1

Government vocabulary and ideas.....................................................2

Immigration vocabulary and ideas....................................................4

Climate change vocabulary and ideas...............................................7

Employment vocabulary and exercises...........................................11

Art vocabulary and exercises..............................................................15

Advertising vocabulary and exercises.............................................18

Family vocabulary and exercises......................................................20

Globalization vocabulary and exercises.........................................23

University education vocabulary.............................................................27

10 Crime vocabulary and exercises........................................................30

11

Vocabulary and ideas to discuss the environment......................32

12 Home town................................................................................................38

Government vocabulary and ideas

Very often you need to be able to discuss social issues and what may need to be done
about them. In this case it helps to have plenty of government vocabulary to describe what
governments do or dont do!

Forms of government
central government: this is the national government of a country
local government: this is the regional form of government that typically takes care of
more local issues
the authorities: this is a general term for all forms of government note that we use it in
the plural
regulatory bodies: these are bodies which are sometimes set up by the government and
sometimes self-regulatory and typically they control one specific area such as advertising.
Legislation is not always the answer.
enforcement agencies: these are bodies that have direct control of how laws are being
obeyed. This is something central government does not always do itself. An example of an
enforcement agency is the body that monitors pollution in rivers.
international organisations: dont forget these either. many problems need global
solutions and demand international cooperation from bodies like the UN
NGOs: these
are
the
opposite
of
governments!
NGO
stands
for Non Governmental Organisation. Almost always their work is charitable and very often in
aid and development. You are most likely to refer to them when countries help each other.
quangos: if you must know these are quasi autonomous non governmental organisations.
They are normally set up by central government to look after one issue.

What central governments do

This does depend slightly what country you live in different countries have different
legal and political systems. Something that all countries have though is a central government
sometimes a parliament, sometimes a senate and sometimes a congress and for some lucky
countries all three! Here is what they tend to do
pass/introduce legislation: The time has come when the government needs to introduce
new legislation to protect the privacy of citizens.
bring in/enact laws: One possible solution is for the government to bring in laws that
prohibit the sale of tobacco to anyone under 21.
adopt policies: One possibility is for the government to adopt policies that encourage
mothers to return to work.
take measures/action: The situation is now so severe that the government must take
measures to police the internet.
raise (and lower) taxes: One way to limit air pollution from aircraft would be for
the government to raise airport tax.
have/provide a budget/funding: It is the responsibility of the government to provide
more funding for research into renewable energy.
ban/prohibit: Most people would agree that there should be a ban on the sale of
automatic weapons.

People within a government

departments: The Health Department should ensure that doctors are not forced to work
a 60-hour week.
political parties; This is one issue where all political parties should work together to
provide a solution.
politicians: If enough people protested then politicians would have to listen and take
action.

What local governments do

This is one area that will vary greatly from country to country. Below you will find some
examples of the type of issues that local governments sometimes are responsible for and some of
their powers:
impose fines: Local councils should ensure that householders are fined if they they do
not recycle their waste properly.
provide resources/services: Local government needs to provide adequate resources for
schools so that they can cope with the influx of children who speak English as a second
language.
maintain: If local governments maintained the roads in a better condition, then there
would be fewer problems with traffic congestion.
fund: Councils could fund local community projects where residents work as volunteers
in schools and hospitals.
hire: It would certainly help if local councils hired more staff.

Thinking long-term and short short-term

Another concept to think about when talking about government action is whether it is
short-term or long-term.
temporary: One idea is that the government could introduce a temporary restriction
on immigration to determine what effect it would have on employment rates.
long-term The government needs to consider the long-term effect of a poorly trained
workforce.
immediate Governments of wealthier countries should provide financial assistance
to people in disaster zones to help with their immediate needs.
a stopgap measure While this may only be a stopgap measure, it would help
if governments sent financial aid to disaster areas.

How people can influence governments

Another way to approach question where you need to talk about governments is to think
about what the people can do to have an effect on their decisions.
lobby politicians: Individuals could help here by lobbying their elected representatives
and MPs to try and force them to introduce legislation.
engage in peaceful protests/demonstrations It is possible that the government might be
swayed by peaceful demonstrations asking for more action on the environment.

Immigration vocabulary and ideas

This is a selection of immigration vocabulary and ideas with

some key words for immigration

some common word combinations to show different forms of immigration
arguments in favour of immigration
arguments against it
some possible measures

Get the key immigration vocabulary right

The key words for describing immigration are
immigrant the person
immigrate the verb
immigration the idea
Note the mm. Also note that immigrants (people who enter a country) are also emigrants
(people who leave a country) and also migrants.

Some common word combinations

To discuss this topic well, it helps to distinguish between different types of immigration.
illegal immigrants: - people who enter a country illegally
economic migrants: - people who move country to earn more money
migrant workers: - note that migrant can also work as an adjective
immigrant community/population: this can be used for people who have settled in
country for some time
influx of immigrants: this is usually used in a negative sense meaning that there are too
many immigrants
first generation immigrant: this is either an immigrant or a child on an immigrant
[sometimes it is hyphenated as first-generation]

Arguments in favour of immigration

There are various arguments in favour of immigration these mostly relate to
the economic benefits immigrants bring to a country. Note that I have added examples to
some of these reasons to explain them further.
dynamism: Immigrants provide dynamism which is beneficial to the economy and
helps growth and competitiveness. For example, many immigrants set up their own
businesses.

unskilled labour: In many countries there is a shortage of unskilled labour and the
immigrant population is typically willing to do work that the native population is not. This
is particularly the case in agricultural communities where immigrants provide seasonal
labour in the harvest season.
skilled labour: A large proportion of young immigrants are highly-qualified university
graduates and they work in fields where there is a shortage of skilled labour.
childcare: Another benefit that immigrants bring is that they often work in childcare or as
home helps and this enables more mothers to return to work.
boost the economy: Most research shows that encouraging immigration actually provides
a boost to the economy as immigrants are net contributors to the GDP. There is also
evidence that they actually claim fewer benefits and pay more tax than the native
population.
principle of freedom of movement: There is also the consideration that the principle of
freedom of movement is a human right and that people should be allowed to choose
where they live.
short-term only: It should also be considered that many younger migrants return home
once they have earned enough money and will never claim pensions in their host country.

Arguments against immigration

These arguments are normally based on social consequences of immigration and the
impact it has on the native population. There are also arguments (factual or otherwise) that
immigrants are bad for the economy.
Also note the range of language to discuss problems (highlighted in red)
integration: The major argument against immigration is that so many migrants fail to
integrate with the local community and culture and this leads to social tension and even
unrest.
local services and jobs: One common difficulty is that they increase the pressure on local
services and create competition for local jobs and this creates ill-will.
claim benefits/social housing: One reason why people want less immigration is that
immigrants do not pay tax and still claim benefits and require social housing that is paid
for by taxpayers.
schools: Another serious issue is that in some areas schools do not have sufficient places
for the children and so class sizes become unmanageable.
language: Related to this is the problem that many immigrants only have a basic command
of the language and this can lead to difficulties in the classroom and elsewhere.

loss of trained workers: The impact on poorer countries who lose much of their trained
workforce through emigration should also not be forgotten.
overcrowding/population: Many countries need to limit immigration because they are
already suffering from over-population.

Measures and solutions

You may also need to consider how immigration should be controlled.
taxes and law: One possible measure is to ensure that migrants pay taxes and are subject
to the criminal justice system.
language requirements: Another measure that could be put in place is to insist on a
minimum language requirement so that all immigrants are able to integrate into the
community.
deportation: Some people believe that all illegal immigrants should be
deported immediately.
quota: The United States for example has a quota system whereby a fixed number of green
cards are issued every year.

Climate change vocabulary and ideas

Below youll find plenty of climate change vocabulary and ideas. These are organised under
headings:

Talking about the scale of the problem

Negative effects
Causes
Possible solutions
Ways of taking action
How individuals can help

The idea in doing this is to show you that ideas need to be organised if you use them. Also,
if you are one of those people who believes that global warming is not caused by human
activity, you are not just on the wrong page you are wrong!

Talking about the size of the problem

An important group of climate vocabulary and ideas is to say how large the problem is:
crisis: Climate change is a crisis that cannot be ignored by governments.
record levels/amount: Despite the claims of some scientists, we are now
producing record levels of CO2 and there is no dispute about the connection between this
and global warming.
disaster/disastrous: It is not an exaggeration to say that the effects of global warming
are disastrous.
global: Although some areas are relatively unaffected now, climate change is a global
problem.
irreversible: The major concern is that the effects of our actions on the climate will
be irreversible.
long-term: The effects of our use of fossil fuels today may last for generations and it is
almost certain to have long-term consequences for humanity.

Negative Effects
This group of climate change vocabulary gives you language to explain what the effects are.
As you read through the examples note the different language I use for effects and
probability.
ill-health: It sometimes goes unnoticed that there is a clear connection between climate
change and ill-health.

floods/rainstorms: One result of the rising temperatures is that floods and rainstorms are
now a frequent occurrence.
the Polar ice cap: One major concern is that rising temperatures in the Arctic are
causing the Polar ice cap to melt, which in turn is leading to rising sea levels.
heatwaves and droughts: Most experts agree that there is an increased risk
of heatwaves and other extreme weather conditions.
the natural world: Climate change will not only have a severe impact on people, but
also devastate the natural world and lead to the extinction of important species.
food shortages: We are already seeing in many parts of the world that climate change is
leading to food shortages as a direct consequence of extreme weather conditions.
housing/homelessness: One side-effect of rising sea levels is that more and more people
who live by the coast will become homeless.
conflicts/wars: If no action is taken on climate change, then it is likely that there will be
more conflicts between nations, especially over water supplies.
cost: It has been shown that any delay in making emission cuts will increase the cost of
reducing carbon dioxide by almost 50%.

Causes
You may also need to discuss the causes of climate change too. You dont need any very
technical knowledge and this vocabulary should be enough. Again, note the cause
language.
human activity: It is no longer possible to say that human activity does not affect weather
conditions.
greenhouse gas emissions: If we are to halt climate change, we need to make substantial
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
power stations: One of the leading causes of climate change is the number of dirty power
stations using fossil fuels.
carbon emissions: Carbon emissions are still rising year by year and are at record levels.
illegal logging and deforestation: It should not be forgotten that illegal logging in the
Amazon Basin is still a major factor in climate change.
burning fossil fuels: Individuals can make a small contribution by not burning wood and
other fossil fuels.
CO2: The root cause of much global warming is the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Possible solutions

These words and phrases show different kinds of solutions. Some show what should be
done (use more renewable energy and invest money), others show how it should be done
(quickly and together).
wind and solar power: An obvious solution is to deploy much more wind and solar
power.
renewable energy: Wind farms and other sources of renewable energy will help to
reduce Co2 emissions to an acceptable level.
international action/cooperation: International action on climate change could have
a significant impact.
quick/immediate action: Any action should be immediate because this is not a problem
that can be delayed.
investment: There should be greater incentives to invest in renewables and to reduce the
current reliance on fossil fuels.
decommission power stations: It goes without saying that coal-fuelled power stations
should be decommissioned.
protest/campaign: Individuals can help force governments to act by taking part in legal
protests against the continuing use of fossil fuels.
energy efficiency and waste: A greater emphasis on energy efficiency and reducing
waste would undoubtedly mean that less fuel was consumed.

Ways of taking action

Climate change is a problem that almost everyone can agree on. When you have a
problem, you need to take action. These words and phrases give you a variety of ways of
saying that. Note the different structures used with these verbs.
cope: It is clear that national governments are no longer able to cope
by themselves with the problem.
tackle: A global solution is necessary as only international bodies will be able
to tackle climate change.
avert: Investment in renewable energy will help avert the impact of the CO2 emissions.
prevent: The only way to prevent a disaster is to reduce these emissions to zero.
act/take action: Governments should take decisive action to halt global warming.
fight/combat: A way needs to be found to make combatting global warming that is
affordable.
sustainable and affordable: The key is to ensure that all countries around the world have
the chance to adopt energy

How individuals can help

You may be asked what we as individuals can do about climate change. Here are some
ideas there are plenty of them:
lobby MPs: If enough of us lobbied our MPs and other elected representatives then
they would have to bring in legislation.
participate in peaceful protests: Another possibility is to take part in marches and other
peaceful protests to apply pressure on governments and raise awareness of the issue..
community projects: In some areas there are small-scale community projects to
encourage local residents to install solar panels and, in some places, help pay for them.
share transport: We also have the responsibility to consider how we contribute to global
warming by making unnecessary car journeys. We can always cycle to work, have a
joint school run with other parents and even share a car on the daily commute to work.
diet and our carbon footprint: Reducing food wastage is perhaps the way individuals
can minimise their carbon footprint and so help global warming.
energy-efficient lightbulbs: Another small way in which we can use less energy is
to switch to energy efficient lightbulbs.
solar panels: There are an increasing number of solar panels on the market and these
can not only reduce energy bills but also mean that less carbon fuel is consumed.
heat insulation: Likewise, it is important that people insulate their houses well so that
less gas and electricity is consumed.

Another way to get climate change vocabulary and ideas

One very smart thing to do is to put Climate change or Global warming or Greenhouse
effect into Google and then click NEWS that way you get much much better results. You
can learn a lot by just reading what you see on the search page without going into the
news articles.

Emplo
E
oymen
nt voc
cabula
ary an
nd exe
ercises
s

One of th
he key topic
cs in IELTS is work and
d employme
ent. To help you out, he
ere is a sele
ection
of usefull employment vocabula
ary. There are also exam
mples of ho
ow the words are used and
a series of exercises
s.

Art vocabulary and exercises

This is a tough topic. The good news is that you only need a fairly limited range of art
vocabulary. There is no need to learn the technical words, just the general words that an
educated person should know. If you are a scientist, the idea is that you need to know the
equivalent term for internal combustion engine, you dont have to say how it works!

What is art?
This is a big, big question. Here are some basic distinctions you may want to consider.

The fine arts

The fine arts are what most people mean when they just say art. These include artistic
disciplines such as painting and sculpture. Typically, they are objects created to be
beautiful.

Arts and crafts

A craft is a similar, related concept and we do use the term arts and crafts. In arts and
crafts, objects are created by hand. A good example would be tapestry.

The visual arts

These are the ones we look at and include paintings, drawings and photographs. Does
cinema count? For some people, yes. Television?

The plastic arts

These are the ones we can touch. A sculpture and a piece of pottery are examples.

Performance art
This is when you see someone performing and what they do/produce is a piece of art.
Theatre can be called a form of performance art, perhaps a better example is juggling. We
normally use this term for art that is different. There is also a relatively new phenomenon
of the street artist.

Pictures
There are many types of pictures. If it is picture of somebody, it is generally a portrait. if it is
a picture of a place, it is generally a landscape. While a picture of an object by itself is a
still life.
Three genres of picture possibly worth knowing are a watercolour which is painted onto
paper, an oil painting which is normally painted onto canvas (a tent like material) and a
sketch which is normally a preparatory drawing.

Philosophies of art
Art has changed greatly over the ages. You certainly dont need to be able to talk about the
differences between Renaissance art, Mannerism, the Baroque, the Pre-Raphaelites,
Impressionism and Cubism if you did, you would probably scare your IELTS examiner. It
might help to have this much knowledge though:
figurative/representational art: this is where the painting/object looks like something from
life
abstract art: this is where you see squares, circles and other shapes and you cannot
(immediately) tell what the painting is about
contemporary art: this is the art of now. Its dangerous to use the word modern because
modernism in art actually happened quite a long time ago (the 1930s was probably its
heyday).

Where do you see art?

You normally find art in an art gallery. You walk around and admire the exhibits in an
exhibition, while discussing whether the curator has got the lighting right and whether
that picture should really be hung next to that one.
Sometimes you might also find art in museums, but that is much less common. For
example, the British Museum has artefacts from Britains past, while the National Gallery
is a collection of art.

Would you buy it?

Art tends to be expensive. A masterpiece by Van Gogh could be said to be priceless
thats so expensive that no one has the money to afford it. A lot of art forms part of a
nations heritage and the government protects it from sale abroad.

People and art

Not everyone likes art. People who like to spend a lot of time admiring art are often
termed culture vultures (a fairly idiomatic term), while the idiom for people who dislike art
is philistines.
There is of course art and art. People who appreciate the more elitist forms of art may be
said to have highbrow tastes, while those who prefer the less intellectual art forms may
have lowbrow tastes.

What makes art special?

Another big question. Some people think that it is important for a work of art to
be original or creative. Others would say that what matters is how it appeals to
our imagination.

One or two idioms

Perspective shows the depth of a picture how many dimensions you see. If
you have/keep a sense of perspective, then you see a problem/issue for what it is often
meaning that it is not as serious as it seems.
If you describe someone as being no oil painting, be careful. This means that they are
ugly.

Adver
A
rtising
g voca
abular
ry and
d exercises

This less
son helps yo
ou with adve
ertising vocabulary for essays and
d discussion
n tasks. You
ull
find som
me exercises
s at the botto
om of the pa
age to test yyour skills.

These are model pa

aragraphs th
hat should give you ide
eas for writin
ng or speakiing about
advertising
children and
a advertising
forms of advertising
how adveertising work
ks
the regulaation of adveertising

7 Fa
amily vocab
bulary
y and exerc
cises
Here are
e some usefful words an
nd phrases to
t discuss yyour family iin IELTS sp
peaking.
Although
h this is an easy

topic, you do wa
ant to make sure that yo
ou show a g
good range of
family vo
ocabulary.

8 Gllobalization
n voca
abular
ry and
d exer
rcises
Is globa
alization a modern co
oncept? Ab
bsolutely n
not. It is, h
however, a key featurre of
modern life and it
i is hard to talk about almos
st any aspe
ect of life today witthout
referring
g to our global villag
ge.

9 University educatio
on vocab
bulary

10 Crime
C
e vocab
bular
ry and
d exerc
cises
One of th
he core topiics for IELTS is crime and
a justice. It is a trickyy area as the
ere are a
number of quite tech
hnical words that need to be learn t. So what yyou will find here is not so
much as
s a list of wo
ords, but mo
ore useful ph
hrases that you can use in contextt. You will also
find lang
guage notes
s and exercises to help you use thi s crime voccabulary.

11 Vo
ocabu
ulary and ideass to discu
uss th
he
en
nviron
nmentt
This less
son helps yo
ou out with some vocab
bulary and ideas to disccuss one off the key IEL
LTS
topics: th
he environm
ment.
The bes
st way to lea
arn vocabula
ary is in con
ntext, so in a
addition to u
useful lists o
of words I have
recorded
d 4 sample part
p 3 speak
king answers using som
me of this vocabulary.

Our effect on the natural world

When were the discussing the environment, its important not to forget that our
actions have an impact not only on us but on the natural world and other species. So, for
example, certain species are now endangered because of our actions. its not just because
of hunting, but because we have destroyed their natural habitats: they do not enough food
or anywhere to live. If we carry on in this way, the biodiversity of the planet is under
threat.
Pollution

I would have said that one of the most serious environmental problems today is of
course pollution. Its a very pressing green issue and if you travel to any of the large
cities in China, for example, youll find that there is very bad air pollution and there is a
layer of smog hanging over the cities. Its just air pollution, there is also water pollution. in
many parts of the world, the quality of the water is not good because rivers have
been contaminated by all sorts of industrial waste, by chemicals and fertilisers. And
what we need to do is to recycle our waste and take care of the planet and try
use renewable resources where we possibly can.
Energy

Another extremely important green issue is of course energy. There are two points to be
made here. The first point is that the way we use energy is causing harm to the
environment. Most of us get energy in the form of electricity. This electricity is produced
by power stations. These power stations emit all sorts of dangerous gases such
as carbon monoxideup into the atmosphere. And these gases cause acid rain which does
harm to our ecosystem and environment. the second point to make about energy is we
need to make sure that we are using energy in a sustainable way. There is a limit to the
Earths natural resources and there is a danger that we use so much energy the Earth is
no longer going to be able to provide us with sufficient coal and fossil fuels. What we need
to do is look for more renewable sources of energy such as wind or perhaps solar
energy from the sun.
Global warming

Whats the greatest threat to the Earth today? Id have to say its probably a combination
of global warming and the greenhouse effect. I dont understand all the science behind it,
but I understand its to do with the build up of gases such as carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, which means that the planet is slowly but steadily getting warmer. and one of

the results of this is that the polar icecap is melting and the levels of the oceans are
rising. And its caused I understand by deforestation, particularly of rainforests and
particularly in the Amazonian Basin. And what this means is that we may be
doing irreparable harm to the planet and the future of the planet for our children and our
childrens children looks really rather bleak.
Global warming

Whats the greatest threat to the Earth today? Id have to say its probably a combination
of global warming and the greenhouse effect. I dont understand all the science behind it,
but I understand its to do with the build up of gases such as carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, which means that the planet is slowly but steadily getting warmer. and one of
the results of this is that the polar icecap is melting and the levels of the oceans are
rising. And its caused I understand by deforestation, particularly of rainforests and
particularly in the Amazonian Basin. And what this means is that we may be
doing irreparable harm to the planet and the future of the planet for our children and our
childrens children looks really rather bleak.

Music vocabulary - spoken

11.1 test yourself

atm

ca

osphere

tchy

stro
ng

ch
orus

sy
mphony

co

mposers oncert
tra

ditional

rument

ive hythm cene

ve
nue

For me, Beethoven was one of the greatest classical

whole

inst

. Though, I do find it difficult to sit through a

It's been some time since Ive gone to a

. I find I just don't have the time nowadays.

One of my favourite songs is Back it Up - it's got a really

There's an extremely lively music

tune and a great

in my home town and you can often see some

music in local pubs

and clubs.

My mother always wanted me to learn to play an

, but sadly I had no sense of

and so couldn't

keep to the beat.

The largest musical

Sad to say, a lot of

in my country is probably the O2 Arena. There's a great

there.

and folk music is dying out in my country. It's probably the influence of MTV.

What makes for a great song? Well, I guess that you need a

tune and interesting lyrics.

12 Home
H
e town
n