Notes about Current Part 2/3 Topics, 2011

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Notes about Current Part 2/3 Topics, 2011

[ 2009, 2010]

December 14 & 15, 2011

Topic 310, An Educational Television Program, has been labeled as Possibly Still in Use. This is because the Part 3 questions of Topic 372 look very similar to the questions of Topic 310 and people are still reporting that the current "television" topic includes, "and explain what you "learn" or "learned". In other words, Topic 372 might not exist and Topic 310 might still be the one in use now.
I also added a past tense Version B for Topic 310. I did this after I made the screenshots of changes so that change will not appear in the screenshots.

The wording of Topic 370 was changed.

Topic 362, "An Enjoyable Place in a City or Town" was deleted. The Part 3 questions that were with this topic were moved to Topic 370, "An Interesting Public Place".

October 21, 2011

Topic 279, A Person You Helped (3) has been labeled as (Probably no longer used)

Topic 283, Something Expensive You Bought has been labeled as (Probably no longer used)

Topic 321, A Happy Childhood Event (3) has been labeled as (Probably no longer used)

I have labeled Topic 327, A Historic Building as (Probably no longer used) because the last confirmed reporting of this topic was for the August 27 test.

Many of the topics that entered the test in January this year have not been reported as used in the past 4 tests. See TOPIC_USAGE_2011_P3.htm. I am labeling some of them as Possibly no longer used for the moment and if any of these are not reported after the next test, I will label them as (Probably no longer used).

Recently, people have been reporting, "A television program" as their Part 2 topic, with no mention of the word, "educational". This might indicate that Topic 310, An Educational Television Program has been retired and has been replaced by a new topic, Topic 372, which I am calling, "A Television Program You Like". However, this is not clear so 310 has not yet been labeled as Possibly no longer used and Topic 372 is being labeled as NOT CONFIRMED AS A NEW TOPIC.

Similarly, people have been recently reporting a Part 2 topic as "A leader" or even "A leader You Admire", without any mention of the word, "friend". This might indicate that Topic 323, A Friend Who is a Good Leader. has been retired and has been replaced by a new topic, Topic 371, which I am calling, "A Leader You Admire". However, this is not clear so 323 has not yet been labeled as Possibly no longer used and Topic 371 is being labeled as NOT CONFIRMED AS A NEW TOPIC.

Topics 306 and 312 seem to have been reported for the Sep. 17 test but this might have been a mistake. For now, I am not labeling them as Possibly No Longer Used.

September 7, 2011

After the test of Sept 3/4, I have added eleven new Part 2 topics, Topics 352 to 362. Quite possibly one or two of those are mistakes and will later be deleted. And certainly the wording for some them will be changed in the future.
Topic 281, A Practical Skill, was labeled as (Probably no longer used).
I think Topic 298 A Gift You Gave is still in use but every now and then someone writes that they got a topic, "Describe a gift you would like to give to a friend". Later, I might add that as an unconfirmed Part 2 topic.
There are some hints that the following new Part 2 topics exist but these hints are not strong enough yet for me to add them to the list of new topics:

1) a game (probably this was the sport topic)

2) a hotel (probably this was a Part 3 topic for one of the "travel" Part 2 topics)

3) a factory (this was probably the "small company" topic)

4) relaxing (probably Part 3 for the "leisure centre" topic.)

August 4, 2011

I think Topic 298 A Gift You Gave is still in use.
Topic 142 has been changed from A Garden or Park to A Garden.
The last line of Topic 315, The Oldest Person You Know, has been changed.
The wording for Topic 336, A Walk has been changed slightly. [I don't think this topic is "A Walk with a Friend" although this topic does ask you to say who you walk with on your regular (or frequent or habitual) walk.]
A new topic has been added: Topic 351, A Trip that Took Longer than Expected. There is a small possibility that this is a mistake but I think it is a new topic (or a return of Topic 206).

June 16, 2011

Most of the topics from September 2010 have not been reported as used in the past four tests and a few have not been reported for the past five tests. One has not been reported for the past six tests. I have labeled these as Possibly no longer used, which is being a little cautious because they have probably already been retired. But since they have only been in use for nine months, I will wait to see if any of them are used in the next test before labeling them as (Probably no longer used). So, there's still a small chance that some of those topics will be used again in the next few tests, but it's only a small chance.
Topic 302 (Advice) has not been reported for six tests and the following have not been reported for five tests: Topic 287 (Celebration), Topic 300 (Broken thing), and Topic 301 (Family Member). Usually when a topic has not been reported for four or five tests, it has been retired.
The following two topics from September are definitely still in the test at the moment: Topic 279 (Someone You Helped) and Topic 283 (Expensive thing). Topic 281 (Practical skill) is probably still being used now but this is not certain. You should pay attention in case the "help" topic suddenly changes to "Someone who helped you". Although these topics are still in the test now, it is uncertain how long they will stay before they are retired. It would be best to assume that they will stay until the end of August.
I have labeled Topic 277, An Interesting Job as "Still in Use" but this might be a mistake.
I have also deleted Topic 340, An Interesting Animal.

May 31, 2011

I have returned Topic 327 to the name, "A Historic Building", not just "A Historic Place".
The wording of Topic 337, "A Magazine or Newspaper" has been substantially changed.
Topic 349, A Friend You Would like to Give a Gift to has been deleted. I have moved the topic, The Style of Clothes You Like to Buy into this space (Topic 349), from its previous location at Topic 351.
I have removed the label, "Unconfirmed Topic" from Topic 339, A Place You Would Like to Travel to. But I have a suspicion that there might be a mistake here or with Topic 324, A Travelling Companion. If you prepare for both topics you should be ok whichever topic is used.
I have also removed the label, "Unconfirmed Topic" from Topic 350, Someone You Know Who Has a Healthy Lifestyle. However, my suspicions about the accuracy of this topic are stronger than for Topic 339. In other words, I strongly suspect that this might be a mistake – I am taking off the "Unconfirmed Topic" label simply because several people have reported this topic.
Now that there is a new topic, Topic 349, The Style of Clothes You Like to Buy, it is possible that Topic 295, An Item of Clothing Bought for You has been retired. But we cannot yet say for sure that it has been retired.
Similarly, Topic 277, An Interesting Job might be retired soon since we now have Topic 346, A Job that Would Make the World Better and since Topic 277 has been in use for more than a year. But it is too early to say that it has already been retired.

May 20, 2011

Topic 278, A Film has been labeled as (Probably no longer used). The new "film" topic is Topic 341, A Foreign Film.

On May 7 and 14, several people reported that Topic 279, A Person You Helped (3) was used, so it was probably still used. But everyone should pay attention in case that topic is suddenly replaced by, "Someone who helped you". They might suddenly change to this topic and still keep the Part 3 questions that are being used for Topic 279, or many of the same questions. This change might occur at the end of May or the beginning of June.

Similar to the situation with the "help" topic, the current "gift" topic, Topic 298, A Gift You Gave (4) might suddenly change to "A gift you received". This change might occur at the end of May or the beginning of June.

On May 7, someone reported that they got Topic 271, A Friend You Admire but this topic hasn't been reported as used for the past ten tests. (http://bbs.51ielts.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=768741&extra=page%3D1&page=12 Post #210) This person quite accurately described the Part 2 wording for Topic 271 and some of the Part 3 questions. I suspect this person didn't really get Topic 271 but instead got Topic 288, An Old Friend or Topic 323, A Friend Who is a Good Leader. I think this person couldn't remember many details from his or her test, so he or she went to this website or to some other source, got the details for Topic 271 (thinking this was the topic he or she got) and then wrote those details on the internet forum. I've noticed other people do that when they couldn't remember the details of the topics they got. Nevertheless, people should be alert to this topic, just in case it really has returned to the test.

May 12, 2011

Topic 328, "Your Personality" has now been confirmed as being a new Part 2/3 topic.

May 11, 2011

I have changed Topic Topic 327 from "A historic building" to "A historic place. This was after I saw a posting at http://www.ielts-blog.com/category/recent-ielts-exams/ written by someone in India who said his topic was "a historic place". I always suspected that this was the real topic because it would be unusual for there to be two topics in the test asking you to describe a building. (The other is Topic 314.)

I think Topic 278, A Film, might be retired. I has rarely been reported as used for many tests and the one or two times it was reported might have been the Part 1 topic. However, there is nearly always a "film" topic in the test for Part 2 so don't be surprised if another film topic comes into the test soon.

Topic 328, "Your Personality" will stay on the list for just one more test. If it is not reported in the next test, then it's gone. It's highly unlikely to be a real Part 2 topic.

There was also mention of a topic, "A Family Event". That is possible but there are several Part 3 sub-topics at the moment on the topic of "family". I will wait longer before adding that as a current Part 2 topic.

May 4, 2011

I have now reversed the change I made to Topic 314 on April 23. I think it was a mistake.

April 23, 2011

An important change was made to Topic 314. Previously, I had this as, "Describe a school or university building" but now I believe the correct topic is, "Describe a school or university you would like to attend."

April 20, 2011

The wording of Topic 283 was changed from, "Something you saved to buy" to, "Something expensive you bought". (If you have or your family has a lot of money, you can buy an expensive thing without needing to save up to buy it.)
Topic 287 has been slightly changed from, "Describe an important celebration (in your culture/country)" to "Describe an important traditional celebration (in your culture/country)." Someone who did the test recently told me she is sure the word "traditional" was in the Part 2 topic that she got. Even if she is mistaken, it will be safer for you to prepare for this. For example, in China, National Day is not a traditional celebration; it's a modern celebration.

March 30, 2011

Several people have report that they got the topic, "A historic Building" although they usually don't give many details about this Part 2 topic. So, I think there is one topic, Topic 327, A Historical Building and (the previous) Topic 328, A Historic Place You Visited is not the topic and has been deleted.

March 22, 2011

Topic 304, An Interesting Subject was labeled as (Probably no longer used) because it hasn't been reported as used since January 27.
Topic 329, A Famous Person has been deleted because I am quite certain that people who reported they got this topic really got Topic 296, A Successful Person. It looks like "Famous People" is a Part 3 sub-topic for Topic 296.
It is still not clear which of the two topics, Topic 327, A Historical Building or Topic 328, A Historic Place You Visited is being used. It's possible both are being used but, since there is already a topic about a building (Topic 314, A School or University Building), and since it would be unusual to have two Part 2 topics about a building, I think Topic 328 is the more likely. It's possible that the topic of "historic buildings" is a Part 3 sub-topic for Topic 328. Certainly, at least one of topics 327 and 328 is being used.
Topic 278, A Film has not been definitely reported as a Part 2 topic for a long time. I think that the times when it was reported after January 27 were possibly reports about the Part 1 topic, Films, not the Part 2 topic. However, since there is almost always a Part 2 topic "Films" in the test, I will wait one or two more tests before labeling it as Possibly no longer used.
Topic 307 has been changed from "Your Favourite Room When You Were a Child" to, "A Room Where You Spent a Lot of Time as a Child".

March 7, 2011

In the March 5/6 test in China, the following topics were not reported as used: 265, 266, 268, 269, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275 and 276. (See Part 2 topic usage page.) It has been a while since they were reported as used so now I think they are (Probably no longer used) and I have given them that label.
In addition to those topics, Topic 271, "A Friend Who you Admire" was reported as used but it was in a list of topics used, without any details. In other words, it was second-hand information. I think this was a mistake and it was really Topic 288 that was used. So I have also labeled this as (Probably no longer used).
As well as that, Topic 304, "An Interesting Subject" has only been reported as a hint in the last five tests. I actually think this topic has also been retired but I will wait one more test before labeling it as "Probably no longer Used". For now, I am giving it the "Possibly no longer used" label.
Topic 267, "A Person You Helped (3)" is continually being reported as used. I have moved it to a new location, #279. From now on, this topic will only be updated at this new location.
All of this information applies to Mainland China. I don't have enough information to say that these same topics have now been retired in other countries. But, from what little information I do find, I would say that the situation is probably the same all over the world.

February 28, 2011

The following information applies to Mainland China, although it might apply all over the world. (I don't know very much about the test in other countries.)
If you look at the page, Part 2 topic usage page, you'll see that several topics from May 2010 have not been used in the past four tests in China. I think there's a good chance that these topics have been retired but we cannot be sure of this, especially since the topics have only been used for about 9 months. I have labeled the topics that haven't been used for four tests as Possibly no longer used. This is not as definite as (Probably no longer used).
There are also a few topics from May 2010 that have not been used for three tests. I am labeling them as Still in Use, although it is possible that these topics have also been retired. It's your choice whether to prepare for them or not.
Topic 267, A Person You Helped is definitely still in the test.
Topic 277, An Interesting Job seems to be still in the test but few people have been reporting this topic in detail and several people have reported a topic, "Your Ideal Job", but I think this is most likely a mistake.

February 22, 2011

I have labeled the following topics as (Probably no longer used): Topics 243, 244, 248, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258, 262 and 264. They haven't been used in the last three tests so I think they have been retired.
The Part 2 topic, "A Website", which was previously at #314, has been deleted. It seems this topic was mistakenly reported as a Part 2 topic.
A new Part 2 topic, "A School or University Building (2)" has been added as number 314.
Although I have labeled some topics as NOT CONFIRMED AS A NEW TOPIC, I think several of those will turn out to be real topics in the test right now. It's mainly the wording that is not very clear.
If you look at the Part 2 topic usage page, you'll see that there are several Part 2 topics from May 2010 that have not been used in the past three tests. It's too early now to say that these topics might have been retired early but this is a possibility!

February 15, 2011

It is possible that Topics 243 to 264 have been retired. But I will wait another test or two to see if the examiners use any of those topics again before labeling those topics as (Probably no longer used). In the meantime, I am labeling them as, Possibly no longer used. If you are going to do one of the next two tests, to be extra cautious, you should at least have a quick look at those topics, just in case they are used again.
The topic, "A Childhood Friend", which was at number 311, has been deleted. It looks like this was a mistake and is not a current topic.
The topic, "A Child You Know" is confirmed as a current topic and was moved from number 324 to 311.
The topic, "A Friend Who is a Good Leader", at number 323, is confirmed as a current topic.
Topic 280 has been changed from, "A person Who Spoke a Foreign language" to simply, "A Foreigner", although the basic topic wording is still about the same as before.

January 26, 2011

It's very possible that Topic 311, A Childhood Friend does not exist but is actually Topic 321, A Happy Childhood Memory (3). We will have to wait a little longer to see if Topic 311 is reported again.
There are also some hints that the Topics, A Stage of Your Life and, A Public Event have returned to the test but no details have been supplied. So these hints might be mistakes. If you want, you can have a look at Topics 168 and 241 for previously used versions of these topics.

January 23, 2011

Previously, Topics 312, 315 and 316 were labeled as NOT CONFIRMED AS A NEW TOPIC but it now looks like they really exist.

January 15, 2011

There might also be topics: a shopping center, a library, an unusual experience, a museum

January 12, 2011

In addition to the new Part 2 topics that have been recently added to Pages 61, 62 and 63, the following three topics might also be new. These have not been added to the current list of topics because there is not enough evidence that these new topics really exist.

Possibly Topic 114. A Website has returned to the test, or a similar topic has now entered the test.

Possibly there is a new topic, "Describe a peaceful place". If this topic exists, it is in contrast to Topic 282, "Describe a place with a lot of noise".

Possibly there is a new topic, "Describe some interesting news that you heard or read recently".