Part 3 opinions: technology in daily life
You can give a Part 3 opinion and back it up in four to six sentences that sound like conversation.
Part 3 follows straight after your Part 2 talk. For four to five minutes, the examiner asks wider questions on the same topic, about people and society in general.
Most of these questions ask what you think. No opinion is right or wrong. The marks go to the English you use to give your view and explain it, so an answer that states a view and then backs it up gives the examiner plenty to mark.
Warm-up
Which part of the test?
Part 1 asks about you. Part 3 asks about people in general. Which of these would you hear in Part 3?
Which is a Part 3 question?
How it works
We've been talking about this topic, and I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general questions related to it.
Let's talk about technology in daily life.
- Do you think people rely too much on their phones these days?
- How has technology changed the way families spend time together?
- Should older people be encouraged to learn new digital skills?
- Will people still need to meet face to face at work in the future?
Questions like these would come after a Part 2 talk about a device or app you use. After an answer, the examiner may ask why you think so.
Four moves in an answer
- 1Give your view
Answer the question in your first sentence: Yes, I think most of us do, It depends on the family, Not really.
- 2Give a reason
Say why, in a sentence or two: The main reason is that..., mostly because....
- 3Give an example
Add one example you can picture: something you have seen, a person you know, a place. Take my uncle, for instance...
- 4Show the other side
One sentence on the other side, or a limit: Having said that..., That's less true of.... It makes the view sound thought through, and it gives you a longer, more complex sentence.
Phrases for each move
I'd say... / Personally, I think... / Up to a point. / To some extent, yes.
The main reason is that... / mostly because... / That's partly because...
Take..., for instance. / I've noticed that... / A good example is...
Having said that... / On the other hand... / That's less true of...
A view, and a view that is explained
Should young children have their own phones? No, I don't think so. Phones are bad for children.
Should young children have their own phones? Not before eleven or twelve, I'd say. Younger children can't really judge what they see online, or who they're talking to. A friend's son got a phone at eight, and within a month he was chatting to strangers in games. Having said that, a basic phone just for calls makes sense if a child walks to school alone.
Watch me do one
The question: How has technology changed the way families spend time together? Before I speak, I decide my view in a few words: more contact, less attention.
The view goes first. In some ways it's brought families closer, and in other ways it's pushed them apart.
Then the reason for closer. Families who live in different countries can see each other every evening on video calls.
Then an example for apart, something I can picture. But you see families in restaurants where everyone's looking at a different screen.
Last, a limit, and then I stop. I think it depends on whether a family agrees on a few rules, like no phones at dinner. That makes four sentences, about half a minute.
A model answer
Yes, I'd say most of us do, and I include myself in that. Phones have taken over jobs we used to do in our heads, like remembering numbers or finding our way around a city. I noticed it last year when my battery died on a trip, and I honestly couldn't get back to my hotel without asking three different people. Having said that, I'm not sure it's all bad. If the phone remembers the small things, maybe we've got more room in our heads for the things that matter.
The first sentence answers the question, with a personal touch: I include myself in that. Then comes a reason, a short story from the speaker's own life in the past tense, and a limit introduced by Having said that. Taken over and more room in our heads sound natural in speech.
Practice with Elita6 questions
First, four questions on the four moves. Then you record two answers, and I'll tell you which moves I heard.
The first sentence
The examiner asks: Is technology making people lazier? Choose the best way to start your answer.
Which opening is best?
Which move?
This sentence comes from the middle of a Part 3 answer. Which of the four moves is it?
Having said that, video calls have made it much easier for families to stay close when they live in different countries.
Phrases and jobs
Match each phrase to the job it does in an answer.
A slip in grammar
These four sentences make up one answer. One has a grammar mistake. Choose it.
Which sentence contains the error?
Record: older people and technology
Answer as you would in Part 3: a view, a reason, an example, and the other side.
Should older people be encouraged to learn new digital skills?
Record your answer (60s maximum)
0:00 / 1:00
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Record: meeting at work
The same four moves. Try a different phrase for the other side this time.
Will people still need to meet face to face at work in the future?
Record your answer (60s maximum)
0:00 / 1:00
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Words to keep
Start doing a job that someone or something else did before. Apps have taken over many jobs that bank staff used to do.
Partly true, but only partly. Technology saves us time, up to a point.
Words that add a point limiting what you have just said. Having said that, some older people learn new apps very quickly.
Get from place to place without getting lost. Most visitors use a map app to find their way around the city.
Make people less close to each other. Phones at the dinner table can push a family apart.
Keep a warm relationship with someone. Video calls help families stay close across borders.
Before you go
Give your view in your first sentence, even if it is It depends.
Back it up with a reason and one example you can picture.
Add a limit or the other side with a phrase such as having said that.
Stop after four to six sentences. Part 3 is a conversation, and the next question belongs to the examiner.
Next: In the next lesson you write a discussion essay on whether technology has made people less sociable.