Skip to content

Update from an Academic IELTS exam, Australia

This IELTS update is brought to you by Lucienne from Australia.

Listening test

Section 1. An ad in the newspaper from someone selling different furniture. A woman called and asked for measurements of a bed, a mattress, a cabinet, etc.
Section 2. At a museum someone was giving information on openings hours, possibilities for school/group tours, etc.
Section 3. A woman was giving information on how rangers manage a nature park. Questions involved some tables, where you had to fill in the gaps.
Section 4. Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. A text on otters, where they live, the difference between certain breeds of otters, how they waterproof their coats, etc.
Passage 2. Whether or not parents should be involved in schooling of their children, or be active in the school. Different opinions from various researchers. The text argued that many people claim good results from parent involvement, but there is hardly any real evidence for it.
Passage 3. The task asked you to match the correct headings to paragraphs in a text on things such as satellite science in Asian countries. There were more headings than paragraphs. This one took me by surprise, but apparently I did okay.

Writing test

Writing Task 1 (a report)

We had 4 line graphs to describe, I forgot what they were about.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

Do you think scientific development has a positive or a negative effect on the quality of food? What is your opinion?

Speaking test

Cue Card

Talk about a letter you received recently. Please say

– what it was about,
– who sent it,
– why it was important to you.

Discussion

– Are letters important historical material?
– Will things change for historians when people stop writing letters?
– Now people are mainly using email and other digital communication means, will they replace handwritten letters?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Author

Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and author of several popular IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005 her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target IELTS 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.