Speaking · Speaking Interview
Public Transport Interview
Speaking · Interview
Instructions
This task measures your ability to respond to a range of general and academic questions by producing a coherent, clear spoken response with natural pace, expressive intonation, and varied, accurate language.
You will answer 4 interviewer questions. You will have 45 seconds to answer each question. Initial questions focus on factual information and personal experience, whereas later questions ask you to express and support your opinions.
- Allow microphone access when prompted.
- Use headphones and find a quiet space.
- You will hear the scenario, then each interviewer question. Recording starts automatically when the question audio ends.
- Take a deep breath — and let's go.
Public Transport Interview
Answer each interview question aloud
Scenario
You have agreed to take part in a research study about public transport and daily travel. You will have a short online interview with a researcher. The researcher will ask you some questions.
Question 1
Thanks for your time today. I'm studying how people travel around their city. How do you usually get to work or college?
Show a model answer
I take the train for most of the journey and then walk the last part. Door to door it is about forty minutes, which is fine as long as nothing goes wrong. I chose where I live partly because of that line. On days when the weather is good I sometimes cycle the whole way instead.
Question 2
What do you like about using public transport, and what frustrates you?
Show a model answer
What I like is that the journey is mine. I can read, answer messages, or just look out of the window instead of watching traffic. What frustrates me is unreliability, especially when there is no clear announcement about a delay. Crowding at peak times is uncomfortable too, but I mind waiting without information far more.
Question 3
How does the transport in your city compare with somewhere else you have visited?
Show a model answer
It compares reasonably well, though I have seen much better. In one city I visited the trains ran so often that nobody checked a timetable, which changed how people planned their day. Here you still have to think about it. On the other hand, our network reaches the outer suburbs quite well, and that is not true everywhere.
Question 4
If you could make one improvement to the system, what would it be, and who would benefit?
Show a model answer
I would make the late evening service more frequent. At the moment the gaps after nine o'clock are long enough that people take a taxi instead, which is expensive. The people who benefit most are shift workers and students, who often have the least choice about when they travel. It would also make the city feel safer at night.
What a high-scoring response does
- Answers the question that was asked in the first sentence
- Supports it with a reason and a concrete example
- Keeps talking fluently for most of the 45 seconds
- Sounds natural: clear pronunciation, few long pauses
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