Hello, everyone.
I'm Maria.
And my name is Rory.
And we are the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills, as well as your listening skills along the way.
Right.
We started this podcast to give you a look at how a native English speaker would answer some of the most common IELTS speaking test questions.
I'm asking Rory questions.
He's answering them using gorgeous vocabulary and grammar for a high score.
Today's topic is genes.
I hope you don't wear me out with your questions.
Rory, that's very funny if you're 65.
So, jeans.
Dear listeners, yes, in the exam they can ask you about jeans.
Rory, do you wear jeans?
Yes, I do.
I wear them every day, actually.
How often do you wear jeans?
Like I say, I wear them every day.
They're like the bread and butter of my outfit.
Types of jeans do you prefer?
I don't really have a huge preference, to be honest.
Um, although the normal mode, i guess, is a boot cut i guess that's what you'd call them usually not skinny jeans, although i am wearing them today.
Did you ever wear jeans at school?
No, not really.
We would have them on dress-down or casual days, but usually we wore a uniform.
In fact, jeans were expressly prohibited.
It was really a bad idea to have jeans.
Rory, why do people wear jeans?
Well, you can buy them everywhere.
They're in all of the shops.
You could take a step outside right now and you could find them there.
The other thing is, I think a lot of people wear them as a fashion statement.
Certain brands, like Levi's, for example, are extremely popular despite the fact that they cost so much.
And I think the reason why is it allows people to show off and express that aspect of themselves.
Why are jeans popular all over the world?
I think it's partially connected to the fact that, like I say, they're very accessible.
Anybody can wear jeans.
But they're really controversial. quite an American product.
And obviously there's this ascendancy of American culture right now, where this is like a product that shows that you're modern and Western, almost like an American.
And I think people really connect with that.
So that would explain, in addition to the utility of genes, also the idea of genes, why they're so popular around the world.
Why do some people spend more money on jeans?
It's like I said, it's a fashion statement, really.
I think.
I personally think that people spend too much money on some brands of jeans, but that's their choice.
And I think the choice is based on the fact that it's a fashion statement for them.
Would you pay a lot to buy jeans?
Be honest.
I will.
Normally, no.
If you'd asked me that question before I went to Paris, I would say no, I wouldn't pay a lot for jeans.
I don't like to spend that much.
But when I went to Paris, my partner introduced me to a shop called Weekday.
And there they had like really nice pairs of jeans.
And I bought my first ever pair of skinny jeans.
And I'm wearing them now.
And I think I look quite good in them.
Wow.
So fashionable and stylish.
Thank you, Rory.
No problem.
Rory, you've used some good words to describe jeans.
For example, you said bootcut.
Skinny jeans.
What are skinny jeans?
Well, right now they're incredibly comfortable.
But skinny jeans are very tight pairs of jeans.
A lot of people wear them.
You'll see them in the street.
They're not baggy, not loose.
They're very tight.
Yeah, we can have, like, loose jeans and skinny jeans.
Also, like, girls.
Like, oh, she's skinny.
Yes, absolutely.
It's a good adjective to describe people and things.
Yeah, or you can say, I prefer bootcut jeans, skinny jeans, loose jeans.
Alright, you've also said that jeans are bread and butter of my outfit.
What does it mean?
Well, bread and butter is like the basics of something, so I'll always have a pair of jeans and probably a long-sleeved t-shirt as well.
These are the two things that are like the basics of all of my outfits.
Outfits, like clothes?
Yeah, outfit would be like a casual uniform, I suppose.
Your style is your outfit.
You said that jeans, people wear jeans because it's a fashion statement.
Yeah.
What is it?
Fashion statement?
A fashion statement is like how you express how fashionable you are.
So, for example, a lot of people...
Well, especially here in Russia, they will wear like these nice fur coats.
Obviously, they wear it because it's cold.
But the reason they wear a nice expensive fur coat is like it's a fashion statement.
It shows how fashionable they are.
When you talked about school, you said that we would wear jeans on casual days.
Yes.
So we would wear jeans.
We'd wear jeans on casual days.
Casual, basically like not days for smart clothes.
Yes, absolutely.
But for casual.
Do you prefer smart clothes or casual clothes?
Well, obviously, I prefer casual clothes because it's what I wear at work.
Yeah, so jeans, trainers.
Rory wears trainers at work.
Rory, you've used a good structure.
The reason why I wear jeans is because... Or the reason why jeans are comfortable is because...
So, this is how we can make a complex sentence.
So, could you give me another example?
Like, why do people wear jeans?
Absolutely.
So, well, the reason why people wear jeans is because it's a fashion statement, for example.
Right.
You've also mentioned the utility of jeans.
What do you mean by that?
Well, they're useful.
For example, with the jeans that I wear right now, I mean, I have two pockets at the front.
I can keep my phone in one and my keys in the other.
Two pockets at the back where I keep my flash drive, for example.
They're very useful.
They look good and they're useful.
So the useful part is the utility.
But this is much more specific vocabulary.
And if we want to talk about how useful something is, we talk about its utility.
Right.
And we also can say that jeans are comfortable.
They will never be out of style.
Exactly.
Speaking about money, we can say that I can spend a lot of money on... a pair of jeans.
Yeah, that's the dependent preposition really, isn't it?
Spend on something.
And usually spend something on something.
And jeans could be expensive, could be pricey, could be brand, brand name jeans, right?
Could you give me an example of a brand, jeans brand?
Well, it seems like Levi's have always been a popular brand of jeans.
The...
I don't think any others.
Collins.
They come to mind also, yeah.
Gap.
Now we're advertising all different companies.
We should get a cut of the profits.
Absolutely.
Rory, you did use a conditional while answering the questions.
What was it?
Yeah.
When you asked me if I'd pay a lot for jeans, I said if you had asked me before I went to Paris, I would have said no.
Oh, the third conditional.
It is.
Ladies and gents, bravo.
So important, especially for achieving high score, because it shows the flexibility of the grammar there.
Right, and were you talking about something about the past or the present?
The past.
The past, right.
And the past was, like, unreal.
Yes.
Right, so the third conditioning.
Well, you can't ask me in the past.
You don't have a time machine.
I don't.
But I have a nice stylish pair of jeans, everybody.
Rory, thank you very much for your band 9 answers.
Thank you.
Dear listeners, you can now listen to Rory's answers again, and this time notice all the words, adjectives and grammar structures he's effectively used.
Rory, do you wear jeans?
Yes, I do.
I wear them every day actually.
How often do you wear jeans?
Like I say, I wear them every day.
They're like the bread and butter of my outfit.
What types of jeans do you prefer?
I don't really have a huge preference, to be honest.
Although the normal mode, I guess, is bootcut, I guess that's what you'd call them.
Usually not skinny jeans, although I am wearing them today.
Did you ever wear jeans at school?
No, not really.
We would have them on dress-down or casual days, but usually we wore a uniform.
In fact, jeans were expressly prohibited.
It was really a bad idea to have jeans.
Rory, why do people wear jeans?
Well, you can buy them everywhere.
They're in all of the shops.
You could take a step outside right now and you could find them there.
The other thing is, I think a lot of people wear them as a fashion statement.
Certain brands, like Levi's, for example, are extremely popular despite the fact that they cost so much.
And I think the reason why is it allows people to show off and express that aspect of themselves.
Why are jeans popular all over the world?
I think it's partially connected to the fact that, like I say, they're very accessible.
Anybody can wear jeans.
But they're really quite an American product.
And obviously...
There's this ascendancy of American culture right now, where this is like a product that shows that you're modern and Western, almost like an American.
And I think people really connect with that.
So that would explain, in addition to the utility of genes, also the idea of genes, why they're so popular around the world.
Why do some people spend more money on jeans?
It's like I said, it's a fashion statement, really.
I personally think that people spend too much money on some brands of jeans, but that's their choice and I think the choice is based on the fact that it's a fashion statement for them.
Would you pay a lot to buy jeans?
Be honest.
I will.
Normally, no.
If you'd asked me that question before I went to Paris, I would say no, I wouldn't pay a lot for jeans.
I don't like to spend that much.
But when I went to Paris, my partner introduced me to a shop called Weekday.
And there they had like really nice pairs of jeans.
And I bought my first ever pair of skinny jeans.
And I'm wearing them now.
And I think I look quite good in them.
Wow.
So fashionable and stylish.
Thank you, Rory.
No problem.
Thank you very much for listening.
We'll see you next time.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
