
How will advertising change what people carry? Offer one possible future, using might or will probably rather than will.
Is it a problem that people own so much? Take one side, after one fair sentence about the other.
Step by step
- 1Listen for what kind of question it is
Hear the first words. Why do wants a cause. Do people usually A or B or How is X different wants a comparison. Will or What might wants a prediction. Do you think or Is it a problem wants you to agree or disagree. On the sample, Why do some people become attached to ordinary things is a why question: one cause, explained.
- 2Decide what to say first: a view, then a reason, then an example
Your first sentence is your view: I think people get attached to things that have been through something with them. The second is the reason: because the object holds the memory of that time. The third is a short example, not a story about you: someone who keeps a chipped mug from their first flat. Three sentences, then add a limit or stop.
- 3Use the question's own words to frame the view
Start your first sentence with the words of the question, so the answer stays on the question. Why do people become attached to ordinary things? becomes People become attached to ordinary things mainly because.... If the question says in your country, say In my country. If you cannot turn the question's words into your first sentence, you have not answered it yet.
- 4What not to say
Not a yes or no alone: Yes, I think so is a Part 1 answer. Not a Part 2 story: When my grandmother gave me her watch... starts a long story about you. Not a memorised list of connectors: Firstly, secondly, on the other hand, in conclusion can fill forty seconds with no idea inside.
- 5If you are stuck, ask, or give the simplest view and one reason
You may ask the examiner to repeat or explain a Part 3 question. Could you say that again? or Do you mean shops in general, or online shops? Asking costs nothing. If you understand the question but have no idea, give the simplest view and one reason. I think most people replace things, because repairing is often dearer than buying new. One reason said clearly beats silence.
Why do people keep clothes they never wear?
I think people keep clothes they never wear because throwing them away feels like admitting the money was wasted. Keeping them costs nothing today, and the waste stays invisible. Someone who bought a suit for one interview will often move it from flat to flat for ten years rather than give it away.
The first sentence uses the question's words and gives one cause. The second explains how the cause works. The third is an example about someone who, not about the speaker. Nothing is a yes or no, and nothing is a story.
Quiz time5 questions
Each drill gives you one fresh Part 3 question and works on one step. Practise the judgement, not the whole discussion.
Listen for the kind of question
The examiner asks this. Decide which kind of question it is before you think about an answer.
Read thisIn what ways do older and younger people differ in the things they carry with them every day?
Which kind of question is this?
A view, a reason and an example
Three candidates answer this question. Choose the answer that gives a view, a reason and an example about people in general.
Read thisWhy do people buy things they do not need?
Which answer has the shape?
Spot the Part 2 story
Four sentences from one answer to this question. Three are about people in general. One has slipped into a story about the speaker. Which?
Read thisDo people take better care of things they have paid a lot for?
Which sentence contains the error?
If you are stuck, ask
The examiner asks this, and the candidate does not know what to what extent means. Choose what they should say.
Read thisTo what extent do manufacturers encourage people to replace things rather than repair them?
What should the candidate say next?
One question, thirty seconds
Speak for about 30 seconds on this question. Start with the question's words, give one cause, explain it, then give an example about people in general.
Read thisWhy do people find it hard to throw old things away?
Why do people find it hard to throw old things away?
Record your answer (40s maximum)
0:00 / 0:40
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Full answers
Below is a why question with a complete answer of four sentences, about forty seconds. Read it once for the shape: a view in the first clause, a reason, an example, and a limit.
Why do small shops close?
Why do small shops close?
I think small high-street shops close mainly because rent is too high for the turnover they can make. A bakery near me lasted twelve years and then the landlord doubled the rent; a chain chemist moved in. Online shopping is a factor, but I do not think it is the first cause on a street that still has a bus stop. In many towns the same pattern happens when a lease ends, not when people suddenly stop buying bread.
Four sentences, about forty seconds. Online shopping gets one sentence as a concession, and the limit is in the last sentence (in many towns). It does not turn into a second speech about whether towns are nice.
Full answers1 question
Find the view
Look at the shops answer above.
Which cause does the speaker actually commit to?
Now try the same shape on a new why question. The shops answer is the pattern, not the content: pick your own cause, reason, and example.
Your turn to speak3 questions
Name two spoken-size ideas
List two ideas you could say in a few sentences. Not an essay outline. Each needs a reason.
Why do people move from small towns to big cities?
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Plan a why answer
One view, one reason, one example, an optional limit. Do not write a two-sided essay.
Why do people move from small towns to big cities?
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Record a Part 3 answer
Four to seven sentences. View, reason, example, optional limit. Do not retell Part 2.
Why do people move from small towns to big cities?
Record your answer (60s maximum)
0:00 / 1:00
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Tips
- Three sentences is a full answer
A view, a reason and an example take about twenty five seconds at a normal pace. If the examiner wants more, they will ask. If they move on, the answer was enough.
- Someone who, a family that, in many towns
These phrases keep an example general. A one-sentence example from your own life is fine. But once I remember starts a story, you are back in Part 2. Swap the story for someone who and carry on.
- Asking is a normal move
Examiners rephrase Part 3 questions every day. Do you mean...? shows you are listening, and it gives you five seconds to think while they answer.
Recap
Hear the kind of question first: why, compare, predict or agree, and use its words in your first sentence.
Give a view in one sentence, then a reason, then a short example, not a story about you.
If you are stuck, ask the examiner to repeat or explain, or give the simplest view and one reason.
Next: the language for holding a view without overstating it.