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August 2015

IELTS test in Qatar – August 2015 (Academic Module)

Our friend R took the IELTS test in Qatar and remembered the following questions:

Reading testIELTS test in Qatar

Passage 1. Different methods to calculate carbon footprint.
Passage 2. About Greek coins.
Passage 3. Findings of a study conducted on monkeys and humans.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given two graphs showing the percentage of people born in Australia and outside Australia, living in cities, towns and rural areas in 1950 and 2010.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Many developed countries are giving financial aid to the poor countries. However, this could not solve the problem of poverty in these nations and so other types of help are needed. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test

Interview

– What is your name?
– Where are you from?
– Where are you living now?
– Do you like the place the you live in now?
– Are there any shops close to your home?
– Do you like weekends?
– What do you do on weekends?
– Do you like to study on weekends?
– What did you do last weekend?
– Have you been to any museums?
– Do you find museums useful?
– Do you like to visit museums with friends or alone?
– Would you like to work in a museum if you had a chance?

Cue card

Talk about a family event you attended in your childhood, please say:
– what was the event?
– what was your age then?
– what did you do on that day?

Discussion

– Do you think that childhood is the preparatory phase for adulthood?
– When is a person considered an adult in your country?
– Do you think that children today are growing faster than in the past?
– Do you think that there is too much pressure on children now?
– What can the society do to help a child grow up and become a responsible adult?
– Do you think that people today are materialistic?
– Do you think it is a positive development?

Didier Got IELTS Band 8 Using These Simple Tips

Today it is our pleasure to share the IELTS tips from Didier Chene. Didier is 19 years old, he lives in French Polynesia and his first language is French. However, his English is very good – he got an overall Band score of 8 in IELTS and consequently won in our monthly IELTS results competition.

Band 8 in IELTSWhen we asked Didier for some advice that will help other test takers score better, he said:

“Thank you very much for the regular e-mails from IELTS-Blog, as well as your Target Band 7 book! The tips were extremely helpful!

Credit must also be given to Unique New Zealand, a wonderful English language school located in Browns Bay, North Shore. My heartfelt thanks go to Linda K and Jane D, two lovely Unique teachers who have given me invaluable advice and help that have hugely contributed to my score. Many of the tips they have taught me are included in the following section.

When writing/transferring your answers onto the answer sheet, write all of your answers in CAPITAL LETTERS. This way, not only will it be easier for markers to read what you wrote, you also avoid having to worry about whether your answer needs to have a capitalised letter or not. Proper nouns, for instance, when written on the answer sheet with a lower case letter, even if it is the right word, might be counted as wrong. Avoid this simple mistake by writing everything in capital letters on your answer sheet for the listening and reading sections.

For listening, I advise you to be an “active” listener: cross out the words on the question booklet as you hear them so that you’re not just “listening”. By doing something at the same time, you are more likely to keep on task, instead of letting your mind wander.

The reading section is all about getting the grasp of what each paragraph is talking about, and using this as a “map” to locate your answers. You may wish to jot down some key words next to each paragraph to help you scan quickly which paragraph(s) the answer is likely to be in.

In your writing, when it comes to the second section, I advise you to be opinionated – don’t sit on the fence. Reading newspapers or watching the news in English is a good place to start to form your opinions on general topics that may show up in this section. It is also a good practice for your reading and listening skills.

When it comes to your speaking, it is a good idea to read through previous topics from IELTS-Blog.com, and think about what you’ll say if you were to get this question. Remember that “honesty” is not being marked here, so as long as your story is believable, and you’re able to convey it with your current English level, it will avoid moments of “blanks”, and will likely raise your score as a result.

One suggestion I have is to talk about something that has already happened to you, but using a future tense. For example, if you’re asked about travel plans, tell about the travel plans you made in the past, but talk as if you were planning this for the future. This way, you will sound more genuine, since it’s something that actually happened.”