Ielts speaking--how to improve your bandscore

Part 1 questions are all about you: your hobbies, family, hometown, pets,
favourites, etc. It is very helpful if you take note of the verb tense used in the
questions because it’s what you need to use in your first sentence (as the main
answer) and throughout the whole answer. You should use synonyms or similar
expressions as you paraphrase the question as well.
Why is it important to paraphrase the question?
For one thing, paraphrasing is a good way to answer the question directly. It
demonstrates your understanding of the question. Another thing is that it gives
you time to come up with ideas quickly. Hence, as you deliver your first
sentence, you can also be thinking of what to say next or how to finish your
answer.
How is the question paraphrased?
When you have fully understood the question, you use the gist and present it in a
sentence without repeating many (if not all) of the words from the question.
Here are some explanatory examples:
Do you think pets make people happy? I believe pets can be a source of
happiness.
Minimise the repeating of a content word (noun, verb, adjective, and adverb) in
your response.
You may vary the sentence style or you may invert the sequence of sentence

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