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April 2009

IELTS exam in Eritrea, East Africa – April 2009 (Academic Module)

This update came from Africa about a recent IELTS exam. This is what Y remembers about the test in general and about the topics and the questions in particular:

“It was my first time taking the exam and personally, I dont believe it is a valid exam to assess your command of English. To me TOEFL seems more valid.

Listening test

Section 1: a professor providing information about a university, location, financial aid, etc.
Section 2: a women lost her property in the train, etc.
Section 3: fishing in the State of Alaska.
Section 4: how plants move from place to place.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (report)
We had charts about absenteeism from work, a case study done in Europe for three years.

Writing task 2 (essay)
The essay was about economical and social pressure on children.

Speaking test

– Do you drive a car?
– Do you like to party?
– How do you arrange a party?
– Do you travel a lot?

Here I must say that I was amazed by these questions and how irrelevant they are to my country. Parties and driving a car are rare in my country because of the poverty and other issues. Few people drive a car, especially students, may be less than 1% of us drive. The same applies to parties, for cultural and economy reasons we dont have many parties.”

IELTS exam in Brazil – April 2009 (Academic Module)

This update came from Brazil, where M just had her IELTS exam. She shares the questions and topics while they are still fresh in her memory:

Listening test

Section 1: A guy was trying to buy a Barbecue. The sales woman explained to him the models, advantages, disadvantages and prices.
Section 2: Specific characteristics of a Barbecue that the man had chosen and complements he should buy.
Section 3: Students gathering information about a project he needs to work on.
Section 4: The history of the development of bicycles.

Reading test

Passage 1: Text about “Pearls – a jewel from the sea”. There were 2 pages and 6 paragraphs, the questions were to match main idea of each paragraph to a statement, or to complete sentences with words given.

Passage 2: “The development of emotions in babies”. The questions were to match main ideas of some paragraphs to statements and about the research data.

Passage 3: “Foreign Language – How it is managed in the business environment”. It was the most difficult one in my opinion because it asked for to many details on the last part of Reading . We had to complete a long paragraph with words given, to identify the main idea of the text and to complete sentences with words from the original text.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (report)
A table with 4 different types of housing in 3 residential areas, the information was provided in percentages.

Writing Task 2 (essay)
People say that watching television is bad for children. What do you think? Develop both arguments, positive and negative, and give your opinion.

Speaking test

Interview
The examiner asked me:
– My full name
– Whether I work or study.
– Which tools am I using to study?
– Where is the closest swimming pool to my house.
– Do people in my country like to swim? Why?

Cue card
A stage in my life I liked the most.
– When was it
– Where I was living
– Why it was important

Discussion
– Talk about marriage. What are special stages in my country. Why do I think they are important?
– If there was a particular stage or age at which people are considered adults in my country. What do I think about it.