Question Type 1: Basic Description Questions

Summary of Part One Question Types

In Part One of the speaking test, most of the questions asked will be one of the seven types described in this section. There may be one or two questions that are not covered, but most candidates will find that all of their part one questions are covered by these seven types.

If the examiner asks a question that is not covered by these seven types, just remember the following rule:

Long response - Linking phrases - Complex sentence - Redundant language

One obvious question that has not been described in this section is the "Why" question. These questions are more common in Part Three but they occasionally appear in Part One. See the Part Three question types later in this book for ideas on how to answer these questions.

Part One Topics

In this section each Part One topic is presented with possible questions and example uncommon vocabulary and idiomatic language relevant to that topic. (Remember - one of the most important aspects of the marking system is uncommon and idiomatic vocabulary.)

Most of the idioms have been explained in simple English, but the vocabulary has not been translated into Chinese.
You should use these topic pages as a learning tool. Select one or two topics per day and use a good dictionary to translate the words yourself: in this way you will be actively learning the new vocabulary. You will find it easier to remember the words if you have translated them yourself.