Listening test

Section 1. A man was calling a newspaper to to publish an advertisement.

Section 2. Two teachers were discussing with their supervisor the activities they had
planned for students.
Section 3. A lecture about plants.
Section 4. Don’t remember.
Reading test
Passage 1. An article about child labor.
Passage 2. About the impact of climate on the wealth of countries.
Passage 3. About grammar and words.
Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We had a chart describing the evolution of the level of qualifications among UK workers
from 1990 to 2010 (one line chart was showing 4 trends).
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Some people think they should keep all the money they earn without paying taxes, others
disagree. Discuss, what is your opinion?
Speaking test 1
Interview
- What is your full name?
- Where do you live?
- Is it a big city or a small town?
- How long have you been living there?
- What would you prefer: to attend a concert or to buy a CD of your favorite artist?
Cue card
Talk about the car you would choose if you could buy any car. Please say:
- What car would you buy?
- Why would you buy this particular car?
Discussion
Questions about public transport.
Speaking test 2
Interview
- What is your full name?
- Where are you from?
- May I see your Identification Card?
- Where do you live?
- What can you tell me about your hometown?
- Tell me a little bit about the history of your hometown.
Cue Card
Tell me about a specific skill that you have learned. Please say
- Why did you learn it?
- How did you learn it?
- Why do you find it useful?
Discussion
- Do you think children are better than adults at learning new skills?
- Do you think we have to keep up with new skills?
The speaking questions below were shared by S and her friend (thank you!), who took the
test in Dublin, Ireland.
Speaking Test 1
Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- What do you want me to call you?
- Where are you from?
- Tell me about your hometown.
- What is it famous for?
- Have you studied about the history of your hometown at school?
- Do you like to meet people?
- What are the common places where people prefer to meet?
- What were the places where people liked to meet in the past?
- Do you like to go to museums?
- Did you like to visit museums when you were a child?
- When did you visit a museum recently?
- What kind of museums are there in your country?
Cue Card
Talk about a person who is very successful in his/her life. Please say
- Who is that person?
- How do you know him/her?
- Why do you like that person?
Discussion
- What does success mean to you?
- Why do people like to follow a successful person?
- Why do parents pressure their children to gain success?
- Does success means richness?
- What is the difference between success, work load and leisure?
Speaking Test 2
Interview
- General introductory questions.
- Do you like reading books?
- What type of books do you read?
- Are you reading a book presently?
- Would you like to write a book in the future?
Cue Card
Describe a situation when something in your house broke or stopped working. Please say
- What was it?
- What happened when it broke/stopped working?
- How did you feel about it?
Discussion
- Why do you think people buy second-hand products?
- Why do people sell second-hand goods and advertise them on the internet?
- Do you think advertising fools people?
What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Tell me about your hometown.
- What is it famous for?
- Have you studied the history of your hometown at school?
- Do like watching news on TV or reading it in newspapers?
- Have you ever used Internet to read news?
- Do you watch dancing programs? What kind of dancing do you like to watch and why?
- Do you like to go to dancing classes?
- Is it good for children to learn how to dance? Why?
Cue Card
Describe a gift you bought for someone. Please say:
- What was it?
- Who did you buy it for?
- Why did you choose this gift?
- And please say whether the person liked it or not, and why.
Discussion
- Was your gift expensive?
- Is it important to you that your gifts are expensive?
- Do you think the person you bought the gift for cares about its price?
- Are gifts important?
- In your country, when do you usually give gifts?
- Is it hard for you to choose gifts for others?
- What is easier for you: giving or receiving a gift? Why?
- What do you think of shopping on the internet?
The IELTS exam below was shared by our Vietnamese friend T, and here are the parts he
remembered:
Writing test
Writing task 1 (a report)
Compare figures in two pie charts that described what students in Britain have been doing
after graduation in 2008. The first one was about the decisions of students with B.A degree,
the second was on the students with M.A degree.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Some people believe that robots are getting increasingly important in our lives. However,
others think robots are extremely dangerous. What is your opinion? Why?
Speaking test
Interview
- What is your name?
- Where are you from?
- Tell me about your hometown.
- What is your hometown famous for?
- What do you do for a living?
- Tell me about your typical day.
- Would you like to change it? Why?
- What do you do in your free time?
Cue Card
Tell me something about a foreigner that you like the most. Please say:
- Where did you meet that person?
- Why did you like him/her?
- What do you learn from him/ her?
Discussion
- Do you like making friends with foreigners? Why?
- Is it easy to spot foreigners?
- What do you think about immigration?
- Why do you think people immigrate to other countries?
2011-02-04 05:30:40-05

IELTS exam in Qatar was shared by V (thank you!) and here is what he remembered:
Listening test
Section 1. Phone conversation about fruit picking.
Section 2. Two students and a lecturer were discussing an essay.
Section 3. A play about murder and mystery.
Section 4. Don’t remember.
Reading test
Passage 1. An article about turtles laying eggs.
Passage 2-4. Don’t remember.
Writing test
Writing Task 1 (a letter)
Write a letter to a friend saying that you are moving to an English speaking country. Ask if
he/she is interested in furniture that you want to give away and explain how to pick it up.
Writing Task 2 (an essay)
When families have a meal together it is considered social activity. Do you think eating
together is important to people in your country?
Speaking test
Interview
- What is your name?
- Do you work or study?
- Why do you like your job?
- Is it easy to get a similar job in your country?
- When did you visit a museum last time?
- What books do children enjoy reading in your country?
Cue card
Describe a person that you admire the most in your family, please say
- Who is he/she?
- Why have you chosen this person as a role model?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of immigration?
Section 1. A conversation between a company representative and a customer about fridge
repairs.
Section 2. Tracing a location on a diagram.
Section 3. A group of college students and a teacher were talking about starting a project.
They were interviewing, preparing a questionnaire and selecting a project topic.
Section 4. A lecture on extreme sports in the 21st century.
Reading test
Passage 1. An article about different stages of origination of plants, their medicinal use and
herbal benefits, and different botanical discoveries in the field of pharmacology.
Passage 2. About various studies conducted to compare and contrast the presence of
intensity and taste in music between animals and human beings, and the relationship of
music and language.
Passage 3. New ways of bringing ice water from Antarctica to Australia at minimum fuel and
transportation costs.
Writing test
Writing Task 1 (a report)
We were given a table showing the percentage of PhD lecturers / inspectors after course
completion and students getting employment within six months after graduation from three
colleges. The task was to summarize the information provided and where possible to
compare and contrast the data.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Overcrowding has been increasing in cities and states. What are the reasons and remedies
needed to avoid it?
Before we begin, there is something else you need to know. In the recent post about the difference
between formal and informal writing styles there was a mistake. Although it was caught and fixed
almost immediately on the website, the erroneous version was sent to your emails before we could
stop it. To clarify, the words “children”, “many” and “much” are formal equivalents of informal “kids”,
“a lot of” and “heaps of”. My apologies, if the previous email confused you.
And now to the common mistake in the IELTS Writing test. As you may know, there are 2 tasks,
Writing Task 1 and Task 2, and for both Academic and General Training modules Task 1 is shorter
(150 words) than Task 2 (250 words). Often people decide to write the Task 2 first, before writing
Task 1. No problem so far, but we are getting to the really important bit.
It is essential that you pay attention to the Answer Sheet and write your answers in the right places.
There are 2 marked spaces on the Answer Sheet that you get in the Writing test, one says “Task 1″
and the other says “Task 2″. To avoid confusing the examiner who will check your work, you need to
make sure that the the essay is written under “Task 2″ and the report (for Academic) or the letter (for
General Training) – under Task 1.

If worse comes to worst and you’ve mixed the two spaces, don’t panic. First, finish writing your tasks
– wherever you’ve started to write, don’t worry about the wrong places, just take care of the contents
and the paragraphing as usual. After the Writing test is over you can ask staff at the test center to
affix a note to your work explaining where each task is. It will help the examiner locate the right task
and your score won’t suffer.
Good luck with your exam!
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IELTS Writing: telling the difference between formal

and informal
Many of you have asked me about the difference between formal and informal writing in IELTS and
this tells me that it’s a common problem. So here is what you need to know about the styles of writing
in IELTS.
If you are preparing for the Academic IELTS module, both Task 1 and Task 2 in the Writing test are
formal. For General Training candidates, Task 2 in Writing is always formal, and Task 1 can be formal
or informal.
As you know, Task 1 for GT module is a letter, and if the topic asks you to write to someone you
know, that is an informal letter – as opposed to writing to someone you don’t know, which is formal.
The difference between formal and informal styles is mainly in the vocabulary. Informal words are the
ones used in everyday conversations and formal are used in books, contracts, business letters and
essays. If the task requires formal writing – avoid using informal vocabulary. If the task requires
informal writing, such as a letter to a friend, avoid using formal ‘heavy’ words.

Apart from the vocabulary in formal writing it is best to avoid words like “I”, “you”, “we”, unless you
are expressing an opinion. For example in an essay instead of writing “You would find it difficult to get
a job without proper qualifications”, write something like “One would find it difficult to find a job
without proper qualifications”, or you could write “Finding a job without proper qualifications would be
rather difficult”.
For those of you who don’t live in an English speaking country and don’t speak English on daily basis it
will be difficult to tell the difference between formal and informal vocabulary, which is why I compiled
this short list of words. You could memorize it and use in your writing while practicing – this way the
chances you will use the correct word in the exam increase.

Formal Informal

Inform me Let me know

Cancel Drop

Contact Get in touch

Obtain Get

Apologise Say sorry

Postpone Delay

Request Ask for

Compensate Make up

Establish Set up

Discover Find out

Handle Deal with

Investigate Check up on

Tolerate Put up

Increase Go up

Children Kids
 Many / Much A lot of

Many / Much Heaps of

Before we begin, there is something else you need to know. In the recent post about the difference
between formal and informal writing styles there was a mistake. Although it was caught and fixed
almost immediately on the website, the erroneous version was sent to your emails before we could
stop it. To clarify, the words “children”, “many” and “much” are formal equivalents of informal “kids”,
“a lot of” and “heaps of”. My apologies, if the previous email confused you.
And now to the common mistake in the IELTS Writing test. As you may know, there are 2 tasks,
Writing Task 1 and Task 2, and for both Academic and General Training modules Task 1 is shorter
(150 words) than Task 2 (250 words). Often people decide to write the Task 2 first, before writing
Task 1. No problem so far, but we are getting to the really important bit.
It is essential that you pay attention to the Answer Sheet and write your answers in the right places.
There are 2 marked spaces on the Answer Sheet that you get in the Writing test, one says “Task 1″
and the other says “Task 2″. To avoid confusing the examiner who will check your work, you need to
make sure that the the essay is written under “Task 2″ and the report (for Academic) or the letter (for
General Training) – under Task 1.
If worse comes to worst and you’ve mixed the two spaces, don’t panic. First, finish writing your tasks
– wherever you’ve started to write, don’t worry about the wrong places, just take care of the contents
and the paragraphing as usual. After the Writing test is over you can ask staff at the test center to
affix a note to your work explaining where each task is. It will help the examiner locate the right task
and your score won’t suffer.
Good luck with your exam!

Transitions
Transitional words and phrases are what gives your essays coherence, we need them to join
sentences and thoughts together. Look at the lists below. These are transitional phrases that you can
memorize and keep in your arsenal for the IELTS writing module.
AGREEMENT: also, plus, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover, additionally, to add to that,
next, in accordance with, accordingly, in agreement, finally, for instance, for example, in
exemplification, exemplifying that, in fact, factually speaking, in terms of, and so forth, looking at the
nexus between, in coordination with, along those lines, collectively speaking, generally speaking,
indeed, undoubtedly, obviously, to be sure.
CONTRAST: however, contrastingly, in contrast, on the contrary, on the other hand, To put it into
perspective, from a different angle, nonetheless, nevertheless, but, yet, a catch to this is, sadly
enough, as a hindrance, looking at the holdups, oddly enough, instead, in direct opposition, still, and
rather.
RESULT: as a result, as a consequence, consequently, thus, therefore, hence, thereby, resulting in,
ultimately, in the end, finally, in the overall analysis, in hindsight, in retrospect, retrospectively,
vicariously, the long term effect, as a short term result, significantly, as a major effect, effectively,
heretofore, hereafter, thereafter, in short, generally, over all, concluding.

4 ways to get in trouble with your IELTS Writing

tasks
If you have an IELTS exam this weekend, this post can literally save your score. Many people get in
trouble with their IELTS Writing for no reason, just because they don’t realize some things are not
acceptable in IELTS letters, essays or reports. Here is a number of ways you can get in trouble
with your IELTS writing tasks:
1. Using informal English in the IELTS Writing tasks.
Informal English is OK for your Speaking test – it is not OK for your Writing test. Even though not
every informal word gets penalized, the more formal your style is, the better your score will be. To
demonstrate the difference, informal expression “loads of / tons of” should be replaced with “many” or
“much”; “fed up with” should be replaced with “lost his patience”, etc.
2. Using contractions.
Contractions are “it’s” instead of “it is”, “I’ve” instead of “I have”, “we’re” instead of “we are” (these
are only a few examples). Contractions are a bad, bad thing to use in your essay, they don’t save you
much time and can cost you marks. Do me a favor and forget about contractions in your IELTS
writing. Write “should not” instead of “shouldn’t”, “could not” instead of “couldn’t”, “would not” instead
of “wouldn’t”. You get the idea.
3. Using slang.
You can use slang any time talking to your friends, but this is the only place where it belongs, in a
conversation between friends. Keep it out of your IELTS essays, letters or reports. You can’t write
“dunno” instead of “don’t know”, “wanna” instead of “want to” or “gonna” instead of “going to”.
4. SMS-like spelling.
We all are typing SMS messages, chatting on Skype and the like, and there is a bunch of shorter ways
to write longer words. We type “u” instead of “you”, “c” instead of “see”, “IMHO” instead of “in my
humble opinion”. None of these can appear in your IELTS work, unless you are specifically trying to
mess up and get a lower score than you deserve. You need to write the full word and spell it correctly,
period.
I hope this post has caught you in time to prevent any of the above mistakes. Good luck with your
eThis is the my post about connective words and here you will find words to use in sentences referring
to examples, describing reasons or sequencing events in time.
Time
 for instance
There are many schools in many countries you could go to study to, for instance the schools in London
or Birmingham.
 one example
One example of how to get better in cooking would be to start reading recipes.
 for example
 just as
I wanted to be home already just as much as a thirsty man in the desert wanted water.
 in particular
I am referring to my exams, in particular, IELTS and TOEFL.
 such as
 namely
My friends, namely Andy and Cindy, have told me about this new exhibition in the city.
 to illustrate
Reason
 since
Since you ask, I’d like to tell you my story
 because (of)
 due to
Due to illness of the teacher, this lecture is canceled.
 owing to
 the reason why
 in other words
 leads to
This assumption leads us to believe that …
 cause
The cause of this unfortunate accident was…
Time
 before
 since
Since 2005 I have been working in …
 as
 until
Until now I wasn’t able to find anything like it.
 meanwhile
Meanwhile, I would like to ask for your patience.
 at the moment
At the moment I am experiencing financial difficulties.
 when
 whenever
Whenever I call him, he appears to be very busy.
 as soon as
 just as

Continuing the topic of previous posts (part 1 and part 2), here are some more connective words to
use in your IELTS essay, letter or report. The headings in bold are the purpose for which you are
using the connective words.
Certainty
 obviously

I was very disappointed, obviously because my expectations were too high.

 certainly
I will certainly let her know your opinion.
 plainly

You are plainly wrong

 of course

 undoubtedly

She is undoubtedly very beautiful

 Condition
 if
 unless
I won’t be able to meet you, unless we schedule it in the morning.
 whether
Whether you like it or not, this is the truth.
 provided that
I can guarantee a good result, provided that you study.
 so that
I can send you the documents so that you would have proof.
 depending on
We can have a picnic this weekend, depending on the weather.
Summary
 in conclusion
 in summary
 lastly
 finally
 to sum up
To sum up, I strongly support the efforts of our society to help the environment.
 to conclude
 to recapitulate
 in short

I was going to post more connective words again, if it wasn’t for an email that gave me another good
idea.
These connective words are awesome, but they won’t help you if you are seeing them for the first
time and don’t know how to use them in a sentence. So now, I am repeating the whole list – with
examples, where appropriate.
Addition
 in addition
In addition, I would like to point out that my neighbor is disturbing me late at night.
 and similarly
Your life will change forever and similarly, your whole family will feel the change.
 likewise
Some people have little time for a hobby, and have likewise little will to get one.
 as well as
 besides
We aren’t friends. Besides, I don’t feel it’s my place to set him straight.
 furthermore
Computers are getting faster and faster these days; furthermore, their cost is getting lower and lower.
 also
 moreover
I’ve wanting a change for a long time, moreover, I feel I deserve one.
 and then too
 not only … but also
Not only this product is good for your hair, but also for the whole body.
Sequence
 first(ly) initially
Initially, you would start putting a plan together.
 second(ly)
 to begin with
To begin with, you will need to commit a portion of your time to studying.
 then
 next
 earlier/later
Later on there comes a stage when your skills are put to a test.
 after this/that
 following this/that
Consequence
 as a result
I studied well and as a result, I got a high score.
 thus
 so
 therefore
I was younger and therefore, less experienced.
 consequently
 it follows that
 thereby
I upset my friend, thereby causing her pain.
 eventually
 then in that case
 admittedly
Admittedly, he is the smartest person I know.
Contrast
 however
The book is expensive, however it’s worth it.
 on the other hand
She says she feels fine, on the other hand, her face is pale and she doesn’t look healthy.
 despite
 in spite of
In spite of the difficulties, the task was completed.
 though
He still insists, though he knows that won’t do any good.
 although
 but
 on the contrary
The music didn’t lift her spirit, on contrary, it made her feel weak and vulnerable again.
 otherwise
 yet instead of
He felt unwelcome, yet instead of leaving, he stayed.
 rather
Eggs for breakfast is not a good idea, I would rather have some toast.
 whereas
He was her true love, whereas for him she was just another girlfriend.
 nonetheless
While they didn’t trust each other, nonetheless they worked together for many years.
 even though
 compared with
 in contrast
 alternatively

Addition
 in addition
 and similarly
 likewise as well as
 besides further more
 also moreover
 and then too
 not only … but even
 besides
Sequence
 first(ly) initially
 second(ly) etc.to begin with then
 next earlier/later
 after this/that
 following this/that
Consequence
 as a result

 thus
 so
 therefore
 consequently
 it follows that
 thereby
 eventually
 then in that case
 admittedly
Contrast
 however
 on the other hand
 despite
 in spite of
 though
 although
 but
 on the contrary
 otherwise
 yet instead of
 rather
 whereas
 nonetheless
 even though
 compared with
 in contrast
 alternatively

This post is basically a common mistake alert. As you know I’m receiving a lot of emails from IELTS
test takers and they tell me about their exams, what went right, what went wrong, and we analyze
the situation and what should have been done differently.
And here is a point regarding the latest exam. As you know it was identical in many countries and
apparently many people had the same problems, because they weren’t mentally prepared.
Assumption # 1
People assumed that task 1 in Academic IELTS will be a chart or a graph – and when they were given
a diagram, it came as a complete shock. As a result, it took them longer to get their head around the
task and they spent over 30 minutes only thinking what they are going to write in their report. Then
it’s a chain accident – if the first task takes you longer, you don’t have enough time for your essay
and you are stressed, so the performance goes down the drain.
This could be easily solved by practicing beforehand. Guys, when you practice – don’t choose just
graphs, prepare for diagrams as well, it;s important to be prepared for whatever they throw at you
and not things you think are likely to appear. If you’re under time pressure and have only a week to
study – fine, do just one or two diagrams, but at least try yourself at it.
Assumption # 2
I don’t know why, but people assume that IELTS questions never repeat – when this blog is a proof
that they do, and quite often. I’ve got an email from a student that said: “You know what is really
ironic? I saw my speaking question the night before my exam in IELTS-Blog, but thought I will never
get the same and didn’t practice for it.”
Do yourself a favor – go through the list of recent exams and familiarize yourself with the latest
questions. The best chances to get the same questions as before are, of course, in the Speaking test,
however in the Writing test we too have seen that the questions were repeated over time.
And above everything else – good luck with your preparation and I wish you an easy exam!

Spelling in IELTS: British or American?

Not everyone knows that there is British and American ways of spelling words, and they are different.
The question about the acceptable spelling came up a lot lately and I found out that many students
are unsure how to spell words in the IELTS Listening, Reading and Writing tests – the British or the
American way.
First, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain: if you ask someone from USA
and someone from the UK to spell a word such as color, the American will spell “color” and the
person from UK will spell “colour”. There are many other examples:
favorite (USA) – favourite (UK)
honor (USA) – honour (UK)
memorize (USA) – memorise (UK)
check (USA) – cheque (UK)

There is no point in listing all of the differences here, you can see the whole list on this page.
As to the question, what is the right way to spell words in IELTS, American or British, the answer is
both. You can use either form and it will be accepted, no penalties

2 assumptions you shouldn’t make about your IELTS

exam
This post is basically a common mistake alert. As you know I’m receiving a lot of emails from IELTS
test takers and they tell me about their exams, what went right, what went wrong, and we analyze
the situation and what should have been done differently.
And here is a point regarding the latest exam. As you know it was identical in many countries and
apparently many people had the same problems, because they weren’t mentally prepared.
Assumption # 1
People assumed that task 1 in Academic IELTS will be a chart or a graph – and when they were given
a diagram, it came as a complete shock. As a result, it took them longer to get their head around the
task and they spent over 30 minutes only thinking what they are going to write in their report. Then
it’s a chain accident – if the first task takes you longer, you don’t have enough time for your essay
and you are stressed, so the performance goes down the drain.
This could be easily solved by practicing beforehand. Guys, when you practice – don’t choose just
graphs, prepare for diagrams as well, it;s important to be prepared for whatever they throw at you
and not things you think are likely to appear. If you’re under time pressure and have only a week to
study – fine, do just one or two diagrams, but at least try yourself at it.
Assumption # 2
I don’t know why, but people assume that IELTS questions never repeat – when this blog is a proof
that they do, and quite often. I’ve got an email from a student that said: “You know what is really
ironic? I saw my speaking question the night before my exam in IELTS-Blog, but thought I will never
get the same and didn’t practice for it.”
Do yourself a favor – go through the list of recent exams and familiarize yourself with the latest
questions. The best chances to get the same questions as before are, of course, in the Speaking test,
however in the Writing test we too have seen that the questions were repeated over time.
And above everything else – good luck with your preparation and I wish you an easy exam!
Before we begin, there is something else you need to know. In the recent post about the difference
between formal and informal writing styles there was a mistake. Although it was caught and fixed
almost immediately on the website, the erroneous version was sent to your emails before we could
stop it. To clarify, the words “children”, “many” and “much” are formal equivalents of informal “kids”,
“a lot of” and “heaps of”. My apologies, if the previous email confused you.
And now to the common mistake in the IELTS Writing test. As you may know, there are 2 tasks,
Writing Task 1 and Task 2, and for both Academic and General Training modules Task 1 is shorter
(150 words) than Task 2 (250 words). Often people decide to write the Task 2 first, before writing
Task 1. No problem so far, but we are getting to the really important bit.
It is essential that you pay attention to the Answer Sheet and write your answers in the right places.
There are 2 marked spaces on the Answer Sheet that you get in the Writing test, one says “Task 1″
and the other says “Task 2″. To avoid confusing the examiner who will check your work, you need to
make sure that the the essay is written under “Task 2″ and the report (for Academic) or the letter (for
General Training) – under Task 1.
If worse comes to worst and you’ve mixed the two spaces, don’t panic. First, finish writing your tasks
– wherever you’ve started to write, don’t worry about the wrong places, just take care of the contents
and the paragraphing as usual. After the Writing test is over you can ask staff at the test center to
affix a note to your work explaining where each task is. It will help the examiner locate the right task
and your score won’t suffer.
Good luck with your exam!
Speaking test
Interview
- What is your name ?
- Tell me about your hometown.
- Is your hometown a suitable place to live in?
- Which languages do you speak?
- Did you find studying English difficult?
- What are the most natural sounds?
Note: D says “I had a problem with this question, I couldn’t get exactly what type of sounds she was
referring to. It could be laughing, crying, or some of natural reactions to pain, etc.).”
- Do you take walks often?
- Where do you usually go for a walk ?
- What are the benefits of walking ?
- Do people like walking in your country ?
Cue Card
Talk about a friend that you recently met after a long time. Please say
- When and where did you meet him / her?
- What did you talk about?
- Did you enjoy meeting him / her and why?
Speaking test
- What is your full name?
- What can I call you?
- Where are you from?
- What are you doing, working or studying?
- Where are you doing your studies?
- What is the importance of reading for kids?
Cue card
Describe a garden where you often go to spend your time, please say
- where it is,
- what is special about it,
- why you go there.
Discussion
- What outdoor activities people prefer to do?
- What do you think about the city development?
- How countryside is being affected by the city development?
- Do you think government should take care of the natural resources?
- What are the men-made effects on natural resources?
Interview
- Do you work or study?
- What do you intend to study?
- Where do you plan to work after studying?
- Do you read magazines and newspapers?
- Do you think they help in the process of learning a new language?
- What are the main differences between London and your home town?
Cue Card
Talk about a place where you have lived, please say
- Where is this place?
- How long have you lived there?
- What are the best and the worst things about this place?
- What is the best time of the year to visit?
Discussion
- Are there any differences between people from cities and the countryside?
- What kind of differences?

What is your name?

- Can I see your identification?
- Do you work or study?
- What is your job?
- What does your job involve?
- Does your job require experience?
- Do you pay attention to fashion? Why?
- What kind of fashion do you prefer?
- Do you listen to weather forecasts? Why?
- What kind of weather do you like?
Cue card
Describe a TV program that you like and watch. Please say
- What is the name of the TV program?
- What is it about?
- Why do you watch it?
- When do you watch it?
Discussion
- Do people watch TV a lot these days?
- How often do you watch it?
- How do you see TV programs change in the future?
- Do you think the amount of TV programs will increase or decrease in the future?
- Is it good that children watch TV?
- Is it possible to educate through TV?
- Why don’t parents control children while they are watching TV?
Speaking test
Interview
- May I have your full name, please?
- Where do you come from?
- Are you studying or working?
- Tell me more about your job.
- What kind of job would you prefer in the future?
- What kind of weather do you like? Why?
- Do you listen to weather forecasts? Why?
Cue Card
Describe a TV program that you enjoyed. You should say:
- What was the program?
- Where did you watch it and who was with you?
- Why did you enjoy that program?
Discussion
- What TV program is popular in your country?
- Why is it so popular?
- What are the advantages of TV programs?
- Do you think that TV will be more popular in the future?
Listening
1. Keep the volume of your headphones a bit loud, so that no noise, distractions or any sort of
disturbance nearby could affect your concentration during the test.
2. Note down all the answers on your question papers while the recording is playing, don’t worry
about the handwriting, just be quick, because once the test is over, you will be given 10 minutes
transfer time in order to copy the answers to your answer sheet.
Reading
1. Do not leave any answer blank because there is no negative marking in the IELTS exam. So,
answer all the questions, the answers you guess have a chance of being correct.
2. Before looking for the answers in a passage, underline all the important names, years and dates.
Most of the nouns are helpful at the time of looking for the answers, because most of the answers
consist of them or are located near them.
Writing (Task 2)
Write at least 4 paragraphs. Always leave one blank line after every paragraph and every paragraph
must be started from the beginning of the line (there is no need to start a new paragraph from the
middle of the line).
2. Try to write 8 – 10 points on the topic on a piece of paper while planning your essay, it will make
your work easier. Use only the points which you can easily explain or support with examples. Do not
try to just think of points without writing them down, as while writing the essay you may get
distracted and forget those points.
3. Try to write at least 250 words and not exceed 285 words, as excess words could be grammatically
wrong or incorrectly spelled.
4. Do not repeat any point, write about different points and if possible, try to give supporting
examples as well.
5. Do not use any phrase or idiom if you are not sure about the meaning, or if you are not sure about
the exact usage.
Speaking
1. Greet the examiner while or after entering the examination room to demonstrate good manners
and show respect.
2. Maintain eye contact with the examiner.
3. Be confident (do not feel shy or embarrassed).
4. While attempting the Cue-Card, answer all the questions.
5. Do not repeat any sentence or point twice.

Preparation tips from Batool (Band 8 in IELTS)

It’s Saturday, so I’ll keep today’s post short, to let you get back to the fun things you have planned
for today as soon as possible.
When we asked Batool (our student from Pakistan, who got Band 8 in IELTS) how she prepared for
the exam, she said
“I did not use any specific method to study, but I practiced hard and I guess the saying is right, it is
the key to success.
I did all the exercises from the Cambridge Series, as well as used Target Band 7, and it proved to be
of great help, especially in writing and speaking.
Writing seemed the toughest to me, so I used to practice in it daily, but before writing I used to
search different samples to get an idea of a proper writing style.
As for speaking, practice as much as you can with friend or family member. The tests posted by
different people on this site are extremely helpful because they do get repeated.
I hope everyone gets the required score like I did.
Best of Luck.”

always trust in kindness of people, and it rarely lets me down. Today we have a chance to learn from
2 of our best IELTS scorers, Dr. Vanita Krishnan ( Band 8 ) and Olivia Widjaja ( Band 8.5 ). When I
asked them, here is what they said helped them to score as high as they did:
Olivia said:
“Thank you for letting me to participate in the competition.
I don’t think I have any special techniques or strategies on how to study for the IELTS test, however I
did look for resources on the Internet, when I Googled “IELTS study guide” I came across your site,
and I was reading all the comments people wrote and finally decided to buy the Target Band 7 book. I
found your book to be very helpful and it was the only book I had.
I tried to do all the exercises you gave especially the writing part, because I knew it was my weakest
point. Before attempting the writing exercises, I read all your tips and also the samples from your
blog. I only read the band 7 and 8 essay samples, and tried to mimic their styles of writing in the
exercises.
For the reading part, one tip I would give is that in the exam, read all the questions first before
reading the text, that way it would help you look for the key sentences you need to answer the
questions. Also, they used lots of synonyms in the text and the questions, and that would be a hint for
your answer.
As for the speaking part, just practice the exercises provided in the book and be confident, be yourself
on the test day.
Lastly, I hope this helps and best of luck to everyone.”
“Thank you for selecting me as a winner in the IELTS results competition.
Well, my advice to the candidates is to make it a point to read articles from good newspapers like the
Times of India and improve the vocabulary as well as the reading speed. The students need to solve at
least 2 to 3 versions of the IELTS booklets published by the British Council.
As far as the speaking section is concerned, I think students should record their own answers during
the practice sessions and listen to them to get an estimate of how well they speak and whether the
language is fluent. Also, practicing speaking in front of the mirror helped me build my confidence.
Finally, I would like to wish all the IELTS test takers ALL THE VERY BEST !!!!”
Today I have a very nice surprise for you. One of the November “Best IELTS Score” competition
winners, Shankar Lal (an engineer from Pakistan) has shared his methods that helped him score Band
7.0 in the exam.
Shankar said:
“It is very exciting to get the desired score in the IELTS test, but it needs lots of work, practice,
motivation and ambition when you are preparing for it.
As far as I am concerned, I found Cambridge IELTS series very helpful, from book 1 to 7 there are
practice tests which made me familiar with the real test format. The material presented in books is
according to needs of the test taking candidates. Besides these 7 books, there are 3 other books
known as Insight into IELTS, which provide the tips and techniques about taking IELTS exam.
Last but not least, the book which made IELTS very interesting for me was “Target Band 7″, I think
this is an awesome book, for all the 4 test sections, there are very nice tips which I think if anyone
follows, they are guaranteed to get Band 7.
From all the 4 sections, I found reading section a bit hard and needed a lot of practice, the only thing
which made it hard was shortage of time in the test, because sometimes the passages are very
lengthy and tough. So one should practice, keeping the time limits in mind.
“It is very exciting to get the desired score in the IELTS test, but it needs lots of work, practice,
motivation and ambition when you are preparing for it.
As far as I am concerned, I found Cambridge IELTS series very helpful, from book 1 to 7 there are
practice tests which made me familiar with the real test format. The material presented in books is
according to needs of the test taking candidates. Besides these 7 books, there are 3 other books
known as Insight into IELTS, which provide the tips and techniques about taking IELTS exam.
Last but not least, the book which made IELTS very interesting for me was “Target Band 7″, I think
this is an awesome book, for all the 4 test sections, there are very nice tips which I think if anyone
follows, they are guaranteed to get Band 7.
From all the 4 sections, I found reading section a bit hard and needed a lot of practice, the only thing
which made it hard was shortage of time in the test, because sometimes the passages are very
lengthy and tough. So one should practice, keeping the time limits in mind.
The second difficult section in the test was the writing section, although the 1st task of this section
(writing the report) is easy as it needs only little practice, but the 2nd portion is a little bit harder and
one should be well prepared for it. There are some familiar topics which most probably appear in the
exam with little variation, so at least those should be well prepared. The only perfect solution for it is
practice, practice and practice.
The listening section is easy if you have listened all the listening tests.
Finally, the speaking section looks very hard, but if you understand all the three parts of this section
and prepare for it from Target Band 7 then it become very interesting to you. The main factor that
matters is confidence. If you don’t hesitate and speak fluently with the examiner then hopefully you
can get a good score.
I wish all the best to the candidates taking the test.”
My sincere thanks to Shankar for taking the time to share his tips
Some people think that students who don’t take a break in studies between a high school
and a university are at disadvantage compared to students that travel and work after high
school before furthering their education. Do you agree or disagree?
Nowadays, in our competitive world, to succeed, knowledge from school and university is not enough.
Therefore, the student who study from the school to university get benefit less and contribute less too,
than those of student who go to travel or job and get experience and skills before going high. There
are two following reasons to prove for my opinion. I call the group of people who study from school to
university is group A and the other group is group B.
First of all, the World Cup, Olympics and other international games work for easing tensions among
different nations. For example, South and North Korea have football games regularly which give two
nations a chance to understand each other deeply. In the mid 1990s, a hundreds of North Korean
supporters came to South Korea with the footballers and they were very excited during the sporting
events. Even if it sounds ridiculous, many South Koreans were quite surprised at that moment when
North Koreans shouted and cried during the match. We all realized that they were very normal sports
fans even though they were occasionally very secretive. Through the sports, two divided nations could
reduce their political and ideological tensions and could feel the patriotic unity.
On the other hand, some sports matches can make international relations worse. For instance, football
or baseball games between Korea and Japan are always big matches in two countries where full of
tensions overflow. Sometimes, after the matches, the two rivals blame each other and their patriotic
emotions explode in an aggressive way. Even much worse scenario is that the troubles caused by
losing games affect the players directly. As far as I know, a couple of Korean players in Japan are
suffered from invisible discrimination after the match between two countries.
In conclusion, I think that international sporting occasions can be one of the good ways to ease
tensions or to release patriotism safely. However, I believe that games can not be the fundamental
ways for the sound patriotism or peaceful international relations.
Some people say that the Internet is making the world smaller by bringing people together.
To what extent do you agree that the internet is making it easier for people to communicate
with one another?
In today?s world _ due to the advancement of technology new inventions are coming into existence. It
is a certainty that ?necessity is a mother of invention?. _ Internet is just like a wonder box, which
contains every type of information. Besides it has also proved as a very important tool to connect
people with each other.
In today?s modernized era nobody has sufficient time to write letters to their loved ones. Moreover it
also takes longer to send or receive any information. But through an internet it is an easiest way to
send massages to our loved ones. Either it can be in the form of an e- mail or by text messages from
internet to cell phones. We can send and receive messages straight way.
In other hand today?s youth generation mostly prefer to do chatting on () internet. Through this
chatting we can write messages and straight way can get their reply. Moreover voice chatting is going
to be very popular day-by-day.
As it is a reality that advantages and disadvantages are like both sides of a coin, which usually runs
parallel. So like other things internet also have some downsides, like people are facing some health
problems for example, poor eye-sight, back ache, migrane. Today?s teenagers usually prefer to spend
their time on internet rather than to participating in other physical activities, so that?s why they are
going to be weaker in their physical health.
To conclude, I would like to say that internet is one of the most modernized and most successful tools,
not only for communication, even to get most relevant information regarding every field in a very
short period of time.
This is a great essay, well done! Remember ?the Internet? is a proper noun, currently,
there is only one. Pay attention to your punctuation – many commas are missing after
linking words. Otherwise, the essay is well argued and set out.
With all the troubles in the world today, money spent on space exploration is a complete
waste. The money could be better spent on other things.
First, until all urgent and important matters in this globe have been solved, money bumped on space
exploration is of no meaning. It is not a common sense at all to invest million dollars researching and
producing foods for astronauts (for space exploration purpose), while everyday thousands of people
are starving. Furthermore, the discovery of outer space only serves a minor group of people if the
majority are even not well-educated. Those in rural areas or third-world nations do no even know how
to prevent common threatening diseases like AIDS and lung cancer.
Then, some may argue that the purpose of space exploration are to discover new lands, new energy
resources or to deter potential threat to globe. Nevertheless, is it effective to do so while other
alternatives are available? Lands on earth are no yet effectively used. New energy resources (e.g.
solar and nuclear energy) have not yet been widely-used. Threats of plagues have not yet been
deterred. All these ?not- yets? need money. That is why costly space discovery programs are a waste
of money.
In the nutshell, people should only invest in space exploration providing that () early-mentioned
urgent and important matters have been solved. Also, purposes of space exploration campaign should
be studied carefully and other alternatives should be considered before money is wasted.
This is a very good essay, well done.
In some countries children have very strict rules of behaviour, in other countries they are
allowed to do almost anything they want. To what extent should children have to follow
rules?
Freedom plays a mandatory role in everybody?s life. We can see in today?s modernized era nobody
likes to get some restrictions upon them, whether it would be a child or an adult. Some people think
that there should have some strict rules of behaviour for children, but I disagree with this statement.
Wherever it is a reality that sometimes more restrictions can cause more frustration in children, which
leads to many other mental diseases as well. Morever they can be, behave like a stubborn. Sometimes
they feel themselves under pressure, which can be a main reason for their poor performance in their
field. In some cases children would be crazier to do these things from where we?ll try to keep them
away.
In other words _ we have to look for other aspects as well, like if we usually ignore our children?s bad
habits, then they can?t be good human beings in their future life. Moreover_ if we never draw
attention upon the children?s main activities then they may be acquiring bad company. They can know
regarding the value of respect for their elders. They can know the importance of relationships. They
can know regarding their cultural values as well.
In a nutshell, I would like to say that children should be teach regarding the value of their customs,
rituals and respect towards their elders for their future life, but most of the extra restriction should be
being avoided. It would be better to make them good human beings in their coming future.
A good essay, set out well. Some sentences are too short and could be combined together
to create more complex structure. There are also some repetitions of the same words, that
should be avoided. Overall, nicely done.
Some businesses prohibit smoking in any of their offices. Some governments have banned
smoking in all public places. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons.
Most of the firms, organization and companies as well as governments make restrictions to smoke in
work places and public amenities respectively. It has become fashionable in the world today to blame
smoking. However, although I feel that smoking can be harmful, but I don’t think it should be
forbidden completely. I would also argue that people should have the right whether they smoke or
not.
Let me deal with the three positive sides of smoking. Firstly, smoking certainly helps many people to
relax. For some, it even improves concentration. If someone is upset owing to debt or they have
exam, like to smoke to reduce the pressure or tension. Most of the people like to smoke when they
are relaxing with friends. Secondly, governments throughout the world make huge profits from taxes
on cigarettes. The income obtained from taxes provide funds which are used for building school,
hospital and public places such as parks, gardens, sports ground and foot paths. Thirdly, tobacco
industry also employs tens of thousands of people all over the world, particularly in poorer countries
like Zimbabwe or India. Without cigarettes, these people would have no jobs.
Despite these positive effects there are lots of negative effects of smoking too. Initially, smoking has
been proven to be too dangerous for health. As one cigarette contains more than 4000 chemical
substances, therefore, it causes for many dangerous diseases such as heart attacks, asthma,
bronchitis or lung cancer. According to a recent report, in Britain about 3,500 people are killed each
year in road accidents and 120,000 are killed by smoking. Furthermore, smoking costs governments
millions of dollars because of the large number of people who need treatment in hospitals for
smoking-related problems. Moreover, passive smoking is a major concern today. Recent research
shows that non-smokers can suffer from health problems if they spend long periods of time among
people who do smoke. In UK children whose parents are smoke are three times as likely to start
smoking themselves _.
In short, I think the world would be a better place without cigarettes. However, the decision as to
whether _ smoke or not should be for each individual to make. I suggest that people should not
smoke in a room or a place where there are non smokers, however they should be free to smoke
elsewhere.
This a very good essay, you have made your arguments well and set the paragraphs out as required.
However, take care with your use of definitive statements e.g. Without cigarettes, these people would
have no jobs. Maybe they would gain employment in another industry, we cannot be sure. Over all,
well done!

We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in business,

hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in
future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be more suspicious of
their benefits?
In the last two decades cybernetics have experienced a major breakthrough .This led to the utilization
of computers at nearly all parts of our daily life, from personal computers to complicated surgery
performing. Surely the uptake of this technology facilitates a lot of difficult tasks but is this excessive
dependance ripping the warmth of our lives? In this essay, I will outline how the availability of
computers affects our lives.
Most of the daily tasks an individual experiences are time and effort consuming. These two
fundemental qualities could be tremendously saved by the use of computers. The average period
required to prepare a decent meal for a middle-class family is around an hour to and hour and a half
when using traditional methods. This time could be literally reduced to half if computerized decivesare
used instead. Moreover, a busy businessman is enabled to easily close a profitable deal just with a
touch on this highly programmed laptop while enjoying his family vacation and not having to exert an
extra effort of traveling long distances just to sign a deal.
On the other hand, new generations are growing remarkably dependent on these modern utilities,
which make them handicapped when it comes to preparing a cup of tea. Inaddition, psychologists
suggest that one of the main reasons for sucidal rate increase is recent electric inventions. This is due
to that humans by nature stay emotionally healthy through socializing, but due to the importance of
modern technology to maintain a financially satisfying standard of life they gradually isulate
themselves. As time passes by each of these individuals gets stuck in a vicious circle of loneliness that
eventually leads to suicidal attempts specially among youngsters.
In conclusion, similar to every other invention computers has its benefits and drawbacks, I personally
think it all depends upon how we use the given tools . Moderation is the key here to keep the balance
and allow us to live in harmony.
Good essay, nice vocabulary, a little too long (340 words instead of 250), a few grammatical
mistakes. The topic is not fully covered (what about the “things will they be used for in future” part?).

News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspaper. What factor do
you think influence their decisions? Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good
news was reported?
News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. There are two
factors that influence their decisions. The first is the kind of customers they tend on. Because each
kind of readers and watchers has its own features. For example, if your customers are almost
teenagers, you have to concentrate on something attracting them such as stories, photographs about
singer stars, film stars, funny tales, and young fashion. It will be very silly if you try to provide
teenagers with economic, politic news. On the contrary, besiness men and politicians may never read
news about James Blunt or Keira Knightley. Therefore, what influence news editors’ decisions the most
is the taste of their customers.

The second is the hot, the attraction of news. Who will reads or watchs your news if it was one year,
one month ago even last week? The answer is nobody absolutely. In the energetic and competitive
world nowadays, people always ask for really new news. So that to satisfy customers, there is a
pressure on all editors to find continually what has already happened not only yesterday but even an
hour ago. Or else, they will lose their customers. None of editors wants that bad future.
On television or in newspaper, we seem to become used to bad news. It is a little of difficult for us to
meet a piece of good news. We can’t deny that bad things occur on the earth day by day. However,
news editors try to gain more and more customer, which means more and more money, by bad news.
Because bad news makes us curious. We want to know why it is bad, what it is about, whether it
influences us or not. As a result, we will buy newspapers or watch television to find out. And the
happiest people are, of course, news editors.
I think it would be better if more good news was reported. Bad news makes us worry and sad.
Whereas good news makes us happy. How much bad news is, there should be the same amount of
good news. So, we can give something bad a lot of thought while still be joyful with good news. Any
inequalities between good news and bad news should be avoided. That is the best solution.
Now, we can’t live without news. Thereby, the role of news editors is very important. We should
support them. And what they have to do is try their best to provide us useful news, both good and
bad.
Some of your sentences are too short – they would look better joined together. Overall, a
very good essay ? to me it looks like Band 7 candidate.