Part 2 cue cardShopping and consumerism

    Describe a market you like to visit

    "What is sold there" tempts candidates into a shopping list of nouns. Group what's sold by stall or by sense, pick one thing you always buy, and give the last bullet a reason beyond "it's cheap": the people, a habit, a ritual.

    • 1 minute to prepare
    • Up to 2 minutes
    • Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
    • Updated 20 October 2026
    A fruit and vegetable market stall under striped awnings before opening, with crates of produce

    The cue card

    Describe a market you like to visit.

    You should say:

    • where it is
    • what is sold there
    • how often you go
    • and explain why you enjoy going there

    Rehearse the long turn

    1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

    Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

    A 60-second plan

    1. where it isCoyoacán market, south Mexico City
    2. what is sold therefruit, chillies, mole, piñatas, tostadas
    3. how often you goalternate Sundays with Grandma Lupe
    4. and explain why you enjoy going therestallholders tease her; haggling game

    Sample answers

    Band 7 sample answer

    254 words · about 1:57 spoken at a Band 7 pace

    I'd like to talk about the market in Coyoacán, which is a neighbourhood in the south of Mexico City. It's an old covered market just a couple of streets from the main square, and at weekends it's absolutely packed with families and tourists.

    It sells pretty much everything you can think of. There are rows of fruit stalls piled high with mangoes and papayas, and one stall that has at least twenty varieties of dried chillies. You can buy mole paste by the kilo, which is a thick sauce made with chocolate, chilli and spices, and further in there are stalls full of toys and enormous, brightly coloured piñatas. But what it's really famous for is tostadas, crispy fried tortillas topped with chicken, cream and avocado.

    I go a couple of Sundays a month with my grandmother, Lupe. She's been shopping there since she was a little girl, so she knows exactly which stall has the best of everything. My role is basically to carry the bags, and my reward is a tostada at the end.

    What I enjoy most is that it's so personal. In a supermarket nobody even looks at you, whereas half the stallholders greet my grandmother by name and tease her. She always haggles, even over a few pesos, and they always pretend to be outraged, but it's obviously a game they all enjoy. So for me it's less about the shopping and more about spending time with her, and feeling part of something that's been going on for generations.

    The slips

    • by the kilo, which is a thick sauce should be mole paste, a thick sauce of chocolate, chilli and spices, by the kilo
    Why this is Band 7, not Band 8
    Fluency and coherence
    Speaks at length and signposts clearly ("But what it's really famous for", "What I enjoy most"). Not Band 8 because the final idea arrives through a slightly formulaic contrast ("less about the shopping and more about") rather than growing out of the haggling story.
    Vocabulary
    Some less common, natural items: "piled high with", "haggles", "pretend to be outraged", "stallholders". Band 8 would sustain this range and use more idiomatic language for the feelings at the end.
    Grammar
    Frequent error-free complex sentences, including present perfect continuous ("She's been shopping there") and a contrast with "whereas". One structural slip: "by the kilo, which is a thick sauce" attaches the relative clause to the wrong noun. That is Band 7.

    Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

    Rounding-off questions

    Do people prefer markets or supermarkets?
    For a big weekly shop, most people choose supermarkets because they're quicker and you can pay by card. But for fresh produce, and anything with a bit of personality, plenty of people still trust the market.
    How has shopping changed in your country?
    Online shopping has exploded in the last few years, especially for clothes and electronics. Even my grandmother orders some things on her phone now, though she'd never buy fruit she hasn't squeezed herself.

    Phrases worth reusing

    • pretty much everything

      almost everything

    • piled high with

      with a large amount stacked on top

    • teeming with

      full of moving people or animals

    • a riot of colour

      a place full of bright, mixed colours

    • the real draw

      the main thing that attracts people

    • as a matter of principle

      because you believe it's right, not for the gain

    • feel rooted

      feel connected to a place and its traditions

    If the obvious answer doesn't fit

    • A night market or weekend food market you visit with friends
    • A flea market or second-hand stalls you browsed for bargains
    • A fish or flower market you visited once on holiday

    Where this leads