What makes a city a good place to live?
A strong Part 3 answer takes a position in the first clause, supports it with one reason and one concrete case, and then names where it stops being true. Around a minute.
The question, as the examiner gives it
What makes a city a good place to live?
no preparation, about 1 minute to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 134 words at a natural pace — roughly what 60 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.For me it comes down to whether ordinary life can be done on foot. If you can reach a doctor, a school, food and a park within about fifteen minutes of your door, almost everything else improves as a consequence, because you stop spending two hours a day in traffic and you meet the same people repeatedly. That repetition is what turns an area into a neighbourhood. The second thing is reliable public transport for everything outside that radius, and by reliable I mean predictable rather than fast. A bus every twelve minutes that you can trust changes behaviour far more than a train line four kilometres away. Beyond that, I would say affordable housing, because a city that only works for people earning well is not liveable, it is merely pleasant to visit.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- consequence
three syllables with the stress on the first
- repetition
four syllables with the stress on the third
- neighbourhood
British spelling with a silent gh
- radius
the precise noun for a distance around a point
- predictable
four syllables with the stress on the second
- affordable
four syllables with the stress on the second
- liveable
the question's own adjective, used precisely
How a strong answer is built
- 1Give one criterion and make it concrete.
- 2Explain the consequences that follow from it.
- 3Add a second criterion and define your terms.
- 4Close with a third that reframes the question.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “What makes a city a good place to live?” be?
About 60 seconds. Long enough for the answer plus a reason or an example, short enough that the examiner can get through the rest of the set.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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