ielts-yasi.englishlab.net

Updated Nov. 6, 2007

IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions 

Page 15

71.    A Modern Building   (January 13, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

72.    A Book (2)   (January 13, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

73.    A Public Event   (January 13, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

74.    A Happy Childhood Memory   (January 20, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

75.    A Stage of Your Life   (January 20, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

RETURN TO PART 2 TOPIC INDEX

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71.  A Modern Building    (January 13, 2007)　(Probably no longer used)

Describe an interesting modern building that you have visited or seen.

               You should say:

                                where it is

                                what it looks like

                                how it is used

                and explain why you think this building is interesting.     

Notes:

• A bridge is not a building, even though we use the verb 'build' when we are talking about constructing a bridge. A bridge is a structure. (The Great Wall is also a structure, not a building.)

• Don't talk about something overseas that you have only seen in a photograph, such as the Sydney Opera House.
• Although the question (as written above) seems to require you to talk about the outside appearance of the building, you probably could, in fact, concentrate more on the inside appearance of the building if you want but you still should at least say something about the outside appearance of the building.
• An airport is usually not a single building but rather, a complex of several buildings. However, if you choose to talk about the main building (the main terminus) at an airport, it would be a suitable answer. 
• This topic is particularly suitable for using hand language, along with your spoken language, to help you communicate if you are trying to describe a shape such a curve or a sloping wall. (Don't forget, the test is assessing your ability to communicate.)

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Possible follow-up questions:

• Do you often see/visit this building?

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Part 3

Tall Buildings (= High-rise Buildings)

• Does your city have many tall buildings? FQ

• Are buildings today taller than those of the past?

• What’s the tallest building in your city? FQ

• Do you like tall buildings?

• (As above) What do you think of tall buildings? FQ

• Compare the good and bad points of (very) tall buildings.

• (Similar to above) What are some advantages of having tall buildings in a city?

• Why do we have/need tall buildings?

• What are tall buildings used for?

• How have science and technology changed the way modern buildings are constructed? FQ

• What influence does modern architecture have on a city?

• Do (or can) tall buildings have any effect on the environment? FQ  [ See: http://news.sohu.com/20060906/n245193802.shtml  ]

• How do you think buildings will change in the future?

Residential & Commercial (Office) Buildings

• Compare residential and commercial buildings. FQx2 DIFFICULT QUESTION

• Do people like to live in tall buildings?

• (Similar to above) What kinds of people live in tall residential buildings?

• How do you it would feel to live in a very tall building?

• What are some of the problems involved in living in a tall building?

• (Similar to above) What are some of the problems encountered when people live together in the same apartment (or the same apartment building)?

• Is the outside appearance of commercial buildings important? FQ

• Why do some big companies pay a lot of money to construct big office buildings for themselves? [Hints: 1) Prestige 2) Investment]

Historical Buildings

• Compare modern and old buildings.  FQ

• Does the history of a region ever influence the design of modern buildings in that region? DIFFICULT QUESTION 

• Do you think historical buildings should be preserved? (Why?/Why not?) FQx2

• How do you think governments should/could preserve historical buildings? FQx2

• What do you think are some possible effects of having modern buildings in an old part of the city? [Hints: 1) Modern buildings are often taller than the older buildings and, as a result, the older buildings tend to be hidden from view by the modern buildings. 2) Some older buildings probably had to be destroyed to make room for the modern buildings.]

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72.  A Book (2)   (January 13, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

Describe a book that you learned something from.

               You should say:

                                what the book was

                                what the contents of the book were (are)

                             how and where you got the book

                and explain what you learned from this book. *

                                       or

            and explain why you needed to read this book. *

NOTES:  

• Possibly the words on the card say: "Describe a book that helped you".

• This topic is different to Topic #14, A Book (1). Topic 14 is more slanted towards a novel or a similar book whereas Topic 71 is more slanted towards a textbook. Nevertheless, it is possible to talk about a textbook for Topic 14 and a novel for Topic 71 as long as you emphasize learning something new in Topic 71.

• This topic doesn't say that you liked the book - it just says that you learned something from it.

• Try to be specific about what you learned, not too general. For example, to say that you "learned some lessons about life" is not specific enough.

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Possible follow-up questions:

• Is this a popular book in China?

• Do you like to read books (study textbooks)?

• Did you buy this book (study this book) for a high school class?

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Part 3

Note: A wide variety of Part 3 questions were reported for this topic, indicating that many examiners preferred to make their own questions and engage the candidates in discussion. See also the Part 3 questions for Topic #36 - examiners seem to use some of those questions for this Part 3.

Books and other Media

• Besides textbooks, what other materials (or teaching media) are used in schools in China? FQ

• (Similar) Have you learned things from places other than books?

• (Similar) What's the best way to learn something: from a book, from TV or from the internet? (Compare these three)

• Do you think textbooks will be replaced in future by other teaching media such as small notebook computers? FQX2

• Do textbooks have any advantages over other teaching media?

• What do you think of internet books? (e-books?)

• Compare books and (popular) movies as media for showing (teaching) history. DIFFICULT QUESTION

[Hints: 1) Movies and novels are both allowed a certain amount of 'artistic license' when showing historical events. 2) Both movies and novels can and do distort the facts of history for the purpose of ideological (political) indoctrination but movies are much more likely to do this because they are made for a younger and less educated audience than the readers of novels. 3) Novels have the capacity to give more information because more words are used than in films. 4) On the other hand, films can convey the atmosphere and feelings of historical events more accurately because films include audio and visual effects. 5) If the book is a scholarly work rather than a novel, we can reasonably expect it to be much more accurate than a film but even then, it is said that "history is mostly written by the victors" when events such as wars or revolutions are concerned.] 

Education

• Is education important? (Why?) FQ

• (As above) What is the purpose of education? FQ

• Do people study because they are interested in learning or simply as preparation for work?

• In the future, do you think learning and study will be more important than 'natural talent' or will 'natural talent' be more important?

• How do people in China consider teaching, as a profession? FQ

• What is the function of a teacher? (Hint: To help others to learn)

• (As above) Is teaching a good profession in China? FQ

• (Similar to above) How do students in China view teachers? FQ

• (Similar to above) How do students in China relate to teachers? FQ

• Who should decide what is taught in schools & universities - the students, the teachers or the government? FQ

• How do you think education will change in the future? *

• What role do you think the internet will play in education?

Life-long Learning

• Do you think life-long learning is important? (Why?) FQ

• At what age is education most important?

• People at different ages are suited to learning different things. Can you give some examples of this?

• Is it easier to learn when you are young or when you are old? (Why?)

• Why is memory important to learning?

• Do some people have a better memory than others? Why do you think this is so?

• Is there any way to memorize things quickly?

• Is the ability to learn a ‘gift of nature’ or is it the result of effort?

• Do you think that ‘distance learning’ is useful?

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73.  A Public Event    (January 13, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

Describe a (popular) public event that you attended (such as a carnival, sports event or religious event). *

You should say:

what the event was

when you went there

who you went there with

and explain why this event was so popular. *

              or

and explain what you saw and did there. *

NOTES:  

• It is not clear if the word ‘popular’ is used.

• An event that you  "attended" means an event that you went to - when you "attend" an event, you can either be a spectator or a participant.

• Don't talk about an event that was held in your school, university or company and that only students at the school or university or employees of the company attended. Those events are not public. A 'Public event' means an event that it is open to any member of the general public to attend, including those events where people have to buy a ticket before attending the event.

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Part 3

The Population of Cities

• Do you think cities in China are too crowded? (Why do you say that?) FQ

• Several cities in China are already very big. Do you think they’ll be able to support an even bigger population in the future?

• How does the size of a city’s population affect a city (including the people in the city)? FQx2 (Hints: noise, congested traffic, ...)

• What can the government do about these problems? FQx2

• (Similar to above) What impact does the speed of a city’s population growth have on that city? FQ

• What can (should) government do about this problem? FQ

• (Similar to above) What can (what does) the government do to help control the population of cities?

• How do you think having a lot of people living in a city affects the way people relate to each other?

• Do you think that people who live in large crowded cities have enough individual space and privacy?

• What are the possible dangers of having large crowds of people at public events?

Entertainment Facilities in Cities

• What entertainment (and recreational) facilities do typical cities in China have?

• Compare watching a sports event such as a basketball game on TV and watching it at the sports stadium.

• Compare celebrating an event in a public place such as the town square with celebrating an event at home.

• In what ways can people benefit from celebrating an event in a public place, with many other people?

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74.  A Happy Childhood Memory   (Probably no longer used)　

Describe a happy memory from your childhood.

               You should say:

                                what the memory is  (= what happened)

                                when it happened

                             where you were at the time  

                                who was with you

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Part 3

Childhood

• Do you think childhood is important? FQ

• What can adults learn from looking back at their own childhood? FQ

• Is it important to look back at one’s childhood?

• Do you think it’s important (or necessary) to keep in contact with childhood friends? FQ

• How do children view friendship?

• Can adults be friends with children?

• Do most people change their friends when they grow up? Why?

• Some adults think that childhood was the best part of their lives. Why do they think that way? FQ

• Do you think that way? Why?

• What are the differences between childhood and adulthood?

• What are the typical activities that children do?

• And what activities did you do when you were a child?

Preserving Childhood Memories

• What are some good methods for remembering childhood experiences?

• What are some things that people keep from their childhood? FQ

• Why do people keep these things?

• What are some of the advantages of keeping a photo album of childhood photographs? FQ

Memory

• What are the advantages of having a good memory? (= good powers of memory)

• Can you think of any ways to enhance one’s memory in order to increase one’s learning capacity? FQ

• Do children and adults have the same memorization abilities? (I.e., Who can remember or learn new things better, children or adults?)

• What methods do most people use to memorize things?

• Why do people remember some events and not others?

• Why do some people write events in a diary?

• Do you agree that sometimes people talk about their memory of an event that didn't really happen (or didn't really happen exactly as they remember)?  (What is the explanation for this?)

• What do you think is the value of teaching history in school?  FQ

• If school children think history is a boring subject, how can a teacher make it seem more interesting?

• Do you think it is a good idea to use audio-visual materials such as video or films to make the subject of history seem more interesting? (Hint: Popular films do not usually give not accurate portrayals of history.) FQ

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75.  A Stage of Your Life    (January 20, 2007)  (Probably no longer used)

Describe a stage of your life that you enjoyed.

               You should say:

                                how old you were 

                                where you were living at the time 

                                what you were doing during this stage

                and explain why you liked this part of you life.

Notes

• It is possible that the wording of the cue card will allow you to talk about the current stage of your life. Alternatively, the wording might specifically say ‘a past stage’ of your life. If the words on the cue card are written as shown above, the card is asking you to talk about a past stage since it uses the past tense in the sentences following, ‘You should say’.

• If the words specifically ask you to talk about a past stage, as the words above do, it is possible you will be able to talk about the current stage of your life if you first ask the examiner whether it is ok to do that.

• It is possible that the question is not as shown above but, instead is: "Describe an important stage of your life" and, "explain why this was an important stage of your life".

• You could answer this question by using the word "period" or the word "time". For example, "my university period" or, "the time I was in high school". Other stages are possible, such as "the period when I was crazy about computer games for a while" or, "the stage when I wanted to be a film star" or, "the period when I first started work". These are typical stages that (young) people go through - this is what your answer should be, stages that most (or many) people go through in life.

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Possible follow-up questions:

• Is there anything about this stage of your life that you would change, if you could?

• Is your life now different (compared to this past stage)?

• Was this stage of your life similar to other people's life (your friends)?

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Part 3

Legal Age of Adulthood

• At what age do you think people stop being children and become young adults? FQX3!

• (As above) When do people become mature?

• (As above) What age is suitable for young people to become independent of their parents?

• Do you think people over the age of 18 should be treated as adults?

• In China, what grown-up things can 18-year-olds legally do?

• In western countries, 18-year-olds can get married, as long as they have their parents' permission. Do you think 18-year-olds should be allowed to get married? (= Are 18-year-olds mature enough to get married?)

• What's the legal marriage age in China? FQX3!

• In China, is the topic of young people's independence from their parents an important or suitable topic?

• Are parents in China too protective?

• What help do parents give to their young, unmarried adult children? FQ

• In China, at what age are people allowed by law to do certain things such as drive a car, get married, buy tobacco or drink alcohol? FQX2

• Do you think it’s necessary to have these legal ages? FQ

• Do you think these ages are suitable?  = Do you think people at this age are responsible enough? FQX2

• Why do you think the minimum marriage age for females is younger than that for males?

• Do you think these age limits might be changed in the future? Why? Changed to what ages? Why not? FQX2

• What do you think might be some of the results if the minimum marriage age was higher than it is now?

• Do you think this is possible?

• Does China have a problem with youthful offenders? ( = young people who break the law, probably these legal age laws but possibly including all laws) FQ

• Do children today have the same sense of responsibility that kids had previously? (For example, helping with housework or even helping bring in income to the family.)

Celebrating Life Events

• In China, is there any special celebration when people become adults? FQ

• How do people in China celebrate important life events (e.g., birthdays? FQ

• Compare how children celebrate these events with how adults celebrate them?

• What life events have you celebrated?

• Do you think it's important to celebrate life events such as these?

• Do people in China have parties to celebrate these life events (= ‘milestones’)?

• What (other) life events are celebrated in China? (e.g., marriage, graduation from university, starting your first job) FQ

• Do people in China celebrate retirement from work? FQ

Life After Retirement

• What’s the attitude in China towards old people? FQx2

• Is there a certain age when people must retire in China?

• Do you think this is a suitable age?

• How do people in China spend their retirement years?

• Do older people (e.g., over 45 years of age) have any problems finding work in China? FQ

• How do you think an aging population (= older average age of the population as a result of many more old people) will affect society? FQ

• What government services are available to help old people? FQ

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