Updated May 25, 2010

Possible New Topics and Questions for May, 2010 – Both Part 1 & Part 2

I will only be adding new topics to either the Part 1 list or the Part 2/3 list when I am reasonably confident that they are really new topics, not a mistake that someone has reported. Instead, as hints of new topics become available, I will add them to this page. When it is clear that they are not mistakes, I will then move them to the regular lists of Part 1 or Part 2 topics.

I will also use this page to write notes on these possible new topics.

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Notes Written May 25, 2010

This page is now discontinued. I will no longer add any notes to this page because it just makes this website unnecessarily complex for readers. Instead, if I think what someone reported is a possible new topic, I will add it to the index of Part 2 topics, and delete it later if it proves to be a mistake.

Notes Written May 19, 2010

• It now looks like we have knowledge of two, possibly three new Part 2/3 topics.

• The topic, Describe some recent changes to your hometown, that was mentioned in these notes on May 10, has now been confirmed as a new topic. At http://www.ielts-blog.com/category/recent-ielts-exams/ we see that a second person, this time from Australia, has written that he or she got the same topic. Although this topic has not yet been reported in China, it is very likely that it will be one of the new topics in China, too. I will add it to the index of Part 2 topics the first time someone reports it in China.

This was reported as:

Talk about the recent changes in your hometown. Please say: - which part of your hometown these changes have affected, - when and where these changes were made, - how you felt about it. Discussion - What is different in cities of Australia and your country? - Should people have the right to ask to change things they find uncomfortable in cities? - What are the urgent needs of people in cities?

• On the same page (http://www.ielts-blog.com/category/recent-ielts-exams/), it was also reported that the topic, Describe a time when you helped someone was used. It is possible this was a mistake and the real topic used was Topic 210,  Someone Who Gave You Important Help, but I suggest you give some thought to this possible new topic. This new topic might be exactly the same as Topic 156, A Time When you helped Someone.

This was reported as:

Talk about a person that you know who you once helped, please say - Who that person was, - What they needed help with, - Why you helped them, - How you felt about it.

• The topic, Describe a sport you would like to succeed in, which was mentioned in these notes on May 15, has been reported a second time overseas. There are not many details about the wording but it looks like this:

            You should say:

                 (unknown point)

                 (unknown point)

                 what you would need to do to succeed in this sport

             and explain why you would like to succeed in this sport.

The Part 3 questions seem to include these:

 - Do you think schools should increase the number of PE classes

- What do you think is the function of PE classes in school?

- What do you think are the benefits of international sporting competitions?

- Do you think governments have a responsibility to spend money on sport?

- What do you think is the relationship between advertising and professional sport?

Notes Written May 16, 2010

• No new Part 2 topics were clearly reported for the weekend of May 15/16. However, it does seem that there might be a new Part 1 topic- Colour. However, it is possible that the person who reported these questions is actually reporting his answers for one or two of these questions. Not only that, there already seems to be a question (or two) about colour in the current Clothes and Fashions topic. The following questions were reported for this topic:

    -  What's your favorite color?

    -  Do you usually wear clothes in your favourite colour?

    -  Are there any colours that have a special meaning in your country?

    -  What colour would you choose to paint the walls of your room?   

• There's a small chance that the following are new Part 2 topics:

Describe your favourite web site

Describe an item of clothing

          (See also the other topics written yesterday.)

• There might be a new Part 2 topic about sport because the following Part 3 questions seem to be new:

    - questions about physical education at school

          - questions about international sports

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Notes Written May 15, 2010

The following are possible new Part 2 topics but these are not confirmed as new topics (in fact, I doubt these are really new topics):

• Describe a hobby you had when you were a child
• Describe a sport you would like to succeed in
• Describe the longest journey you have been on
• Describe some recent news that made you feel happy

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Notes Written May 10, 2010

It looks like no new topics were introduced into either Part 1 or Part 2/3 on the test of May 8/9. Almost all the Part 2 topics that have been in use for the past four months were used on May 8/9. The new topics will probably come bit by bit over the next few tests. Since the topics will probably be introduced gradually, it might be hard to recognize some of the new topics when people report what topics they got in their tests.

Below are some possible new topics that people reported for the May 8/9 test. However, I don't seriously think any of these are really new topics – these are just what people reported on the internet and most of this is "secondhand information" so I think they are in fact current, known Part 2 topics, not new topics.

• A memorable journey (I think this was Topic 206)
• A pleasant shopping experience (I think this was Topic 216. But it is possible it was Topic 9, "An Unhappy Shopping Experience" coming back into the test. Or it might be a new topic that is the opposite in meaning to Topic 9.)
• A person in your hometown who did a good thing (I think this was probably Topic 210.)
• A place near your town you intend to visit (I think this was Topic 204 or Topic 207.)
• An area in your hometown that changed recently  (Someone in India wrote that. This can be found at http://www.ielts-blog.com/category/recent-ielts-exams/. Below is what he or she wrote:

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Speaking

Interview

- What is your name?
- What shall I call you?
- Tell me about your hometown.
- What changes were there in your hometown recently?

Cue Card

Talk about an area in your hometown that changed recently, please say
- where that are is,
- when the change occurred,
- what the change was.

Discussion

- What is the difference between young people in the past and at present?
- What difference in attitudes are there?
- What do you think about the value of traditions?

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We see that the three Part 3 questions he or she writes are related to the topic of change. But all of these questions are (more or less) in different sets of Part 3 right now. It is possible that this person just collected a few random questions from different people at the test venue. We also see that this person included the same Part 2 topic as a question in Part 1. It seems this person was confused. On the other hand, this person writes in some detail about the points on the Part 2 card. So, it is possible that this is a new Part 2 topic. But it is most probably a mistake. Overall, I am guessing that all over the world, the policy was the same as in China, i.e., no new topics were introduced in the first test of May.

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