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May 2011

IELTS test in Melbourne, Australia – May 2011 (Academic Module)

The IELTS exam below was shared by S, who took the test recently in Melbourne, Australia.

Listening test

Section 1. A conversation between a personal trainer and a customer, about creating an individual fitness plan.
Questions: Filling in blanks.

Section 2. Zoo keeper was sharing his experience and advising students who want to choose a similar course.
Questions: multiple choice, filling in blanks.

Section 3. Two students were talking about their assignment.
Questions: multiple choice, filling in blanks.

Section 4. A researcher was sharing his views about wind mills and why they are dangerous for birds.
Questions: multiple choice, filling in blanks.

Reading test

Passage 1. Gathering of seeds.

Passage 2. Stress management – experts’ opinions and solutions.

Passage 3. A study about student intelligence and teaching methods.
Questions: Filling in blanks, matching opinions with experts’ names.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given a line graph comparing the trend of purchasing books from book shops, supermarkets and internet with a prediction for 2012.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Environmental pollution is a serious issue and it is important to take steps on an individual level to reduce it. But now, since it is becoming an international issue, it is time to take environmental protection to a higher level. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

How Vanja achieved Band 8 in IELTS in less than a week

You are going to enjoy these short and practical tips from Vanja Popovic, a 24 year-old student from Serbia. Vanja is one of our IELTS results competition winners in April, who was able to prepare for IELTS in less than a week, on her own, using online resources. We asked Vanja what would she suggest to other test takers, and here is what she said:

“Thank you very much for choosing me as one of the winners!

I must say that I didn’t have the time to really prepare for this exam. As soon as I’ve typed in “IELTS” in my browser, one of the first sites I came up with was the IELTS-Blog, and I generally stuck to it.

I would recommend to students, especially if they do not have much time to prepare (I had less than a week), to find and do as many sample tests as they can. That particularly extends to the reading part, because most texts you’ll come across will ask you to think in a similar way: what was the writer’s intention, whether the statements are factual or subjective, and you will have to develop the ability to find and understand the key points faster than you usually would.

As for the listening, I recommend listening to on-line radio stations (BBC, US stations, Australian ones), so you can adjust to different accents and pronunciations. That kind of listening I found very useful when done a couple of hours before the listening part, that way you can adjust more quickly to the test itself. For those two parts (Reading and Listening) I scored 8.5, and for the writing part 8. I must say that I didn’t have the time to practice writing at all, so I don’t have any useful tips, except maybe not to forget to answer all parts of the presented topic.

Honestly, I thought speaking would be my greatest asset, but I scored rather poorly, getting only a 7. I would suggest to all students to carefully check those cue cards (for the second speaking part) and practice their answers. I haven’t done that, and I expected my theme to be some deep, argumentative subject (in other words, I expected questions about the world trade market and nuclear disaster in Japan), and I got the task to describe my best friend. I spoke less than a minute, and probably got penalized for that.

Therefore, if you know the contents of all four parts and know what to expect, and remain calm and focused, then success is guaranteed.

Good luck!”