IELTS CUE CARD: A TALL BUILDING THAT YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE IN YOUR CITY. Study the sample answer of this topic, specifically talking about a high-rise building that the speaker liked in his city. Learn how he developed his answers and how he applied topic vocabulary and collocations that helped him utilize his English communication skills better. 

Talking about a building is easy if you know how to provide descriptions of a building in an advanced and natural way. The sample answer below can surely help you get ideas on how to tell a story in a more creative way that can help you achieve a band 7.0 or even a band 9.0. 

PART 2

Describe a tall building in your city that you like or dislike

You should say:

Where it is

What it is used for

What it looks like

And explain why you like or dislike it

PREPARATION

When talking about buildings, you need to know some categories of buildings first. Are they industrial, commercial, or residential? When you categorize buildings, you will be able to focus more easily on what type of building you are going to talk about. When describing a tall building, make sure that your examiner can visualize how tall it is. What’s that building made of? How tall is it? What’s the function of that building then? 

CATEGORIES OF BUILDINGS

Industrial

a. Heavy Industrial Buildings or Manufacturing Facilities = used to manufacture construction materials like cement, steel, and the like. Also, used by car manufacturing companies.

b. Cold Storage Buildings = for storing a large amount of foods and keep them refrigerated

c. Warehouses = used by companies for storing their goods 

Commercial

a. Hotel & Lodging

b. Shopping Malls/Centers

c. Office Buildings

Residential

a. Condominium / Apartment

b. Luxury Home or Estate

ADJ for BUILDINGS

High-rise, large, tall

Impressive, towering, attractive

Derelict (in poor condition & neglected), dilapidated (in a state of disrepair)

Modern, State-of-the-art, Ancient, Prehistoric 

VERBS TO USE  for BUILDINGS

Erect, build, put up

TYPES OF BUILDING MATERIALS

Aluminum, Brick, Concrete, Fiber cement, Glass, Steel

SAMPLE MONOLOGUE

There’s one high-rise building that’s recently erected in our city, which attracts a lot of visitors because of its unique design, it’s called TOWER 101. It’s actually a condominium and if I’m correct, there are 3,000 residential units all in all. I reckon its height is 250 meters and that’s actually half the height of the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan. 

Well, what I like about this building is its design, it’s minimalistic, there are only two colors – black and grey. The right side of the building is black and the left side is grey and the walls are made of glass. From afar, it looks like there are two buildings standing next to each other, but when you come closer you will realize that it’s only one building standing. The grey color creates an illusion,  people from a distance think that there are two vertical buildings standing next to each other but actually, there’s only one building standing. Well, I first knew this building just a couple of weeks ago because this building was heavily advertised on local TV. I was intrigued by its advertisement so I decided to pay a  visit. To be continued…

SO what other ideas can you add? If you’re to complete this sample monologue, how will you fully develop this story? Be creative! Make use of your imaginative skills.

continuation…

When I got there, I talked to one of the real estate agents and I learned that that building is actually the tallest building not just in our city but in the entire state. I was very surprised to know that. She also said that the materials were imported from Europe. 

Not only that, she assured me that the building is earthquake-resistant, it wouldn’t collapse even if the magnitude of the earthquake is really strong because she said that the building is equipped with some modern technology from Japan. Learning that made me like that building even more because you know safety is a priority.

But you know what,  what made me more surprised was when I learned that one of the designers of this building was my former classmate in high school. I was at a loss for words when I knew that. I just couldn’t believe it.

AVOID TAKING THE EXAM, AGAIN & AGAIN, PREPARE STRATEGICALLY!

NO IDEAS FOR PART 2? MY EBOOK CAN HELP YOU!

If you are busy and do not have so much time preparing for the recent IELTS Speaking CUE CARDS, then GET my ebook for the recent cue cards. The things that you can get from my ebook are topic ideas, topic vocabulary, collocations, and more importantly the interactive sample monologues, just like what you see on this post. 

The interactive sample monologues are 90% complete and the 10% should come from you. I design my ebook this way so that you can interact and develop your creativity in storytelling, which is needed to help you develop an organized story and maximize the two-minute time given to you by your examiner.

The ebook for the recent cue cards is only US$15. If you want to buy this ebook, just send an email at [email protected].

The EBOOK FOR CUE CARDS (MAY – AUG) contains: 

1. DESCRIBE SOMETHING THAT YOU SAW ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT’S INTERESTING

2. DESCRIBE AN ART OR CRAFT ACTIVITY THAT YOU HAD IN SCHOOL

3. DESCRIBE A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT IS IMPORTANT IN YOUR HOUSE

4. DESCRIBE A TIME YOU TRIED DOING SOMETHING BUT WEREN’T SUCCESSFUL

5. DESCRIBE A TIME YOU BOUGHT SOMETHING FROM A STREET MARKET

6. DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OR A MOVIE THAT YOU LIKE

7. DESCRIBE A COMPANY THAT HIRES/EMPLOYS A LOT OF PEOPLE

8. DESCRIBE A QUIET PLACE YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME IN

9. DESCRIBE SOMEONE WHO IS OLDER THAN YOU THAT YOU ADMIRE

10. DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOU HELPED YOUR FRIEND

11. DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOU SHARED SOMETHING WITH SOMEONE OR OTHER PEOPLE

12. DESCRIBE A LEISURE ACTIVITY THAT YOU WANT TO TRY DOING NEAR THE SEA OR IN THE SEA

13. DESCRIBE AN ARGUMENT THAT YOUR FRIENDS HAD

14. DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE SINGER OR ACTOR

15. DESCRIBE A PLAN IN YOUR LIFE THAT IS NOT RELATED TO YOUR WORK OR STUDY

16. DESCRIBE AN ARTICLE ON HEALTH THAT YOU READ IN A MAGAZINE OR ON THE INTERNET

17. DESCRIBE A TOWN OR CITY THAT YOU ENJOY SPENDING YOUR TIME IN

18. DESCRIBE AN OCCASION WHEN MANY PEOPLE WERE SMILING

19. DESCRIBE A TALL BUILDING

20. DESCRIBE A NATURAL TALENT THAT YOU WANT TO IMPROVE

21. DESCRIBE A PIECE OF LOCAL NEWS THAT PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN

22. DESCRIBE A TOWN OR CITY THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO LIVE IN IN THE FUTURE

23. DESCRIBE A LAW ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

24. DESCRIBE A PUZZLE THAT YOU HAVE PLAYED

25. DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOU WEREN’T ALLOWED TO USE YOUR PHONE

BE READY! SPEAK NATURALLY, CONFIDENTLY, & CLEARLY WITH YOUR EXAMINER!

Study how to answer the recent cue card about A HEALTH ARTICLE THAT YOU READ IN A MAGAZINE OR ONLINE https://ieltsdragon.com/ielts-an-article-on-health-you-read-in-magazines-or-the-internet/part-2/

Meaning of Words and Phrases Sources: 1, 2

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