What 'Urban & rural' covers: Urban & rural is part of the theme Sharing the Planet. You need vocabulary to describe city life and country life, neighbourhoods, public spaces, services, and problems like pollution, traffic and depopulation — and to give your opinion about where it is better to live.
The words below are common English B vocabulary. Treat the list as a glossary: learn each term with its meaning and a synonym, then reuse them in the reading and writing sections.
- urban
- to do with towns and cities (opposite: rural)
- rural
- to do with the countryside and villages
- neighbourhood
- the small area around your home where people live
- outskirts / suburbs
- the areas around the edge of a city
- public space
- a place anyone can use — a park, a square, a market
- green space
- an area of grass, trees and plants in a built-up area
- to commute
- to travel regularly between home and work or school
- traffic jam
- a long line of vehicles that can barely move
- pollution
- harmful dirt or chemicals in the air, water or land
- facilities / services
- useful things a place provides: shops, a doctor, transport
- to lack services
- to have too few shops, doctors or buses (a common rural problem)
- depopulation
- the loss of inhabitants when people move away from a village or area
- to move (house) / relocate
- to go and live somewhere new
- to do up / regenerate
- to repair and improve a run-down place
| Useful expression | What it means |
|---|---|
| I live in a quiet neighbourhood. | My local area is calm and peaceful. |
| The village lacks basic services. | There aren't enough shops, doctors or buses. |
| There's too much traffic and pollution. | The roads are jammed and the air is dirty. |
| I'd rather live in the countryside. | I prefer rural life to city life. |
| The neighbours got organised to do up the park. | Local people worked together to repair it. |
Why this matters: This vocabulary turns up in every skill — a reading text on city vs country life, a listening interview about moving house, a Paper 1 blog about your neighbourhood, or your oral. Reusing precise topic words is how you score Criterion A (Language).
Have something to say: Examiners reward developed ideas, not just vocabulary. Around urban & rural life, the common debates are: living in the city vs the countryside, the problem of rural depopulation, and how to improve a neighbourhood. Take a position and back it up.
Opinion phrases (use these to introduce a view)
- In my opinion… / From my point of view… — to introduce what you think
- It seems to me that… / I believe that… — a slightly softer way to give a view
- The most important thing is… — to highlight your main point
- On the one hand… on the other hand… — to weigh up two sides
- I (completely) agree that… / I'm not convinced that… — to react to an idea
City life
- More jobs, shops, transport and things to do.
- Easy access to doctors, schools and culture.
- But: traffic jams, pollution and a hectic pace.
Country life
- Peace and quiet, clean air and contact with nature.
- People know each other; a strong sense of community.
- But: villages often lack services and lose people.
Link your ideas: Connectors lift your answer from a list into an argument: moreover (to add), however (to contrast), therefore (to conclude), although (to concede). Use at least two or three in any written answer.
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Read like Paper 2: Here is a short blog post — the kind of text Paper 2 (Reading) gives you. Read it once just for the general idea; don't worry about every word. Then we'll work through one exam question together.
How my neighbours saved our park: Near my house there was an old, abandoned park. Almost nobody went there: it was full of rubbish, the benches were broken and at night it felt a little scary.
Last summer, a group of neighbours decided to bring it back to life. We cleared away the rubbish, planted trees and painted a huge mural on the wall. The town council put in new benches and some lights. Now the park is always full of people: children play, older people chat in the sun and at the weekend there is a small market. I have realised that a neighbourhood changes when its residents get organised. I am very proud of my park.
- abandoned
- left empty and unused; neglected
- to bring back to life
- to make a tired or dead place lively again
- mural
- a large picture painted directly on a wall
- town council
- the local authority that runs a town or city
- to get organised
- to come together and plan to do something
IB-style task — one Paper 2 question
One question, step by step
- The question — "According to the text, what did the town council provide for the park?"
- Find it in the text. Look for the words "town council": "The town council put in new benches and some lights."
- The answer — New benches and some lights. The words are right there in the text, so no outside knowledge is needed.
Reading technique: For an "according to the text" question, find the exact line that proves your answer — don't rely on memory or general knowledge.
The task: Your school is running a campaign to improve the neighbourhood. Write a blog post for other students: describe a public space near you and give advice on how everyone could improve it together.
Use an informal, friendly register. Write 250–400 words.
Blog structure — 5 steps
1
Catchy title
A title, often a question. "Is your neighbourhood falling asleep?"
2
Greeting + topic
Greet the reader and say what the post is about. "Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about…"
3
Describe the place
Say what the space is like now (and how it used to be). "Right now it's a sad place: broken benches, litter…"
4
Two or three tips
Give advice using imperatives. "Organise a clean-up", "ask the council for benches", "plant trees".
5
Motivating close
Finish with an encouraging line. "Come to our first meeting — together we can do it!"
Title → Greeting → The place → Tips → Close
Model: the 5 steps in action
The blog post, step by step
- Is your neighbourhood falling asleep? Let's wake it up!
- Hi everyone! I'm Leo, and today I want to talk about a corner of our area that we have all given up on: the old square by the school.
- Right now it's a sad place. The benches are broken, there's litter everywhere and after dark nobody dares to go near it. Honestly, it used to be the heart of the neighbourhood.
- So here are three things we can do together. First, organise a clean-up morning. Second, ask the town council for new benches and lights. And third, plant a few trees and paint a mural.
- The most important thing, though, is to start. A neighbourhood only changes when its residents get organised. Come to our first meeting this Saturday — together we can do it!
Why it scores: This answer hits all three Paper 1 criteria — here's what earns each one:
A — Language /12
- Range of tenses: past "it used to be", imperatives "organise", "ask", "plant"
- Connectors: "so", "though", "first/second/third"
- Topic vocabulary, used accurately
B — Message /12
- Task fully done: describes a public space AND gives advice
- Ideas developed with concrete examples
C — Conceptual /6
- Blog conventions: a catchy title
- Direct address: "Hi everyone", "together we can do it"
- A persuasive, personal tone
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How listening is tested: Paper 2 also tests listening: you hear short clips, each played twice, and you never see the words. Read the questions first, listen for the key idea, then answer.
Here we'll use a transcript so you can practise the technique on the page. Read the questions, then find the answer in the speaker's words.
Transcript — Marta moves to the country: Hi, I'm Marta. Three years ago I moved from the city to a small village in the mountains. I was tired of the noise, the traffic jams and the pollution. Now I live with much more peace and quiet: I work from home over the internet and at the weekend I walk in the countryside. What I like most is that all the neighbours know and help each other. The hardest thing, though, is that the village lacks services — the nearest doctor is thirty kilometres away and there's no public transport, so I depend on the car for everything.
IB-style task — two listening questions
Two questions, step by step
- Q1 — Why did Marta leave the city? Listen just after "I was tired of": "the noise, the traffic jams and the pollution." Any two of those is your answer.
- Q2 — What does she find hardest about the village? She says it near the end: "the village lacks services — the nearest doctor is thirty kilometres away and there's no public transport."
Listening technique: Read the questions before the clip plays. Each question usually points to one short part of the recording — listen for the words around it, not the whole thing.