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June 2011

IELTS test in Dhaka, Bangladesh – June 2011 (General Training)

The questions below were shared by our kind friend A who recently took a General Training IELTS exam in Bangladesh.

Listening test

Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. A number of hotels and their descriptions, each in a separate paragraph.

Questions: matching paragraphs to statements, True/False/Not Given.

Passage 2. Description of a car pool organization from which people can borrow cars when needed.

Questions: filling in blanks, short-answer questions.

Passage 3. About Polynyas, their formation, impact and involvement with climate and sea life.

Questions: matching a paragraph to the statement, finding a paragraph where the question statement is located, filling in blanks, short-answer questions.

Passage 4. Don’t remember.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

Recently you have visited a tourist attraction. You enjoyed there, but also had a problem. Write a letter to the manager of the attraction and say:

– What did you like there?
– What problem have you faced?
– What do you suggest to rectify the problem?

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

In many countries crime is increasing. What are the main reasons for this? What can be done to improve the situation? Support your position with relevant examples and include your own experience.

Speaking test

Interview

– What is your full name, please?
– Do you study or work?
– What do you do for living?
– Who is more involved in household activities in your culture?
– Do you do some of it?
– Do you like it?
– Do people like outdoor activities?
– How much time do they spend on outdoor activities?
– How much time do you spend on outdoor activities?
– What do you do after that?

Cue Card

Describe a friend who could be a good leader. Please say

– What is his/her name?
– How did you meet him/her?
– Do people behave differently when he/she is around?
– Why do you think he/she can be a good leader?

Discussion

– In your country culture who are the leaders in the family?
– When a decision needs to be made, who has the last word?
– Do you think managers should seek an employee’s view, before making a decision?
– How is it done in your office?

IELTS tips from Srishma, who scored Band 8 after 3 weeks of preparation

Below is a genuine story of Srishma Sridhar, an Indian student and one of our IELTS results competition winners in May. She only needed Band 5 to get into the medical college where she wanted to study – but after preparing in a certain way Srishma overshoot her target and got Band 8.

When I asked Srishma how she studied for the exam, here’s what she wrote back:

“Hi Simone,

I owe my IELTS success to your book ‘Target Band 7’. I needed Band 5 to get into the medical college of my choice. Thanks to your book, I scored Band 8! I focused mainly on your book and website for my test preparation. I also attempted various tests from the websites mentioned in the book as well as the main website.

My advice:

1. First of all, get to know more about the test itself. Understand the structure of the test, how it is divided into 4 modules, the time allotted for each module, the types of questions to expect and so on.

2. I highly recommend buying a preparation book, preferably ‘Target Band 7’. This book is the ideal tool for any IELTS test taker (I believe there’s another version for General Training as well). This book covers EVERYTHING – the different modules, how to answer the questions, how to identify “traps” in reading and listening sections, how to manage the limited time (especially for writing) and much more. I followed the 21-day study plan given in the book. I found the pocket tips quite handy as well.

3. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. As they say, practice makes a man perfect. There are loads of websites out there which offer various free tests. One must practice and attempt the questions within the time limit to get a feel of how the real exam is. Also try to attempt full IELTS mock tests (all the 4 modules at once).

4. For the Speaking test – it is very important that you practice real IELTS test questions for this module. Believe me, the questions DO repeat! IELTS-Blog provides numerous such questions – do practice them. During the test, try to give creative answers…or at least just answer; do not remain mute or the examiner will think that you did not understand the question.

5. Listen to BBC or other English news channels and try to understand what is being said. Conversing with a native speaker will also help.

6. Practice. I am repeating this point because this is the only way to success 🙂

I hope future IELTS test takers will benefit from these tips. I wish everyone all the very best.”