Questions Possibly Still in Use

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS 1a. Your Studies

Notes: For high school students or recent high school graduates who have not yet started university, the word "school" or the words, "high school" or "secondary school" will be used instead of "university". If you are no longer a student now and have not yet started to work, the questions will be about the last time you were a student, either high school or university, and the questions will be asked in the past tense. For high school students (or recent high school graduates), the word "subjects" (plural) will be used. For university students, the word "subject" will be used, which has basically the same meaning as the American, "major".

There are probably two or three different sets of questions for this topic, on two or three different cards in the examiner's question book. I have no way of knowing which questions belong to which set so all the "studies" questions are grouped together here.

The questions in "Questions In Use Now" have been reported for the May-Aug. period. However, the questions in "Questions Possibly Still in Use" were used in the previous two four-month periods and some of these questions are possibly still being used, even if they haven't been reported yet. Since this is a high probability topic if you are a student (or have not started work yet), then you should think about all the questions in both groups.

Questions In Use Now

• Do many people in your country choose to study that subject?

• (Similar to above) Is that a popular subject to study in your country?

• (Possibly) What do you learn about that subject?  

• (More for high school students) What subjects do you study?

• Is it important to you to study them? (Why?)

• Your first day at school / university.   See the questions for this topic at ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS 1a. Your Studies

• Did you like your first day at university/high school?

• (Possibly the question above is this) What was your first day at university/high school like?

• (Possibly the question above is this) How did you feel on your first day at university (or high school)?

• What was/is your university like?

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

• Why did you choose (to attend) that school/university? 

• How long will you continue studying there? 

• Would you say your school / university has a good learning environment?  

 See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS 2. Your Home (Your Accommodation)

Questions In Use Now

• Do you live in a house, or a flat (= an apartment)?  See Note 6

• Could you describe it a little?

• What do you think are the advantages of living in a ______ ? (flat or house, whichever you live in).

• Who do you live with?

• Do you live with your family (your parents)?

• Do you think it's good to live with one's family?

• Do you enjoy living there?

• (Similar to above) Do you like it (= like living there)?

• What's the most enjoyable part of living there?

• Would you like to make any changes to your house?

• (Similar to above) Do you feel your home could be improved in any way?

• Are there many shops near your home?

• What other facilities are there in your neighbourhood (= near your home)?

• Did you live in a house / flat when you were a child? (The examiner might use the word that represents what you are living in now.)

• (Similar to above) What type of place did you live in when you were a child?

• In the future, what type of home would you like to live in?  See Note 17

• How long do you sleep every night (or, every day)?

• Do you think you sleep enough or would you like to sleep more?

• What do you usually do before going to bed (or, going to sleep)?

• Do you think reading in bed is helpful before you go to sleep?

• Did you have the same sleeping habits when you were younger?

• How much sleep do you think people need every day (every night)?

• Do you think people slept more (than they do today) in previous times?

• Do you think elderly people and young people sleep the same amount of time?

• Do you think babies need more sleep?

• Do you need to sleep in the middle of the day (a nap)?

• Do you think having a nap in the daytime is a good habit to have?

• (Similar to above) What are the benefits of having (or taking) a nap?

• Do you like to look at the sky?   See Note 2

• (Possibly) Do you like to look at the sky when it's cloudy?

• Do you prefer to look at the sky in the day time or the night time? (the "night sky")

• (Similar to above) Which is better to look at, the sky in the daytime or the night sky?

• How do you look at it?

• Do you like to look at the stars?

• (Similar to above) Do you ever look at the stars?

• Do you go anywhere special to do that?

• (Similar to above) Where is the best place to look at the stars?

• (Similar to above) Where do you like to look at the sky?

• (Similar to above) Where is the best place to look at the sky?

• Did you learn about the stars (or, the planets in our solar system) in school?

19.  Visitors

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#57. Visitors

20.  Trees

See also Part_1_Questions_MAY_to_AUG_2013.htm#Trees

21.  Clothes

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#6. Clothes

22.  Reading

See also ALL_PART_1_QUESTIONS.htm#32. Reading

30.  Hobbies (Unconfirmed topic)

• Did you have a hobby in your childhood?

• Why did you choose that particular hobby?

• Do you have a hobby now?

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Note 1

The wording is unclear but I think the question is something like that. It might be, "Has your family lived in many other apartments/houses?" or, "Has your family moved often to different living places?" In that question, "family" means your parents & siblings but it could possibly include earlier generations living in the same house.  Note that the examiner is most likely to use the British form, "have your family", not the American form, "has your family". The British consider family as "them" or plural while Americans consider it as one group, "it". When you speak or write, both are correct.

Note 2

We look at something that is not moving. We watch something that is moving. See is what you (can) do when your eyes are open.

Note 6

If you are living in a dormitory at the moment, it is perfectly suitable to say that.

Note 7

Almost certainly, questions such as this use the word "prefer", not "like". You can "like" both choices but "prefer" means "like more than the other choice". For example, you can like both rice and noodles but which one do you prefer?

Note 8

"Fun" and "funny" are not the same.

Note 9

"Reading" and "studying" are not always the same. "Reading for pleasure", "reading for enjoyment" or "reading for entertainment" is not "studying".

Note 10

This is probably mostly referring to a place where you can't concentrate. But, depending on the exact wording of the question, it could include a place that was dark, a place in which you can't see the written material.

Note 11

This is probably mostly for high school students but it is possible university students will also be asked about other subjects.

Note 12

So far, this question has been reported only once, with the word, "memorize" in the question.  It is important to understand the meaning of that word. See HERE. It means "to put something into the memory", like putting data into a file or putting money into a bank account. If the word, "remember" is used instead, it means almost the same as "memorize", but not 100% the same.

To "memorize" is a mechanical and conscious process that you apply, for example, memorizing a new password. The word. "remember" has two uses. First, it just means that you haven't forgotten something, and you only know that have have remembered something when you consciously try to extract it out of your memory bank, or when it simply comes out of your memory bank without your even "trying" to extract it. You can remember what someone said last week, for example. However, some people use "remember" instead of "memorize" to mean more or less the same thing as "memorize". That is the second usage of "remember". For example, "I have a system for remembering new passwords". Using the word, "remembering" is emphasizing that not only do you put something into your memory bank (memorizing), you also test that system to see if it is successful by checking if you can successfully (or accurately) extract that item from your memory bank. Since the word, "system" is likely to be in the next question, this is the meaning that is used here and either "memorize" or "remember" is possible as the verb. So the question is referring to discrete items as passwords, or even new English vocabulary, not everything that people remember, such as how they felt when they heard a certain piece of news.

Note 13

"For how long did you study mathematics?" would be the suitable question if you are not studying it now. That wording is grammatically correct but it has a slightly formal tone. Most people, in everyday life, would say, "How long did you study mathematics for?" That wording is so commonly used that it is not really considered to be "wrong grammar". I think this would be the more likely wording in the IELTS test.

Note 14

It looks like this question is being used. To be "in" a concert or performance is to be one of the performers. If the question is simply, "Have you ever been to a choir or some other musical performance?" then it means, "Have you ever physically been present, as a member of the audience, at a musical performance?" But since it seems that "choir" is used in the question, it almost certainly is the first meaning, i.e.," Have you ever performed?" because we don't normally say, "be to a group" ("choir" is a group).

Note 15

"Need to" is similar to "must" or "have to" in that question. That means it is compulsory.

Note 16

"Would you like to change your job?"

There are several things to understand about this question.

1) If you had just said that you enjoy your job (or, your work) then this question is unlikely to be asked, but it is still possible.

2) If you are doing the IELTS test with the intention or hope of migrating, for example to Australia, then almost certainly you will "change your job", meaning you will change your employer but you might not necessarily change your occupation, such as computer programmer. It should not be a question of "liking" or not to change your job or your occupation - the more logical question would be, "Would you like to live in a different country?" or "Would you like to work in a different country?" This point is too complex to continue writing about it here. Just remember these fine points of meaning when you speak.

3) The most important point is this - someone has reported the question as, "Would you like to change your job in the future". This meaning is different to the question shown above, i.e., when "in the future" is added. It is possible that this is really what is asked but I doubt it. That is, I doubt that "in the future" is included. Many learners of English (in China, at least) mistakenly assume that, "Would you like ...?" is always (and only) referring to the future, when this is not true. Although a few native English speakers might say, "Would you like to change your job in the future?", I think the majority of native English speakers would say, "Do you plan to change your job in the future?", "Do you intend to change your job in the future?" or "Do you hope to change your job in the future?" Now, it is possible that one of those questions is being asked in the test!

The question, "Would you like to change your job?" most commonly means change it NOW. It means the same as, "Would you be happier if you had a different job (now)?', "Would you prefer to have a different job (now)?", "Would you change your job (now), if you could?", "Do you wish you had a different job (now)?" etc. The vast majority of times when a native English speaker says, "I would like to ..." he or she means that he or she would be happier if the present situation (now) were different. For example, "I would like to be younger" - it would be nonsensical to talk about being younger and, at the same time, be referring to the future! "I would like to be younger" means the same as, "I wish I were younger ".

Overall, I am not sure what the real wording is for this question. It's quite possible that two different questions are being used, one referring to now and one referring to the future. (I think two or three different sets of "Your Work" questions being used.)

Note 17

Although I wrote in Note 16 that the majority of the time, native English speakers don't say, "Would like to" when referring to the future, sometimes they do. The question, "In the future, what type of home would you like to live in, in the future?" has a similar to meaning to, What type of home do you want to live in, in the future?" So why would, "Would like to" be used instead of, "want to"? Firstly, "want to" is more emphatic and similar to "intend to" but most people simply have "hopes" about where they will live. Secondly, "would like to" is used because it sounds gentler because it is less emphatic or less aggressive sounding - it is more "genteel" or more "polite" sounding.

Note 18

The short form is "maths" in British English and "math" in American English. Although, strictly speaking, both are correct, if you are not sure where your examiner comes from you should use the British English form. However, if you do the test in the U.S. or if you know for sure that your examiner is American, then using "math" is not only OK, it is probably the better choice.

Note 19

Although it was not reported this way, the question could possibly be, "Have you ever had the situation when too many visitors came to your home at the same time?" Understand that "too", in this usage, means "excessive" (过度, 过多的). Whenever "too" is used this way, it means that "a problem resulted", in this case, "a problem resulted from the number of visitors". Without the word, "too", having many visitors is not necessarily a problem.

Note 20

Some people have reported as question such as, "How can parents teach their children to read?". I doubt that this question is being used. It is possible that the word, "teach"  is being used in the question but that the meaning is really "encourage to read", for example, "teach their children the habit of reading" or, "teach their children to love reading".