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ielts-yasi.englishlab.net

Updated Sep. 16, 2015

IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions

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601. A Long Journey (May, 2014?) (Probably no longer used)

602. Something You Would Like to Learn to Do (Sep. 4, 2014) (Probably no longer used)

603. An Historic Place (Sept., 2014) (Probably no longer used)

604. No Topic

605. No Topic

RETURN TO PART 2 TOPIC INDEX

FQ = frequent question = a question that has frequently been reported = a question that is probably in the examiner's question book

* = my guess at a question

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601. A Long Journey (May, 2014?) (Probably no longer used)

Version A

Describe an enjoyable long trip that you experienced.

You should say:

.where you went

how you went there (= what means of transport you used to get there)

how long it was

when you went there *

who you went with *

and explain what you saw during the trip. *

and explain what you did during the trip. *

Version B

Describe a place that you have visited far away from home.

You should say:

where you went

how you went there (= what means of transport you used to get there)

how far away it was (or, how long you travelled)

when you went there *

who you went with *

and explain what you did there (or, did on this trip)

Notes

Be prepared for either Version A or B, both of which have been reported. The wording of Version A focuses more on the travelling part of a trip while Version B focuses more on a place.
"Long" could be measured in time rather than kilometers and even 1 hour can be called "long" in some cases.

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Possible follow-up questions:

Would you like to go there again? Or: Would you like to make that trip again?
Do you often go on long trips?
Did you buy any souvenirs there?

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Part 3

See also the Part 3 questions in Topic 275.

See some vocabulary HERE

Many of the questions here are about "young people", even if they are written as simply "people" here. So think about comparing young people and old(er) people for many of these questions.

Long Trips

What are the differences between long trips and short trips? FQ
(Similar to above) Which do you think are better, long trips or short trips? FQ
Which do young people prefer, long or short trips? FQ
How do you think long trips today are different to long trips in the past (e.g., several decades ago)?
Why do people like to visit other cities (or, a new city)?
Why are more and more young people going on long trips nowadays?
Do you like going on long trips? FQ
(Similar to above) How do you usually feel while you are on a long trip? FQ
What can a person do about the problem of boredom while on a long trip?
Can you suggest why some people don't go on long trips?
Can you suggest how a person could make a long trip more comfortable?
What do you think people need to pay attention to when they go on long trips?
What problems can people possibly have when they go on long trips? FQX2
(Similar to above) What difficulties do people sometimes have on a long trip? FQX2
Have other people ever told you about problems they had on a trip?
What do people usually take with them when they go on a (long) trip? FQ
Do you think it's difficult to prepare for (or plan) a long trip?
What preparations (or, planning) do people need to make before they go on along trip? FQx2
How does (or, how can) a person plan for a long trip?
Do you think children can make decisions (or, suggestions) about preparations / planning for a long trip?
How do (or, how can) someone decide on a destination for a long trip?
What form of transport do you think is the best for long trips?
(Similar to above) What form of transport do you think is the most comfortable for long trips?
How do people pass the time when they are traveling on a long trip (e.g., in the bus, plane, train)?
Do you (or, would you) prefer to go on a long trip alone or with others? FQx2
Do you think people can learn more about themselves when they travel alone?
What are the benefits of traveling with others (or another person)?
Are there any advantages in (or, from) traveling alone?
What do you think of going on a guided tour, with a tour group?
Are there any possible downsides to traveling with others?
How could these problems (of traveling with others) be solved?

Means of Transport

For long trips, do people today use the same means of transport as people did several decades ago? FQ
What mode of long-distance travel do you prefer?
What are the advantages of travelling by air?
Do you think air travel is becoming globalized? See Note
Do you think airlines are managing the emissions from their planes correctly? See Note
Do you think that passengers would be willing to pay more for travel in order to fund a way to reduce these emissions?

Traveling Abroad

How do people choose which country (or countries) to go to? (Or, where do they get information for making this choice?)
Do you think traveling abroad can contribute to one's education?
What can people learn from overseas travel? FQ
What country would you most like to visit?
What problems can people possibly have when they travel abroad? FQ
What are some of the things people have to do before going abroad? FQ
Do people from your country have problems eating the food in foreign countries?
Do you think people have communication problems when they go abroad?
How do you suggest these problems could be solved?
In your country, are people's ideas about travelling abroad the same as people's ideas were in the past?
Is it easier (for people from your country) to travel abroad today than it was in the past?
(Similar to above) Is it easy for people from your country to get a visa to other countries?
What kinds of people are most likely to travel abroad?
Do people from your country prefer to travel overseas individually or in tour groups? FQ
How do you think individual travel (as a tourist) and traveling in a tour group are different? FQ
What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of traveling in a tour group?

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602. Something You Would Like to Learn to Do (Sep. 4, 2014) (Probably no longer used)

Describe something that you would like to learn (how) to do. (Something that you cannot do now) *

You should say:

what you would like to learn to do

where you would learn it *

how you would learn it

and explain why you would like to learn to do this. *

Notes

This has been moved to Topic 657. That Topic contains everything that is written below, for Topic 602, and any future additions will be made at Topic 657, not here.
See the notes HERE for an explanation of the differences between the two words "learn" and "study".
The wording might be slightly different to that shown above but I believe the meaning is what is shown above. That is, I believe the emphasis is on learning how to do something, rather than simply studying something theoretical. I believe this because everybody who reports this topic uses the word, "learn", not the word, "study". The word "learn" is always connected with the idea of doing something, even if the actual action (the verb) is not stated. For example, if you say, "I would like to learn Russian" you really mean, "I would like to learn how to speak (and / or read & write) Russian", "learn the piano" really means 'learn to play the piano" etc.

A few people have reported this topic as something like, "Describe something that you don’t know yet but would like to learn". This might be accurate and the word, "do" (in "learn to do") might not appear in the wording at all.

The word "learn" can be applied to "learning a fact" such as, "I would like to learn what really happened to Flight MH17". Here, "learn" means "discover" or "find out". So it is not 100% certain that this topic is about learning to do something. But I think it would be safest to prepare an answer about learning to do something because most cases of "learning" are connected with doing something.

The fact that Part 3, below, seems to have 4 or 5 sub-topics instead of the usual 3 sub-topics might be an indication that some of these sub-topics or questions actually belong with the Part 3 of Topic 608, Something Interesting Learned on the Internet.

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Possible follow-up questions:

Do you think it would be hard to learn that?

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Part 3

Studying and Learning See Note 3

Do you think reading (or studying from) books is the most efficient way to learn/study?

(Possibly) Do you think reading (or studying from) books is the only way to learn/study?

How do you think the internet has changed the way people study / learn things? FQ

Which way(s) of learning something do you prefer?

Do you think learning by using special teaching computer software (programmed learning) is a good way to learn something new? See Note 4

Do you think computers might one day replace teachers?

Who do you think can learn something easier, a young person or an old person? See Note 5

Do you think old people can learn anything from young people?

Do you think people can learn much from educational TV programs?

Technical Education

What do you think is the relationship between science (on the one hand) and (modern) technology (on the other hand)?
(Possibly) How do you think modern technology is related to scientific research?
How important do you think technical education is?
(Possible question) Which do you think is more important to study (or, learn about), science and technology, or the humanities and arts? *

Children's Education

Which do you think is more important, what children learn at school or what they learn at home? FQ
(Similar to above) Which learning (or knowledge) is better, what they learn at home or what they learn at school?
Do you think there are any things that children can learn at home that they don't (or, can't) learn at school? FQ
Do children learn different things at different ages?
What do you think children should learning at home before they start attending school?
Do you think children should read books more at school or at home?
Who do you think has the greater impact on the education of children, their parents or their teachers? FQ
How do parents & teachers differ in the education of children?
Do you think parents should (try to) teach "academic knowledge" to their children?
Do you think parents today have enough time to teach things (or, life skills) to their children? FQ
Are there any topics / subjects that you think parents should not (or cannot) teach at home?
Do you think there are differences between the study (or learning) that children do and that of adults?
Do you think (senior) high school students should have a choice on what subjects they study at school, or should the schools make this decision?
Would you like to be a teacher?

Skills

What skills do you think are most useful in everyday life?
Do you think women should also learn all of those skills?
What are the differences between the skills that females learn and those that males learn?
Do you think people should learn the skills they need for work while they at high school?
Which do you think are more important, the skills that children learn at school or the skills they learn at home? See Note 1
How important do you think it is for people to learn to use new technologies?

Computers

What do you think is the best way for a person to learn to use a computer?

How can parents teach their children to use a computer? FQ

What could be done if the parents are too busy to teach things such as computer usage to their children? FQ

Do you think children can learn to use computers faster than (or easier than) people of their grandparents' age? (Why?) FQx2

(Similar to above) Who do you think learns to use modern technology faster, children or old people? (Why?) FQx2

Do you think computers (or, the internet) are useful tools for the education of children?

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603. An Historic Place (Sept., 2014) (Probably no longer used)

Describe an historic place that interests you. *

Describe an interesting historic place you have been to. *

You should say:

where it is

what you can see there

what you know about it / how you learned about this place *

and explain why you think this place is interesting.

Notes

Usually we say, "an historic ..." rather than "a historic ..." but this is not a strict rule. [The French do not pronounce the "h" in words such as "historic" & "historical" and some English speakers actually use the French pronunciation of these words, with no attempt to say the "h".]
Possibly this is a repeat of Topic 188 or Topic 264
It is not clear if this is about a place you have actually visited or not, although a few people have reported that the words, "you visited" are included on the card. If possible, it would be best to prepare to talk about a place that interests you and that you have visited.
This has not been reported since April 2015. Now people are reporting "A Historic Building", which I have put at Topic 650. There is a small possibility that this is a mistake and Topic 603 is still in use.
I don't think a history museum would be a suitable example of "an historic place" because, although the theme of the museum is history, I don't think most museums can, themselves, be described as "historic places" and especially can't be described as "historic sites". Of course, many actual historic sites do have a museum that has been built at that location, focusing on the particular historic relevance of that place.

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also any history-related questions at the Part 3 of the following topics - Topic 188, 212, 264, 327, 411, 428 & 440

Tourism in Your Country

Besides the example you just gave (in Part 2), what other historic places do people in your country like to visit?
Besides historic places, what other places do people like to visit in your country?
Compare tourism to (or, visiting) a natural tourist attraction with visiting an historic site.
What are people interested in seeing when they visit some place?
What sorts of places are young people most interested in visiting?
Would you say big cities are more attractive than small villages to visit?
Do you think it is necessary to watch a video about a place before you visit it? See Note 2

Historic Sites / Historic Buildings

What do you think is the use of historic places nowadays?
Why do people visit historic places?
What types of people are interested in visiting historic places?
What do people (like to) do when they visit a historic place?
In general, do you think historic places are suitable for people of all ages to visit?
Are children very interested in visiting historical places? FQ
(Possibly) How do you think these places could be made more interesting for children? *
What types of historic sites are people most interested in visiting?
(Similar to above) What types of historic buildings are people most interested in visiting?
What (benefits) do people get from visiting historical sites / places / buildings?
How do (or, how can) people understand (or know more) about the history of a place by actually visiting it rather than simply reading about it?
Do you think people should have to pay to enter these places? FQx2
Do you think the entry fee for visiting these places is reasonable?
Do you think senior citizens should pay the same amount as other people?
Do you think foreign tourists should pay the same amount as local people?
Do you think historic sites should be "improved" or should they remain the same?
Do you think these historic places should be respected?
Do you think the government should preserve historic places?
How could they (or how do they) do that?

History

Besides visiting historic places, how do (or, how can) people find out about (or, learn about) history? FQx2
Which ways of learning about history do you prefer?
Do you think schools (and universities) do a good job of teaching history?
Do you think it's important for (young) people to know about history? FQ
(Not the same as above) Do you think (young) people need to know about history?
Who do you think is more interested in learning about history, children or adults?
How could more people be made interested in history?
Would you say that films can help promote an interest in history?
Do you think it's good to learn about history from (popular) films? FQ
Why do some films based on history seem to be so popular? *
Do you think film-makers usually depict historical events accurately?
(Similar to above) Do you think film-makers must always depict historical events accurately?
(Similar to above) Do you think it's important that film-makers depict historical events accurately?
Would you say the internet is a good place to learn about history? FQ
Are young people (and/ or children) interested in visiting historical museums?
Do you think museums should charge an entrance fee?

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604. No Topic

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605. No Topic

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Note 1

Pay particular note to the exact wording in this question. If the examiner does not include the word, "skills" and just asks, "Which do you think is more important, what children learn at school or what they learn at home?" then the question is not just about skills - it could included the knowledge gained at school such as a knowledge of history. On the other hand, if the examiner uses the word, "skills" then the question is mostly about "academic skills" learned at school such as essay writing, solving mathematical problems, spelling, the analysis of grammar etc. Of course, it also includes the basic skills of reading and writing! In addition to those academic skills, school students also learn a few social skills at school because they are taking part in group (e.g., class) activities at school.

Note 2

Someone seemed to report that question, with the word "necessary" in it. Of course, there is a difference between what is "a good idea" and what is "necessary".

Note 3

It is not clear which word is being used for these questions, "learn" or "study". It's quite possible that the examiner uses both words for different questions. As long as you have a clear understanding of the differences in meaning and usage between the two words and as long as you listen carefully for which word the examiner uses, then you should be able to answer the question in a coherent (suitable) way.

Note 4

For example, studying mathematics by using special software that teaches this.

Note 5

There's a saying in English, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." On the other hand, a lot of learning (for humans) is a process of building upon, or developing, knowledge that we already have. Therefore, in some cases, a well-educated old person might be able to learn something easier and faster than a poorly educated young person or a child who does not have a large knowledge base.