Speaking Part 1 · Shopping 5 題 Band 7+ 範答 + 購物詞庫

Q1. Do you enjoy shopping?

Depends entirely on what I'm shopping for, honestly. Browsing a bookshop or a nicely curated menswear place, I can easily lose an hour — it feels more like exploring than shopping. Big supermarket runs, on the other hand, are pure admin; I'm the person with a list, moving at speed, out within 20 minutes. So "enjoy" is conditional.

Q2. Do you prefer shopping online or in physical stores?

Online for almost everything except clothes and groceries, if I'm honest — it's genuinely hard to beat the convenience of having something at your door by tomorrow morning. For clothes I still want to try things on; sizing varies too wildly between brands. And for fresh food I'd rather pick my own vegetables than trust someone else to choose a decent-looking mango.

Q3. How often do you go shopping?

For groceries, once a week — usually a big haul on Sunday afternoon at the supermarket near the MRT. For anything else, it's pretty unpredictable; I can go a month without buying anything non-essential, and then splurge on a couple of things in a single weekend because I've finally got round to replacing some stuff I've been putting off. I'm not really a casual browser.

Q4. Do you think people buy too many things nowadays?

I do, yes — and I'd include myself in that. The combination of fast-fashion prices and one-click online checkouts has made it genuinely too easy to buy things you don't need. I try to do a proper wardrobe clear-out twice a year partly as a reality check, and it's always a bit embarrassing how many things I've bought and barely worn.

Q5. Is shopping a good way to spend time with friends?

It can be, although I'd say it's better for some friendships than others. With my closest friends, wandering round Xinyi for an afternoon is basically a long conversation with occasional pauses to try something on — the shopping is almost incidental. With friends I see less often, I'd usually rather sit down for a proper meal than shuffle between shops for two hours.

Band 6: I prefer online shopping. Because it's convenient and fast. I can get things the next day.

Band 7+: Online for almost everything except clothes and groceries — it's hard to beat the convenience of having something at your door by tomorrow. But for clothes I still want to try things on; sizing varies too wildly between brands. And for fresh food I'd rather pick my own vegetables than trust a stranger to choose a decent-looking mango.