Some candidates believe that they should use very academic words in the speaking test. This is very wrong. To begin with, candidates need to ensure they communicate their response to the examiner rather than relying on fancy adjectives.
If a candidate uses impressive vocabulary to talk about fruit and vegetables, then they are very wrong because that type of language is inappropriate. That is, the examiner might have no real idea of your meaning. On the other hand, you will get points if you use “impressive” vocabulary appropriately and show that you know the exact meaning of these words.
Candidates often forget to use a variety of words from the basic, everyday language to a more sophisticated level – as long as the sophisticated language is appropriate. That is, you are discussing the importance of money or the environment. Then the examiner might expect to hear, “The current financial crisis has caused a significant amount of turbulence in the financial sector”. Similarly, something such as, “Environmental issues continue to hassle governments around the globe nowadays”.
Moreover, candidates infrequently use phrasal verbs, which are a very common part of spoken English. Phrasal verbs are excellent examples of idiomatic language styles. Examples such as: ‘look after’ (somebody); ‘come up against’ (difficulties); ‘look forward to’ (something in the future) are very good resources for candidates.
Candidates also forget to use adjectives to describe feelings and emotions. This means the examiner is unclear about what you think and feel about what you are talking about. Some worthy examples of useful adjectives include: disappointed, embarrassed, fascinated, annoyed, inspired, thrilled, exhilarated, overwhelmed, delighted, disillusioned, astonished, appalled, mystified, relieved.
As well as that, many candidates fall short in describing qualities of individuals. To use an accurate adjective here will help the examiner understand a candidate’s answer more concisely.
Therefore, candidates ought to use adjectives such as: talented, ambitious, co-operative, aggressive, warm-hearted, open-minded, even-tempered, easy-going, analytical, outgoing, creative, imaginative, philosophical, sophisticated, na?ve, loyal, trustworthy, determined, motivated, persistent, and goal-oriented.
专家解读：
考官对许多中国考生的词汇使用颇有不满，提出了相当多的问题和注意点。其中第一条就是“烤鸭“们的一个极其错误的观念：口语中一定要用高深的学术词汇才能拿高分。大错特错！考试研究中心在此提醒广大考生，雅思口语的第一目标是把自己的思想和情感有效地表达出来，而不是卖弄或炫耀大词。
考官举了水果和蔬菜为例。使用学术词汇来描述水果及蔬菜只会让考官听得云里雾里、晕头转向。但事情也不是绝对的：如果你能恰当地去使用大词，并在口语表达中显示出你真正理解了这些大词的含义，你还是能得高分的。
问题之二是考生们经常遗忘用词的多样化原则：考试研究中心建议考生，既要用一些日常的普通词汇，也要适当地采用部分高级词汇。在提到高级词汇运用时，考官举了两个例子，分别关于money及environment，其中的红字部分就属于高级词汇：
The current financial crisis has caused a significant amount of turbulence in the financial sector.
Environmental issues continue to hassle governments around the globe nowadays.
问题之三是考官的一个深深遗憾：有太多的考生不知/不会/不善于使用动词词组。殊不知，动词词组是老外平时讲话中非常重要的一个组成部分！考试研究中心可以很负责任地说能够频繁、准确、地道地使用动词词组绝对是让你口语加分的一大绝招，因为这会体现出你已经进入到英语的成语/习语/俗语境界（请大家反位思考一下：如果一个老外会经常不经意之间说出许多中文的成语，你对他/她的中文水平会打多少分？）。
在描述内心情感及感受的时候，考官强烈建议考生多使用表示人类感情的形容词，并给出了以下的清单，希望每位读者都把这些单词一一去查词典：
disappointed, embarrassed, fascinated, annoyed, inspired, thrilled, exhilarated, overwhelmed, delighted, disillusioned, astonished, appalled, mystified, relieved（注意：表示情感的形容词以过去分词居多。）
同样的道理，在进行人物描述时（特别是Part 2的人物描述），一定要使用跟人类性格/品性相关的形容词，这是考官给出的第二个清单：
talented, ambitious, co-operative, aggressive, warm-hearted, open-minded, even-tempered, easy-going, analytical, outgoing, creative, imaginative, philosophical, sophisticated, na?ve, loyal, trustworthy, determined, motivated, persistent, and goal-oriented
专家终极建议：
综合资深雅思口语考官的见解，考试研究中心在此提出两条终极建议。第一、一定要把小词（日常、普通、熟悉的词）和大词（学术、高深、专业的词）结合起来使用，不可偏废其中任何一方。在平时练习的过程中，就要经常留意自己的讲话中有没有大量的普通词汇？有没有适量的学术词汇？两者之间的衔接和搭配是否恰当、自然？
第二、建议考生专门列三个表：表一是动词词组；表二是与情感/情绪有关的形容词；表三是描述人物特性的形容词。列完之后，做如下的口头练习：针对每个表中的每个单词或词组，能自然、流利、脱口而出地讲出三句话。能做到这一点的考生，不用上场参加考试去证明自己，你本身的口语能力已经达到了雅思7分的水平。反过来说，想要考7分的“烤鸭”们，去好好准备这三张表是你最佳的捷径！
责任编辑：八月骄阳
