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Simone Braverman

Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and the author of several renowned IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005, Simone has been committed to making IELTS preparation accessible and effective through her books and online resources. Her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target scores and live their dream lives. When Simone isn't working on her next IELTS book, video lesson, or coaching, she enjoys playing the guitar or rollerblading.

IELTS exam in Qatar – January 2009 (Academic Module)

This update came from Doha, Qatar where A. took an Academic IELTS recently. This is what she remembers about her exam:

“Finally I am finished with the IELTS exam. It was good, listening was easy, reading DIFFICULT, writing was easy and speaking was easy.

Writing test

Task 1 (report)
We had to write a report about a table with the number of adults in the university.

Task 2 (essay)
Discussion of the problems caused by the differences between people who live in cities and people who live in countryside, we were required to find solutions for these problems.

Speaking test

Interview
Questions about myself and about my house.

Cue card
The card was about people who live in cities and people who live in country sides. Same topic as in the essay! I was so surprised that I kept saying “Ah, um” all the time.

Discussion
We were discussing the same topic of the cue card with the examiner.”

IELTS exam in Singapore – January 2009 (Academic Module)

This is what our friend L from Singapore remembers about his IELTS exam:

Listening test

Section 1 was about inquiring about an IT show.
Section 2 was a Quarantine questionnaire.
Section 3 had questions related to Section 2 (Quarantine Questionnaire).
Section 4 was about engineering design.

Reading test

The first passage was tougher than the other two.

(Simone says: Pay attention, guys – the previous update said the same. Maybe they have changed the order of the texts and now they don’t progress in difficulty!)

Writing test

Task 1 (report)
Write a report describing a bar chart that shows the percentage of female workers in directors’ level from year 1990 to 2005.

Task 2 (essay)
Some people think that technology is increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. Others think the opposite. Discuss and give your own opinion.

Speaking test

There were questions about historical places