Skip to content

March 2009

IELTS exam in the UK- March 2009 (Academic Module)

Today our friend K. is reporting from the UK about his Academic IELTS exam. He’s got quite a bit of bad luck, read on:

Reading test

Reading was difficult, because I started with the last passage (about NASA and information) and spent too much time on it. The reason why I got stuck on that passage was my watch – it stopped during the exam, and in the two following passages I had to guess and give random answers, almost no time was left.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (report)
The graph was about the number of people playing four different sports in European countries (the graph was quite complicated). I just tried to pick up on the most noticeable trends.

Writing task 2 (essay)
Some people think that using traditions as attractions for money-making will destroy our culture, but others think that there is nothing wrong with attracting tourists that way. Discuss, what is your opinion?

Speaking test

Interview
The questions were about my job, what do I want to do after finishing my studies, about gardens in my country and about my favorite food.

Cue card
Tell me something about the person you like spending time with the most, you should say
– How do you know this person?
– How much time do you spend together?
– What do you normally talk about?

Note: the same topic as in India!

The follow up questions were about communication and free time. The examiner seemed to be very interested and our conversation was flowing.

IELTS exam in India – March 2009 (General Training)

This update came from India where our friend G recently took his General Training IELTS test. Thanks, G!

Note: one day later a person from London, UK told me they had the exact same questions.

Reading test

In Reading, there were 5 passages and about 10 questions were of True/False/Not Given kind.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (letter)
You lost something and someone found it and sent it to you. Writing a letter to that person
1. Thanking the person
2. Explain how you must have lost it
3. Explain what was there in it and why it was important to you

Writing Task 2 (essay)
In some countries, the number of people opting to live alone is increasing every year. Is this a positive development or negative development. What is your opinion.

Speaking test

Interview
– Where are you from?
– What are you doing? Do you like your job?
– How do you keep fit?
– Do you listen to music, what kind of music?
– Do you think computers and mobile phone keep people close or away when compared to how things were in the past?
– Increase in use of SMS (through mobile phone), what do you think about it? Is it good or bad?

Cue Card
Tell me something about the person you like spending time with the most, you should say
– How did you know this person ?
– How much time do you spend together?
– What do you normally talk about?

Discussion
– How you help your workers at office and what kind of help you receive from others?
– What are your job responsibilities?
– Is your job helping you to learn more?
– What kind of business is your company into?