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

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
A 60-second plan
- where it isCoyoacán market, south Mexico City
- what is sold therefruit, chillies, mole, piñatas, tostadas
- how often you goalternate Sundays with Grandma Lupe
- and explain why you enjoy going therestallholders tease her; haggling game
Sample answers
Band 6 sample answer
229 words · about 1:59 spoken at a Band 6 pace
The market I like is the Coyoacán market, which is in the south of Mexico City. It's a covered market, quite old, near the main square of Coyoacán, so it's always full of people, especially on the weekend.
They sell almost everything there. There are many fruit and vegetable stalls, with mangoes, papayas and like twenty types of chillies. You can also buy mole paste, which is a sauce made by chocolate and spices, and there are some stalls with toys and colourful piñatas for children's parties. But the most famous thing is the tostadas, crispy tortillas with chicken, cream and avocado on top.
I go there about two Sundays a month with my grandmother Lupe. She has been going to this market since she is a young girl, so she knows where are the best things. My job is carry the bags, and at the end she always buy me a tostada.
I enjoy going there because it's very different to the supermarket. In the supermarket nobody talks to you, but in the market the sellers know my grandmother by her name and they make jokes with her. She always tries to make the price lower, even for a few pesos, and they pretend to be angry. For me it's not only shopping, it's a special time with her and it gives me a feeling of my culture.
The mistakes that keep it at Band 6
- a sauce made by chocolate should be a sauce made with chocolate
- since she is a young girl should be since she was a young girl
- she knows where are the best things should be she knows where the best things are
- My job is carry the bags should be My job is to carry the bags
- she always buy me a tostada should be she always buys me a tostada
- know my grandmother by her name should be know my grandmother by name
- make the price lower should be get the price down
- gives me a feeling of my culture should be makes me feel connected to my culture
Why this is Band 6, not Band 7
- Fluency and coherence
- Speaks at length and answers every bullet, with simple links ("But the most famous thing", "For me"). It stays at Band 6 because the last part moves from point to point without connecting them, and "it's not only shopping" closes on a familiar line.
- Vocabulary
- Has useful topic words ("stalls", "crispy tortillas", "piñatas") and explains local items clearly. But "make the price lower" and "a feeling of my culture" are awkward where haggling or heritage would fit. Band 7 needs more precise, less common words.
- Grammar
- A mix of simple and complex sentences, but errors appear in the harder structures: "since she is a young girl" mixes tenses, "she knows where are the best things" uses question order, and "My job is carry the bags" drops the infinitive marker. That is Band 6.
Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.
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.
Band 8 sample answer
280 words · about 1:56 spoken at a Band 8 pace
The market I'd happily spend every Sunday in is the one in Coyoacán, an old neighbourhood in the south of Mexico City. It's a sprawling covered market a couple of blocks from the main square, and at weekends it's teeming with families, tourists and stray dogs who know exactly where the butchers are.
You'd struggle to name something it doesn't sell. There are aisles of fruit stalls stacked with mangoes and papayas, a chilli stall with at least twenty kinds of dried pepper hanging in bunches, and vendors selling mole paste by the kilo, that dark, rich sauce of chocolate and spices my grandmother refuses to make from scratch any more. Further in, the place turns into a riot of colour, with toys and enormous papier-mâché piñatas dangling from the ceiling. But the real draw is the tostadas: crisp fried tortillas heaped with chicken, cream and avocado.
I go roughly every other Sunday with my grandmother, Lupe. She's been doing her shopping there since she was about six, so she knows which stall has the sweetest mangoes and which one quietly overcharges. I'm officially there to carry the bags, and I'm paid in tostadas.
What I love about it is how human it all is. In a supermarket you can do a whole shop without exchanging a word, whereas there half the stallholders call my grandmother by her first name and tease her about her haggling. She'll argue over five pesos as a matter of principle, they'll act scandalised, and everyone walks away grinning. It's a performance they've been perfecting for decades, and being part of it makes me feel rooted in a way that no loyalty card ever could.
Why this is Band 8, not Band 9
- Fluency and coherence
- Effortless and coherent: each bullet has a vivid picture, and the last one turns the haggling into an idea ("a performance they've been perfecting for decades"). Short of Band 9 only because "What I love about it" is a fairly predictable way into the final bullet.
- Vocabulary
- Wide and idiomatic: "teeming with", "a riot of colour", "the real draw", "as a matter of principle", "act scandalised", "feel rooted". Band 9 would sustain this precision in the plainer stretches too.
- Grammar
- Flexible and accurate: present perfect continuous ("She's been doing her shopping there"), embedded questions ("which stall has the sweetest mangoes"), and will for typical behaviour ("She'll argue over five pesos"). No errors; the gap to Band 9 is the occasional familiar structure.
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




