Part 2 cue cardCities and urban life

Describe a new place that has opened in your town

The last bullet asks for an effect, which means comparing before and after, so the present perfect ("it has brought", "since it opened") carries the grammar marks. Strong answers give one benefit and one cost rather than pure praise.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a new place that has opened in your town.

You should say:

what it is
where it is
what people do there
and explain how it has affected your town

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

what it isbouldering gym and café, old warehouse
where it isby the station, small town near Kraków
what people do thereclimbing, kids' classes, laptops, film nights
and explain how it has affected your townteenagers stay; street revived; rents up

Sample answers

233 words · about 2:02 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I'd like to talk about a bouldering gym, which is a kind of climbing centre without ropes, that opened in my hometown about two years ago. My town is small, about an hour from Kraków, and before this we didn't have many places for young people.

It is next to the railway station, inside an old warehouse made of red brick. For many years this building was empty and the windows were broken, so people was a bit afraid to walk there at night. Now they repaired everything and painted the inside with bright colours.

People do many things there. Mostly they climb, of course, and there are classes for kids after school. There is also a café on the upstairs, where people come with their laptops to work or study. And on Thursdays they show old films on a big wall, and it's free, so a lot of families come.

I think it affected my town in a good way. Before, teenagers had nothing to do except sitting in the shopping centre, but now many of them are climbing and making friends. Also the street near the station became more alive, there is a new bakery and a bike shop. But not everything is positive. The rent on that street increased very much, and an old tailor had to close his shop. Still, I think the town is more energy than before.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

people was a bit afraid should be people were a bit afraid
Now they repaired everything should be Now they've repaired everything
a café on the upstairs should be a café upstairs
I think it affected my town should be I think it has affected my town
except sitting in the shopping centre should be except sit in the shopping centre
became more alive should be has become livelier
increased very much should be has gone up a lot
more energy than before should be more energetic than before

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to speak at length and covers each bullet, with simple links ("Mostly", "But not everything is positive", "Still"). The attempt to balance good and bad is a strength, but ideas are added one at a time ("Also", "And on Thursdays") rather than linked, which keeps it at Band 6.
Vocabulary: Clear topic words ("bouldering gym", "warehouse", "red brick"), and the explanation of bouldering helps the listener. Some word forms and collocations are wrong: "more energy than before", "became more alive". Band 7 needs less common items used precisely.
Grammar: The card needs the present perfect to describe an effect, and it is mostly missing: "Now they repaired everything" and "I think it affected my town" both need it. Agreement also slips ("people was"). Errors in complex structures, without loss of meaning, are Band 6.

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

266 words · about 2:03 spoken at a Band 7 pace

Something that's opened recently in my hometown, which is a small town about an hour from Kraków, is a bouldering gym, a climbing centre where you climb low walls without ropes. It opened around two years ago, and it's made a bigger difference than anyone expected.

It's right beside the railway station, in an old red-brick warehouse that had been standing empty for as long as I can remember. The windows used to be smashed, and most people avoided that street after the dark. The new owners have restored the outside and painted the walls inside in vivid colours, which makes a striking contrast.

These days it's busy from morning till night. Obviously, people go there mainly to climb, and there are after-school classes for kids. Upstairs there's a café with big windows overlooking the platforms, where people work on their laptops, and on Thursday evenings they project old films onto one of the walls, which is free, so it gets packed with families.

As for the effect, I'd say it's been mostly positive. Before, teenagers had nowhere to go apart from the shopping centre, whereas now loads of them are climbing and have found a whole new group of friends. The street by the station has come back to life as well, with a bakery and a bike shop opening nearby. Having said that, rents on that street have gone up quite sharply, and an old tailor who'd been there for decades had to close down. So it's a bit of a mixed blessing, but on the whole the town feels livelier than it did.

The slips

after the dark should be after dark

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length and handles the before-and-after naturally ("These days", "As for the effect", "Having said that"). Not Band 8 because the answer ends on a stock summary ("a bit of a mixed blessing", "on the whole") rather than a point of its own.
Vocabulary: Some less common, well-collocated items: "a striking contrast", "come back to life", "gone up quite sharply", "a mixed blessing". Band 8 would show this range in the descriptive middle too, where words like "busy" and "vivid" do the work.
Grammar: Good range: past perfect continuous ("had been standing empty"), present perfect for effects ("has come back to life"), "used to" for the past, a contrast with "whereas". One slip, "after the dark", which needs no article. That is Band 7.

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

286 words · about 1:58 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The new place I'd pick is a bouldering gym, essentially a climbing centre with low walls and crash mats instead of ropes, which opened about two years ago in my hometown, a small town an hour or so from Kraków. It's quietly changed the place more than any of the grander projects the council has announced over the years.

It's tucked in beside the railway station, inside a red-brick warehouse that had been derelict for as long as anyone could remember. The windows were boarded up, the walls were covered in graffiti, and most people gave that street a wide berth after dark. The new owners kept the shell exactly as it was and filled the inside with walls studded with holds in every colour imaginable, so it's industrial on the outside and almost cartoonish within.

It's buzzing from opening time onwards. Climbing is the main event, naturally, and there are after-school sessions for kids, but there's also a mezzanine café overlooking the platforms that has turned into an unofficial office for freelancers. On Thursday nights they project old films onto the bare brick, free of charge, and you can barely find a spare beanbag.

The impact has been mostly positive, though not entirely. Teenagers who used to drift around the shopping centre now have somewhere to go and a reason to stay, and the street by the station has been revived: a bakery and a bike workshop have opened within a few doors. The flip side is that rents have shot up, and a tailor who'd worked there for forty years was priced out. I think that's the honest picture of regeneration: it brings a town back to life, but someone usually pays for it.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent throughout, and the last bullet is genuinely balanced ("mostly positive, though not entirely", "The flip side is") before ending on a general point. Short of Band 9 only because a few links, like "naturally", are conventional.
Vocabulary: Wide and precise: "derelict", "gave that street a wide berth", "studded with holds", "an unofficial office for freelancers", "priced out". Band 9 would sustain this flexibility in every stretch.
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: present perfect for change ("has been revived"), past perfect for the earlier state, "used to" for past habit, and a contrast inside one clause ("industrial on the outside and almost cartoonish within"). No errors; the gap to Band 9 is the odd safe structure.

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

Rounding-off questions

How do new developments change a place?: They usually bring jobs and people, which can wake up a quiet area. The risk is that they push up prices, so the people who made the neighbourhood what it was can no longer afford to live there.
Do towns change too quickly nowadays?: Some do. In my town things moved slowly for decades, so two years of change feels dramatic. I think change is fine as long as residents are actually asked before the bulldozers arrive.