Question Type 4: “Types of” Questions
Another common type of questions in Part One is "types of" questions.
For example:
"Tell me about the different types of public transport in your city."
The most common problem with these questions is shown in the following answer:
"In my city there are many types of public transport, for example, buses, taxis, motorcycle taxis, trains, planes, ferries and mini-buses."
In this answer, the candidate lists seven types of public transport. However, the answer is 100% content and there is no evidence of native-speaker style language. Some candidates may believe that get one mark for every type of transport that they list but this is not true.
One reason for this answer is that in spoken Chinese it is quite common to give these "list" style answers.
A good answer to these questions should be structured and developed in the following way.
Begin with an opening phrase:
· Well actually...
· Of course, you know...
· Sure, obviously...
· Of course, it goes without saying…
· OK, certainly...
Then use one of the following:
· ...there’s quite a mixed variety of...
· ...there’s quite an extensive diversity of…
· ...there's quite a wide range of...
· ...there's quite a diverse mixture..
· ...there’s a fairly broad range of...
So the opening line might be:
"Of course, it goes without saying that there’s quite a mixed variety of public transport in my city.”
Now use the following structure to introduce the first type:
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