Speaking Part 1Target band 7
Task
Let's talk about where you live.
- Do you live in a house or a flat?
- What do you like most about the place you live in?
- Is it a good place for young people to live?
- Would you like to move somewhere else in the future?
Task
Part 1 questions are short and personal. Answer in two or three sentences — a single word is too little, but a ninety-second speech is too much and the examiner will cut you off.
Model answer(186 words)
Do you live in a house or a flat?
I live in a flat — it's on the fourth floor of a fairly old building near the city centre. It's not big, but it suits me because everything I need is within walking distance.
What do you like most about the place you live in?
Probably the light. The windows face south, so even in winter the main room gets sun for most of the afternoon, which makes a surprising difference to how I feel when I'm studying.
Is it a good place for young people to live?
On the whole, yes. There are plenty of cafés and a couple of universities nearby, so there's always something going on. The one drawback is the rent, which has risen sharply over the last few years and pushes a lot of students further out.
Would you like to move somewhere else in the future?
Eventually, yes. I'd like somewhere a bit quieter with more green space, though I'd want to stay close enough to the city that I could still get in easily. I'm in no hurry, though.
Why this answer scores well
Length: each answer is two to four sentences. That is the Part 1 target — long enough to show range, short enough that the examiner can get through the question set.
Every answer extends beyond the direct reply. "I live in a flat" is followed by where and why; "Probably the light" is followed by the reason it matters. This is the single habit that separates Band 7 from Band 5 in Part 1, and it costs one extra sentence.
Lexical Resource: natural, unshowy phrases — "within walking distance", "on the whole", "the one drawback", "in no hurry". Note that none of these are difficult words. Part 1 does not reward vocabulary display; it rewards fluency and precision.
Grammatical Range: present simple for habits, present perfect for the rent ("has risen sharply"), and a conditional in the last answer ("I'd want to stay close enough that I could"). The mix appears naturally because the questions invite different time frames.
Note the hedging — "probably", "on the whole", "eventually". Hedged answers sound more like real speech than absolute ones, and they give you thinking time without silence.
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