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Recent IELTS exams

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

IELTS exams in Kazakhstan and London – June 2009 (Academic Module)

IELTS in Kazakhstan and London was identical to the exam in Liverpool, according to some good people who were also kind enough to share the questions in Speaking, which, as you know is different for everybody. Here are the 2 versions of Speaking test that W and Z had:

Speaking Test 1

Interview
– What city are you from?
– What do you like about your city?
– Do people in your city use bicycles?
– Why do children like bicycles?
– How often do your friends visit you?
– What preparation do you do to meet them?
– Do you like to visit them? Why?

Cue card
Describe a dress you wore on a special occasion:
– What dress was it?
– Where did you buy it?
– What others said about it?
– Do you still have this dress?

Discussion
– Why do people wear uniform?
– Do people feel different when they wear uniform?
– Does lifestyle affect clothes people wear?
– Why does fashion change so often?
– Have a number of people who wear informal clothes increased?

Speaking Test 2

– What is your name?
– Do you work or study?
– Why did you choose this occupation?
– Do you write a lot?
– What do you write in your work?
– Is it rather handwritten or processed by a computer?
– Did you learn handwriting in school?
– Do you think is important to teach handwriting/calligraphy in school?

Cue card
What can we do / what do you do to stay healthy?
– what activity?
– why is it important?

Discussion
– Should schools be involved in promoting healthy life style? How?
– What could employers do to help their employees stay healthy/ promote healthy life style?

IELTS exam in Vietnam – June 2009 (Academic Module)

Here are the recent questions from IELTS in Vietnam, thanks to our friend N and his excellent memory. Don’t miss his personal message to all the IELTS candidates at the bottom of the page!

Listening test

Section 1: about bears in Australia.
Section 2: about automated vehicles made by students for competition.
Section 3: about three schooling/library/campus facilities (one of them is Princes Gate) and Section 4 developed this topic.

Reading test

Passage 1: about scientific research in human prehistory. Under this passage, there were different theories about when and where humans first existed. Debates between founders of the two dominant theories and comments of other scientists were also mentioned therein.

Passage 2: about synthetic fabrics and fibers, discussing mainly the development of fabrics and new technologies in making micro-fibers.

Passage 3: about human memory, memory competition, how to improve the memory.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (report)
There were four pie-charts showing the change of the population in the European country between 1901 and 1981 and a prediction on 2021. Three age groups were displayed: 0 – 64, 64 – 84 and 84 +.

Writing Task 2 (essay)
Research suggests that the majority of criminals who are sent to prison commit crimes when they are set free. Why do you think this is the case? What could be done to solve this problem?

Speaking test

Interview
– What’s your full name? How can I call you?
– Do you work or study?
– What is your job? Is it a difficult job? Will it change in the future?
– When was your last holiday? Did you enjoy it? What did you like and dislike then?
– On which occasions do people in your country offer gifts or presents?
– When do you often give gifts?
– Have you ever made a gift or present on your own?
– Is it important to give expensive gifts? Why?

CueCard
Tell me about the stage or age you enjoyed the most in your life. You should say:
– What that stage was
– Why you enjoyed the most at that state
– What you were doing then.

Discussion
– At which age are children in your country fully responsible?
– When should children be allowed to get marriage? Why? Will that be changed?
– Similarly will the age set for children to be fully responsible for their non-marriage acts be changed? Why?

——————-
And a personal message from N to all the IELTS candidates out there:

“I knew I need to go to bed early on the day before the test date. But I was so nervous about the exam that I had broken sleep. It was difficult for me to concentrate on the tests, especially the listening test, possibly because of lack of sleep. You may post this story and remind IELTS candidates of, or advise them, how important it is to have a good night’s sleep – even with such an uneasy mind.”