Updated Apr. 16, 2020
IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions
991.
A Special Day
992.
Tired but Had
to Stay Awake
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
One person has reported this as, "Describe a day that
is special to you. What is it? Why is it
special to you? Who do you celebrate or spend
it with?" Notice that all the verbs here are present tense. That would be a
day that occurs every year such as your birthday, your wedding anniversary,
National Day in your country, Christmas or some other religious celebration.
This is possible as the real Part 2 wording! However, most people are
reporting this Part 2 as a past tense question and a question about special
days that you celebrate every year are used in the Part 3 of this topic or
of
Happiness
How would you describe the meaning of the word, "happiness"?
Would you say that people (in your country) are generally happier today than people were 20 or 30 years ago? FQ
Do you have any suggestions on how people could become happier?
Do you think money plays a part in the happiness that people experience?
Do you think it's possible to be happy all the time?
How can (or, do) people make others happy?
Memory
See HERE for important vocabulary and notes
What are some examples of memories from childhood that many (or most) people
have
What do you think would happen (would be the result) if history was incorrectly recorded?
Do you think technology can help people to remember information?
What are the best ways to remember
information, in your opinion
How do you think people could (or, can)
improve their memory
Celebrating Important Days
(The following questions might in fact be in the Part 3 of Topic 986)
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)?
Goals
(The following questions might in fact be in the Part 3 of Topic 986)
Do you think most people have a main goal in life?
Do you think it's good to have goals in life?
What are your goals?
How hard is it to keep trying to achieve your goals or ideas?
Do you think failing to achieve a goal is a serious matter?
See also the Part 3 of Topic 959
Staying Awake When Tired
Can you give any more examples of situations when people are likely to become tired but need to stay awake?
What kinds of people stay awake even when they are tired (and want to sleep)? See Note 2
What are some ways that people use to keep (themselves) awake?
The Stress of Modern Life
Do you think school students in your country spend too much time on their studies?
Do you think they get enough sleep?
Do you think the use of social media is increasing people’s stress?
See also the Part 3 of Topic 880
Losing and Finding Things
Can you suggest why people sometimes lose (or, forget where they put) things? FQ See Note 3
Do you have any suggestions on how they could avoid losing (or forgetting where they put) things?
What do you think is the best
thing to do if you find something that doesn't belong to you
(Similar to above) If you saw
something on the ground that someone had dropped, would you
pick it up
Do you think it's right (or, OK)
to keep something that someone has lost and that you have found
In this modern world people tend to forget their traditional culture. What are the reasons for that, in your opinion?
In all civilizations, theatrical plays and movies about finding treasure or gold have always been popular. Can you suggest what makes this theme so popular?
Notes
"Have a good time" = enjoy yourself = have fun = be happy
It might say, "friends or family".
It is unclear whether Version A or Version B is being used. Version A is more likely to be about a place that you went to just once, for example, a camp. Version B is about your life nowadays, your habits.
See also the Part 3 of Topic 854, Topic 713 and Topic 24
Friends
Do you prefer to be (or, spend time) with a close friend, or do things in a group?
(Similar to
above)
Would you say it’s important to spend time with friends?
What do friends do when they are together?
Do you think science and technology improves the relationships between people?
Social Skills / Socializing
Would you say that it's important for people to socialize with others?
How do people (in your country) usually socialize with others?
What kind of social skills do people need when they are with other people?
Can you suggest how an introverted person could become more sociable when they are with other people?
Modern Lifestyles
Can you suggest why people nowadays (seem to) lead such a busy life?
How do you think the use of modern (communications) technology is affecting people's social lives (compared to the days before this technology was in use)?
See also the Part 3 of Topic 869 and earlier topics on that page
In the questions below, you can interpret the words, "What kinds of people?" to mean, "What are some examples of people who . . ?"
This question is mostly asking you to name occupations, such as taxi drivers. But there are very few jobs where you can sleep at work (during work time)! So a more general answer would be that people who are doing work where even falling asleep momentarily would (or could) endanger themselves or other people.
A variation of that question is –
This is somewhat different (or can be different) to the previous question. Examples would be people who need to complete a task that night, before they go to sleep because of a deadline such as students who have to finish writing an essay that is due the next day, or journalists who have to finish writing a news story before the printing of tomorrow's newspaper begins (often at around midnight). People who have made a promise to complete a task before a certain deadline are similar.
People such as nurses or mothers of babies must attend to the needs of the people they are taking care of if the occasion demands it, even late at night when they might feel tired such as a crying baby or a patient in hospital who is in great pain or suffering a medical emergency.
This question is similar to, What kinds of people can't fall asleep even when they are tired and are trying to fall asleep?
Forgetting where you put something is just one way to lose something. Different people have reported different wording for these questions.