IELTS exam in Latvia – April 2009 (Academic Module)
In this report S tells us all about her IELTS exam in Latvia. Here is what she remembers:
“I took the IELTS exam and feel very confident that I’ll receive very good results. The one thing I understood is that you need to practice, practice and practice before the exam, otherwise you’ll panic – time pressure is enormous, especially during the writing part.”
Listening test
Section 1: a woman and a man talk about on-line shopping. The woman explains to the man what she wants to buy, says that she is worried about payment and security. They discuss advantages and disadvantages of on-line shopping.
Section 2: A man calls the new library, the administrator tells about what type of services and books/CDs/DVDs he can have on the all 5 floors of the library, about the costs, time limits etc.
Section 3: Three students discuss the advantages (seating and engine capacity) and disadvantages (unsafe, can roll over in the accident, can smash the lighter vehicles in the accident) of SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), what people like about them (image, mothers think they are safe), how the number of SUVs can be limited (higher insurance costs)
Section 4: Talk about the passion fruits. Where they are grown, what they need to be grown, how they are exported and why Western people buy them. How the export of these fruits may affect the economy of the countries where they are cultivated.
Reading test
Section 1: About flowers’ scent. How the scent can help farming, how insects perceive the smell, how plants protect themselves from the insects.
Section 2: About the growth of traditional medicine in Australia. The text had some figures and the was a table which we had to fill.
Section 3: Very interesting text about the benefits of teaching hearing children the sign language. It was mostly about the teaching of American Sign Language. The title of the text was ‘Sign, baby, sign!’
Writing test
Writing Task 1 (report)
The bar chart showed the numbers of high-speed continuous internet connections per 1,000 people in South Korea, Japan, USA, Germany and Britain in 2001 and 2002. The table showed the change in the number of connections in percents.
Writing Task 2 (essay)
A number of people are increasingly changing their careers during their working life. Do you think this is positive or negative development? What reasons this tendency may have?
Speaking test
Interview
– Where are you from?
– Tell me about your flat or house
– What do you like about your flat?
– How long have you been living there?
– What is your favorite room in your flat/house?
– How could you improve your flat?
– Do you like traveling?
– What place that you have visited did you like most?
– What country would you like to visit? Why?
Cue card
You should talk about an interesting and impressive speech or talk you have heard, you should say:
– Who was the speaker
– Where have you heard the speech
– What it was about
Explain why did you like the speech and what impressed you so much
Discussion
– Why some people are good speakers and some are not?
– How can you develop or improve your speaking skills?
– What makes a speech interesting?
– What skills successful orator must have?
– Are visual aids helpful giving a speech?
– Are conferences related to integrating different cultures helpful?
– Which is more useful – a discussion or listening to a speech?
