ielts-yasi.englishlab.net  

Updated Apr. 18, 2019

 

Recommended Booklist

The following are some books that I think are suitable for students preparing to take the IELTS Speaking test. Of course, there are many other suitable books. 

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Notes

Certainly, if your level now is Band 4.0, 4.5 or 5.0, you would learn a few things from these poor-quality books and they might help you get a Band 5.5 or 6.0 for Speaking. But they would not be very useful if your aim is 6.5 or above for Speaking.

I'm not saying that Chinese English teachers should not write textbooks with examples of English to speak (or write) but I think every Chinese author needs to have a competent native English speaker check their work before it is published and it seems that many Chinese authors don't do that. This is not good enough when you're writing an English textbook!

However, imported books do have a few inconveniences for Chinese students, especially those students at the Band 4 to 5 level. Firstly, except for some of those books that are republished in China, these books do not have Chinese translations of vocabulary lists. In contrast, books written in China by Chinese English teachers use Chinese to explain how to do the tests, to give you advice and to explain certain language points. 

On the other hand, some (but not all) IELTS Speaking books written in China by native English speakers do have lots of model answers. 

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Index of Books in this List

 

1. Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (Ref)

2. Side by Side (Spk)

3. New Headway (Gen)

4. New Interchange (Gen)

5. Collins Cobuild English Grammar (Ref)

6. Collins Cobuild English Usage (Ref)

7. Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary (Ref)

8. 英语情景口语100主题 (100 Topics for Spoken English) (Spk, Vocab)

    and "100 Topics for Daily English Situations" (生活英语情景口语100主题). (Spk, Vocab)

9. Making Headway: Phrasal Verbs and Idioms (Vocab)

10. Cambridge IELTS (Test)

11. The IELTS Specimen Tests (Test)

12. Collins Cobuild Learner's Dictionary (Ref)

13. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (Ref)

14. Collins Cobuild Basic Grammar (Gram)

15. Collins Cobuild Idioms Workbook  (Vocab)

16. English Grammar in Use (Gram)

17. Advanced Grammar in Use (Gram)

18. Understanding and Using English Grammar (Gram)

19. 雅思口语课堂（含CD-ROM光盘一张）——雅思课堂搬回家丛书 (Spk)

20. 全新版雅思考试口语突破 (Spk)

21.  新东方·雅思口语胜经 (Spk)

22.  剑桥雅思口语真题题源 (Spk)

23.  剑桥雅思语法——新东方大愚英语学习丛书 (Gram, All IELTS) 好极了！

24. Other Well-known Cambridge IELTS Books (All IELTS)

25. Collins Cobuild: Articles  (冠词)

26. Collins Cobuild: Linking Words (连词)

27. Oxford Practice Grammar (Gram)

28. Cambridge Practice Tests For IELTS  (Test )

 

Explanation of Codes

Ref = Reference book

Spk = Speaking book

Gram = Grammar textbook with exercises

Vocab = Vocabulary book

Gen = General English textbook, suitable for IELTS students. 

Test = book of sample IELTS tests

All IELTS = a book that prepares students for all the four IELTS tests (but with less emphasis on speaking)

 

 

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1. Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (Ref)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

There are other good dictionaries like this, such as the Longmans dictionary. You should have at least one of these big dictionaries.

Chinese name:  牛津高阶英汉双解词典

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2. Side by Side (Books 1 to 4) (Spk)

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

This series of books is ideal for improving your spoken grammar and other aspects of your speaking, as well. That is, it improves your ability to create grammatically correct sentences. Of course, spoken grammar and written grammar are virtually identical so practicing speaking with these books, along with the CDs, will improve your grammar overall. The books and recordings must be used together. You can make even more progress by doing exercises in the student workbooks.

These books are full of short dialogues that you speak with the English-speakers in the recordings. By using these books, you will practice speaking the types of grammatically correct sentences that you will need to use in Part 3. You should first use books such as 16, 17 & 18 to study the grammar and practice making grammatically correct sentences in writing but those books don't give you the practice in speaking those sentences in dialogue situations, which Side by Side does.

This is the best material I know for self-studying speaking! For the IELTS test, the only minor weakness is that it is American English but that is not very important, compared to the benefits of using this book. I will go so far as to say that if anyone preparing for the IELTS test knows about Side by Side but does not use these books, then they are not serious about getting a good IELTS score! I have also told some people in the past that if they did nothing else but studied SBS and knew the materials up to the end of Side by Side Book 4, then they would stand a good chance of getting 7 or more in IELTS speaking.

If you are Chinese then you are lucky because the editions on sale in China are probably half or a third the price of the international editions sold elsewhere in the world. The Chinese editions do not really contain much Chinese but the back of each book does contain a word list for that book that is in both Chinese and English.

Even though the books contain many little cartoon pictures, this is a book for adults or young people over the age of about 14, not children.

Chinese name:  朗文国际英语教程

Authors: Molinsky and Bliss

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3. New Headway (Gen)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

Another website is here: Headway.  

This is a British English textbook series that has 5 different levels: Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced. It is an excellent all-round (speaking, reading, listening & writing) general English textbook. The topics and vocabulary are particularly suited to the IELTS test and in fact this is one of the most frequently used textbooks overseas in long-term (e.g. one year) pre-IELTS courses.

You can think of "Elementary" as being at about IELTS 5.0-5.5 level, which is the level that high school takes you to in China. "Pre-Intermediate" is about 6.0 level and "Intermediate" is about 6.5 level, which is the level of the IELTS test, especially the Reading and Listening tests. "Upper Intermediate" is about IELTS 7.0 level. But don't just go and buy the Upper Intermediate book and think that, by using this book, you will get 7.0! Remember, all learning progresses step-by-step. "Advanced" is about the 7.5-8.0 level.

The value of books like this is that they provide a lot of extra reading and listening materials that particularly suit IELTS students. IELTS students need to listen to more English and to read more about typical IELTS topics in order to increase their vocabulary and general knowledge as well as to see more examples of good writing, written by native English speakers. The reading and listening materials are ideal for learners of English because these books are carefully written to suit different English levels.

My copy is all English i.e., no Chinese. However, there might be a Chinese edition available. 

Available in many good bookshops in China. These imported textbooks are expensive (about ¥125 per book plus over ¥300 for two cassette tapes!) so it might be better to use imported textbooks that have Chinese editions, such as the book below. (There are several other similar high-quality textbooks from England available in China if Headway is too expensive for you or hard to find.)

Authors: Liz and John Soars

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4. New Interchange (Gen)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

This is another British English textbook series that is ideal for pre-IELTS students. The most advanced book in the series, Book 3 is about the same level as Headway Intermediate/Upper Intermediate.

The Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in Beijing has also published a version of these books with a Chinese Introduction. These are about ¥50 - cheap when you consider the quality.

The value of books like this is that they provide a lot of extra reading and listening materials that particularly suit IELTS students. IELTS students need to listen to more English and to read more about typical IELTS topics in order to increase their vocabulary and general knowledge as well as to see more examples of good writing, written by native English speakers. The reading and listening materials are ideal for learners of English because these books are carefully written to suit different English levels.

See Here for some comments.

Publishers in China: 外语教学与研究出版社 and Cambridge University Press

Authors: Jack C. Richards with Jonathan Hull and Susan Proctor

Chinese name: 剑桥国际英语教程

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5. Collins Cobuild English Grammar (Ref)

(Click on the name to see a screenshot.)

This is a great grammar reference book, not a textbook. This book is the result of a revolutionary new study of real English. It is British English, with many lists of examples. Buy the edition that has both English and Chinese. 

All of the Colins Cobuild series of books are top quality.

Chinese name: 英语语法大全

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6. Collins Cobuild English Usage (Ref)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

Chinese name: 柯林斯英语用法词典

This kind of reference book, a 'usage book' is different to a dictionary, although it does help explain the meaning of the words that it covers. Usage books do not attempt to include all the main words in English but focus on words and phrases that confuse people or are sometimes used unsuitably. This particular book also contains topic sections that show different ways to achieve certain language functions or language that is used in particular situations such as 'agreeing and disagreeing', 'giving opinions', 'requests, orders and instructions', 'suggesting', 'telephoning', 'transport', 'meals', 'days and dates', 'punctuation', 'abbreviations' etc.

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7. Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary (Ref)

ISBN 7 - 5600 - 5131 - 6. 

This is a good book that has both English and Chinese translations. It is published in China by both The Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press and Oxford University Press. I saw several similar books to this on the second floor at 外文书店, Wangfujing. It's mostly a dictionary, with very clear examples but it does have a section with some exercises on the most commonly used phrasal verbs. Books such as #9 (below) are best for learning and practicing phrasal verbs but I don't think #9 will be easy for students in China to find and it is a little expensive. The Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary (or a similar book) book should be good enough for you.

Collins Cobuild also has a Phrasal Verbs dictionary but I haven't seen it in the bookshops here in China. I'm sure that is an excellent book, too.

Chinese name: 牛津短语动词词典

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8. 英语情景口语100主题 (100 Topics for Spoken English) (Spk, Vocab)

(Click on the name to see Google search results.)

Written by Mark Griffiths (英)and Carol Rueckert (美). These are two very experienced English teachers in Beijing.

This book has a large number of natural English dialogues, at three different levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Not only that, there is a recording of the dialogues and all the dialogues and vocabulary lists are translated into Chinese. This makes it very convenient for learning a lot of new vocabulary. In many ways this is similar to the book below, also written by Carol Ruekert. The CD recording of this book has a young man and young woman from England who pronounce each word perfectly. However, it is obvious that they are reading a script and at times they speak a little too slowly, more slowly than natural speech. I believe it's best to try to learn to speak at natural speaking speed, if possible. In this way, you will learn to speak the correct linkage of words, the way native speakers link their words. (People don't link their words very much when they speak slowly.) Overall, I'd suggest buying both this book (with the CD) and the one below and seeing which one suits your study needs better.

 

Another book written by Carol Ruekert, which is very similar to the one above, is:

"100 Topics for Daily English Situations" (生活英语情景口语100主题). I was very impressed by the Australian girl in the recording. Although I can tell that she is Australian, she does not speak with a broad or very strong Australian accent, her pronunciation is very clear and she's an excellent actress who speaks very naturally. This is a top-quality book and a top-quality recording for people to mimic, especially if you are preparing for the IELTS test.

For both this book and the one above, I suggest simply mimicking every dialogue but not spending extra time trying to memorize the dialogues, or, only memorize a small number of the dialogues. You probably will  remember the most commonly used English simply because you will mimic the same commonly or frequently used English phrases and expressions in several different dialogues. As for the vocabulary: Try to learn any new words that are in the vocabulary lists (which have both English and Chinese). Using these books is one of the best ways to enrich your vocabulary for the type of English you need to produce in Parts 1 and 2 of the Speaking test and, to some extent, for Part 3. Learning new vocabulary at the same time as mimicking a dialogue is "killing two birds with one stone". Most importantly, you will remember the vocabulary better than you did when you used the "old methods" for learning vocabulary because, in these books, you see the correct situational usage of the vocabulary, the exact meaning of the words, and you actually practice using them in dialogues.

To build your vocabulary for the Speaking test, this is the book to get! Don't forget to buy the audio recording.

There are now more recent editions of one or both of these two books.

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9. Making Headway: Phrasal Verbs and Idioms (Vocab)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

Also see Here

This is a top quality, imported book in the Headway series. It has lots of interesting exercises to enable students to test their understanding of the meaning and usage of phrasal verbs. However it is expensive (about ¥85) and might be hard to find even though I bought my copy in Beijing. It should be good enough to use #7, above, to help you enlarge your knowledge of phrasal verbs. 

Author: Graham Workman

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10. Cambridge IELTS (Chinese Edition) (Test)

and,

Every serious IELTS student has some of these books. There are now (at Feb, 2019) 13 books in this series. 

Chinese name: 外研社·剑桥雅思考试培训教程

外语教学与研究出版社  北京

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11. The IELTS Specimen Tests (Test)

This is a set of sample tests that was written by the same people who write the real tests. It has one sample Listening Test, an Academic Reading Test, a General Training Reading Test, Three (3) examples of Academic Writing Tests, and Two (2) examples of General Training Writing Tests. There are several photocopies of real students' answers to these writing tests but they are not all 'model answers' because some of the examples are a Band 4 and a Band 5. For Speaking, there is a CD recording of three different people taking a real test; one is a Band 4, one a Band 5 and one a Band 6 speaker. 

Years ago, you could buy it at the British Council's office (for about ¥100) but now I think you can only get it by mailing overseas for it. The following is a link to the online order form. You have to download it as a pdf file by right-clicking your mouse. http://www.ielts.org/_lib/pdf/IELTS_SpecMatsOrderFormJan05.pdf 

The good news is that you can find copies of this in Beijing (and I assume other cities) if you ask around. I think it's about ¥20 at these places. Don't worry if the date of the book is 2005 or 2006. The most recent Specimen Tests is still the same as the old ones except for the fact that the wording for the Writing questions was changed a little, in 2006 or 2007.

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12. Collins Cobuild Learner's Dictionary (Ref)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

Chinese name: 柯林斯英语用法词典

上海外语教育出版社

ISBN 7-81046-906-1

When you have reached a reading level of about IELTS Band 6.0, (or 6.5) you should start using an English-English dictionary as much as possible. This will help you to 'think in English', to practice or review the English you already know and to learn new synonyms for words you already know. 

However, most English-English dictionaries that are written for native English speakers only use short phrases or groups of synonyms to define a word, with only a few full-sentence examples. In contrast, dictionaries such as this one are especially useful for learners of English because every word that is defined in the dictionary has at least one full-sentence example and many words have several example sentences. These examples will help you to not only understand the meaning, but also learn how to use the word. 

Note that this dictionary only has a Chinese introduction - the rest of the book is all English.

There is also an Advanced Learner's Dictionary but I don't have a copy. You can read more about the different Collins Cobuild dictionaries HERE. An article about the Advanced Learner's Dictionary can be found HERE.

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13. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (Ref)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

Chinese name: 牛津英语搭配词典

外语教学与研究出版社

ISBN 7-5600-3429-2

A 'collocation' is a combination of words. This dictionary shows how words are combined in common or typical usage, for example what adjectives or what verbs usually go with a certain noun. Here's an example: in English we say, "strong wind" but, for rain we say, "heavy rain". Collocation dictionaries are very useful when writing essays but they also help you learn typical or normal spoken language, too. 

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14. Collins Cobuild Basic Grammar (Gram)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

(Other internet pages: http://www.wl.cn/171664 and http://www.langlang.cc/1270149.htm)

Chinese name: 柯林斯 Cobuild 基础英语语法

Authors: Dave Willis & Jon Wright

ISBN 7-81046-946-0 (This edition is available in China only but the same book is available in other countries, with a different ISBN number.)

上海外语教育出版社

(My copy of this book was published in the year 2000. It seems that the publisher is no longer publishing this book because I couldn't find it at their website, http://wwwsflep.com.cn But it might still be on sale in bookshops.)

These pages show other Collins Cobuild grammar books: http://www.maihaoshu.com/search?Query=cobuild and http://www.wl.cn/Product/BookInTag.aspx?tagName=cobuild  

This book is all in English. However, the quality of this book, as with all the Collins Cobuild books, is excellent. There are some chapters on phrasal verbs, a chapter on 'Purpose and Reason', a chapter on 'Result' and a chapter on 'Contrast and Comparison'.

Although this book offers great help for improving your sentence-making skills, this book does not help you to practice speaking these sentences. Use Side by Side for that. (See above)

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15. Collins Cobuild Idioms Workbook (Vocab) (Click on the name to go to Google search results in Chinese)

Chinese name: 柯林斯 Cobuild 英语习语练习册

Author: Malcolm Goodale

ISBN 7-81046-954-0 (This edition is available in China only but the same book is available in other countries, with a different ISBN number.)

上海外语教育出版社

This book is all in English. However, the quality of this book, as with all the Collins Cobuild books, is excellent.

As the introduction to this book says: "... The Idioms Workbook practices 250 of the most important idioms common to both British English and American English. Idioms such as It's raining cats and dogs are not included in this workbook as they are not very common."

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16. English Grammar in Use (Gram)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

This is another high-quality book although it is all in English. Raymond Murphy is a world-famous grammar textbook writer.

Although this book is excellent for improving your sentence-making skills, this book does not help you to practice speaking these sentences. Use Side by Side for that. (See above)

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17. Advanced Grammar in Use (Gram)

(Click on the name to see a website.)

Author: Martin Hewings

This book is similar in quality to Raymond Murphy's book, above. But both books have topics that the other book doesn't have. 

One big advantage about this book is that it has many Chinese translations and notes in Chinese. (But not everything is translated into Chinese.)

Although this book is excellent for improving your sentence-making skills, this book does not help you to practice speaking these sentences. Use Side by Side for that. (See above)

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18. Understanding and Using English Grammar (Gram) (Click on the name to go to Google search results in Chinese)

As far as I know, there are two books, 'Volume A' and the more advanced, 'Volume B'. I have both of these. There are also workbooks but I don't have them in my book collection.

These books are American English but there is really very little difference between the grammar of British English and American English. 

The quality is about the same as the books at 16 and 17, above. Unfortunately, there is no Chinese content in Azar's books.

My two books look like the picture below but my books have the words, 'Volume A' or 'Volume B' added to the cover. Maybe you can buy one book that contains 'Volume A' and 'Volume B' combined.

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19. 雅思口语课堂（含CD-ROM光盘一张）——雅思课堂搬回家丛书 (Spk)

This is a great little book written by Juliet Adams and 曹薇. Juliet has been an English teacher in China for many years and, if I remember correctly, she was also an IELTS examiner.

Although this book does not have many model answers, it has several good points. Firstly, it was written using language that is not too difficult, so it is very suitable for students who are at the Band 4.0 - 5.0 level now. Where Juliet has written her explanations or advice, 曹薇 has written a translation in Chinese.

There are also lots of useful examples of expressions and phrases to use for different language functions and many other hints, such as how to improve your pronunciation. 

Perhaps the best thing about the book is the fact that it has many word lists of useful and suitable words to use in the Speaking test, along with Chinese translations of these words. For many students at the Band 4.0 - 5.0 level, vocabulary is a problem and this book will certainly be helpful for you. 

The book shown in the picture is the same as my copy, published in 2006. I have seen the book in bookshops recently and maybe it is a newer, revised edition; I'm not sure.

http://book.yoyobao.com/311672/

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20. 全新版雅思考试口语突破 (Spk)

This is a high quality book written by Mark Griffiths, a former IELTS examiner and a teacher in Beijing. You won't find any English mistakes in this book. It has many good model answers, lots of general advice and some help for grammar and other aspects of spoken English. There is also a list of "Suggested IELTS Vocabulary" (over 2100 words) but there are no examples of usage with these words and no Chinese translation. 

Although 胡敏 was the co-author, there is almost no Chinese content in the book. I don't think there is a CD recording available for the book.

 

http://www.anibook.cn/ProductDetail/2008/01/02/AAA75043432180000001.html

 

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21.  新东方·雅思口语胜经 (Spk)

This is another high quality book, similar to #20, above. It was written by a large team of Chinese English teachers at Xindongfang, with some input from a foreigner named Mark Allen. 

There are many good model answers, in English only. The background information about the Speaking test and other advice are written in Chinese. Besides a description of the grading criteria (in Chinese), there isn't much advice on grammar or other aspects of spoken English. 

It has a good word list, organized according to topic, with each word accompanied by a short example sentence. But there is no Chinese translation of these words or sentences. 

There are several mock tests and you can read the answers to these tests in the book. You can also listen to these mock tests on a CD recording. Although the Chinese girl speaking the answers to the questions will help you with the basic pronunciation of the words, her speech (her pronunciation) is definitely not a good model for you to mimic.

See the Amazon.cn webpage

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22.  剑桥雅思口语真题题源 (Spk)

This is another high quality book that is basically all questions and model answers. It was written by the Beijing English teacher John Gordon (美国) and Nick Stirk (英国), so you can be assured that there are no English errors or poor English. There are some Chinese notes and translations (written by 胡敏) with some, but not with all of the model answers. Some of the model answers are accompanied by short word lists with Chinese translations.

It looks like all (or most) of the model answers are spoken on the CD that comes with the book. The people speaking on the CD are from England and their pronunciation is very clear so this is good material for you to mimic, although they speak a little slowly and it is obvious that they are reading.  

 

See this at langlang.cc

Langlang has no picture but the book looks similar to this:

This website also has detailed information about the book: http://www.nulog.cn/book.htm?46405

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23.  剑桥雅思语法——新东方大愚英语学习丛书 (Gram, All IELTS)

This is possibly the best book you can buy for IELTS! It is the original book from England that has been republished in China with some (but not a lot of) Chinese notes. You are very lucky to be able to buy this book in China at a much cheaper price than it costs overseas. (This is the same situation with the Side by Side books here in China.)

It's not just a grammar book – it has lots of materials for practicing listening, reading and writing (all for both GT and AC) as well as grammar explanations and exercises for you to do. 

Although the book does not directly focus on the speaking test, the materials in this book will definitely help you speak better in the speaking test. One of the ways to improve your speaking is to mimic the very natural speech on the CD. There are 25 different listening items, which resemble the material in the real listening tests. Many of these recordings are dialogues, with people asking each other questions that are similar to the Speaking test questions. From these dialogues, you'll be able to learn a lot of language to help you answer questions in the speaking test. 

It seems that the book was written for students who are Band 5.0 to 5.5 now and the aim of the book is to bring you up to Band 6.0 or 6.5 level. 

See the view below at langlang

You can also read a short introduction (in English) to the book here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=cFGKilTxYNEC

and you can view Pages 241 to 243 here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=cFGKilTxYNEC&printsec=frontcover#PPT1,M1

 

The following link to Cambridge.org also has details about the book:

http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521604621

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24. Other Well-known Cambridge IELTS Books (All IELTS)

These imported books help you prepare for Reading, Listening, Writing and to a lesser extent, Speaking.

Some of these books have been republished in China.

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25. Collins Cobuild: Articles  (冠词) (Gram)

Author: Roger Berry

Many students of English have problems with the word, "the". This little book will definitely help you. In China, you can find it as a "双语" book, in both English and Chinese.

Both this book and the book below, "Linking Words" seem to be available in more recent (and more expensive) editions but I'm not sure if they are in Chinese and English. The older editions that are shown on this page are still available in bookshops in China.

 

Example Websites:

http://www.wl.cn/2795950

http://www.readbuy.cn/product/product_160002.html

http://www.langlang.cc/1270185.htm

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26. Collins Cobuild: Linking Words (连词) (Gram)

Author: Sylvia Chalker

This book will really help you make strong complex sentences. It's a "must" for those IELTS candidates who have already scored a 6.0 or 6.5 for Speaking or Writing but must get at least 7.0 for those two tests. In China, you can find it as a "双语" book, in both English and Chinese.

Both this book and the book above, "Articles" seem to be available in more recent (and more expensive) editions but I'm not sure if they are in Chinese and English. The older editions that are shown on this page are still available in bookshops in China.

 

Example Websites:

http://www.wl.cn/2795950

http://www.readbuy.cn/product/product_161211.html

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27. Oxford Practice Grammar (Gram)

This is an excellent series of books, similar to #16 and #17. The books are available in China in a 双语 version.

http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/practicegrammar/

http://www.google.com.hk/images?hl=zh-CN&q=Oxford+Practice+Grammar&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=3fT-S_74O4LBcaSbwbcK&sa=X&oi=image_result_g

roup&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CEYQsAQwAw
 

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28. Cambridge Practice Tests For IELTS  (Test )

It goes without saying that every IELTS student should have several of these books. I believe there are now (at Oct. 2015) ten of them. They are written by the same people who write the IELTS tests so they are the most accurate and realistic materials to use for practice. Not only that, the books provide some extra useful information, especially for the Writing tests where some model answers are given.

However, Books 1 to 3 contain Writing tests that do not 100% reflect the current Writing test wording. That is, in the real IELTS test, the Writing test was changed a little at about the time Book 4 or 5 was written. More specifically, the Task 1 academic Writing tests in Books 1 to 3 say, "Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below" but that was changed to "Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and making comparisons where relevant". The actual contents of those Task 1 questions in Books 1 to 3 also might, to some extent, be more suitable for that earlier wording

There is not much help in these books for the Speaking test. The books simply show example sets of questions for the Speaking test and that's about all. But if you usually score Band 5 or more in the Reading and Listening tests in these books, and if your pronunciation needs improvement, then the Listening test recordings are good for mimicking, which is an excellent way to improve your pronunciation. Use the Listening Test transcripts as you listen to the recording when you do this mimicking.

On the other hand, I think these books are the best materials to use for practicing the Reading and Listening tests, under strict test conditions, of course. You should first learn how to do the Reading and Listening tests, i.e., first learn the best test-taking strategies. You can learn that from other books, even those written in your language by experienced IELTS teachers, or from classes. After you have done that, I think the best way to prepare for the Reading and Listening tests is to simply do as many of these tests in these books as you can. However, if you consistently score less than Band 5.0 for these tests, then it would probably be better for you to first spend some time using easier reading and listening practice materials from other books or websites. (In other words, you are not yet ready to sit for the IELTS test.)  The books don't give you your Band score for the Reading and Listening tests, only a "raw score", You can see here how to convert the raw test scores to Band scores.

The official webpage for this book and all the many different Cambridge IELTS books is HERE.

You can also read about these books here – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521497671?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

The following web page also has some information about these books but be aware that this looks like someone's blog, (possibly for the purpose of making money), not the official Cambridge site - http://ieltsmaterial.com/cambridge-practice-tests-ielts-series-self-study-students-book-cd/. That website also shows some other good IELTS books at http://ieltsmaterial.com/ielts-books/.

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