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Recent IELTS exams

Real students tell about their recent IELTS exams: IELTS questions, topics, tasks, answers.

IELTS exams in India and Denmark – November 2009 (Academic Module)

IELTS test in Bangalor, India was described by V., whose good memory and kindness made this update possible. Thank you V.! Later on I found out from C. that in Denmark they had the exact same topics in the Listening, Reading and Writing tests.

Listening test

Section 1: A conversation between 2 people about a damaged bicycle and garden tools.
Section 2: A visit to a biscuit museum.
Section 3: Orientation program for University students.
Section 4: Dangers of windmills to birds.

Reading test

Passage 1: About road transport and its trends in Europe.
Passage 2: Australian Parrots.
Passage 3: About an old manuscript.

Note: Both students said that all the passages were long and the language was quite difficult to understand.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)
There was a bar graph showing amount of oil in billion barrels discovered each year between 1950 and 2020, including prediction.

Writing task 2 (an essay)
Governments spend huge amount of money on arts. Some people feel that this is justified, whereas others feel that this money can be used for public health and education. Give your views and your opinion.

Speaking test

Interview
– Tell me about the place you live in.
– How long have you lived there?
– Who introduced you to the Internet?
– What are the benefits and who uses the internet the most these days?

Cue Card
Talk about a speech you heard which you liked, please say:
– what was the topic,
– who was the speaker,
– why did you like it.

Discussion
– Speeches by people other than teachers – should those be held at schools?
– What are the differences between speaking to children and speaking to adults, should visual aids be used?
– Why do people attend conferences?
– How can conferences be used as a means of cultural exchange?

Update: I have been told that IELTS exam in Hyderabad, India was the same.

IELTS exam in Nigeria – November 2009 (Academic Module)

IELTS test in Lagos, Nigeria was described by O., who remembered the following topics and questions. Many thanks, O.!

Listening test

Section 1: There was a discussion between a man who wanted to rent an apartment and a property agent.

Section 2: This section was a monologue, a man gave a speech about the type of car one can buy, easy to maintain and how to maintain it, type of fuel to use and other related details. It was difficult for me to understand. Section 4 was usually the difficult one, but this time it wasn’t the case. I think it’s because of Australian accent which I am not used to.

Section 3: Two students were conducting a research about their town.

Section 4: Don’t remember.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (a report)
We had a table with four sectors of company namely: Manufacturing, Building, Services and one other, information about numbers of workers (skilled workers, unskilled workers and technical/managerial staff) needed in 2003 and 2004 in percent.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)
People in the city do not get to interact and know their neighbors, thereby losing community life. What causes it and measures that could be taken to solve it.

Speaking test

Interview
– What is your full name?
– What shall I call you?
– Talk about the apartment or flat that you live in.
– What part of the house do youi like most?
– How will you make you home better?
– Who does most of the cooking in the house?
– Do you prefer home cooked food to eating out?
– Do you go out a lot with friends?
– Where do you go with your friends and what do you do?

Cue Card
Describe a song / music you heard when you were little, you should say
– Who sang the song / played the music.
– What was the type of music.
– What was it all about.

Discussion
– Do you like music?
– Is it good to have music on the background in a shopping mall?
– Do people in your country prefer their traditional music to foreign music?
– Do music contribute to noise pollution?