ielts-yasi.englishlab.net

Updated Sep. 27, 2015

 

IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions

Page 125

 

621.  Someone Who Is Good At Cooking  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

622.  A Song from Childhood  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

623.  A Toy in Your Childhood  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

624.  No Topic

625.  A Friend Who Is a Good Leader  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

 

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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621.  Someone Who Is Good At Cooking  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

        Describe someone you know who is good at cooking.

            You should say:

                          who this person is

                          what kinds of food they cook 

                          why you think (why you say) this person is good at cooking 

  and explain how they learned to cook so well

 

Notes

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also the Part 3 of Topic 166

Cooking

Eating Places / Eating with the family

Nutrition & Food Safety

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622.  A Song from Childhood  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

Copy of Topic 186

Describe a childhood song you remember well.

               You should say:

where you first heard this song

 how old were you when you first heard it

 what it was about

 and explain how you feel when you hear this song now.

 

Notes

  • This topic was used before at Topic 186. Part 3 might be a bit different now.

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

These questions are very similar to those used in the past.

Almost all the questions below have been reported by more than one person. So, almost all of them can be considered to be "FQ" questions.

See also the Part 3 questions for Topic 186, Topic 270, Topic 136 and Topic 81.

Childhood Songs & Music

Music in Your Country

Music in Shopping Centres (and other public places)

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623.  A Toy in Your Childhood  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

Describe a special toy you had in your childhood.

               You should say:

what it was

 who gave it to you

 how often you played with it  (or, how you played with it) *

and explain why it was special for you.

 

 

Notes

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

These questions are very similar to those used in the past. Most of the questions below were reported by more than one person, making most of the questions below "FQ" questions.

See also the Part 3 of Topic 187, Topic 273, Topic 477 & Topic 427

Toys in Your Country

        Differences Between Toys Today and Toys in the Past

The Benefits of Toys

Buying Toys

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624.  No Topic

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625.  A Friend Who Is a Good Leader  (January, 2015)    (Probably no longer used)

Copy of Topic 323

Describe a friend who you think is a good leader.

                You should say:

who this friend is

how you know this person (or, how [& when] you first met this person)

how other people behave towards him/her

and explain why you think he/she is a good leader.

 

Notes

  • The previous topic with the same name was Topic 323. It is possible that one or two points on the current version are different to those in the previous version. Very little detail is being reported on the wording of this topic.

  • Note that one person has reported the first line as, "Describe a friend who you think could be a good leader." If that is the wording, then you need to focus more on being a leader later, not now. That person could also be a leader of some sort now but need not necessarily be a leader now. When you focus on being a leader later, use words such as "would be", "would be able to", "could". Be careful of using "will" because "will" is used to predict a certain, definite future but you are just talking about a possibility or likelihood here, even if it is a strong likelihood. However, modifying "will" with words such as "very likely will", "probably will" and even, "almost certainly will" is suitable for this situation.

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also the Part 3 of  Topic 371, Topic 323 & Topic 60

See also any relevant questions related to "decision making", which is a leadership skill, at the following topics: Topic 2, Topic 323 & Topic 445

Decision-making / Leadership in the Family

See Note 6

Leadership Qualities

Leadership (management) in the Work Place

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Note 1

Having cooking classes at school, for example in junior high school, need not be compulsory classes.

Note 2

I think the assumption here is that, ''eating with family members" means, ''eating at home with family members". But, although it is not common, family members could also get together every night and eat in a restaurant together!

Note 3

The question, "Do you think people today spend more time cooking (at home) than people did a few decades ago, or do they spend less time?" could be answered by saying that people today do just as much cooking as before but they spend less time on it because of modern cooking appliances, semi-prepared food from the supermarket etc. In other words, you could talk about the same cooking today being done faster than before because of various labour-saving measures, such as ready to cook frozen vegetables etc. However, judging by the other questions, it seems that the examiners are mostly asking the question, "Do people today do as much cooking at home as people did in the past?" Listen carefully to the question and communicate clearly with the examiner.

Note 4

Of course, not everyone in the world feels that their "cultural identity" and their "national identity" is the same. And, (again of course), the national anthem of your country is part of your national identity and if it is sung (if it is a song) then this is one song that is part of your "national identity". But there are other examples that could be used. These two questions might actually be written in the examiners' question book as "national or cultural identity".

Note 5

Of course, these include the so-called "educational toys".  The main intellectual / mental area developed by virtually every toy is the imagination because the very act of playing with toys involves the child imagining, often imagining a role-play situation but also inventing situations or little "stories".  The "Transformer" toy is an excellent example of an educational toy that promotes the imagination in little boys. It also promotes the ability to visualize changing shapes. Any toy with moving parts like that promotes a certain type of engineering ability. The Rubic's Cube certainly exercises the mind but this is bordering on being a puzzle, not a toy.

Note 6

If the examiner says, "in the home", he or she probably really means, "in the family". You might need to clearly make this distinction because, in many cultures, it is the wife/mother (or head female) who is "the boss" when it concerns issues within the family house, especially within the kitchen! And the husband/father/head male makes the decisions concerning matters outside the home, especially concerning how the family gets the money to live on.

Note 7

Women working outside the home / contraceptives + smaller families / greater female education today in some cultures

Note 8

Think about this - Does an only child (i.e., no brothers or sisters) or the youngest child in a family get many opportunities to experience being a leader in their childhood?

Note 9

You should pay close attention to whether the examiner says, "hear music" or whether he/she says, "listen to music". When we walk through a department store, we often hear recorded music playing. We also hear music at the beginning of and throughout most movies and some TV shows. But these examples of music are more or less in the background and we usually don't pay much attention to this music. In contrast, when you go to a concert you are focusing on or paying attention to the music. This is "listening to music", just like listening to someone who is talking to you.

Occasionally a native English speaker might say something like, "I'm going to a concert to hear some music". This is not wrong but I would say it's a kind of shorthand way, or even a lazy way of saying, "listen to some music". The same situation exists when talking about "seeing", "looking at" and "watching". What is the difference between those three? "See" is more general and it is simply what we do when we open our eyes. When we "look at" and "watch" something, we are focusing on or paying attention to something - "look at" is used for something that is not moving and "watch' for something that is moving. Very often (not just occasionally), English speakers say, "see a movie" (film) when they mean, "watch a movie". But no-one says, "I'm going to see TV tonight" - we only say, "I'm going to watch TV tonight".