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Recent IELTS exams

Real students tell about their recent IELTS exams: IELTS questions, topics, tasks, answers.

IELTS exam in Dubai, UAE – February 2009 (General Training)

This update came straight from Dubai in UAE, where our friend FA had his General Training IELTS exam. Here’s what he says:

Listening test

This section went well.
In first part a woman was complaining about her fridge, the questions weren’t difficult.
In second part there was a radio host reading SMS messages.
In the third part a lecturer was talking about university courses.
In the last part a lecturer was talking about addiction to the Internet.

Reading test

The first part was about a tour guide.
The last part was very, very hard.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)
Write a letter to your friend who asked you to give some suggestions to his son who is coming to your country. Tell him which city he should go to, how he can get a job, and how he can make friends.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Do you think that watching television is good for people? Why do we enjoy watching it? Discuss and express your opinion.

Speaking test

Interview

The questions were about
– My name
– My job
– What I am doing at my job
– Why I am doing this job
– Whether I like museums or not
– I was asked to talk about one museum I have visited

Cue Card

Describe a game you were playing as a child, you should say:
– Why you liked playing it
– Where you played it
– Whom you’ve played with

Discussion

– Do you think games are important for adults?
– Do you think games are important for children?
– Which type of games was famous in your childhood?
– Is it important for children to play outside?

IELTS exam in Australia – January 2009 (General Training)

This update arrived from Australia where our friend S had his General IELTS exam. Thanks, pal!

Reading test

My performance in the Reading test was affected by the fact that all of the questions were of either one of these two types:

1) True/False/Not given type – they were very tricky

2) This task I have seen for the first time, there were 22 sentences given and we had to find them in the text. The sentences were written in such an odd way that I couldn’t get them done easily.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (letter)
You have to leave your current job. Write a letter to your manager explaining your reasons for leaving and what did you like about this job.

Writing task 2 (essay)
Some schools prefer to have uniforms for there students, however the students prefer to not have a dressing code. Discuss, what is your opinion?

Speaking test

The interview was as usual – general questions, the cue card was about different phases of life and which I enjoyed the most, and then there was a discussion of the same matter.