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March 2008

Update from an Academic IELTS exam, France

Listening test

Section 1. A young guy wanted to find a temporary job at the employment agency – don’t remember well but it was about the implementation of a swimming pool and an entertainment center (or something like that).
Section 2. 2 students were talking about a paper or an assignment they had to do.
Section 3. A man was talking about how to talk in front of an audience (a lecture).
Section 4. Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. About ambrosis ( substance found in whales’ sperm and used to make perfumes).
Passage 2. A text about map making.
Passage 3. About the printing industry and the development of new technologies.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (a report)
We had a pie chart and a table about the causes of land degradation in 3 different regions in the world.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

What is causing people to become overweight? Give reasons and suggest measures to deal with this problem.

Speaking test

Interview

The examiner asked me about where I was living at the moment, then about the kind of transportation in my town, then a few questions about meeting new people.

Cue Card

Describe a change that happened to you recently.

Discussion

I was asked questions about change in general.

Thanks to Aurore for sharing with us her IELTS experience.

The IELTS Speaking test video

Many people feel insecure about the IELTS Speaking test, they consider it the hardest part of IELTS. I think that the reason is being face-to-face with the examiner; the intense interaction is what scares the students.

And guess what, as I was thinking “If only I could show them what it’s really like, maybe they wouldn’t be so frightened anymore” – I found this great video on YouTube which shows what a real IELTS speaking test is like.

So here it is, enjoy and relax – it’s not that bad!

Thanks to http://www.ipassielts.com for the video – great job, guys!