Describe a quiet place – IELTS Speaking Part II & III

Since the Speaking test assesses your pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, it is critical to work on these areas. As a result, practise topics like Quiet Place from the IELTS Speaking practice tests which will help you improve your test-taking abilities and improve your speaking skills.

Sample Answer 1

Here is the sample for “Describe a quiet place you like” topic:

Who doesn’t love a quiet, tranquil place? I am attracted to such areas as they help me relax and refresh my mind and concentrate on my work in a better way. However, these days, it has become tougher to discover such places because of urbanization. Ofcourse, there are libraries. But they only allow people to work and not rest. Fortunately, I found such a place that is calm, lets you study/work and rest as well.

I live in a locality that is nearby the bus stand. So, it would be absurd to say that my house is quiet all the time. There is a consistent hustle and bustle of passengers and buses. Every day, my brother spends hours altogether in a nearby library to study. However, I don’t prefer going there as I would have to be sitting in one position the entire time. My father likes investing his money in property. So, a few years back, he bought a farmhouse that is located on the outskirts of the city – almost 20 kms away from my house. I absolutely love this place for its charm and quietness.

So, in pursuit of finding peace, I visit this farmhouse at least twice a month. I engage myself in varying activities there, such as studying, playing games, painting, and more. The place is adjacent to farms and a small jungle. So, every morning, I am greeted with birds chirping. I also get engrossed in planting and gardening there.

Sample Answer 2

Waking up to a daily nine to five job and dealing with all kinds of irksome issues everyday will surely drive you insane someday unless you have a healthy way to relieve stress and boredom. Fortunately, I have my own cure – a retreat to ABC, a mountainous area where I can’t see any tourists – which I have taken every once in a while, whenever life is giving me a hard time.

ABC is located roughly 200 km to the northeast of my city and about 1,500 m above sea level, which is well-known for its year-round cool weather. Because it is not a popular tourist attraction, it’s a favorite place for some locals looking for a tranquil place to get away from their tight schedules. Since it’s not very far from the city center, only half an hour if traveling by plane, I go there quite often, around 4 times per year. And every trip holds its own fascination depending on what activities I participate in. Normally, I would go trekking into the wild to burn up my energy and enjoy the feeling of sweat soaking my clothes and being physically exhausted. It makes me feel alive and rejuvenated again. Sometimes when I feel like pushing myself to the limit, extreme sports such as water sliding or cliff jumping are my favorites. Those kinds of entertainment require good health condition and adventurous spirit, hence, they’re not for everyone. I usually spend 3 days in ABC everytime I visit it and although it’s only a short time, I do feel some of the burdens I shoulder are swept away and am prepared to face whatever comes next.

Vocabulary for Cue Card

Here are the vocabularies for “Describe a quiet place you like” with examples:

• Nine to five job (phrase) a job with normal daytime hours
  Eg: Rose hates working in a nine to five job. So she opted for freelance work. 
• Irksome (a): annoying or irritating
  Eg: My boss is irksome. I’m tired of listening to his tantrums. 
• Drive someone insane/ crazy: to make you upset; to annoy or irritate someone
  Eg: The little girl drove her grandmother insane. 
• Every once in a while: sometimes, but not regularly
  Eg: Our family used to visit the church every once in a while. 
• Remote (a): far away from places where other people live
  Eg: The factories are usually set up in a remote area. 
• Tranquil (a): quiet and peaceful
  Eg: I was mesmerized by the tranquil atmosphere of Manali. 
• Fascination (n): a very strong attraction, that makes something very interesting
  Eg: I am fascinated by the beauty of Taj Mahal. 
• Rejuvenate (v): make (someone or something) look or feel younger, fresher, or more lively
  Eg: After the massage, I felt rejuvenated. 
• Exhausted (a): very tired
  Eg: Rose was exhausted after working for more than 8 hours. 
• Extreme sports (n): sports that are extremely exciting to do and often dangerous, for example skydiving and bungee jumping
  Eg: Paragliding is an extreme sport. 
• Adventurous (a): (of a person) willing to take risks and try new ideas; enjoying being in new, exciting situations
  Eg: I like adventurous rides. 
• Burden (n): a duty, responsibility, etc. that causes worry, difficulty or hard work
  Eg: Rose didn’t want to be a burden for anyone.

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Questions for Part 3

Are there many quiet places in your city?

I reckon there aren’t many tranquil places in our city unless you wander around the border to the countryside. I suppose any cosmopolitan city is as crowed and active as mine so it’s quite tricky to find a peaceful spot to escape just for a while. Nevertheless, if you don’t mind an hour riding to the edge of the city, you will be hypnotized by many endless paddy fields and colorful flying kites.

Why do people sometimes prefer to be alone?

I don’t think there is a simple explanation for why people sometimes seek solitude to enjoy life by themselves. It has happened to me a few times as well when I feel suffocated by a bustle and hustle of city life. You have to spend two-third of your day being surrounded by all kinds of people and work that you barely have time for yourself and things you love, which is physically and emotionally detrimental. Therefore, in order to balance their personal lives, people often try to minimize contacts with outside world to find their inner peace when possible.

Is there much noise around your home?

My house is far from the city center, so the neighborhood is quite peaceful and livable. I can hardly imagine myself living elsewhere, especially the urban center due to its noise pollution and terrible congestions during rush hours. Admittedly, there are certain advantages when living there: short-distance commute, fabulous restaurants, various entertainment facilities and so on, which is pretty tempting. However, I am a social butterfly and prefer a good book to any meeting, hence, I love my tranquil place now.

Does this noise affect you in any way?

Since my neighborhood is relatively restful, I am not often disturbed by noises. Yet, every once in a while when some neighbor throws a party or has their house refurbished, I tend to get distracted. I don’t work well under stress or any kind of distractions since it makes me unfocused. Even if it’s a bit loud, I don’t want to complain since most of the time they are incredible well-behaved. Hence, I choose to do my choirs or hang out with some friends instead to make my time useful.

How do you think noise in cities could be reduced?

It will take great effort to be able to reduce noise pollution in cities and everybody will need to join hand. Firstly, turn off your electronics when you’re out of home or office. It may sound unnecessary and trivial but imagine the whole neighborhood let the music play all night long, it would be a nightmare. Secondly, put on your earphones in public places. Nobody wants to know your music taste or to be disturbed when trying to focus on their reading. Besides, encourage your friends and family do the same. The more participants, the less noise population.

Vocabulary for Speaking Part 3

• Restful: that makes you feel relaxed and peaceful
  Eg: John woke up after a long, restful sleep, feeling refreshed. 
• Disturb: to interrupt someone when they are trying to work, sleep, etc.
  Eg: I was disturbed by the traffic. 
• Refurbish: to clean and decorate a room, building, etc. in order to make it more attractive, more useful, etc.
  Eg: The robbers would steal the cars, repaint, refurbish, and sell it to others. 
• Distract: to take somebody’s attention away from what they are trying to do
  Eg: The noise in the street distracted me from studying. 
• Distraction: a thing that takes your attention away from what you are doing or thinking about
  Eg: The children’s play area near my house is the chief source of distraction.
• Well-behaved: behaving in a way that other people think is polite or correct
  Eg: Rose is one of the obedient and most well-behaved students in my class. 
• Livable: (of life) worth living
  Eg: Happiness and sadness are a part and parcel that makes our life livable. 
• Noise pollution: harmful or annoying levels of noise, as from airplanes, industry, etc.
  Eg: The noise pollution in Delhi is extremely high and is harmful to Delhiites
• Congestion: the state of being crowded and full of traffic
  Eg: Increased congestion and traffic delays in the city gets worse during summer. 
• Commute: a regular journey of some distance to and from one’s place of work
  My morning commute to school takes around 45 minutes. 
• Tempting: something that is tempting is attractive, and makes people want to have it, do it, etc.
  Eg: Rose baked a tempting cake. 
• Social butterfly: a very sociable person who flits from one social event to another
  Eg: Meera is a social butterfly. She doesn’t miss out on any social events. 
• Seek: to look for
  Eg: The students sought the help of their teacher. 
• Solitude: the state of being alone, especially when you find this pleasant
  Eg: Emma loved the solitude during the weekends.
• Suffocate: feel or cause to feel trapped and oppressed
  Eg: When the power went off, I felt suffocated in the 1BHK apartment. 
• Bustle and hustle: busy and noisy activity
  Eg: I want to shift to a peaceful place as I am tired of the hustle and bustle of the city life. 
• Detrimental: harmful
  Eg: Taking medications without doctor’s advice can be detrimental. 
• Balance: keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall
  Eg: Rose lost her balance and fell from the stairs 
• Minimize: to reduce something, especially something bad, to the lowest possible level
  Eg: We have decided to minimize the use of electricity. 
• Border: the line that divides two countries or areas; the land near this line
  Eg: They reached the border of the city until after dark.
• Cosmopolitan: containing people of different types or from different countries, and influenced by their culture
  Eg: New York is a cosmopolitan city. 
• Tricky: difficult to do or deal with
  Eg: The panelists asked tricky questions to the students to analyze their reasoning skills. 
• Hypnotize: to interest somebody so much that they can think of nothing else
  Eg: My sister is hypnotized by her smartphone. 
• Paddy field: a field planted with rice growing in water
  Eg: The farmer owns a paddy and a millet field in the village. 
• Take effort to: to do something even though you do not want to or you find it difficult
  Eg: She took an effort to impress her husband by making his favorite dishes. 
• Turn off: to stop the flow of electricity, gas, water, etc. by moving a switch, button, etc.
  Eg: Whenever you leave the room, it’s better to turn off the lights. 
• Trivial: not important or serious; not worth considering
  Eg: John often gets angry on trivial things. 
• Put on: to wear
  Eg: The child put on his shoe to go to the market with his grandfather. 

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