ielts-yasi.englishlab.net

Updated May 1, 2020

 

IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions

Page 196

986An Achievement You Celebrated  (Sep 2019)

987.  A School You Attended  (Sep 2019)

988.  A Gift That Took a Long Time to Choose  (Sep 2019)

989.  A Picture or Photograph at Home  (Sep 2019)

990 A Beautiful Sky  (Sep 2019) 

 

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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986An Achievement You Celebrated  (Sep 2019)

Describe a time you celebrated an achievement (of yours).

               You should say:

 when you celebrated it

 what your achievement was

 how you celebrated it

 and explain how you felt when you celebrated the achievement.

              .

Notes

  • In the first line, even if the words, "of yours" are not included, it does mean your achievement, not someone else's.

  • It could be an achievement that that you jointly made, with others, as a member of  group.

  • Although people do celebrate achievements (wins) when the football team etc. that they support wins a match, it's not a suitable example in the Part 2 because you did not contribute to the achievement, even if you feel the team, or sports cub is a group that you are a member of.

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also Topics 811 & 848

Celebrating Important Days

  • What are some of the major reasons why people celebrate?

  • How do people in your country celebrate 'big days' (important events)?

  • How do people celebrate weddings in your country?

  • Do they spend a lot of money on these celebrations?

  • Do people spend a lot of money celebrating (their own or their friends') birthdays?

  • In your opinion, is it necessary to spend money in order to make friends (or, maintain a friendship)?

  • Do you think it’s necessary to spend a lot of money on holding a party?

  • Do people in your country spend much money celebrating birthdays?

  • Do people in your country usually go out to celebrate traditional festivals with others?

Family Celebrations

Celebrating Achievements of Sports Teams (or clubs)

  • Can you explain why sports fan celebrate when their favourite team wins a game? FQ

  • Do you think it’s important for sports fans to celebrate when their favourite team wins?

  • Which do you think is more difficult, to compete in a team sport, or to compete in an individual sport?

  • Would you say most people prefer to win as a member of  a team, or win in a sport where people compete individually? FQ

  • (Similar to above) Which do you think is more important, personal achievements or achievements as a team? FQ

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987.  A School You Attended  (Sep 2019)

Describe a school that you attended during your childhood.

               You should say:

 what it looked like

 what teachers you liked

 what you learned at the school

   and explain what you remember most about the school.              .

 

Notes

  • Westerners do not usually classify kindergartens as examples of  "schools", even though modern kindergartens do strive to be educational places for the kids. Instead, kindergartens are still thought of more as "child minding centres".

  • If the card includes the word, "childhood" or "when you were a child", then strictly speaking a high school would also not be a suitable example because people are only "children" until about the age of 12 or 13. That leaves your primary school as the most obvious example to use.

  • However, it is possible to talk about an "after school school". Although most of these places are referred to as "training centres" in China, if such a place has classes of groups o students for such things as learning English, learning to play a musical instrument, learning ballet, learning a martial art such as judo or wushu, or if it is a 'coaching college" to help students with school subjects such as mathematics, it would probably be suitable to call it a "school". But you should say a few words to the examiner explaining why you consider it to be a "school".

  • An "online school" would probably not be suitable because you didn't physically "attend" the schhol.

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also Topic 555

Vocab and http://ielts-yasi.englishlab.net/vocabulary_lists_6.htm#89.%20Teachers 

Schools in Your Country

Teachers

Computers at School

  • Do you think school students nowadays like using computers?

  • Which do you use more, the internet or the library?

School Students

  • Do you think school students today study harder than previous generations (did)?

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988.  A Gift That Took a Long Time to Choose  (Sep 2019)

Describe a gift you took a long time to choose.

               You should say:

 what it was

 who it was for

 how this person felt about your gift

 and explain why you spent a lot of time choosing the gift.

              .

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also the many previous topics about a gift at Part 2 Complete List, especially Topic 637

Gifts

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989.  A Picture or Photograph at Home  (Sep 2019)

Describe a picture or photograph in your home.

               You should say:

 what is in the picture or photograph

 how long you have had it (= when you took the photo or got the picture)

 where it is in your home

 and explain how you feel about it.

              .

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

See also Topic 644 and previous topics about photos or pictures at Part 2 Complete List

Painting and Drawing

Photographs

Cameras

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 990 A Beautiful Sky  (Sep 2019)

Describe a beautiful view of the sky you looked at (either at night/or in the daytime). *

               You should say:

 when you looked at the sky

 where you (were when you) looked at it

 who you were with

 and explain why you felt it was beautiful.

              .

Notes

  • See the Part 1 topic, The Sky that was used from January to the end of September, 2019. You should especially note the vocab list for this topic, shown in a link on that Part 1 page.

  • The word, "sky" is normally a non-count noun so, "a beautiful sky" sounds strange. But I will leave it as the topic title because it could be used in poetic language. Normally, it is, "the sky".

  • It is possible that the word, "beautiful' is not used in this Part 2 wording. Instead, it might be some other adjective such as "impressive" or "memorable." In fact, the wording might be something like, "Describe a time when you looked up in the sky and saw something special". If that is the wording, you could describe a spectacular flock of birds flying in the sky, which is actually describing something that is in the sky, not the sky itself.

  • In English we don't "watch" the sky because we "watch" moving things and the sky does not move (although clouds move). Instead, we say, look at" for things that are not moving.

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Possible follow-up questions:

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Part 3

The Stars and Planets

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Note 1

Note 2

Can you explain why some people study the sky?

For a question that is worded that way, you could name and talk about climatology, meteorology, astrophysics and astronomy. There is also astronomy, which is not a science but the superstitious study of the stars and how it is claimed that the stars influence our lives.

Note 3

When an English speaker says, "the value" of something, they usually mean, "the financial value" or "cost". But, when it concerns a gift, if the words, "financial value" are not specifically used, you could mention the "sentimental value" of a gift. Other kinds of "value" are "cultural value", "historical value", "educational value", "practical value" (= usefulness).