Cue Card: Local Area

Topic: Describe a change that you would like to see in your local area.

You should say

- what the change would be

- who would be involved in making the change

- how it would be done

- and why you would like to see the change happen.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 Sample: 

The change that I’d like to see in my local neighbourhood is the pedestrianisation of the main shopping street in the town centre. I’d like to see traffic diverted around this area in order to make it safer and more attractive for visitors and shoppers. Most of the traffic that clogs up the main street is just passing through the town, but it’s the local people who have to put up with the congestion, noise and pollution.

It’s the job of the local council to make changes like the one I’m suggesting. But before the council does anything, there usually needs to be some pressure from local people to bring a problem to light. So, perhaps we need a campaign by local residents who want to see this change. Then the council might contract a town planner or an architect to come up with some possible designs for a new road system.

I’m not sure how exactly the process of creating a pedestrian street would work, but I imagine that it would require detailed planning. Perhaps a bypass would need to be built around the town centre first. This would give drivers a faster alternative to driving through the town, and it would allow the main shopping street to be blocked off and pedestrianised.

I’d like to see this change because it would really improve the quality of life of residents in the town where I live. I can imagine the new pedestrian street having cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating. It would be a safer and more pleasant place for families to go shopping, and I’m sure this would have a positive knock-on effect on local shops and businesses.

Phân tích từ vựng

•  Pedestrianisation /pəˌdestriənəˈzeɪʃn/ (n) : quá trình biến một con đường lớn thành phố đi bộ (the process of making a street or part of a town into an area that is only for people who are walking, not for vehicles)

• Divert /daɪˈvɜːt/ (v): làm lệch hướng, chuyển vị trí (to make somebody/something change direction)

• Clog up (idiom): làm tắc nghẽn, chặn đường (to obstruct a channel or conduit)

• Local council: hội đồng địa phương

• Come up with (phrasal verb): đưa ra, nảy ra (to devise or produce something)

• Pedestrian street: phố đi bộ

• Bypass /ˈbaɪ.pæs/ (n): đường vòng, đường rẽ

• Positive knock-on effect: tác động tích cực đến