Updated Aug 4,
2013
IELTS Part 2 and
Part 3 Topics and Questions
Page 88
436.
Your Favourite Means of Communication (May, 2012)
(Probably no longer used)
437. No Topic
438.
A Product You Were
Dissatisfied With
(2)
(Sep. 1, 2012) (Probably no longer used)
439.
A Home You Like (2)
(Sep. 1, 2012)
(Probably no longer used)
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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Describe your favourite method of communication.
You should say:
what it is
who you usually communicate with (or,
who you usually contact)
how often you communicate with them
(or,
how often you contact them)
and
explain why you prefer (or, use) this method. *
Notes
-
Don't waste time trying to decide on your "favourite"
method - just choose one method that you like to use, which is probably also
the method you most often use. Also, (of course), choose the method that
best allows you to show good vocabulary.
-
If the wording above is accurate (using the
words "communicate with" in the 2nd & 3rd points), it would be
suitable to say you prefer simply speaking to people face-to-face over other
methods of communication.
-
If the word "contact" is used then you should
talk about communicating with people who are not with you. In other words,
if this word is used, face-to-face communication is not suitable. We don't
"contact" someone who is standing in front of us; we only contact someone
who is not with us at that time.
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Part 3
Communication
-
What are the different ways that people communicate
with each other?
-
When people are speaking to each other face-to-face,
why do they usually maintain eye contact?
-
What do you think are the advantages of eye-to-eye
contact when communicating?
-
What are the differences between a phone call and
face-to-face communication with someone? FQx2
-
What's your favourite form of communication, besides
face-to-face communication? FQ
-
If you had some bad news to tell someone, which form of
communication do you think would be better, face-to-face or phone?
-
Do you think the use of modern communication tools has
damaged people's ability to interact face-to-face?
-
What forms of communication do you use to communicate
with your family? FQx2
-
Do old people and young people use the same methods to
communicate?
-
What are the various (hi-tech) ways that people use to send a
message?
-
How do you think today's communication technology could
be improved?
-
How do you think communication technology might (or,
will) change
in the future? FQx2
Letter Writing & Emails
-
What are the differences between writing traditional letters and E-mail?
Which method do you prefer? Why?
FQ
-
Why did people write letters in the past?
-
What are some differences between letter writing today
and letter writing in the past?
FQ
-
Do any people still write letters today? (Why?) FQ
-
Why do some companies (and government departments)
still use letters today?
-
Do you think people will still be writing letters about
100 years from now?
-
(Similar to above) Do you think people will still be
sending letters about
100 years from now?
-
What are the differences between writing a letter and
writing an email? FQ
-
(Similar to above) Which is more popular today, writing
a letter or writing an email? FQ
Telephone Communication / Mobile Phones
Note: Make sure you distinguish between cell
phones (= mobile phones) and fixed-line phones such as house phones, those
used in offices etc.
-
What do you think are the
advantages & disadvantages of using mobile phones? FQx2
-
(Similar to above) What do you think are the
advantages of using mobile phones instead of fixed line phones (= 'land
phones')? FQ
-
(Similar to above) In your
opinion, why are mobile phones so popular? FQ
-
Are fixed-line phones and
mobile phones used in different situations (or, different places)?
-
(Similar to above) What do you think are the
advantages of using mobile phones instead of using using forms of
communication? FQ
-
What are some possible
disadvantages of communicating by phone instead of communicating
face-to-face?
-
Are there any problems
that people sometimes have when using a mobile phone?
-
Which do prefer to use,
emails or text messages on your mobile phone?
-
What are some of the
reasons why people send text messages?
-
What are the benefits of
sending text messages?
-
Are there any problems
associated with text messages? * (hint: advertising)
-
How do you think mobile
phones might develop in the future?
FQ
News
(新闻) and The News Media
-
What are the ways that people get news?
-
How do people get international news?
-
What effects (or, influence) does the news have on
people?
-
Which news source do you prefer, television news or
news in newspapers?
-
Which news do you think has the greater effect on
people, television news or news in newspapers?
-
What do you think are some differences between the news
in newspapers and the news on the internet?
-
Which do you think is the better source of news,
newspapers or the internet?
-
Do you think what we hear or read in the news is
always reliable (or, accurate)?
-
(Similar to above) Do you think the information that we
hear or see on the internet is always reliable (accurate)?
-
How can we, the average users of the internet, know
what is false and what is true on the internet?
-
Do you think it's good for the government to censor
(restrict / block / filter) news? FQ
-
Do you think it's good for the government to censor
(restrict / block / filter) what is available on the internet?
FQ
-
What are some examples of news that the media does not
report?
-
What types of internet contents do you think should be
restricted?
-
How does the government filter the internet?
-
What changes do you imagine we will see in the news
media (20 to 50 years) in the future?
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Copied from
Topic 9
Describe
something that you bought that you were dissatisfied with.
You
should say:
what the
item was
when and where you bought it
why you bought it
and explain why you were not happy with this product. *
or
explain what you did with the product after you found that it was
unsatisfactory. *
Notes
-
The Part 2 wording looks like
Topic 9
but the Part 3 seems to be different to the
Part 3 for
Topic 9. It's
not clear what the last line is. It's probably one of those two choices.
-
Topic 9 was called "An Unhappy Shopping
Experience" but I think, "A Product You Were Dissatisfied With"
is a more suitable title.
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Part 3
See also the Part 3 questions for
Topic 9
Price versus Quality
-
What do young people in
your country like to buy? FQ
-
Which do you think is more
important, the cost of a product or the quality of the product?
-
Why are imported products
more expensive than locally made products?
-
Why do some people prefer
to buy imported products to locally produced products?
-
Do you think the quality
of famous brand name products is better than the quality of products that
don't have a famous brand name?
-
Do young people prefer to
buy designer brand name clothes or clothes with no famous brand name?
-
What do you think of those
people who only buy expensive things and who look down on other people who
buy cheap products?
-
Do you think people are
more concerned with the price of products or the quality of products?
Online Shopping
Frequent Sub-topic
-
What products are popular
among young people to buy?
-
What products are most
suitable for buying online?
-
How is online shopping
different to buying things in a department store?
FQx2
-
(Similar to above) Which do you think is
better, buying things online or buying things in real shops?
FQx2
-
Why do you think online
shopping has become so popular?
-
What should people
consider before buying something online?
-
How do people pay for
things they buy online?
-
Do you think there are any
problems with shopping online? *
-
What products do you
suggest people not buy online?
-
In what ways do you think
online shopping businesses could be improved?
***********************************************************************
You
should say:
when you
visited this home
where it was (or is)
what
it looked like
and
explain why you liked it.
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Part 3
See also the Part 3 questions for
Topic 174,
Topic 96,
and
Topic 394
The Location of People's Homes
-
What sort of location do
most people prefer to live in?
-
What makes a location
suitable for young people to live? FQ
-
What makes a location
suitable for old people to live?
FQ
-
(Similar to above)
Do you think a location that is suitable for
young people is also suitable for old people?
FQ
-
Do young people prefer to
live in the city centre or in the suburbs?
-
What places for (young
people's) entertainment are there near where you live (or, in your
hometown)?
The Design of Homes
-
Do you think the design of
a home is important? (Why?/Why not?) *
-
Do you think it's
possible for a person to design his/her own home?
-
Do people prefer to live
in old homes (old houses/old flats) or new ones?
-
Do young people like to
live in the same kinds of homes that old people like?
FQ
-
Do young people prefer to
live in a house or a flat? What about old people?
Buying/Renting
a Home
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Notes
-
The points with the * are my guesses at the wording.
-
It's possible to describe a documentary film, in which case the contents of
the film were more or less accurate depictions of a person or event in
history. Hollywood (and similar) films are sometimes based on
a real person or event
that has taken place in the past
( = "about a real person or event") and you could choose to describe
one of those films. But those films are rarely 100% accurate depictions of
the real person or event. This point will be discussed in Part 3.
-
You should be careful about how you describe what happened in the film. You
need to summarize the film, not try to retell the whole film
in detail. If you try to do that, you will run out of time and not have
enough time to talk about the last point ("and explain ...").
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Part 3
See also the Part 3 questions for Topics
397,
341,
278,
200,
145,
99 and
6
Entertainment Films & Film Actors
-
For a film to be
successful, do you think it needs to have good actors?
FQ
-
(Similar to above) How
important do you think the actors are for a film to be successful?
FQ
-
Do you think it's
necessary to have a famous film star in a film in order to make a good film?
-
Why do some film actors
become famous?
FQ
-
Do you think they really
deserve this fame? *
-
Do people in your country
prefer to watch actors from your country or foreign actors?
The Influence
of Films
History
Depicted in Films
-
Do you like to watch films
based on real people or events?
-
(Similar to above) Which
do you prefer, films based on real people or events or films that depict
fictional people or events?
-
In what ways do you think
a film based on history can be beneficial and in what ways can such films be
harmful?
-
Do you think documentary
films of wars are useful?
-
Do you think people can be
inspired by watching a film based on (or, about) a real person?
-
In what ways do you think
foreign films and films from your country show history differently?
-
Do you think we can learn
more about a politician (or politics) by watching a film based on that
politician?
-
Do you think films ever
distort what really happened in history?
-
Which do you think is the
better way to learn about history, from a film or from a book?
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