Updated Apr 16, 2020
IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions
Page 195
984.
A Conversation
With a Stranger
985.
A Product From Your Country
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
Most people have reported this only as "clothes" but I believe it possibly says, "something you wear" . That would include an item of clothing but could also include an item of jewellery or other fashion accessories that people wear, including shoes. However, to be safe it would be best to plan to talk about a piece of clothing.
See also the many previous "Clothes" topics at Complete Part 2 List
Dress Style / Fashion
Uniforms
Notes
"Useful" means you needed it and/or it was something of a practical nature rather than something you borrowed just for enjoyment or amusement.
As with all past tense Part 2 topics, the cue card does not need to tell you to say when it happened. This is because whenever (= every time) you use the past tense, the reader or listener needs to know when it happened. So it is obvious that you should say when it happened.
See also Topic 916 & previous topics
Borrowing in Your Country
Who do people in your country more often borrow from, their family or their friends?
How long do people usually keep the things that they have borrowed before they return them?
Do you think borrowing ever leads to disputes between people?
Do you think there are any differences between borrowing money from family members and borrowing it from friends?
Before you borrow something (such as a pen), do you think it's always necessary to ask permission?
What are some suitable questions to ask when you want to borrow something?
Which do you think is better, to borrow books from a library, or to buy good-quality second-hand books?
Describe an indoor game you played when you were a child.
See also the Part 3 of Topic 912
See some Vocab
Games in Your Country
Which do you think are better, indoor or outdoor games?
Children's Games
What games do children play today?
Are those the same as the games kids used to play in the past?
What can they learn from games?
Do you think it’s necessary for children’s games to be competitive?
Do you think it's good that children play games on their smartphones or tablets?
Which do you think are better for children, indoor games or outdoor games?
Notes
"Interesting" means the opposite of "boring". More specifically, "interesting" means it appeals to or stimulates your mind, not your emotions. For example, learning something new from a conversation could be described as, "interesting".
It could have been a short conversation, for example, with a stranger while you were standing in line at the supermarket checkout.
See also Topic 805
Conversations
Do you think there are any differences between males and females when they converse with people?
In your country, who are more interested in talking about children?
Are there any benefits of having phone conversations as opposed to face-to-face conversations in real life?
If you had a piece of bad news, would you prefer telling others this news face-to-face, or on the phone?
Speaking in Public to a Group (or an audience)
Some people are afraid of giving a public presentation. Why do you think this is the case?
Would you say it’s important to include diagrams, pictures and so on when giving a presentation?
Notes
Some people have reported it as just from your hometown but not everyone's hometown produces a product that would be suitable for this Part 2.
The word, "region" is flexible and could mean anything from your hometown, your province or state, or simply your part of the country such as the south or the north-east part of your country.
A few people have reported that this topic asks you to describe an industry but I think that is wrong - an industry is different to a product. Yes, you could and possibly should say something about the industry that this product is an example of but mostly talk about the product itself.
Examples - cars, a particular kind of food that is grown in your region, a particular type of food product that is produced from food that is grown in your region, timber, fish (from the sea, lake or fish-farms), a metal that is produced from mines in your region, coal, oil, natural gas, . . .
A word like "cars", "toys", "chemicals" or terms like, "computer software" & "pharmaceuticals" (= pharmaceutical products) represents one type of product. That would be suitable. Just focus on one example.
See also Topic 541
Products, (Including Traditional Products) From Your Country
See Note 1
Do some products mainly come from only some parts of your country? FQ
(Similar to above) Are some parts of your country famous for any particular product(s)?
Can you suggest why people usually favour food products that come from the regions (or the country) where they live?
Would you say traditional products that are made in your country today are the same quality as the products that were produced in historical times?
(Similar to above) Would you say traditional products in your country today are of high quality?
What would you say are the differences between traditional products (or objects) and modern ones that serve the same purpose? For example, how are modern clothes in your country different to traditional clothes from your country?
(Similar to above) Which do you think are better, traditional products or the modern products that have replaced them?
Do you think it's important for (some) people to learn how to make traditional products in schools and/or in the home?
Do you think traditions should be (or, need to be) protected?
Inventions
What would you say are some of the most popular (or, important) inventions in the world?
Can you explain what makes an invention popular?
What do you think are the advantages, and disadvantages of having new inventions?
International Trade
Do you think international trade is important? *
Can you explain why people buy (or, use) imported products?
Anything "traditional" is at least about 200 years old and could even be thousands of years old. This could even apply to food. For example, the "traditional" staple food of people in East Asia and South-East Asia is rice.
To "follow a fashion trend" could mean either, a) to go along with a fashion
trend = to change one's clothes (& other fashion items) according to some mass
trend = to participate in the social trend or, b) to observe a fashion trend,
similar to "follow the news" = "to keep up with the news" but not to participate
in the trend. The question here, "
Of course, "fashionable" and "comfortable" are not necessarily mutually exclusive!