WRITING TASK 1:
SAMPLE 2
The table below shows social and economic indicators for four countries in 1994, according to United Nations statistics.
Describe the information shown below in your own words. What implications do the indicators have for the countries?
You should write at least 150 words.
Allow yourself 20 minutes for this task.
Indicators Canada Japan Peru Zaire
Annual income per person (in $US) 11100 15760 160 130
Life expectancy at birth 76 78 51 47
Daily calorie supply per person 3326 2846 1927 1749
Adult literacy rate (%) 99 99 68 34
A glance at four indicators of economic and social conditions in four countries, Canada, Japan, Peru and Zaire, in 1994 reflects the great differences that exist between wealthier and poorer nations.
The table shows that Japan and Canada had annual incomes of $15 760 and $11 100 per person, respectively. These figures were overwhelmingly greater than the corresponding figures of $160 in Peru and $130 in Zaire.
Health indicators, too, reflected overall levels of affluence in the four nations. Life expectancy at birth, for example, was higher among the more economically developed countries. Japan reported the highest life expectancy, 78. This was followed by Canada, 76; Peru, 51; and Zaire, 47; This suggests that richer societies are able to put more money into health care than poorer ones.
The amount of calories consumed daily per person roughly followed the same ranking. Canadians each consumed some 3 326 calories per day while the Japanese took 2846 calories. The corresponding figures for Peru and Zaire were 1927 and 1749, respectively.
Literacy rates among adults, too, were higher in wealthier countries, no doubt a reflection of ability to invest in education. Canada and Japan both reported literacy rates of 99%, while Peru claimed 68%. Zaire, the least economically developed of the four countries, had a literacy rate of 34%.
The data appear to confirm the often cited link between national wealth and health and education standards.
WRITING TASK 1:
SAMPLE 3
The chart below shows the sleep patterns of people in five different occupations according to a Canadian study.
Write a report for a university lecturer, describing the information below.
Give possible reasons for the differences.
You should write at least 150 words.
Allow yourself 20 minutes for this task.
asleep: awake:
Occupation Student Truck Driver
Full-time mother
Business
Executive Doctor 6-7 pm
7-8 pm 8-9 pm 9-10 pm 10-11 pm 11-12 pm 12-1 am
1-2 am 2-3 am 3-4 am 4-5 am 5-6 am 6-7 am 7-8 am 8-9 am 9-10 am 10-11 am 11-12 am 12-1 pm
1-2 pm 2-3 pm 3-4 pm 4-5 pm
5-6 pm
Differences in sleep patterns appear to reflect differences in individuals' occupations.
A Canadian study has pointed out, for example, that students typically sleep for a consecutive 8-hour period each night, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. This may be
because the central activity in their lives, study, takes place in normal daylight hours. Similarly, business executives sleep consecutive hours, but perhaps because their jobs are especially busy and stressful they sleep for 6 hours on average, getting up around 5 a.m..
By contrast, truck drivers, probably because of their need to keep their trucks on the road over long periods, tend to sleep in two 3-hour blocks: one between 7 and 10 a.m. and another from 4 to 7 p.m. Another occupation associated with broken sleep schedules is that of doctors. They tend to retire to bed around 1 a.m. and start their day at 7 a.m.., but may be woken up to deal with emergencies in the middle of the night. Finally, full-time mothers, especially those with young children, tend to sleep when their babies do. Typically, they will sleep from 10 p.m. and be awoken at 1 a.m. to comfort their babies for a couple of hours. They then go back to bed to wake at 6 a.m., but nap for two hours or so in the early afternoon.
Thus the influence on one's sleep pattern is worthy of consideration when choosing an occupation.
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IELTS Speaking Sample Questions and Answers Mar 16, '08 9:26 PM for everyone
SPEAKING MODULE PART 1 Sample Questions and Answers
TOPIC: Free time
1. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Before, I used to play basketball, but now I’m into gardening and going out for a walk.
2. How much time do you have each week for doing these things? I make it a point that I do these on weekends. I think that this is really important.
3. Why do you like doing these activities? Well, these activities make us feel young and healthy. Also, there are good ways on how to avoid illnesses and stress.
4. How did you start doing this activity at first? My friends influenced me to do these things. Eventually, I found these very helpful.
5. Is there some other hobby or sport you would like to try? Why? Yes! I’d like to try mountain climbing because this would be relatively new to me and it’s exciting to climb mountains and feel the wonders of nature.
6. How has the way people spend their free time changed over the years? Lately, people find it a must to find an activity to do in their free time despite hectic work schedule. They see it as a need although some view the activities for free time such as badminton as an expensive outlet.
TOPIC: Your town
1. Can you describe your town or village to me? My hometown is such a simple place. It’s a community with about 10, 000 people who are mostly into farming but others go to offices. Houses are well-spaced unlike in cities that are crowded.
There are small stores and a market and other commercial establishments like hospitals, schools and retail shops. There’s also a small sports complex and a quiet park.
2. What jobs do people in your town do? Some are farmers and the others are working in offices. In addition, there are also some who own business such as stores and other poultry business.
3. What things are there to do in your town in your free time? Well, there are quite a number of you know simple activities that could be done in my hometown. There’s badminton, typical Filipino games, and card games. Most often, people there love to gossip or chat about anything for long hours.
4. What do you like about your town? I think it has to be the peacefulness of the town as there are only a few people there. Also, I would say that there is no traffic in the town.
5. How has your town changed over the last twenty years? It changed significantly.
For instance, the market has been improved by constructing a building to enclose the area. There’s also a swimming pool now in the sports complex and the road are well-paved and there are enough public transport in the area.
TOPIC: Transport—provide your own answers here 1. How did you come here today?
2. What is public transport like in your town?
3. How do you think it could be improved?
4. Do you think people should use public transport more? Why (not)?
TOPIC: Your neighborhood- provide your own answers here 1. Can you describe to me the house where you live?
2. What is there to do in the area where you live?
3. What do you like about the area where you live?
4. How do you think it could be improved?
5. Do you think it is better to live in the centre of town or outside in the country?
Why?
TOPIC: Holidays
1. What do you do when you have a holiday? Typically, I make it sure that I have ample time to spend with my family to make up with the lost time. I also engage in physical activities like brisk walking or jogging.
2. Where do you like to spend your holidays? Why? I prefer to spend them either on the beach, taking a road trip to cool places such as Baguio and Tagaytay. In addition, I prefer going for a picnic in a mountain or cave areas.
3. Can you describe a typical day in your holiday? Well, normally I go to a beach together with my family. We enjoy cooking and of course, swimming. We also don’t forget to take pictures with beautiful sceneries.
4. Why are holidays important to you? Holidays are very important to me because it’s a good time to spend with my family as I always get busy on regular days.
Holidays also provide an opportunity for me to relax.
5. If you could take a holiday anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why? I think I’d choose Australia. Since I have plans of working there I might as well try to explore the country first before I decide to work and stay there permanently.
TOPIC: Shopping
1. How much time do you spend shopping every week? I think about 5 hours. I and my wife shop every Sunday as this is the only day that we have for ourselves.
2. Do you enjoy going shopping? Why (not)? Provided that I have money, sure I’d love to shop
3. What is your favorite shop and why do you like it? A lot actually! But I prefer SM department store because they have various outfit for men and very trendy underwear.
4. What problems are there with shopping in your area? Oftentimes, having to wait long on lines when paying, impolite attendants and having too many choices are some problems that I encounter. For car owners, getting a parking space could also be a problem.
TOPIC: Places to go in your free time
1. What do people do in your town in their free time? Well, most of them just stay at home, watch TV or read magazines while the others would play a sport such as badminton or basketball.
2. Where can they go out for entertainment, or to enjoy themselves? Most of them go to shopping malls. Filipinos love going to the malls. Well, there are parks where they can spend time talking with someone.
3. Which do you prefer: eating in restaurants or eating at home? I prefer to eat at home because it’s safe, cheaper and you can cook the food that you’d like to eat.
In restaurants, it’s a little expensive and sometimes the taste of the food isn’t what you’re looking for.
4. Which are the best places to eat out? In my hometown, there are small restaurants. Well, there are fast foods which are really popular and also restaurants catering Japanese, Chinese and other international menu.
TOPIC: Reading
1. Do you enjoy reading? Why? Yes sometimes because I know that reading is an important skill. You can learn many things from reading.
2. What sort of things do you read? I don’t read books that much. I prefer newspapers and magazines.
3. Tell me something about your favorite book. I’d rather tell you about my favorite newspaper. It’s called the Manila Bulletin. It’s a daily broadsheet but I prefer to read the Sunday issue of this paper. Basically, it contains up to date and comprehensive news coverage of issues affecting the people and issues
concerning the country. However, I read most of the time the classified ads section as I normally search for hot jobs in and out of the country.
4. What are the advantages of reading instead of watching television or going to the cinema? First of all, reading is not expensive as compared with going to the cinema. Reading provides detailed information about a subject or topic whereas watching television gives you abbreviated information about a subject or topic.
Topic: You
1. Do you work or study?
Definitely, your response to this question would be I am working, I’ve worked before in…, or I worked as a welder before in…
3. Why did you choose to do that job?- I think this job is something that I really love to do. I want to believe that I was born with this skill and have perfected it through years of experience.
4. What things do you enjoy about your work? Why?-For the most part, I think the
various projects that are delegated to us. Periodically, we change projects but of course, the same kind of job.
5. And what things don’t you like? Why not?-To be honest, it’s the salary. We don’t get paid as much as our quality of work is measured.
6. What are your plans for the future?- Well, right now I have pending application as a welder in Australia. If everything goes well, then I will work there and hopefully, provide my family with good life.
TOPIC: Sports and games
1. What sports are most popular in your country?- Lately, I guess Filipinos became interested with boxing, swimming and most of all, badminton.
2. What sports and games did you most enjoy playing when you were a child?- As far as I can remember, I think it’s Yo-yo. I think this is a game that most children would play.
3. Do people take as much exercise as in the past?- I think yes! I just don’t know exactly. Lately, the need to exercise increased, but, people find it hard to do because of time constraint, work, and other factors.
4. Why is exercise good for you?- With the increasing demands at work, family and personal life, exercise has become a very essential tool in fighting boredom, stress and depression. So, I think it is good for me as well.
SPEAKING MODULE PART 2 Sample Questions
Directions: For 1 minute, prepare your response to the following questions. When you prepare your answer, make sure that you don’t write the whole answer but rather write key words. Once you are ready, in a quiet place, record your answer in a blank tape. Read the topic first before your recording of answer. Your objective is to record a response that is 2-minute long. You are provided a list of transitional markers at the end of this hand out for use with your responses in Part 2 and 3. Before recording, read first the 3 sample part 2 answers below.
1. Describe a place you visited recently 2. Describe a friend
3. Describe a child you know 4. Describe an object you like 5. Describe a photograph 6. Describe a historical figure
7. Describe an important event in your culture 8. Describe your favorite newspaper
9. Describe your last holiday 10. Describe the clothes that you like
11. Describe the person whom you’d like to spend time always 12. Describe a person that you like to be with when you grow old 13. Describe a game that you play when you were a child
14. Talk about the difference of growing up in the city and in the countryside 15. Describe a household equipment that you prefer
*Look at the NOTE section below. Use the opening phrases to start with your responses for the topics above.
Model Answers
NOTE: There are many possible ways of starting your answer, including:
I’d like to talk about a TV program called…
I’m going to talk about a TV program called…
A TV program that I found really interesting was…
Sample 1:
Talk about a happy event in your childhood that you remember well.
You should say:
-where the event took place -when the event took place -what happened exactly
And explain why you remember this event clearly.
Did you ever do this again? Yes, I went to the same place when I graduated from college. The place was totally different.
What did your parents think about it? My parents found this very helpful to me. That’s why they allowed me to join.
A happy event that I can still remember about my childhood was our educational trip to Manila Zoo when I was in elementary. I believe it took place in 1986 as part of our science subject requirement. Anyway, I studied in Cavite and Manila Zoo was I guess a 2 hour drive
from our school. As a child, going for a trip is always a pleasure especially riding a bus and taking a long road trip. Well, I was with my classmates—40 plus all in all. As it was a field trip and a common practice, we had to bring with us food and drinks- a typical picnic of some sort. Then, we went in the zoo and had a tour guide who explained every details about the various animals. Of course, I didn’t understand everything what the guide told us.
But anyway, the trip was very memorable because it was my first time to have a close encounter with the animals of various sizes, shapes and behavior. It is apparently very clear to me up to now because as I said it was my first time to meet and greet with the animals, and it was a form of socialization where we students talk about things outside the class room. That’s it!
Describe a TV program that you have seen and that interested you.
You should say:
-When and where you saw the program -What the program was about
-What you felt about the program
And explain why you found the program particularly interesting.
I am going to talk about a TV program called Bubble Gang. If I am not mistaken, this is the longest comedy TV show on Philippine television. The program is shown every Fridays on GMA 7. Although the program is shown late at night, it particularly makes viewers roll over with laughter. The program emphasizes on pop culture parody. Skits and sketches are performed on a variety of style that captivates the audiences’ hearts. In addition, it spoofs shows and commercials, and it takes on other celebrities and other political figures. The show also features top-notch actors and actresses armed with unparalleled talents.
Personally, I find this show an excellent comic relief from a hard days work. Despite its comic attributes, it also provides awareness to viewers about issues confronting personalities of national prominence as well as typical situations in the Philippine community. These things make the program interesting to me. I think this is all that I can say about the show.
Describe a town or city you would like to visit.
You should say:
-where it is
-how it is similar to your hometown
-how it is different from your hometown And explain why you would like to visit it.
A city that I found really interesting and which I would like to go to in the future would be Perth, Australia. This city comes to mind first because this is where I will work as a welder.
Most probably, this will also be the destination of the majority of the skilled workers applying for Australia. It is located in Western Australia and is the fastest growing city in the country.
Being the fourth largest city, it holds major commercial establishments which are really ideal for skilled workers like me. Well, I come from Pampanga, also a growing town. This is the only similarity that I could cite. Perth is very different from Pampanga, of course. Firstly, Perth has huge population which favors their labor force. As I have read, there is always job for everyone in Australia. Secondly, it has well-established highways for an economy to prosper. In Pampanga, roads are still being improved. Thirdly, there is good provision for the benefits of the residents unlike in my hometown where even health care is not sufficient.
I would like to visit this place to enjoy these benefits and, most of all to work and earn for my family here. That’s all!
SPEAKING MODULE PART 3 Sample Questions
Directions: Prepare your response to the following questions. When you prepare your
Directions: Prepare your response to the following questions. When you prepare your