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December 2014

Happy New Year 2015!

Dear readers,

This is Simone, and I don’t have an IELTS update for you today, because… it’s a special day. Today is the day we say goodbye to 2014, and welcome 2015.

How was your 2014? Did you have a good year, or an average one? What was your highest moment, and your lowest? I’m not just asking you – these are the questions that I ask myself, too.

Happy New Year 2015!Over the years I got used to sitting down on the last day of December and thinking about everything that happened in the ending year. It gives me some sense of accomplishment, some perspective, another opportunity to remember things I am grateful for, or mistakes that I don’t want to repeat in the future 🙂

For me 2014 was anything but ordinary. A lot of good things happened. We won in People’s Choice round of Best Australian Blogs Competition, my books ‘Target Band 7’ and ‘Ace the IELTS’ made it again to the Top 10 IELTS Books list by TestStudyGuides.com. A new book series ‘IELTS Success Formula’ intended for people targeting Band 8, that Stephen Slater and I wrote together, became available this year (the Academic book was released to the general public in January, and the General Training e-book – in November). IELTS Success Formula has been gaining popularity day by day, and is already selling in several countries in print edition (Australia, UK, Singapore and Vietnam to name a few) – not to mention our clients all over the world who are buying it as e-book.

We migrated to a better server to ensure IELTS-Blog.com loads faster in your browser, because a website that receives over 4.2 million visits a year and gets over 13.7 million pages downloaded really needs a very fast, reliable server. Our Facebook page grew from 50,000 fans in the beginning of 2014 to over 318,000 and counting!

2014 saw us through tough times as well. Without going into too much detail, we had to save the website from some people with bad intentions. It wasn’t easy, it took time, skills and work, but we’re safe now – and I’m glad, because you need IELTS-Blog.com to be there, you are using it to prepare for your exams, aren’t you?

But enough about us and the website… let’s talk about YOU for a moment. I just wanted you to know that I am so grateful to all of you. From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank all the people who visited our website to get the latest IELTS updates, all the teachers who referred their students to IELTS-Blog.com, and everyone who sent their comments to help us improve this website and our IELTS books.

I wish all the test takers to pass their IELTS exams with a high score, and I wish all the teachers success in preparing their students to pass with great scores as well. If you need any help – we’re going to be right here, supporting all of you in 2015, just like we have been doing for the past 9 years.

May 2015 be kind to you and your families. Happy New Year!

IELTS test in Canada – December 2014 (Academic Module)

Two IELTS test takers from Canada (thank you A and C!) remembered and shared the following information about their recent exam:

Listening testIELTS test in Canada

Section 1. A map with description and a talk about its different characteristics.

Section 2. About gender differences in a workplace.

Section 3, 4. Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. About Ecotourism.

Passage 2. About people with different temperament and their characteristics.

Passage 3. Don’t remember.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given two graphs showing the survey results of people who smoke in one European country, divided into two categories. A bar graph was showing the percentage of male and female smokers in six different age groups in 2004 and a line graph was showing the trends of male and female smokers between 1974 and 2004.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some say full time students should spend most of their time studying, others believe that they should do other activities as well. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Use examples to support your answers.

Speaking test

Interview

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
– What is your favourite day of the week? Why?
– What is your busiest day of the week?
– Do you like the place where you live now?
– Would you recommend it to your friends or family?

Cue Card 1

Talk about a thing that you own and never used. Please say

– What is it?
– When did you get it?
– Why didn’t you use it?

Discussion 1

– Let’s talk about recycling.
– Give an example of things that can be recycled.
– What are the advantages of recycling to our environment?
– Do you believe that children in school should be taught to recycle?

Cue Card 2

Describe an old person that you know well. Please say

– Who is this person?
– What is he/she like?
– How much time do you spend with the person?

Discussion 2

– What can grandparents learn from their grandchildren and vice versa?
– How can technology help old people?