Question Type 1: Basic Description Questions

Activity

How many "liking" expressions can you find in the answer? How many linking phrases can you find? How much redundant language is there? Find examples of uncommon or topic-specific vocabulary. (Note "things like that" - the meaning of "like" is not the same as the meaning in the question.)

Possible starting phrases for "liking" questions include:

• 
  Well in general I would say that",
  
• 
  Actually, I suppose that for the most part I’d probably say that...
  
• 
  Well, to be honest I should really say that...
  
• 
  Of course I think I'd have to say that...
  
• 
  Certainly I would definitely say that...
  
• 
  Well, I guess that generally speaking I would certainly say that ...
  

Then select the first "liking" expression and add the topic word or a general category of the topic.

Example: "Well in general I would say that I’m quite passionate about Italian food: ..."

Now you need to add a linking word or phrase to introduce a specific type of the topic or category (eg. pizza).

• 
  ...but in particular…
  
• 
  ...to be more precise...
  
• 
  ...particularly...
  
• 
  ...to be more specific...
  
• 
  ...especially...
  
• 
  ...to be more exact...
  
• 
  ...specifically...
  
• 
  ...to be more accurate...
  

Now add your second "liking" expression with the specific type.

Example: "Well in general I would say that I'm quite passionate about Italian food, to be more specific, I would probably say that I’m really into pizza and pasta."

Now add a linking phrase to introduce the first reason:

• 
  And I guess this is probably because...
  
• 
  This could be because...
  
• 
  This might be because...
  
• 
  This is due to the fact that...
  
• 
  I suppose the reason has something to do with the fact that…
  

"Well in general I would say that quite passionate about Italian food; to be more specific I would probably say that I'm really into pizza and pasta. This is mainly because my girlfriend is Italian so she always cooks Italian cuisine at home."

Now use a linking phrase to introduce your second point.

• 
  As well as this...
  
• 
  To add to this...
  
• 
  In addition to this...
  

Use another "liking" expression: "As well as this, I’m quite partial to vegetarian food."

Now be more specific:

"As well as this, I’m quite partial to vegetarian food especially things like bean curd. This could be because... I'm quite conscious of healthy eating and bean curd is a fat-free food and it's high in nutritional value."

So the complete structure looks like this:

"Well to be quite honest, in general I would say that I’m actually quite keen on.... but in particular I would probably have to say that I'm really into...you know, things like... I guess the reason why I am a fan of...is because I adore...In addition to this I suppose also pretty passionate about.... especially...and things like that, and this is due to the fact that..."

Use the structure above to answer the following questions:

• 
  What food do you like?
  
• 
  Do you like listening to music?
  
• 
  Do you like reading?
  
• 
  Do you like shopping?
  
• 
  What do you like about your hometown?
  
• 
  What do you like about your studies / job?
  

Now answer the questions using your own structure.