Updated Feb. 21, 2011
IELTS Part 2 and Part 3 Topics and Questions
Page 61
301.
A Family Member You Admire (Sept. 4,
2010)
302.
A Useful Piece of Advice
303. A
Hotel
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
***********************************************************************
See also the Part 3 questions
Family Life in Your Country
Do you spend a lot of time with your family?
Which member of your family do you spend the most time with?
What do you think is the difference between a relationship with one's friends and one's parents?
How do you think a person can maintain a good
relationship with the members of his or her family?
Young People Moving Away from the Family Home
Do you think the trend of young people living separately from their parents is a good thing?
Responsibilities Towards Parents
Do you think children should carry more responsibility towards the family than most children do now? (See Note)
(Similar to above)
Do you think the role of children
The Head of the Family
In your country, who usually makes the important decisions at home? FQx2
In your country, who is usually in charge of money in a family (or, marriage)?
Do you think it's possible that, in the future, women will usually be the heads of families?
Old Family Members
What is the role of the oldest family members
What do you think are the advantages and the disadvantages of young children and old people living together?
In your country, do old people usually go to live in an old people's home?
(Similar to above)
Do you think this might become a trend in the future? *
Family Size
Do you live in (or, come from) a big family or a small family?
Do you like it?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a
big family (= many children)?
Do you think the structure of the family will change in the future? (See Note)
Government Financial Assistance for Families
Is it common for people in your country to receive financial assistance from the government?
Why do they need this assistance? *
Do you believe that it is one of the responsibilities of government to help poor people with such things as food and education?
What do you think are the effects of tax (taxation) on people?
Do you thing everyone, no matter what income they have, to pay the same tax? *
and explain how useful this advice was to you.
See notes on the meaning and usage of the word, "advice".
See also the relevant Part 3 questions from Topic 59, Topic 130 and Topic 182
Parental Advice
In what situations do
Do you think advice from young people's parents is important?
What is the value of advice from older people?
What advice do parents
usually give to their children?
(Similar to above) On what topics do
(or should) parents
give advice to their children?
How do parents give advice to their children? (Here, "children" means "the sons and daughters of the parents" - these "children" might, in fact, be adults!)
(Similar to above)
Do young people always
take (or, accept) the advice of their parents?
What suggestions from parents do young people most often ignore?
Which advice do you think is more important (or better), advice from parents or advice from friends? FQ
(Similar to above) In
general, do you think young people more often follow the advice of their
friends or the advice of their parents?
Do you think it's part of
a teachers job (i.e., one of the responsibilities of being a teacher) to
give advice to his or her students?
(Similar to above, but different) Do you think it's good for teachers to give advice to their students?
Professional Advice
Advice from Strangers
Do people ever get advice
from strangers?
Why do some people give
advice to strangers (or, people they don't know very well)?
(Similar to above)
Do only trained people give such advice?
Advice From Highly Qualified People
Do you think people who give advice to others (for money) should have special training before they can do that?
What kinds of training should they have?
In addition to family, friends and work colleagues, what other people in society give advice? (See Note)
(Similar to above) What
people in society give professional advice?
Are there any special services where people in your country can get advice?
303.
See also Part 3 for
Types of Hotels
What are the different types of hotels? (in general)
What type(s) of hotel is (are) most popular nowadays?
Is it easy to find a room?
How do people find a place to stay?
Is there anything special about the hotels in your hometown?
Which hotel(s) would you recommend people stay in? (Why?)
In general, what are the differences in quality between the different types of hotels?
In your country, what kind of hotel do people usually like to (or, prefer to) stay in?
Do many people stay in five star hotels?
How important are hotels
to the tourism industry?
(Similar to above) What
role do hotels play in the tourism industry?
Hotel Facilities and Service
When judging the quality of a hotel, what do you think is the most important thing to consider?
How important do you think the service is?
What skills do you think hotel employees should have? FQ
How do you think the service that hotel employees
provide could be improved?
(Similar to above) If you were in a position to change (or improve) the hotels in your country, what changes would you make?
The Tourism Industry
Do you think the tourism industry in your country has much potential for development?
How do you think the tourism industry in your country compares to that in other countries?
Version A
Describe a subject that you are studying (in secondary or high school)
You should say:
what the subject is
what your teacher is like
how long you have been studying this subject *
(Or: how long you have been interested in this subject) *
and explain why you think it is interesting.
Version B
You should say:
what the subject was
how long you studied this subject *
and explain why you thought it was interesting.
Notes
This seems to be a new topic that was introduced in about August 2010. Before August, people were reporting they got Topic 230, which is "Your favourite subject" and in August people started reporting a similar topic but with the word, "interesting".
It seems that you cannot choose a university subject.
It is unclear what verb tense is used. That's why there are two versions shown here.
See here for the meaning of "interesting". It is not simply the same meaning as "something you like"!
If you have already finished high school, you should speak in the past tense, (e.g., "I thought it was interesting"), even if you still think that subject is interesting now.
See also the Part 3 of
University and School Education Today
What are some differences between what people study in university and what they study in (high) school?
How do university students in your country choose what they study in university?
Is it possible in your country
Do you feel that university courses in your country prepare the students well for future employment?
Do universities have a responsibility to prepare students for "the real world"?
(Similar to above)
Technology Used in Teaching
How is modern technology used in education today?
(Similar to above) What impact does modern technology
have on education today?
Do you think that the use of advanced technology in teaching is actually helping the students?
School Subjects / Teachers
What are the most popular high school subjects in your country? FQx2
And what subjects are the least liked in your country?
In general, are the favourite subjects of boys and
girls the same?
How do you think teachers could make their classes more interesting? FQ
Learning at Different Ages
Do you think elderly people are capable of learning new things?
Notes
Sept. 24: People have been reporting that it is a
family photograph. Presumably, this means a photograph of your
family. Possibly the wording is simply, "
People used to report this as, "Describe a photograph of yours that you like". A "photograph of yours" is one of your photographs, not some photo you've seen on the internet or in a magazine.
Some people report that it says "a photo of you", which means a photo with you in the picture. I think this is most likely a mistake. But maybe it would be safest to assume that this is the wording, even if the question wording just says, "a photo of yours". In other words, to be safe, prepare to talk about a photo of you that is yours. But, if the real topic says, "a photo of yours", try to avoid describing a photograph of yourself because that might cause the examiner to think you misunderstood the question.
(Note written February 21, 2012) A few people have
reported this as simply, "Describe a photograph you like". If this is the
real wording, I think you still should assume it is a photograph that you
own, even if the wording now allows you to describe a photo that is not
showing a family scene, or members of your family. But staying with a photo
of your family would still satisfy the wording, even if it has changed, so
it is a safe answer. Since the topic has been in use for more than a year
(or,
See also the Part 3 questions for Topic 33, Topic 110, Topic 161, and Topic 219.
Make sure you know how to pronounce "photography", "photographer" and "photographic".
Photography in General
Do you like to take photographs?
Do people in your country like to take photographs?
What do most people take photographs of?
(Similar to above) What do you mostly like to photograph?
(Similar to above) What are the occasions when you feel the need to take pictures (= photos)?
Liking / Disliking Taking Photos
What kinds of people don't (like to) take photos?
(Similar to above) Some people don't like taking photographs. Can you suggest any reasons why they might feel that way? FQx2
Photos of People
Do you think most people prefer to take photos of each other or photos of scenery?
Do you think taking photos of people is important?
What is the purpose of taking photos of people?
Qualities of Photographs / Ability of People to Take Good Photos
In your opinion, what makes a "good photograph"?
How can a person take good photographs?
Do you think people need to be trained in order to take good photographs?
(Similar to above)
Do you think some people are 'naturally' better than others at taking photographs? *
Do you think such classes are a good idea? *
Professional Photographers
How can a person learn to become an expert photographer? See Note
How do people become professional photographers?
Keeping Photos
Why do some people like to keep (almost all) photographs while other people
throw away (some of their) photographs?
(Similar to above) Why do some people throw away some of their photographs?
What kinds of people like to keep (almost all) their photos and what kinds of people throw away (some of their) photos?
Do you think that what's in the background of a photograph is important?
Are photos the only way a person can keep a memory of an event?
The Uses and Impact of Photographs
What kinds of photographs do you like to look at?
Do you think photography is very important?
What are the benefits of photography?
Some people might describe a photograph as "a rare photograph". What do you think they might mean by that?
What are the various ways that photographs are used in modern society?
What do you think is the purpose of including photographs in news stories in
newspapers?
Is there anything unique (or, special) about those photographs?
Some photos of events are quite powerful. How can a photograph have so much power? (Here, "power" = "power to affect the viewer".) (See this photo)
Photography as Art
Do you think photographs can ever be considered as art?
What kinds of photographs could be considered as art?
What do you think is the difference between an artistic photograph and a painting?
Technology for Photography
In general, how does a person use a camera to take a photograph? *
What are the differences between taking photographs today and in the past?
(Similar to above)
What do you think are the differences between digital photography and the old form of photography?
(Similar to above)
In general, do you think old people or young people would be better at taking photographs (using hi-tech equipment)?
Do you think it's easier to take photos with a modern camera, or more difficult?
(Similar to above) Do you think it's easy to use a digital camera?
Besides cameras, what other ways are there for taking photographs?
Computers and Photography
What do they do with the photos on their computers?
Do you think it's good to use software such as 'Photoshop' to change photos?
How do people use computers to share photos?
Cell-phones Used for Taking Photos
Are older people and young people the same when it comes to taking photos with a cell-phone?
Why do young people today like taking so many photos using their cell-phones?