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2
Essential Preparation
Index
4 Part 1—Hometown
6 Part 1—Work
13 Part 1—Study
19 Part 1—How often…?
20 Part 1 , 2 and 3—Describing People
23 Part 1 , 2 and 3—Describing Places
28 Part 1 , 2 and 3—Likes and Dislikes
33 Part 2 — The ‘when’ Bulletpoint
35 Part 2 — The ‘How You felt about it’ Bulletpoint
37 Part 1, 2 and 3 — Useful Grammatical Filler Phrases
41 Part 1, 2 and 2 — Using Intensifiers
42 Part 1, 2 And 3 Useful Discourse Marker — Mind You
44 Part 1, 2 and 3 — The Future
45 Part 3 — Structuring Your Answer
46 Part 3 — Talking About Advantages/Disadvantages
47 Part 3 — Useful Phrases
49 Part 3 — Ways of Saying ‘I don’t Know’
3
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Hometown
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!
4
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Hometown
Glossary
to be located in/situated in to be in a particular place
to highly recommend visiting to strongly recommend visiting
medium-sized of average size
relatively regarded in comparison with something else; quite
densely populated lots of people live there
sparsely populated not many people live there
a residential area a place where people live
on the outskirts of the outer parts of a town/city
a shopper’s paradise a great place for people who like shopping
roughly about
traffic congestion very little or slow movement of traffic
at peak times at the busiest times of day e.g. 8-9am and 5-6pm
to get stuck in traffic the traffic has stopped and you can’t move
to radically change to change a lot
minor changes small changes
pretty much the same almost the same
to get rid of to remove
to be renowned for to be famous for
dishes food
5
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
6
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
7
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
8
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
9
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
10
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
Glossary
to have nothing to complain about to have nothing to be unhappy about
the variety lots of different things to do
unpredictability lots of changes rather than the same thing
chilled relaxed
materialistic money-oriented; obsessed with money and goods
the perks something extra given to you in your job
a company car a car given to you to do your job
a dead-end job no chances of promotion
no career prospects no promotion possibilities
day in day out every day
mind-numbingly boring very boring
the amount of time you spend doing your job compared
work-life balance
with the amount of time you spend with your family and
doing things you enjoy
to have a heavy workload to have lots of work to do
to switch off (from) to stop thinking about something
pretty intense it requires quite a lot of thought or effort
draining It takes all of your energy and leaves you feeling tired
a job for life a job that you will do until you retire
taxing Demanding and tiring; difficult and needing a lot of
thought or effort
to have its ups and downs a mixture of good and bad things
on the whole generally
11
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Work
Glossary
to work flexitime you can change your start and finish time
convenient suitable/good for you
to fit around to be able to do it alongside other things
the school run taking your children to and collecting your children
from school
to feel appreciated to feel valued; to feel that you are important
my/the boss my/the manager
to give positive feedback to say nice things about your work
challenging difficult
to feel drained to feel really tired and have no energy
rewarding satisfying/pleasing
a great sense of satisfaction a good feeling
to climb the career ladder to get a better, usually higher-paid job
career prospects chances of getting a better job
tight deadlines you don’t have long to do something
intense pressure a lot of stress
24/7 (we say 24 7) all day, every day
I wouldn't change it for the world I wouldn’t want to do anything else
12
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Study
13
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Study
14
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Study
15
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Study
16
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Study
Glossary
to have nothing to complain about to have nothing to be unhappy about
the variety lots of different things to do
unpredictability lots of changes rather than the same thing
chilled relaxed
engaging interesting
to bring the subject to life to make it real or exciting
mind-numbingly boring very boring
to be bored to death/tears to be very bored
downtime time when you are not working
to hang out with my mates to spend time with your friends
to have a heavy workload to have lots of work to do
to switch off (from) to stop thinking about something
pretty intense it requires quite a lot of thought or effort
draining it takes all of your energy and leaves you feeling tired
taxing demanding and tiring; difficult and needing a lot of
thought or effort
to set pretty generous deadlines to give you quite a long time to do the work
to have its ups and downs a mixture of good and bad things
on the whole generally
face-to-face classes in the classroom — not online
to feel supported to be given help and encouragement when needed
17
Essential Preparation
Part 1— Study
Glossary
to give positive feedback to say nice things about your work
challenging difficult
to feel drained to feel really tired and have no energy
a great mix of a combination of; a mixture of
practical classes classes where you do things
theory classes classes where you study things
no two days are the same every day is different
a right laugh good fun
supportive encouraging and helpful
18
Useful Preparation
Part 1 — How often…?
19
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing People
20
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing People
To be a people person Someone who is good with people
To be head and shoulders above Someone who is better than other people
the rest
To be a charismatic leader Attractive and inspirational to others
To be full of beans Someone who has lots of energy
The life and soul of the party Someone who likes having fun
21
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing People
22
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing Places
23
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing Places
24
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing Places
25
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing Places
Glossary
outstanding very good
sprawling spreading out over a large area in an irregular way
a metropolis the capital or main city of a country or region
a hotspot a popular place
seaside near the sea
resort a place where people often go on holidays
picturesque very beautiful (only for places)
stunningly beautiful very beautiful (can be used for people as well)
charming pleasant and attractive
quaint attractively unusual or old-fashioned
a concrete jungle full of buildings and no green spaces
ugly not beautiful
a lack of not enough of
rural in the countryside
backwater An isolated or peaceful place; a place or situation in
which no development or progress is taking place
e.g. the country is an economic backwater.
isolated far away from other places, buildings, or people; re-
mote
in the middle of nowhere far away from other places, buildings, or people; re-
mote
a shopper’s paradise a great place for people who like shopping
a must something that is very good and should not be over-
looked or missed
shopaholics people who are addicted to/love shopping
window shoppers looking at things in shop windows but not buying
26
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Describing Places
Glossary
fancy (adj.) sophisticated; expensive
upmarket sophisticated; expensive; posh
overpriced/pricey too expensive
to cost an arm and a leg/a fortune to cost a lot of money
to take out/to carry out to take away
a (quick) bite to eat to have a small meal
an outlet a shop
bustling busy
vibrant full of energy and life
lively full of energy and life
thriving flourishing; doing well economically
to be teeming with to be full of
tranquil calm, quiet, and peaceful
idyllic calm, quiet, and peaceful
architecture buildings
run-down in a poor and bad condition
graffiti writing on walls or buildings as a form of artistic ex-
derelict empty and in a very poor condition
27
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Likes and Dislikes
28
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Likes and Dislikes
29
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Likes and Dislikes
30
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Likes and Dislikes
31
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Likes and Dislikes
Glossary
supporter fan
elated very happy
devastated very sad
_____-goer A person who goes to… e.g. a cinema-goer
to force yourself to do something to make yourself do something
pricey expensive
a rip-off something that is not worth what you pay for it
tasteless to have no taste; bland
to have a heavy workload To have a lot of work to do
to set foot in to go into
to pay attention to something to take notice of something
to have zero interest in to have no interest in
to be time-poor to not have enough time to do things
To appeal to e.g. it really appeals to I like it
me
I can’t bear/I can’t stand I hate
I can take or leave _____ you don’t care where you have it/do it or not
to detest to hate
to be partial to to like
an activity or piece of media (e.g. song/film etc) that
a guilty pleasure
someone enjoys but would be embarrassed by if other
people found out about it
32
Useful Preparation
Part 2 — The ‘when’ Bulletpoint
33
Useful Preparation
Part 2 — The ‘when’ Bulletpoint
Phrase Meaning and Example
To slip my mind To forget
As for when it was, I’m not entirely sure… it’s slipped my
mind, but it was a few years ago.
We use this expression to say that we
think that we can remember
To remember rightly something correctly, but we are not
100% sure
If I remember rightly, it was last June.
what you are saying is only an
estimate or what you believe to
At a guess
be true, rather than being a
definite fact
I can’t remember for certain when it was but at a guess, in
was in 2017.
34
Useful Preparation
Part 2 — The ‘How You felt about it’ Bulletpoint
35
Useful Preparation
Part 2 — The ‘How You felt about it’ Bulletpoint
36
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Useful Grammatical Filler Phrases
37
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Useful Grammatical Filler Phrases
38
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Useful Grammatical Filler Phrases
39
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — Useful Grammatical Filler Phrases
40
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 2 — Using Intensifiers
41
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 And 3 Useful Discourse Marker — Mind You
42
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 And 3 Useful Discourse Marker — Mind You
Glossary
To turn up late To arrive late
To be bitter about something To be annoyed about something
To be ashamed To be embarrassed
Severely limited Very small
To shut down your brain Your brain stops working/thinking about things
To drop off To fall asleep
43
Useful Preparation
Part 1, 2 and 3 — The Future
44
Useful Preparation
Part 3 — Structuring Your Answer
45
Useful Preparation
Part 3 — Talking About Advantages/disadvantages
46
Useful Preparation
Part 3 — Useful Phrases
47
Useful Preparation
Part 3 — Useful Phrases
48
Useful Preparation
Part 3 — Ways of Saying I don’t Know
49
Useful Preparation
Part 3 — Ways of Saying ‘I don’t Know’
50
