Words for describing change

CD1 Track 20

1- How are schools today different from schools in your parents’ generation?

There is much less discipline and pupils are difficult to control. Standards of behaviour have really declined.

2- In what ways has the countryside in your country changed during your lifetime?

There are far fewer young people living in the countryside. Many of them have had to abandon rural life and move to the cities to look for work.

3- What do you think is the most significant change in the way people communicate?

Social networking sites – definitely. Just look at the way they’ve evolved over the last few years. You could almost spark a revolution with a click of a mouse.

4- What do you think will be the most significant change in people’s life style in the next ten or twenty years?

I think as energy becomes more expensive, we will have to modify how we live consume less, conserve more.

5- In what ways has the experience of living abroad affected you?

I’ve had to learn to adjust to different ways of doing things – shopping, cooking, socializing – all sorts of things.

6- How, in your view, are patterns of employment in your country likely to change in the next few years?

Many more people are going to work in financial services. That whole sector is developing very rapidly in my country. There are lots of opportunities now.

CD1 Track 21

1- I grew up in a village that looks much as it did five centuries ago. Almost nothing has altered.

2- Job security has diminished over the last few years. It’s almost impossible to find long-term work let alone a job for life.

3- I think over the next decade, surgical techniques will become increasingly refined. Surgeons will be able to perform operations that we can only dream of now.

4- Within a generation, attitudes towards authority have shifted. Nowadays, people are more likely to challenge authority figures.

5- Unless we transform the way we live, we’re unlikely to survive into the next millennium.

CD1 Track 22

1- abandon 2- adjust 3- alter 4- decline 5- develop
6- diminish 7- evolve 8- modify 9- refine 10- shift
11- transform 12- century 13- decade 14- generation 15- millennium

CD1 Track 23

1- Do you think people are more adventurous now than in the past?

2- Why, in your view, have attitudes towards risk changed?

3- What sort of adventures do you think people will be having
in ten or twenty years’ time?

CD1 Track 24

1- Do you think people are more adventurous now than in the past?

On the whole, yes, I think they are. When I compare young people today with my parent’s generation, I would say that attitudes have shifted. People expect more from life and want to develop personally as well as professionally. People are looking for experiences that will transform them in some way – give them new insights. For example, many people my age want to travel abroad and experience very different life styles.

2- Why, in your view, have attitudes towards risk changed?

I suppose society has evolved. There is a greater emphasis on independence and originality. You can’t develop these qualities without taking risks. In my country, previous generations were more likely to conform. People would adjust their behaviour so as not to stand out too much. These days, people want to be a bit different; they want to stand out from the crowd.

3- What sort of adventures do you think people will be having in ten or twenty years’ time?

I think as tourism extends into every corner of the world, interest in foreign travel as a form of adventure will diminish. People will look for adventure closer to home, maybe by being more creative – doing things that haven’t been done before. I have a friend who’s lost his job and had to abandon his plans to travel abroad. He’s going to see how far he can get by travelling on local buses. I think he’s calculated that he can get halfway across the country. It will be quite an adventure!

VOCABULARY

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Reference: Collins Vocabulary for IELTS