Updated Jul 30, 2018
IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions
Page 167
841.
A Recent Change (Sep.
2017)
842.
A Science Class
(Sep. 2017)
843.
A Time You Gave Help (Sep. 2017)
844.
Glad You Had a Mobile Phone (Sep. 2017)
845.
A Wise Decision (Sep. 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
If you're about 20 years of age, "recent" can mean within the past year or two. It doesn't have to be this month or this week.
See also any relevant questions in the Part 3 of:
Recent Change -
462,
Hometown Change -
387,
Change in General
Do you like to experience changes in life? FQ
In what ways does (or, can) change affect a person?
What characteristics do people need in
order to adapt to change
Would you say your country is experiencing a lot of change at the moment (or, has experienced a lot of change in recent decades)?
In what ways is modern (communication) technology changing society?
Since many people do work on computers today, why do they need to go (to the office) to work?
What changes to society do you think will probably occur in the future as a result of technological & scientific advancements?
How do you think people's work will be changed by technology?
Change in Children's Lives
Would you say children experience a lot of change in their lives?
In general, do you think children like
changes in their lives
Can you suggest why some children are
not comfortable with change
Do you think parents should guide (or,
encourage, or teach) their children to deal with (or adapt to) changes
How can parents do that
Do you think children like moving to a
different country and learning a new language
Children Being Asked to Make Changes to Themselves
Do you think parents should encourage their children to change? See Note 2
Do you think children like to change
Do you think it's better for a child to do one thing very well, or to (be able to) do many things but not do any of these things extremely well?
Changing Your Job or Career
Is it
Do you think many people would like to change their career (or job)?
Who do you think is more likely to change their career (or job), a young person or an older (a middle-aged) person?
Describe a science
You should say:
the name of the subject (what branch of science it was)
what you did in this class
how the teacher taught it
and explain how you feel about this subject. *
or
and explain how much this subject has helped you. *
Notes
As shown below, I previously labelled
See also:
A
Science Subject -
Science Classes in Your Country
Is science a very important subject in schools in your country?
Do students generally like those classes? FQ
Do you think the science students learn
in school is useful (or, important) in people's daily life (after they
finish school)
How are science classes taught in school?
Do you think those classes could be improved?
Do you think some science lessons are boring?
What sorts of skills do science teachers need to have?
Would you say the level of skills of science teachers needs to be improved?
Boys and Girls Studying Science
Is it compulsory for all students, both boys and girls, to study science at school?
Who likes to study science more, boys or
girls
Are boys better at science than girls
Do you think schools should encourage
(more) girls to study science
How could that be done?
Science in General
Is science a very popular topic among people in
your country
(Similar to above) Are people in your
country very interested in science
(If yes to above)
How do people learn about science?
Who would you say is more interested in science and technology, males or females?
Notes
Part 2 "Help" topics are almost as common in the Speaking Test as Part 2 topics about a book.
Always read the card carefully to see if it says, "someone you helped" or if it says, "someone who helped you". Of course, they are opposites of each other. Both of those are frequently used.
It is your grammatical responsibility to say when this happened, even if the card does not tell you to say that.
Helping Others in Your Country
Do you like helping others
Do you do it often
In what ways do people usually help each
other
Which people in the community need help?
(Similar to above)
Would you say people who are are not well-educated are more likely, or less likely to help others?
Do
Volunteering To Help
(Similar to above)
What do you think are the benefits (and possible downsides) of having people do unpaid volunteer work?
Do you think it's necessary to have (unpaid) volunteer workers in society?
How do (or, how can) charitable organizations help people in society?
How do you think students would benefit from doing that? *
International Aid
How is money raised for the purpose of
Before the days of the mobile phone, if two people were meeting each other in a crowded place such as a train station, it was sometimes hard for them to find each other in such a place because they couldn't communicate with each other. But now people can communicate easily using mobile phones.
In addition to that, the camera, and audio & video recording features of mobile phones today make them a very useful tool to have readily available. Maybe you were glad you had your phone one day because you were able to take a photo of an unusual sight.
Mobile Phone Usage in General
Does everyone in your country have a
mobile phone
What can (or, do) people do with their mobile
phone
(Similar to above) What do people mostly use their phone for?
Do you call your friends often?
Who would you say uses their mobile phone more, teenagers or older people?
Are children in your country allowed to use a mobile phone?
What method (or plan, or scheme) do you think is the best for paying for a mobile phone service?
In general, what would you say are the
Would you say people use their phone too much?
Do you think using a mobile phone
sometimes causes problems for others (who are nearby)
Do you think it's good for a person to watch a video on their phone without wearing earphones (or headphones) while travelling on the subway or in a bus? FQ
How do people nearby feel when someone is having a loud conversation on their phone?
Mobile Phone Apps
Which mobile phone apps do you use? *
(Similar to above) Which mobile applications do you think are good?
Do you think social media is a good platform for advertisements?
Notes
This seems to be a new topic.
The words, "someone you know" can be a problem. Do you know who is the leader of your country? Most people do but not so many people personally know him or her. To personally know someone means, at the minimum, to have at least spoken to them a few times, to know their name and to know something about their life. Of course, you personally know your family and friends because you have spoken to them many times.
In this Part 2, if you choose to speak about, for example, a decision by the leader of your country, some but not all examiners would think your answer was not 100% correct because you don't really know the leader personally, you only know about him or her. On the other hand, other examiners might accept a looser definition of "to know someone" and accept that a person can "know" the leader of their country. If you explain yourself clearly, especially about "how you know them", then even those examiners who think you "don't really know" the leader of your country would not (or should not) take any points off your score.
See also related questions in the Part 3 of
Decision-making in General
What are some examples of important decisions that most people need to make in their lives?
Do people usually seek the advice of others before they make a final decision?
Who do people get advice from?
What would you say are the advantages of getting advice before making a final decision?
Young People & Children, and Decision-making See Note 7
In your country, what important decisions do young people have to make?
(Different to above)
Do teenagers generally like to make their own decisions?
(Similar to above)
Do you think it's better for young
people to make these decisions, or for their parents to make these decisions
for them
Do you think it's best for parents to make decisions concerning the education of their children?
Would you say parents are the best people to consult?
When (at what age) would you say a child
is capable of making their own decisions
When (in what situations) do you think a
child should be allowed to make decisions on their own
What effects would it have if parents
didn't allow their son or daughter to make their own decisions
Decision-making in the Workplace
Do you think it's good for employees to make their own (work-related) decisions at work?
This seems to be the question although it is possible the examiner might ask, before this question, questions such as, "Do you think children like visiting different countries?/" and, "Do children like to learn a foreign language?"
Among other possibilities, this question is mostly referring to children being asked to improve themselves. For example, being asked to change a bad habit such as not keeping their room tidy, or being asked to do better at school.
In the English-speaking countries right now, there is a big push to allow (or even encourage) boys to be free to act like girls if they want, and girls to act like boys if they want or even if they just occasionally exhibit a trait of the opposite gender. For example, girls are being encouraged to play rough physical sports like rugby football (not just soccer, which involves less physical contact with opponents than soccer). I don't suggest you introduce this topic yourself, but it is possible the examiner might ask a question about it.
To make changes to the "direction" of one's career, or other aspects of one's career, is not the same as completely changing your career to a different career.
On the other hand, there probably are also questions about completely changing one's career, and I think there are also questions about changing your "job". Changing your job most often simply means changing your employer without necessarily changing your career, but it could include changing your career.
Some people just have different jobs in different fields, without having a "career" (a specialized area of work that they continue working in for most of their working lives).
Pay careful attention to the exact words in the questions here.
The question was reported as including the words, "work environment" but the examiner might not have actually used those exact words. If someone puts flowers on their desk in the office you can say they changed their work environment in a small way. However, I suspect this question is actually about changing where you work, i.e., moving to work in a different company or organization = changing jobs.
The examiner probably asks you to compare any two of: chemistry, biology and physics.
The examiner probably chooses any one of: chemistry, biology and physics.
Most of the questions here are about "young people", i.e., people aged from about 13 to about 25.
Also in most of the questions here, the word, "children" means "the sons and daughters of the parents" or, "the offspring of the parents". We can even refer to the "children" of two people who are, for example, aged in their 80's when the children are aged n their 50's or 60's. When no relationship with parents is included in a statement, (or is implied) the word "child" normally means "a person between the ages of about 3 and 12" but almost all questions here are about parents and their offspring.