Updated May 17, 2018
IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions
Page
159
791.
An English Lesson
(May. 2017)
792.
Your Favourite
Piece of Clothing
(May. 2017)
793. A
Free Gift
(May. 2017)
794. Good News
(May. 2017)
795.
A Happy
Childhood Memory
(May. 2017)
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
Notes
People generally find "interesting" things to be "enjoyable".
So possibly you can talk about how much you enjoyed (liked) a lesson because
it was interesting. But
Learning Foreign Languages
Why do people learn foreign languages?
Can you suggest why some people choose to learn (or, study) minor languages?
How can (or, how do) people learn English?
What would you say is the ideal age for learning a language?
Can you suggest why some people learn a
foreign language faster than others
What would you say is the most important aspect of learning English?
How important would you say grammar is when learning a foreign language (or, when learning English)? FQ
What kinds of English teacher do you like the best?
What do you think are the most important
qualities a language teacher needs to have
Do you want to be an English teacher? See Note 2
Do you think online language teaching will (or, might, or could) replace learning a language in a classroom?
Do you think robots (or computer
programs) could be used to replace human language teachers
Languages in the World
Do you think it would be a good idea if people all over the world spoke one language?
Shopping (for Clothes)
(Some of these questions seem to be about shopping in general, not just buying clothes.)
Do you often go shopping?
How often do people buy clothes?
Where do people buy their clothes?
Would you say people enjoy buying clothes?
Do you think there are differences
between men and women when it comes to buying clothes
(Similar to above) Why do some people
prefer to buy their clothes with a friend
Why do some (or, many) people like to buy clothes online?
What would you say are the good and bad
points about buying clothes online
Formal Clothes
In your country, what clothes do
people wear on formal occasions
What are some examples of these formal occasions?
What do people wear to weddings in
your country
Why do they no longer wear traditional clothes when they get married?
Fashion
In your country, how are the clothes that people wear today different to the clothes that people were wearing 20 or 30 years ago?
(In your country), do men and women always wear different types of clothes?
Some people judge others based on
appearance? What's your opinion of that
Why do you think some people judge
others by the clothes they are wearing
Do you think it's the same in other societies?
How does shopping for clothes change from season to season? See Note 4
In general, how do trends in clothes fashions affect people?
Can you explain what the effect of the fashion industry is on current fashions?
How does the fashion industry influence people's clothes-buying behaviour?
Would you say the fashion industry has an equal amount of influence of both men's and women's clothes buying bahaviour?
Do many people in your country buy and wear second-hand clothes?
Do people generally care about recycling clothes?
Notes
This seems to be a topic that has never been used before.
This is referring to
Free Things
Are most people in your country happy to
get free samples from businesses
What kinds of free things do people like the most?
Are there any people who would not be happy to be given free gifts?
Can you explain why businesses sometimes give free things to people?
Do you think it's a good idea for businesses to give away free things?
Have you ever bought anything as a result of receiving a free sample?
In your country, do you have any religious or traditional customs involving free food or other things being given to people?
Social Services
In your country, what are some examples of free services (or free benefits) that people receive from governments?
(Similar to above)
Do you think government should provide free services (or benefits) to its citizens?
Do you think free, or nearly free public
transport is (or should be) an obligation of government
and explain how you felt when you heard the news.
Good News
Can you think of any other examples of good news that people receive?
What good news do neighbours hear about each other?
How do people in your country celebrate
after receiving good news
Do neighbours usually celebrate good news together?
How do people receive news, both good and bad?
Social Media
In what ways do you think modern technology has changed the way people send and receive information today, compared to several decades ago?
Do you think people share too much private information when they use social media?
Do you think some people are too dependant on their mobile phones and social media?
News
Are people in your country more interested in international news, or domestic news?
a) Describe a happy occasion or event you remember from your childhood.
or
You should say:
what you remember
where you were
who you were with
and explain why it is a happy memory.
Notes
The two choices for the first line are not exactly the same. Choice a), an occasion or event, refers to one occasion or event that happened at one time. Choice b), "a happy memory" could also refer to a one-time event or it could refer to something that happened more than once, or something that happened continuously. An example of something that happened more than once is, "I remember how my father used to bring home a big bag of sweets (candy) on pay day." An example of something continuous is, "I remember how much I enjoyed playing with our pet dog when I was a kid."
It is unlikely that the card says, "when it happened" because
you must include the time whenever you use the past tense. (Although
I think most Part 2 past tense questions do not tell you to
It's important to read
and understand the notes I wrote
Memories (= things remembered)
What kinds of childhood memories do most people remember?
Can you suggest why people tend to to have strong memories of happy experiences?
Can you explain why people remember certain things from childhood better than other things?
When an adult recalls his or her "best memories", how do you think best their memories of their childhood differ from their best memories of their adulthood?
At what age do you think people have their first memory?
Can you think of ways, or things to do, that help people remember events in their lives?
Memory (= the ability)
Would you say you have a good memory?
Can you explain why some people have a
good memory while others have a poor memory
How can someone's memory be improved
Do you think memory can be improved by repeating something?
What sort of things are easiest to remember?
What sort of things are easiest to forget?
What can we do to prevent memory loss?
Could we do exercises to stop memory loss?
Do you think adults have better memories than children?
What are some of the things that most
people need to remember in daily life
What do people need to remember when they leave their home (when they go out)?
Do you think mobile phones can be used to help people remember things?
Is it possible to use a mobile phone as an aid to memory in all situations?
Notice that I did not write, "...
If the question includes the word, "can" then it is asking you to
suggest reasons why different people have differences in their ability
to learn a foreign language. But if the question, as it is written, just asks,
In a language class we do notice that some students progress faster than others. We don't always know the background of those who learn faster, for example, whether the native language of one of the student's parents was the language that the student is studying now. (Maybe the student's parents did not use that native language at home when the student was a child.)
But, just like learning other things, there are differences in the rate of progress of students learning a langu8age based on the following:
- the motivation of the student to learn the language
- the interest that the student has in learning the language or their interest in language in general
- the amount of work (study), or practice in that language that the student does outside class time!
Explanations for differences in language learning ability are more complex and are still being researched. On the one hand, as Thomas Edison (the inventor of the phonogram and the light globe, among other inventions) said about his ability: "Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration."
On the other hand, I do believe that a person's language ability (in using their native language and learning a foreign language) is largely determined by the amount of language stimulation (or language input) that the person experienced as a child, especially the amount of language that the person's parents used when speaking to, or in the presence of the person when they were a child.
If you say, "Yes, I do" then it means being an English teacher is one of your goals or plans. However, if the question is really, "Would you like to be an English teacher?" then it is not referring to your goals and plans but is simply asking you, "If you were an English English, would that please you?" It is not clear exactly which of those two questions the examiners are using.
This is how the question was reported by
more than one person. However, the following question seems to indicate that
this question might actually be,
This probably refers to the natural seasons of winter, spring, summer and autumn. But there is also such a thing as a "fashion season", which is the period when a certain fashion is "in season", or prominent in the clothes market. These fashion seasons might not exactly align with the natural seasons.
On the internet we often see that subscriptions to some services or website use a promotion such as, "First month free" and there are many cases of software being offered for a free trial period, such as 30 days. These examples are the same as free gifts being given away in shopping centres.