IELTS Speaking Part 1 · noise

Is your city noisier than it used to be?

A strong Part 1 answer puts the actual answer in the first clause, adds one reason or one example, and stops. Two or three sentences, roughly forty seconds.

The question, as the examiner gives it

IELTS Speaking Part 1

Is your city noisier than it used to be?

no preparation, about 45 seconds to speak

A band 7 to 8 answer

About 64 words at a natural pace — roughly what 45 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.
A band 7 to 8 answer

Louder in volume and, oddly, less varied. There is far more traffic than there was, so there is a constant background that never really stops, and the individual sounds I remember, a particular vendor, the bell on a certain cart, have mostly gone. Electric vehicles might reverse some of it eventually. For now, a quiet night here is simply a night with less traffic.

The words that earn marks

Each one links to how it is pronounced.

  • volume

    the precise noun for loudness

  • varied

    adjective that makes the observation original

  • constant

    adjective describing background noise exactly

  • vendor

    specific street noun, concrete

  • electric

    three syllables with the stress on the second

  • reverse

    the right verb for undoing a trend

How a strong answer is built

  1. 1Answer on two dimensions, not one.
  2. 2Explain the increase with its cause.
  3. 3Give concrete detail about what has been lost.
  4. 4Close with a forward-looking qualification.

Sounds to watch

The ones this answer leans on most.

Straight answers

How long should my answer to “Is your city noisier than it used to be?” be?

About 45 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.
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