IELTS-Blog

Here are the questions from a recent IELTS exam in Malaysia, thanks to G who remembered quite a bit:

Listening test

Section 1: A conversation between father and daughter about choosing a venue for a wedding from a few different ones. Questions: fill in the blanks, information matching.
Section 2: Zoo staff briefing two trainees about their job with the polar bears. Questions: Fill in the blanks, complete sentences.
Section 3: A professor talking at a seminar about designing a computerized car by Uni students. Questions: fill in the blanks.
Section 4: Wind turbines in some place in Australia

Reading test

Passage 1: About tour packages.
Passage 2: Advertisement of a position with Chemical company.
Passage 3: About a journey of a botany professor, the discovery of Douglass Fir trees and bringing them back to the UK.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (letter)
Write a letter to local council about the closure of playground and explain
- why so few children are using the playground
- how to increase the number of children using the playground
- why this is important

Writing Task 2 (essay)
Some people are staying in the same line of work while others change it. What are the reasons for staying or changing? What is your opinion?

Speaking test

Interview
- What do you do, work or study?
- What type of work do you do?
- What are your responsibilities at work?
- How do you liaise with your colleagues? Why do you need to communicate with them at work?

Cue card
Describe a speech you heard recently, you should say:
- Where was it?
- Who was the speaker?
- What was the main purpose of this speech?

Discussion
They asked about having outside speakers going to schools to talk to children:
- What kind of speakers will be good for children?
- And kind of speakers will be good for adults?
- What is the main criteria for speakers catering to adults?
- Do these speakers need visual aids in their talks?
- What are the speakers concerned of when speaking to adults?

A friend from Georgia, USA has remembered almost everything about her exam (thanks a lot, M!). Here are the topics and the questions:

Listening test

Section 1: a customer inquiring about which barbecue model to buy.

Task: There was a table with columns for model, type of build, special features and the price. We had to fill in the blanks.

Section 2: a train journey of a group of students.

Task a. Again, fill in the blank type of questions, asking what is mandatory to carry, time they meet, duration of the journey, kind of transport from the station to the hotel.

Task b. It had two questions where we had to select which features were available in the hotel they were staying.

Task c. There were three multiple choice questions related to the tour of the city after they reach the hotel.

Section 3: two students discussing the design of a research project related to birds.

Task a. Fill in the blanks

Task b. A table and a flowchart of the sequential steps to design the research.

Task c. Multiple choice question, where we were required to mark if the observer had to make an entry in the observation sheet, the researcher or neither.

Section 4: A lecture on child psychology comparing old thought process with the new one.

Reading test

Passage 1. Article on Jack London Square – related to the life and inspiration of the noted writer Jack London and also about the site.

Passage 2. Continuation of the previous article – this time, there was a piece on the Potomac yacht and the historic site tour. Questions were about the person who handled the management of Potomac ship, what was in the historic site tour, what time should one get there to take the last tour and what was the fee for an adult.

Passage 3. Car pool – how to make use of car pool, how to get authorization from line manager, who to contact to book for it, how to reach the car pool, where were the cars parked, what to report to the help desk about the car.

Passage 4. A passage on maps – the earlier maps, how it progressed over the ages. We had to choose which paragraph had contents specific to a given sentence. There were also True/False/Not given questions.
This part had a few tricky questions.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (letter)
Your friend is visiting you for a week. However, the dates that she is visiting you are not suitable for you. Write a letter to her -
a. apologizing
b. explaining why the dates don’t suit you
c. suggest an alternative plan

Writing Task 2 (essay)
Competitive sports like football are considered to add a lot of value by bringing people of different age and nationality together. Yet some argue that these sports divide people based on age groups and nationalities. What is your opinion? Write about each view and then describe yours, supporting it with relevant examples from your experience.

Speaking test

Interview
- What is your name?
- Can I see your identification?
- Where are you from?
- Are you working or studying?

Cue card
Speak about a recent talk that you attended, you should say
- where was it held and by whom
- what was the talk about

Discussion
- Is it difficult to give talks to children? Why?
- Do you prefer talks or discussions. Why?
- Do you like to travel?
- Describe a place you visited recently and explain why did you like it?
- Which place would you like to visit and why?
- Do you believe International Cultural conferences help to bring people closer? How? What kind of exchange takes place there?

Note: My interview was scheduled at 13:00, however I was called in at 12:15 hours. You might want to report 20 minutes early for the Speaking test. We were told that if the interviewer called our names and we were not present, she/he reserve the right to cancel the Speaking test for that candidate.