IELTS Speaking Vocabulary about the Environment and Pollution - a podcast by Ben Worthington

You may be asked questions about the Environment and Pollution. Read the following IELTS style questions and answers below and pay attention to the words or phrases in bold. Use the ‘Definitions’ section at the bottom of the page to check any meanings you are unfamiliar with.

Make a note of any new vocabulary and the best way to learn it is to use it!

IELTS Speaking Part 1 – STYLE QUESTIONS.

Examiner: Has there been an increase in pollution where you live?

Georgio: Yes, there has been a dramatic increase in recent years as many of the most productive factories are built on the outskirts of large towns and some are even in quite central areas so very near where people live. Air pollution, as a result of factory emissions and toxic fumes has become a real problem.

Examiner: How has this pollution had an impact on daily life, do you think?

Helena: I think there are two key areas which have been most affected – firstly, our health, as air pollution is terrible in the city centre because too many workers commute and rely heavily on their cars rather than travelling by public transport and there are many traffic jams. Secondly, on the quality of crops and in rural areas, where the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in farming has contributed to a dangerous amount of pollutants in foods.

Examiner: Are residents in your town good at recycling? 

Sara: Sadly, in my opinion, not nearly good enough. I know in many European countries, the mantra of reuse and recycle plastics and cardboards has become automatic but here there is still a culture of throwing everything away and most domestic as well as industrial waste is incinerated. Obviously, this policy just contributes to worsening air pollution and to plastic being thrown into the sea.

IELTS Speaking Part 2 – STYLE QUESTIONS.

Describe a time when you have caused pollution,

You should say:



* When this was

* What it was

* Where it was



And the impact which you think this might have caused.

Zoe: I would like to describe a moment when I was on holiday a few years ago in a really beautiful part of India on holiday with a group of friends. We had been travelling around India for a month and I think I had adjusted to seeing a huge amount of waste on the streets. Not surprisingly, there were very limited facilities for recycling – this is not really part of the culture and it would require a huge investment to put in place the equipment and education programme needed.

We were travelling on a train and had been sleeping as it was a very long journey and early the next morning when we pulled into the station, everyone leaned out of the window and purchased bottles of water, cups of tea and hot food from excited street sellers on the platforms. I was happy to join in with the locals and without even thinking drank my water then threw the bottle back out of the window which is something I would never have done back home. It wasn’t until later that I understood the consequences of this action.

After winding through the countryside for hours, the train finally reached the coast. I was stunned – rather than a beautiful, clear blue stretch of ocean, all I could see was plastic waste – bottles, bags, food packaging as well as larger items of industrial items were just floating, interspersed with a few seabirds who looked utterly confused and were not really able to swim.

I could clearly see the impact of my careless action on the train and the problem of plastics in the ocean became horribly evident. With no other way of disposing of rubbish, the temptation, indeed, the default had become to simply throw bottles and bags on the ground or into the sea,

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