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May 2009

IELTS exam in Toronto, Canada – April 2009 (Academic Module)

Here are some topics and questions from IELTS exam in Canada – thanks to V, who managed to remember quite a bit!

Listening test

Section 1: A man was trying to decide whether it was better to buy a gas or charcoal Barbecue. The sales woman described to him the models, prices and main features. They asked to complete some information from a table with three columns: name of the model, price and main features.

Section 2: There was a map with names of places and streets and a list of names of places and streets. They asked to relate each name to a letter from the map.

Section 3: Two students were asking a friend about a project that she has done before (they both need to do the same project). She explained some details about the project and gave them recommendations about what to study and which are the bests books to study with (there was a list with books and authors names and we were asked to complete some information).

Section 4: The history of the development of bicycles. There was a table with the type of bicycle, features and advantages and disadvantages They asked to complete information in the table.

Reading test

Passage 1: Text about “Pearls – a jewel from the sea”. There were 2 pages and 8 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 and capacity to understand the emotions of adults”. The questions were to match main ideas of some paragraphs to statements and about the research data.
The text described three different studies made by three researchers that suggest that since the babies are born they show their emotions and they understand adults emotions.

Passage 3: “Ways that multinationals manage the Linguistics problems that they have when they have offices in countries that speak a different language. The text described some ways of dealing with that problem and some advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

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
– What is your name?
– Describe the city where you live.
– Do you like to be informed of the daily news?
– How do you know the news?
– Do you consider being informed of the news important? Why?
– Who do you think watch or read more news: teenagers or older people? Why?
– Why do you think that (teenagers/older people) watch or read more news?

Cue card
Tell me about a work of art that you like.
– Describe it.
– Where did you see it?
– What do you feel when you saw it?
– What do you know about it?

Discussion
– What kind of art is popular in your country? Why?
– Why do you think it is popular ?
– Do the people visit museums in your country?
– Do you think that cardboard and signposts are a form of art? Why?
– What aspects must to observe a person watching a work of art?

IELTS exam in Latvia – April 2009 (Academic Module)

In this report S tells us all about her IELTS exam in Latvia. Here is what she remembers:

I took the IELTS exam and feel very confident that I’ll receive very good results. The one thing I understood is that you need to practice, practice and practice before the exam, otherwise you’ll panic – time pressure is enormous, especially during the writing part.

Listening test

Section 1: a woman and a man talk about on-line shopping. The woman explains to the man what she wants to buy, says that she is worried about payment and security. They discuss advantages and disadvantages of on-line shopping.

Section 2: A man calls the new library, the administrator tells about what type of services and books/CDs/DVDs he can have on the all 5 floors of the library, about the costs, time limits etc.

Section 3: Three students discuss the advantages (seating and engine capacity) and disadvantages (unsafe, can roll over in the accident, can smash the lighter vehicles in the accident) of SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), what people like about them (image, mothers think they are safe), how the number of SUVs can be limited (higher insurance costs)

Section 4: Talk about the passion fruits. Where they are grown, what they need to be grown, how they are exported and why Western people buy them. How the export of these fruits may affect the economy of the countries where they are cultivated.

Reading test

Section 1: About flowers’ scent. How the scent can help farming, how insects perceive the smell, how plants protect themselves from the insects.

Section 2: About the growth of traditional medicine in Australia. The text had some figures and the was a table which we had to fill.

Section 3: Very interesting text about the benefits of teaching hearing children the sign language. It was mostly about the teaching of American Sign Language. The title of the text was ‘Sign, baby, sign!’

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (report)
The bar chart showed the numbers of high-speed continuous internet connections per 1,000 people in South Korea, Japan, USA, Germany and Britain in 2001 and 2002. The table showed the change in the number of connections in percents.

Writing Task 2 (essay)
A number of people are increasingly changing their careers during their working life. Do you think this is positive or negative development? What reasons this tendency may have?

Speaking test

Interview
– Where are you from?
– Tell me about your flat or house
– What do you like about your flat?
– How long have you been living there?
– What is your favorite room in your flat/house?
– How could you improve your flat?
– Do you like traveling?
– What place that you have visited did you like most?
– What country would you like to visit? Why?

Cue card
You should talk about an interesting and impressive speech or talk you have heard, you should say:
– Who was the speaker
– Where have you heard the speech
– What it was about
Explain why did you like the speech and what impressed you so much

Discussion
– Why some people are good speakers and some are not?
– How can you develop or improve your speaking skills?
– What makes a speech interesting?
– What skills successful orator must have?
– Are visual aids helpful giving a speech?
– Are conferences related to integrating different cultures helpful?
– Which is more useful – a discussion or listening to a speech?