What 'Urban & rural' covers: Urban & rural is part of the theme Sharing the Planet. You need vocabulary to describe where people live — and to give your opinion about where it is better to live.
What you need words for
- city life and country life
- neighbourhoods and public spaces
- services
- problems like pollution, traffic and depopulation
Use the list as a glossary: 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).
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Have something to say: Examiners reward developed ideas, not just vocabulary. Take a position and back it up.
The common debates on urban & rural life
- Living in the city vs the countryside.
- The problem of rural depopulation.
- How to improve a neighbourhood.
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.
Saving green and old spaces
- A park threatened by a road or a shopping centre
- A historic building that may be demolished
- Housing or hotels on protected land
City problems
- Noise late at night and early in the morning
- Rising rents when an area is "renewed"
- Tall buildings: skyline or problem?
Rural life
- Empty villages and abandoned houses
- Mobile libraries and fast internet
- Moving to the country, and what you miss
- urban renewal / regeneration
- improving an old part of a city, often with new buildings
- gentrification
- when an area becomes expensive and original residents can no longer afford it
- depopulation
- a fall in the number of people living in an area
- green space
- an area of grass and trees in a town, such as a park
- to demolish
- to knock down a building completely
- planning permission
- official permission from a council to build something
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.
Between my village and the city (1 of 3): I live in a village of three hundred people, but my secondary school is in the city, forty minutes away. Every morning I get up at six to catch the only school bus, and I watch the fields turn into motorways and tall buildings.
Between my village and the city (2 of 3)
In the village everyone knows me, the air is clean and I can walk to the river after dinner. However, there is no cinema and no sports centre, and the last bus home leaves at half past five, so I can never stay for after-school clubs.
Between my village and the city (3 of 3)
My classmates in the city walk to school in ten minutes and meet up whenever they want. One day I would like to study in the city, but I hope to come back, because the village is part of who I am.
- to catch (a bus)
- to get on a bus before it leaves
- a motorway
- a wide, fast road between cities
- after-school clubs
- activities students do at school once lessons end
- to meet up
- to arrange to see friends
- part of who I am
- an important piece of your identity
IB-style task — one Paper 2 question
One question, step by step
- The question — "According to the text, why can't the writer stay for after-school clubs?"
- Find it in the text. Look for the words "after-school clubs": "the last bus home leaves at half past five, so I can never stay for after-school clubs."
- The answer — Because the last bus home leaves at half past five. 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 an interview with a student who leads a project to save a public space: ask about the place and include his ideas for improving it together.
Write 250–400 words.
Interview structure — 4 steps
1
Introduction
A title, then who the person is and why you talked to them. "Saving the old square. This week we spoke to Leo Brown…"
2
Question and answer 1
Ask about the experience; let the answer give detail. "Q: What's wrong with the square? A: The benches are broken…"
3
Question and answer 2
Ask for their opinion or advice. "Q: How can students help? A: First, come to our clean-up…"
4
Closing
Thank the person and add a final detail. "Thanks, Leo."
Introduction → Q&A → Q&A → Closing
Model: the 4 steps in ~100 words
The interview, step by step
- Saving the old square. This week we spoke to Leo Brown, Year 12, who leads a campaign to bring the old square by the school back to life.
- Q: Leo, what's wrong with the square? A: It's a corner of our area that we have all given up on. The benches are broken, there's litter everywhere, and after dark nobody dares to go near it.
- Q: How can students help? A: First, come to our clean-up morning. Second, sign our letter asking the council for new benches and lights. And we'd love volunteers to paint a mural.
- Thanks, Leo. The first meeting is this Saturday at 10 a.m. in the square.
Why it works: A strong interview does this for each of the three Paper 1 criteria:
A — Language /12
- Range of tenses: present perfect "we have all given up on", present, conditional "we'd love"
- Connectors: "after dark", "first/second", "and"
- Topic vocabulary: litter, benches, council
B — Message /12
- Task fully done: describes the place AND his ideas to improve it
- Answers give concrete detail
C — Conceptual /6
- Interview conventions: a title and an introduction of the person
- Question-and-answer layout
- A closing with thanks and the meeting date
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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.
How to answer — 3 steps
1
Read the questions first
Do this before the clip plays.
2
Listen for the key idea
Focus on the part each question points to.
3
Then answer
Use what the speaker actually says.
Questions → Key idea → Answer
Practise on the page: 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 (1 of 2): 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.
Transcript — Marta moves to the country (2 of 2)
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.