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IELTS Vocabulary The Future of Public Transportation
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Mar 10, 2025
IELTS Vocabulary The Future of Public Transportation
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0:05
you are now listening to the I podcast
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learn from tutors and ex- examiners who
0:10
are masters of eye outs preparation your
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host Ben
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[Music]
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Worthington hello there I students in
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this tutorial we are covering some I
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vocabulary related to public
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transportation we're going to be in a
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grammar Point um mainly linking words
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which are incredibly useful or sometimes
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commonly C called connectors and they're
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incredibly useful because they tie your
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essay together now a lot of students
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will just stick these in their essays
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and then believe that's going to boost
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their coherence and cohesion score um
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this was so common when I started out
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teaching I think nowadays it's Chang a
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little
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bit um and everyone's getting wiser as
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to how we use these um basically they
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Tire essay together but I'll be giving
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you some uh model sentences using these
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uh we're going to look at the pros and
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cons of public transportation in
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Innovations and initiatives this will be
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great if you're a student who struggles
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with ideas getting ideas for your essay
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then we're going to look at some topic
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specific colle ation actually probably
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look at those before it makes more sense
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to look at them before um and we'll
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stick them into the model sentences and
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then we're going to look at some
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speaking part three questions and very
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model answers that doesn't make much
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sense very model answers but what I'm
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saying is that they are higher level
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answers practically band nine I
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doubt anybody but a transport expert
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would be able to give answers of this
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quality
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um so don't worry if you're not even
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close uh these just serve as kind of
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like a model for you to follow and
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throughout the whole tutorial I will be
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giving little side notes and advice and
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just practical knowledge to help you
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move forward and attain that seven band
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78 or9 that most of the listeners most
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of you guys will probably be aiming
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for my name is Ben Worthington I'm from
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the UK um I came back after 20 years
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abroad and sometimes people say I don't
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sound so English it's probably less so
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nowadays since I'm back in England
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speaking with native English speakers
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but it used to happen a lot and I'm
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mentioning this because I've been abroad
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and I've learned a foreign language so I
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know the struggle and I know how to
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acquire a foreign language and I'm
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learning uh my second foreign language
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at the moment and yeah I think I mean
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from my personal experience it's always
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better if you've you know if you're if
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you're learning from someone who knows
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the struggle who who knows what it's
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like um and yeah after 12 years of
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teaching I students I'm pretty confident
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I can say I know the
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struggle let's jump oh one last thing
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this tutorial is completely free I'm not
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charging you for it and all I ask in
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return is if you found some value from
3:40
it if you found it useful if you found
3:43
it practical then if you could share it
3:45
with your friends post it with uh post
3:47
it on social media whatever I'd be
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incredibly grateful it just helps us uh
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help more people so let's just zoom out
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to get started with so we're going to be
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talking about public
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transportation and specifically
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Innovations and
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initiatives um so what is public
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transportation well it's usually the
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buses the trains the
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underground all of these facilities
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usually provided by the government
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unless you're in the UK where the
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government sold practically all of them
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off and now they are a national
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embarrassment just joking um I think the
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UK government sold like 90% of it except
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for London London's underground is still
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publicly owned it's a public company um
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but all the rest was just sold off and
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now it's ridiculously expensive and
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incredibly terrible so anyway let's just
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jump into it um so why are we talking
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about public transportation well it's
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one of those common topics and it's
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probably one of those topics that you
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might never have thought about before
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and ideally if you've got the time you
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know if you've got your exam coming up
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in three months you can prepare for this
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topic by just doing some Google searches
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reading some articles and getting stuck
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into it watching some YouTube videos and
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whatnot however a lot of students are
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not in that situation they don't have
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that luxury so this is like a crash
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course in public transportation and it's
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all Beed around IELTS and I writing task
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to we're going to give you the
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vocabulary we're going to help you with
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a grammar point and we're going to give
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you some of the model sentences and then
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even use this topic in the speaking it's
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a very typical topic of my mind goes
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blank when students know about this uh
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find out about this or face this is the
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better expression so when we're talking
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about public transportation we're
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talking about
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basically um as I just said said the
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buses the trains the underground and
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these are necessary for sustainable and
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efficient
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cities and this is another reason why I
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wanted to cover this topic because it
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overlaps very conveniently Into Climate
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Change so when you're thinking about
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solutions for climate change or whatever
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we could talk about public
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transportation
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initiatives um and also I will share
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very powerful technique um when to come
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up with ideas and it's like your backup
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method and if you learn this backup
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method you learn all the vocabulary
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around it then it's basically your jolly
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joker as my wife says it's your jolly
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Joker it can get you out of a lot of
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sticky
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situations so what's the grammar Point
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well as I said before we're looking at
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connectors or linking words and these
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help when you want to add additional
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points and even when you want to
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compare some common words would be
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moreover
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furthermore
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similarly likewise and these words just
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help you build up your
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argument in your body
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paragraph let's have a look at some of
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these in the natural environment which
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is a sentence so integrated transport
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networks are essential for modern cities
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and sustainable transport models further
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enhance urban life
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quality so here we said we could have
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even said moreover sustainable transport
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models or in this case we used they
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further enhance urban life quality smart
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transit systems have been developed to
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reduce delays similar traffic Management
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Solutions help to prevent gridlock
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during Peak
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hours there we go what traffic
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Management Solutions come to mind the
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first one for me here would be the
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congestion charge in
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London uh basically it's a way for the
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government to get more money but so what
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they did is typical of the UK government
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they slap a tax on whatever they want
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less of um so they put this tax on
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vehicles now if you want to travel in
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London between certain hours you've got
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to pay an extra fee if you're going
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around the city center and the idea is
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and it actually works it keeps cars out
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of the city center and only those
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desperate enough to pay the charge will
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actually go in the center and obviously
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it reduces the amount of traffic however
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when I was in London a few months ago it
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didn't I couldn't see any difference
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but that's another that's another
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story next sentence furthermore public
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Mobility Services improve the overall
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accessibility of cities while
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eco-friendly Transportation options
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contribute to environmental preservation
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I should have said this a few minutes
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ago but to get the full value from this
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tutorial scribble down write down some
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of these collocations that you're
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hearing doing this makes it far more
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likely you're going to remember them
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which makes it far more likely that
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you're going to use them which makes it
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more likely that you'll figure out how
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to use them in the correct context in
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the correct uh grammatical structures
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next sentence moreover the expansion of
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high-capacity transport uh Transit
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routes facilitates quicker commutes and
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urban congestion relief follows as a
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natural res result that's a great sent
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sentence the reason why I like this
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sentence is because we've used
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facilitates
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a verb and it just moves the sentence
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along rather than saying the traditional
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way uh the standard or like maybe the
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band Six level way which would be and
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this then enables quicker commute so and
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then quicker commutes can happen or
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something a little bit more basic but if
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we use the verb moves the sentence along
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and it's just easier to read and easier
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not easier to write but easier to read
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and EAS easier for the examiner to award
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you
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points similarly green Urban spaces are
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integrated into into Transit planning
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enhancing the aesthetic and ecological
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aspects of urban
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areas great I would actually hedge that
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I'd say similarly in most cases green
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Urban spaces are usually integrated into
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Transit planning hedging is a key skill
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I'll probably release another tutorial
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about hedging um
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but basically we're just avoiding making
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sweeping generalizations by adding more
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um adding phrases like could or most
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likely most
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often next sentence despite the benefits
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the high costs of smart transit systems
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can be prohibitive however the long-term
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Savings in environmental and health
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costs are
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considerable that's a fantastic sentence
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because
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because we've um we've looked at both
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sides there's actually a semicolon in
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there as well and also it's my favorite
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sort of like goto argument um which is
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basically explaining the costs or the
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cost side so we can use costs for should
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governments provide education for free
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higher education for free well there's a
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huge cost there you know should
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governments jail people or focus on
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rehabilitation well there's probably a
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cost argument there as well which is
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cheaper jails or Rehabilitation so by
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using the cost
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argument uh and get into grips with the
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cost argument then we can reuse that
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vocabulary for multiple
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arguments whereas transport vocabulary
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obviously can only be used for a
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transport uh
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essay or maybe even a climate change
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essay pollution essay as well so it is
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slightly more of a tle um next sentence
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public transit
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accessibility is prioritized in City
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Planning moreover efforts are made to
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ensure that these services are
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affordable to all
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residents what's the do what's the
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problem with that sentence let me say it
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again public trans Transit accessibility
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is prioritized in City Planning
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moreover efforts are made to ensure that
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these services are affordable to all
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residents well we need to hedge it let's
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hedge it public trans Transit
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accessibility is often prioritized in
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City Planning moreover efforts are
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usually made to ensure that these
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services are affordable to all residents
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there we
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go can you see what I did there
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transformed it introduced that element
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of uncertainty to avoid a sweeping
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generalization next sentence while
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integrated transport networks are
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advantageous they require extensive
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coordination and
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funding which can be challenging for
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local
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governments next sentence eco-friendly
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Transportation initiatives are often
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supported by public
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policy furthermore these initiatives
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encourage broader participation in
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sustainable living
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practices there we go that would
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definitely need to be further developed
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because it's not exactly clear okay
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eco-friendly Transportation initiatives
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encourage
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broader participation in sustainable
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living practices because why why why
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develop it further you could not leave
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that sentence as it is let's have a look
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at the pros and the cons this will be
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great for the students who suffer from
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the lack of ideas so the advantages
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basically of public transportation is
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that it can one reduce Urban traffic
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congestion and then I'm going to just
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develop this one and then this would
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probably lead to a to lower
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environmental
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pollution super next sentence the next
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Advantage improves accessibility to jobs
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and services
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because a wider percentage of the
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population now have uh would usually
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have
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a
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greater um usually find it easier to get
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into the city if there is a bus route
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rather than having to rely on a taxi or
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a private car which might be
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economically prohibitive for a lot of
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City
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citizens it increases safety in
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transportation through technological
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advances this is
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because most transit systems most modern
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Transit Transport Systems have built in
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safety devices that help reduce traffic
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uh that help reduce
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accidents next sentence it enhances the
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quality of life by reducing travel time
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and possibly even increasing air quality
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this is due to the fact that can you see
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what I'm trying to do here and I'm doing
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it now I don't usually develop most of
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the arguments that I give you but I'm
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doing it because uh the other day I had
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a private class and the student kept
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coming up with reasons but really didn't
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develop them so it's like fresh in my
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mind this skill set of developing and in
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most cases we can develop the argument
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by just saying this is because and then
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completing explaining and also and what
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I was telling my student was after each
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sort of like position or argument ask
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yourself why why does this happen why
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and then putting it in a sentence of
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this is
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because what are the the drawbacks what
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are the disadvantages what are the cons
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of public transportation initiatives
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well there's a high cost of development
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and maintenance as I just
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mentioned uh there's usually disruptions
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during construction phases and if you
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want to dive into this a little bit
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further you can just put hs2 UK and
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you'll get a barrage of articles about
17:04
how the UK government just keeps on
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flip-flopping with decisions and um
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making a mess of it anyway let's move on
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potential for underutilization if not
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properly
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planned for some reason Spain comes to
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mind here because they were building a
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lot of infrastructure projects and tiny
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little towns had trams in them which
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thought was a complete waste of money um
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and and definitely a candidate for being
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underutilized um another disadvantage
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they can be inefficient in low density
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areas that's exactly what I just said
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but in a more academic fashion um a risk
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of technological obsolescence with rapid
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advances that's
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interesting um
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no example comes to mind so if I did
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think of this idea this is what we do
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with um as students on the course on the
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writing course we have the sentence
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guide is like you might have an idea but
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if it's difficult to explain if it's
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difficult to develop ditch that idea
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move on to one that's easier to explain
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now let me just explain why the risk of
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technological obsolescence with rapid
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advances in technology might be a
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drawback from investing in a train or uh
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a bus service we could say that
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self-driving cars are around the corner
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and with it self-driving
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taxes we could even say that private air
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travel is H could make train or
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high-speed long-distance train
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infrastructure redundant in the
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future
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and the reason why I don't like the
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argument is because it's a stretch it's
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a stretch we've got to sort of like put
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these conditions in place these
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hypothetical conditions to justify our
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AR
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and the chances that longdistance trains
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for example become redundant because of
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um technological in advances in air
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travel are quite slim at least I believe
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until for the next 20 years we'll see
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message me in 20 years if I'm
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wrong next one it may lead to
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gentrification near Transit hubs again
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that's quite a complicated one to
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explain what does gentrification mean
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well it means when a down a downscale
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area you know like a part of town that's
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been neglected and it's all derel and
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then they put a transport Hub there now
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everybody wants to live there and the
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price of living goes up the price of
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housing goes up and everything becomes
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more
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expensive okay and again I'm not so keen
19:52
on that argument it takes a lot to
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explain but it is worthwhile knowing and
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it's a useful verb as well to to
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gentrify next drawback it requires
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significant governmental planning and
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coordination it can be a long-term
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financial burden on public funds I love
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that argument you instantly get it you
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know the government sets up this train
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system and now it has to carry on
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funding it year after year after year
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and this is a longterm financial
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burden now I've covered the topic
20:29
specific vocabulary collocations in
20:31
those sentences let me just blast
20:33
through them again to help you remember
20:35
them smart transit systems integ
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integrated transport networks green
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Urban spaces traffic Management
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Solutions public Mone Mobility Services
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sustainable transport models Urban
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congestion relief eco-friendly
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transportation and high capacity transer
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Transit routes sorry let's go to the
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speaking why is it important to
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integrate green spaces into urban
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planning integrating green spaces into
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urban planning not only enhances the
21:13
city's Beauty but also improves
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residents Health
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moreover such spaces provide necessary
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ecological benefits like air pu
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purification and even temperature
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regulation
21:29
now with this
21:31
speaking if you struggle for long
21:34
answers try the technique that I
21:37
mentioned before this is because or for
21:40
example and this will just extend your
21:42
answer a little bit more what I like
21:45
about this answer is let's just go back
21:48
to the question why is it important to
21:49
integrate green spaces into urban
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planning here the student by starting
21:55
with integrating green spaces into urban
21:57
planning they just directly reflected
22:00
the question so we start off and the
22:03
first five or six words more or less
22:06
come from the question and this is a
22:09
useful technique to employ in your exam
22:12
because it makes sure that you're
22:14
staying on topic and moreover this
22:17
student did it
22:20
by slightly
22:22
modifying and they started with the
22:24
gerand integrating green spaces another
22:27
way to start off would would be well I
22:30
believe it's crucial to integrate green
22:33
spaces into urban planning because XY
22:36
Z next question should cities invest
22:40
more in high capacity Transit routes oh
22:43
yes absolutely without a shadow of the
22:46
doubt cities should definitely invest in
22:49
high-capacity Transit routes as they
22:51
efficiently manage large volumes of
22:54
passengers
22:56
and sorry and this reduces traffic
22:59
congestion furthermore these Investments
23:01
support sustainable Urban
23:05
Development wow if you can speak at this
23:07
level in the exam you're getting a band
23:10
nine okay you this level so don't worry
23:15
okay if you're a bit um worried by the
23:18
quality of these answers these were
23:20
pre-prepared in advance by a native
23:23
speaker and it's um you don't have to
23:26
worry about these okay but it's a good
23:28
sort of like North Star to aim for and
23:32
moreover you're hearing some of the
23:35
linking words that I mentioned earlier
23:37
and the
23:38
collocations um Al together in a natural
23:41
environment in spoken in a natural way
23:44
what are the challenges of implementing
23:47
smart transit
23:49
systems hopefully your mind goes
23:52
straight now to the cost argument I talk
23:56
about a lot the challenges here is that
23:59
it's very expensive to build a train and
24:02
get trains running okay that's the
24:05
answer but this this is how it should be
24:08
delivered implementing smart transit
24:11
systems involves high costs and complex
24:14
technology integration moreover ensuring
24:17
these systems remain up to date with
24:19
technological advancements is
24:21
continually challenging and probably
24:24
rather
24:26
expensive next question final question
24:30
how have public transportation
24:32
Innovations changed in the last decade
24:36
now if you're getting a question like
24:39
this The Examiner is inviting you to use
24:42
your language of
24:45
comparison because it says has how have
24:48
they changed in the last decade well we
24:51
want to talk about the beginning a few
24:53
decades ago a decade ago sorry and then
24:56
talk about the present day
24:59
and we can use different tenses we could
25:00
use the present perfect for this which
25:02
is perfect for this let's go in the last
25:05
decade public transportation has seen
25:08
significant advancements particularly in
25:11
the adoption of smart transit systems
25:13
these Innovations have made public
25:16
transport more efficient and user
25:18
friendly another way probably a more
25:21
natural way would be to say well in the
25:24
last decade I think the trains were
25:29
quite polluting because a lot of them
25:31
used diesel whereas nowadays most of the
25:35
trains especially in my city are all
25:38
electrically powered uh so I guess the
25:42
change has been that they're more
25:45
environmentally um better for the
25:48
climate and a little bit cleaner which
25:52
reduces probably noise pollution and air
25:55
pollution at the same time
25:58
there we go that's kind of like a more
26:00
natural answer we haven't had the luxury
26:03
to
26:04
prepare now if you want the full
26:06
tutorial which I recommend uh you doing
26:09
just put into googlep podcast.com public
26:12
transportation you'll be able to see all
26:15
the vocabulary all the model sentences
26:18
and if you combine that with your notes
26:20
again we're going back to this
26:22
repetition this idea of repetition
26:24
reusing the vocabulary making it your
26:27
own so that when you do use it it sounds
26:30
more
26:31
natural that's it from me today I'm
26:34
wishing you a beautiful day and if you
26:36
want these tutorials in your inbox go to
26:39
ieltspodcast.com sign up for our
26:41
newsletter you'll be invited to join our
26:44
course there which uh gives you um a lot
26:48
of material and information and tools
26:52
for you on how to use our newest tool
26:55
which is the AI sa speaking uh AI sa
26:59
checking tool and if you're lucky you
27:02
might also be invited to use our IL
27:05
speaking tour which should be released
27:09
soon that's everything have a beautiful
27:12
day and good luck with your
27:14
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27:21
ilc thanks for listening tosp
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podcast.com
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