I

NDIVIDUAL ORAL

MOCK EXAM pict 6 soldiers 1ST IB 2015

Good afternoon, My name is .. and my candidate number is

.First of all Im going to describe this picture, then Im going to link it
with the caption below it and finally Im going to link it up with Customs and
Traditions,specifically with the tradition of an English speaking country,which in this
case it will be the UK.
Looking at this picture I can see a troop of British soldiers, they are wearing their typical
uniform that consists of a tall black fur hat, a red military dress coat with gold buttons,
dark trousers and in this case they are all holding rifles. They are taking part in a
parade, it could be the typical one that is done outside Buckingham Palace in London,
the well-known Changing of the Guard that every tourist is willing to see when he/
she visits the capital of the UK.
The caption says Uniforms keep us safe and I think this is connected with the fact that
soldiers have always worn uniforms in order to be identified in case of war and because
as their job is really a public service to protect their society against other countries
invasions they must show this through the clothes they are wearing , it is an identifying
sign.They usually represent a community which shares the same feelings with regard to
patriotism, although in some cases the army has only been at the service of governments
that have not represented most of the peoples feelings. However, in my view this is not
the case in the UK, specially in England, its monarchy is one of the oldest in Europe and
it is the only one which still maintains very old traditions that in another Western country
could be considered great pomp and too exaggerated .
These soldiers belong to Queen Elizabeth II Royal Guard , this uniform is not really very
practical to wear ,it shows a tradition and the proud of being at the service of the British
monarchy, God save the Queen is their motto . If you go to London and you want to
take a photo next to one of these soldiers, you can realize they are not allowed to show
any emotion at all, they just look front as if they were robots, because these are the
instructions they have been given , they arent individuals at all when they wear this
uniform, but they represent an institution which is great value for most British people
and that in the old times of colonialism was the head of the British Empire. Sometimes
when you represent a community for practical reasons you must lose your identity, just
superficially ,in order to represent the identity of the group that you are part
of( own ideas about military uniforms or uniforms in
general,- count the minutes 3- 4 for this first part.