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Recent IELTS exams

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

IELTS exam in Germany – June 2009 (Academic Module)

This is a precise description of IELTS in Germany – many thanks to T. I hope your result will be much better than the overall feeling after the exam. And now to the questions:

Listening test

Section 1: a customer complaining about a flight at an airline help desk. Filling in gaps, multiple choice questions.

Section 2: a tourist tour to a harbor with several attractions. Shown was a map with areas named A-F and we had to identify things like meeting place etc.There was also completing a table and I think gap filling.

Section 3: two students talking about a maritime project about whales, the questions were completing a table and filling in gaps.

Section 4: I can’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1: article about “The carbolic smoke ball”, a story about flu 150 years ago in London. The questions were multiple choice, True / False / Not Given and completing sentences.

Passage 2: an article about an Australian company producing a bathroom cleaner, how they restructured the company and earned a fortune after producing only 1 sort of cleaner instead of 700 different ones in the past. A bit complicated to read, it was easy to get confused. Questions: completing sentences, multiple choice, True / False / Not Given.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (report)
A diagram (cross section) about the MontBlanc tunnel in Europe and a Japanese rail tunnel. Describe information and compare where necessary.

The writing test shocked me! I was mentally fixed on graphs, bar charts, pie charts and so on and the vocabulary so it was a shock to me when I saw the diagram.

Writing Task 2 (essay)
The government has to provide primary and secondary education, but for university education s.o. (students, their parents etc) should pay. To what extent do you agree.

Well, not a piece of cake actually, but I remembered the hints in your book, made a list for pros and cons and started writing. Finished the last word when the examiner said. “Stop writing, pencils on the table” so I couldn’t check for mistakes.

Speaking test

Interview
I entered the room and we had a little smalltalk (the examiner started this smalltalk) and I was very confident. Up to the moment when the examiner said: “Oh by the way, that’s not the test. I have to start the recorder first” Then she did, stated date, time , center number, my name and candidate number and so on.

The examiner was nice and very kind, no problem about our relation and so on but it felt like a bloody police questioning and I was not able to answer the bloody questions in two sentences.

Cue Card
What kind of course would you take if you had the time, you should say
– what would you learn in this course
– why would you chose it

Discussion
A few questions about
– quality of teachers
– sport facilities in my town,
– what kind of sports I’d like to do

IELTS exam in Karachi, Pakistan – June 2009 (General Training)

Here is a report from IELTS in Pakistan, thanks to our friend H – we all wish you a high score!
Update: the same questions appeared in IELTS in UK, in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Iran and in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Listening test

Section 1: a conversation between a girl and a man about arranging a program (the questions were to fill in the gaps).

Section 2: The questions were multiple choice and True / False / Not Given. I couldn’t exactly remember the topics, but they were difficult.

Section 3: a map and a detailed program of a festival, the questions were fill in the gaps, but in a form of table, easy.

Section 4: Types of whales with their names, etc – easy.
 
Reading test

Part 1: there were 7 or 8 advertisements of recreational and physicial activity clubs. The questions were T/F/NG and gap fills, easy ones.

Part 2: a passage about cherry pickers and packers, the questions were T/F/NG, easy ones.

Part 3: Factory rules for employees, times and allowances, including holidays (moderate difficulty).

Part 4. Ant types, their life and functioning pattern. The questions were summary completion and gap fills, difficult ones, then T/F/NG and matching (moderate difficulty).

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (letter)
Write a letter to an editor of a newspaper regarding your concern about construction of multistory building in the current park location. In your letter say:
1. How did you come to know about the plan
2. Why it is important for you
3. What is your opinion about this plan.

Writing Task 2 (Essay)
Doctors are against fast food but still people eat it. Why do people eat fast food? What can be done to solve this problem?

Speaking Test

Interview
– Tell me your full name.
– Do you work or do you study?
– Do you like driving?
– Why do you use car?
– When are you offered to drive a car?
– When do you allow your children to drive a car?
– What are the problems & harms of reckless or bad driving?

Cue card
Talk about a conversation you had recently
– when and where was it?
– what was it about?
– why it was important to you?

Discussion
– What topics people chat about?
– What is the difference between a conversation between two men and two women?
– What is better, a conversation on a phone or a face to face conversation, why?