Notes

• N = a new topic or question. "New topic" or "new question" means it wasn't used (or was never reported)  in the previous 4-month period. (Some of these "new" topics seem to be repeats of previous topics that were used months or years ago.) If a topic is new then all the questions are considered to be "new", even if some of those questions have been used in previous tests months or years ago. But if a topic is "new", the questions listed for that topic will not be labeled with N .

• Topics without N are topics that are continuing from the set of Part 1 topics in the previous 4-month period.. About two thirds of the topics are in this group. Usually the questions will be the same in the previous period but I might find some new questions. If that happens, I will label the question as N.

• I don't label the topic of Work/Studies as new because it is always in the test. Some of the questions continue from the previous 4-month testing period but you can assume that there will also be some new questions at each test change time (January, May & September) When I find such new questions, I label them as N.

• Similar to the Work/Studies topic, either one of the topics Hometown and Home is always in the test. Usually both are in the test at the same time but there have been rare times when only one of them is used for a 4-month testing period. Some of the questions continue from the previous 4-month testing period but you can assume that there will also be some new questions at each test change time (January, May & September) When I find such new questions, I label them as N.

• Many of the questions have the words, "(Why?/Why not?)" written in the examiner's question book after the question. I have not always shown that here but you should include this information when you answer any questions about your preferences, opinions, likes and dislikes or any other answer that obviously needs you to state a reason for a complete, coherent answer. If you do not, the examiner will ask you (must ask you) "Why?" or, "Why not?". If the examiner is forced to ask that several times, you will be losing valuable time and you will not give a good impression.

• * = A question that I have guessed is in the test OR a question that seems to exist but which has not been reported clearly so I have guessed the wording.

• "Similar to above" means the wording of the question is not clear or different people have reported slightly different questions. You might get one of those questions from any group that includes "Similar to above" but not more than one of them.

• Where the question says, "in your country", the examiner usually uses the name of the country, for example, "China".

• Make sure you read HOW_TO_SPEAK_IN_PART_1.htm

• See also Some General Notes for the Part 1 Questions Page.

*****************************************************************************

0. The four I.D. checking questions.   (Not really part of Part 1)

1.  Your Work or Your Studies  

2.  Your Hometown 

3.  Your Home (Your Accommodation)  (This topic is not in use at the moment)

One of the three topics above is a compulsory topic and you will be asked 3 to 5 questions on this topic. You will then be asked questions on two of the topics from below. (Again, 3 to 5 questions per topic). (There's a 50% chance that you will get Topic 1, a 25% chance that you will get Topic 2 and a 25% chance of getting Topic 3.)

4.  Dictionaries  N

5.  Rain  N

6.  Train Travel  N

7.  Computers  N

8.  Punctuality  N

9.  Animals  N   

10.  Music  N

11.  Television  N

12.  Languages  N

13.  Clothes  N 

14.  Cooking  N

15.  Shopping  N

16.  Weather and Climate  N

17.  No Topic

18.  No Topic

19.   Birthdays

20.  Parties

21.   Sunshine

22.   Bicycles

23.   Politeness

24.   Photography

25.   History

26.   Relatives

27.   Plants

28.   Singing

29.   Leisure Time

30.   The News

31.  Walking

*****************************************************************************

1.  Your Work or Your Studies  

• Do you work or are you a student?

1a) Your Work

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS 1b. Your Work

See also the question in September-December 2013 for this topic

• What work do you do?

• Why did you choose to do that type of work (or, that job)?

• Was that an easy choice to make?

• Have you always wanted to do that type of work?

• Do you like you job?

• Is it very interesting?

• Do you think you are more efficient (or, productive) in the mornings or in the afternoons? (Why?)

• Do you plan to continue doing that work? (or, that type of work / or, that job)

• (possibly the question above is this) Do you intend to change your job in the near future?

• (Possibly)  Do you miss being a student? *

1b) Your Studies

• What subject(s) are you studying?

• Why did you choose to study that subject? / Why did you choose to study those subjects? (See Note)

• Was that an easy choice to make?

• Have you always studied that subject?  (See Note)

• (Possibly the question above is this)  Have you always wanted to study that subject?

• Do you like your subject? (Why?/Why not?)

• Is it very interesting?

• What was/is your university like?

• (For high school students & recent HS graduates) What was/is your high school like?

• (For high school students & recent HS graduates) What was /is your favourite subject at high school?

• (Possibly) What was /is your most useful subject in high school?

• (Continuing from the question above) Will you continue studying that subject?

• Was there/is there any high school subject that you didn't like?

• Do you prefer to study in the mornings or in the afternoons? (Why?)

• (For non-high school students & non-recent H.S. graduates) What are you going to (or, planning to) do in the future?

• (For university students) What do you think you will do after you graduate?

• (Possibly)  Are you looking forward to starting work? *

2.  Your Hometown 

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS 3. Your Hometown

See also the question in September-December 2013 for this topic

Note: If you are not living in your hometown at the moment, the questions below are about the city or place that you are living in now. But even if you are not living in your hometown now, possibly one or two questions are about your hometown.

• Which city or town are you living in (or, do you live in)?

• Is that a big city or a small place?

• Please describe that place a little.

• How long have you lived there (or, here)? (or, How long have you been living there (or here)?)

• Do you like it? ("It" = the place where you are living.)

• (Possibly) Do you like living there? *

• What do you like (most) about that city/town?

• Is there anything you dislike about it?

• Do you think you will continue living there (or, here) for a long time?

• (Similar to above, but slightly different) Would you like to leave your hometown? (if you are still living in your hometown)

• (Similar to above) Do you plan to continue living there (or, here)?

• (Possibly)  Where would you like to live? *

3.  Your Home (Or, Your Accommodation)

No questions yet. It looks like this topic is not being used in the Jan-Apr 2014 testing period.

• Do you think it's important to be on time (= be punctual)?

• (Similar to above) Is being on time important to you?

• How do you feel when others are late?

• Are you, yourself, late very often?

• How do you think you could improve and be on time more often?

• Do you wear a watch?

• (Similar to above) Do you think everyone should wear a watch?

9.  Animals  N  

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS-PAGE_2.htm#69. Animals

• Do you like animals?

• Did you ever visit a zoo when you were a child?

• What was your favourite zoo animal (when you visited a zoo)?

• Do you think it's important for children to visit a zoo?

• Do a have a pet?

• (Possibly) Have you ever had a pet?

• Why do (you think) some people have a pet?

10.  Music  N

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#24. Music

So far, this looks like a new topic, separate from the Singing topic.

• Do you like music?

• What's your favourite (type of) music?

• (Possibly) Would you like to try a different type of music? *

• Has your preference in music (ever) changed?  (See Note)

• Is there any music you dislike?

• Do you (or, can you) play any musical instruments?

• (Possibly) If you had the chance to learn a musical instrument, which instrument would you (choose to) learn? *

11.  Television  N

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#38. Television and Radio

• Do you like watching television?

• How much TV do you (usually) watch?  (See Note)

• What's your favourite TV program?

• What (types of) programs did you watch when you were a child?

• Do you still like to watch those programs?

• What influence does TV have on children?

• Did you watch much TV when you were a child? (How much?)

• How much TV would you like your children to watch? (See Note)

• Do you think children's television has changed (much) since you were a child? (See Note)

12.  Languages  N

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#20. Languages

• What languages do you speak?

• Which language do you use the most?

• How did you learn English? (Or, How do you study English?)

• Do you think that English is difficult to learn?

• How long have you been studying English?

• Do you think learning languages is important?

• (Similar to above) Do you think there is any need for (some) people to learn another language?

• Is there any other language you would like to learn? (Why?)

• (Similar to above) Is there any other language you want to learn? (Why?) See Note

13.  Clothes N 

There might be some different questions here, compared to the Sep-Dec, 2013 topic

• What clothes do you usually (like to) wear?

• Do you spend a lot of money on clothes?

• Do / did you wear the same clothes at school and at home? (Past tense if you are no longer at school)

• (Similar to above) Are there any differences between the clothes you wear / wore at school and those your wear / wore at home? (Past tense if you are no longer at school)

• Will you change your clothes when you go home today?

• Did you have any special clothes to wear when you were a child?

• Did you like them?

• Do you think clothing today is very different to clothing in the past? (e.g., 10-30 yrs. ago)

• (Possibly) Is the clothing that people wear in your country today very different to the traditional clothing of your country? ("Traditional" refers to something that is usually hundreds of years old.)

14.  Cooking  N

15.  Shopping  N

• Do you like (going) shopping?

• Do you spend much (money) when you go shopping?

• What do you usually buy when you go shopping? *

• Where do you go shopping?

• Would you like to work in a shop?

• Do you like buying things online?

• Would you like to work in a shop?

16.  Weather and Climate  N

See Also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#41. Weather

• What's the weather (or climate) like in your hometown?

• Would you say the weather in your hometown is generally good, or bad weather?

• Would you say there have been any changes in the weather (in your hometown) in the recent past?

17.  No Topic

18.  No Topic