Nature and wildlife: IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions & answers

Opening question

Warm-up: close to home

1. Cause and effect

   Why do you think spending time in nature is good for people?

   2
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   Sample answerBand 8Main causeAnother causeEffect

   1. Main cause→
   2. Another cause→
   3. Effect

   The most obvious reason is that it gives our minds a break from the constant noise and stimulation of modern life, and there's growing evidence that even a short walk among trees lowers stress. On top of that, being outdoors usually means being active, whether it's hiking, gardening or simply wandering along a beach, so the physical benefits come almost without trying. People tend to come back calmer, sleep better and feel more able to cope, which is why some doctors have even started recommending time in green spaces alongside more conventional treatment.

   gives our minds a break

   lets us rest mentally for a while

   there's growing evidence that

   more and more research suggests that

   almost without trying

   with hardly any deliberate effort

   93 words · about 40 seconds spoken

Development: society

1. Compare

   How has people's relationship with the natural world changed over time?

   3
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   Sample answerBand 8ThenNowWhy it changed

   1. Then→
   2. Now→
   3. Why it changed

   In the past, most people's lives depended directly on nature, so they understood the seasons, the weather and the land in a deeply practical way, even if they also feared it. Today the majority of us are much more detached from it, and we tend to treat nature as scenery, somewhere to go at the weekend or something to photograph, rather than the thing that feeds us. The shift is largely down to urbanisation and industrial farming, which have put a great deal of distance between people and the source of their food, although, ironically, that distance may be what has made us more sentimental about protecting it.

   much more detached from

   less connected to or involved with

   largely down to

   mainly caused by

   put a great deal of distance between

   separated two things a lot

   108 words · about 47 seconds spoken

2. Opinion

   Do you think enough is being done to protect wild animals?

   4
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   Frankly, no, although I'd acknowledge that a lot more is being done than a few decades ago. Most protection still focuses on a handful of famous species like tigers and pandas, while the less glamorous creatures, insects and amphibians for instance, are disappearing with hardly anyone noticing. Where I live, wetlands that used to be full of frogs and birds have been drained for housing, and there was barely any public debate about it. To be fair, there are real success stories, such as certain whale populations recovering after hunting was banned, which shows that determined action can turn things around.

   the less glamorous creatures

   animals that attract little public attention

   with hardly anyone noticing

   while almost nobody pays attention

   turn things around

   change a bad situation into a good one

   101 words · about 44 seconds spoken

3. Opinion

   Should zoos exist, in your opinion?

   5
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   Sample answerBand 8My viewWhyExampleBut

   1. My view→
   2. Why→
   3. Example→
   4. But

   On the whole, I'm in favour of them, provided they're run for conservation rather than entertainment. Good zoos can breed endangered animals and reintroduce them into the wild, and they give countless children their first real encounter with creatures they'd otherwise only see on a screen. A few species, such as one kind of desert antelope, exist today largely because captive breeding kept them going after they'd been wiped out in the wild. That said, I find it hard to justify keeping large, intelligent animals like elephants in small enclosures, where they often show obvious signs of distress, so standards need to be far stricter.

   On the whole

   generally, when everything is considered

   first real encounter with

   first actual experience of meeting something

   wiped out in the wild

   made extinct in their natural habitat

   105 words · about 46 seconds spoken

Depth: the abstract and the future

1. Pros and cons

   What are the consequences when a species disappears?

   6
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   Occasionally the impact seems surprisingly limited, at least on the surface, because another species steps into the gap and the ecosystem carries on much as before. Far more often, though, the loss sets off a chain reaction, since every species is tied to others as food, predator or pollinator, so when bees decline, for example, crops and wild plants that rely on them suffer too. Taking everything into account, we should probably assume the worst, because by the time the knock-on effects become obvious, it's usually far too late to undo them, and of course an extinction is permanent.

   steps into the gap

   takes the place of something missing

   sets off a chain reaction

   starts a series of connected events

   the knock-on effects

   indirect results that follow from something

   99 words · about 43 seconds spoken

2. The future

   How might people's access to nature change as cities grow?

   7
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   Sample answerBand 8PredictionBecauseBut

   1. Prediction→
   2. Because→
   3. But

   My guess is that access will become more unequal, with wealthier neighbourhoods keeping their parks and tree-lined streets while denser, poorer districts lose what little green space they have. As land in cities gets more valuable, every open space comes under pressure to be built on, and it's usually the areas with the least political influence that lose out. On a more hopeful note, many city planners now recognise the value of greenery, so we may see more rooftop gardens, pocket parks and green corridors that bring a bit of nature back into the urban fabric.

   comes under pressure to

   is pushed or tempted to do something

   lose out

   end up at a disadvantage

   On a more hopeful note

   to mention something more positive

   96 words · about 42 seconds spoken

3. What if

   If children grew up with no access to green spaces, how would it affect them?

   8
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   Sample answerBand 8If soResultWider effect

   1. If so→
   2. Result→
   3. Wider effect

   If a child never had the chance to climb a tree or play in a park, I'd expect their health to suffer first, since they'd have fewer opportunities for the kind of energetic, unstructured play that keeps young bodies fit. They'd also miss out on the calming effect of being outdoors, and we might well see more anxiety and shorter attention spans as a result. In the long run, a generation that had never experienced nature would probably care much less about protecting it, which could be disastrous, because you rarely fight to save something you've never known.

   miss out on

   not get the benefit of

   shorter attention spans

   less ability to concentrate for long

   In the long run

   over a long period of time

   98 words · about 43 seconds spoken

4. Pros and cons

   Is it possible to balance human development with protecting nature?

   9
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   Sample answerBand 8UpsideDownsideOn balance

   1. Upside→
   2. Downside→
   3. On balance

   There are encouraging signs that it can be done, for instance when new roads include tunnels for wildlife or when housing developments are required to replace any trees they cut down. The difficulty is that the pressure to build homes, farms and factories is relentless, and when short-term economic gain is weighed against a forest or a wetland, nature tends to lose. So a balance is achievable, I believe, but only if protection is written into law from the outset rather than left to the goodwill of developers, because good intentions rarely survive a tight budget.

   encouraging signs

   evidence suggesting that things can improve

   written into law

   made a legal requirement

   from the outset

   from the very beginning

   96 words · about 42 seconds spoken