Day: 3 October 2015

Tips For Speaking Section

Speaking in English is often a challenge for vernacular speakers. Let us have a look at ten important tips to get a higher score in IELTS speaking section, rather any English exam with examiner one on one interaction.

  1. During your speaking test, be formal i.e. treat it like a job interview. Don’t take it casually.
  2. Give a full answer, whenever possible. You have 11-14 minutes to use the best English that you have learnt all your life. So, in the first section, about you or your family. For instance, if they ask you where you from are, don’t just say Delhi, try to be more specific. Rather say, I am from Delhi, capital of India.
  3. Be polite to the examiner. For instance, if you don’t understand something, don’t just say, what or sorry. Rather say, excuse me, could you please repeat that?
  4. Your posture effects the way you speak or your confidence or your voice is projected. So maintain a good posture. Make sure you sit straight and not put your hand on your face.
  5. Don’t worry too much about your accent and as long as you enunciate the word clearly, that is all required. So, work on your pronunciation and not on your accent.
  6. Don’t use boring words or overly used words. For example, don’t use good, okay, sad. You can rather use depressed, excited etc.
  7. Make sure you speak loudly enough that you are heard properly.
  8. Don’t speak too fast or too slowly, if you are not sure, speak slower than it is necessary. And practice by recording.
  9. Explain any foreign words used in speaking. But then why will you use a foreign word. This happens when for instance, you say, I come from Kochi (a place not very famous), you better say, I come from a city in southern part of India, called Kochi.
  10. Even though you must use sentences, make sure you don’t lot of them. Try to remain on focus.
  11. Make sure you are aware of slangs and try not to use them. For example, kids is a slang and you must use children.
  12. A lot of students read sample answers and it is a good idea to read them and listen to them but don’t try to memorize them. All you need to understand is how to answer and try to pick some good vocabulary words.

Go on, give your best and strive for band 9.

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Beginning Of Universe # The Quiz

Beginning Of Universe is a passage that provides you a flair of how the reading passage in IELTS are. To help you in understanding the passage more, the vocabulary is provided. Now, since you are at this post, I hope you have gone through the earlier post very well. Once you are done grasping the words given there, go for the following quiz.
There are two columns. You need to match the word with its correct meaning.

 WORDS  MEANINGS
 1. skeptics  (i)a period of 100 years
 2.undeterred  (ii)not changed
 3.unchanged  (iii)position in life as determined by wealth
 4.clockwork  (iv)a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes
 5.priest  (v)the mechanism of a clock
 6.primeval  (vi)based on reason
 7.unimaginably  (vii)to remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected, as if from reluctance to leave
 8.giant  (viii)to burst, fly into pieces, or break up violently with a loud report, as a boiler from excessive pressure of steam
 9.afterglow  (ix)a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions
 10.astronomer  (x)difficult or impossible to imagine or comprehend
 11.static  (xi)showing little or no change
 12.proponents  (xii)marked by or given to using irony in order to mock or convey contempt
 13.rewound  (xiii)persevering with something despite setbacks
 14.sarcastically  (xiv)renowned, well known
 15.dismissed  (xv)the pleasant remembrance of a past experience, glory,etc
 16.reasoned  (xvi)to discard or reject
 17.celebrated  (xvii)a person whose office it is to perform religious rites, and especially to make sacrificial offerings
 18. critics  (xviii)n expert in science, especially one of the physical or natural sciences
 19.exploding  (xix)to increase in extent, size, volume, scope, etc
 20.expanding  (xx)a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.;major figure; legend
 21.fortune  (xxi)to wind back to or toward the beginning; reverse
 22.linger  (xxii)of or relating to the first age or ages, especially of the world
 23.scientist  (xxiii)a person who puts forward a proposition or proposal
 24.centuries  (xxiv)an expert in astronomy; a scientific observer of the celestial bodies

ANSWERS

  1. ix
  2. xii
  3. ii
  4. v
  5. xvii
  6. xxii
  7. x
  8. xx
  9. xv
  10. xxiv
  11. xi
  12. xxiii
  13. xxi
  14. xii
  15. xvi
  16. vi
  17. xiv
  18. iv
  19. viii
  20. xix
  21. iii
  22. vii
  23. xviii
  24. i

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Beginning Of Universe # Practice Reading

So how was this unimaginably (difficult or impossible to imagine or comprehend) giant (a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.;major figure; legend) Universe created? For centuries (a period of 100 years) scientists (an expert in science, especially one of the physical or natural sciences) thought the Universe always existed in a largely unchanged (not changed; unaltered) form, run like clockwork (the mechanism of a clock)thanks to the laws of physics. But a Belgian priest (a person whose office it is to perform religious rites, and especially to make sacrificial offerings) and scientist called George Lemaitre put forward another idea. In 1927, he proposed that the Universe began as a large, pregnant and primeval (of or relating to the first age or ages, especially of the world)atom, exploding (to burst, fly into pieces, or break up violently with a loud report, as a boiler from excessive pressure of steam) and sending out the smaller atoms that we see today.

His idea went largely unnoticed. But in 1929 astronomer (an expert in astronomy; a scientific observer of the celestial bodies)Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe isn’t static (showing little or no change)but is in fact expanding (to increase in extent, size, volume, scope, etc). If so, some scientists reasoned (based on reason) that if you rewound (to wind back to or toward the beginning; reverse)the Universe’s life then at some point it should have existed as a tiny, dense point. Critics (a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes) dismissed (to discard or reject)this: the celebrated (renowned, well known)astronomer Fred Hoyle sarcastically (marked by or given to using irony in order to mock or convey contempt) called this concept the “Big Bang” theory, a phrase that would later be adopted by its proponents (a person who puts forward a proposition or proposal).

Undeterred (persevering with something despite setbacks)by sceptics (a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions), scientists Ralph Alpher, George Gamow and Robert Herman predicted that if there had been a Big Bang, then a faint afterglow (the pleasant remembrance of a past experience, glory, etc)should linger (to remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected, as if from reluctance to leave)somewhere in the Universe, and we should in theory be able to detect it. To do so would require one of the greatest pieces of fortune (position in life as determined by wealth)in science.

Source : BBC

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Effect Of Television # Essay For IELTS

You should spend 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

What are the pros and cons for children of watching television?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant example from your knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

 

SAMPLE ANSWER

In present times, television has found its place in our lives. One cannot imagine a house without a television, especially the one connected to satellite. From times when it offered two channels, we are now in an era where we are caught in the stampede of different channels.. Although television has had an impact on all, it leaves a great impression on the minds of children.

Let us begin by looking at the advantages of television on the lives of children. One of the main positives of watching television is that the horizons of a child get expanded. For instance, a ten or below year child watching discovery channel or history channel or for that case any of the knowledgeable channels, gains more knowledge than his/her peers reading books.

Secondly, even though a child often prefers cartoons, there are many cartoons where one learns great things and even more the imagination of the child is improved. Take doraemon for example. Every episode of this show teaches either moral or scientific things. When the character of the show gets beaten up for lying, the child understands that he/she must not lie.

Turning to the other side of the argument, uncontrolled television is a major problem. In a study it was seen that a child watching more than one hour of television daily tends to be more aggressive than the one who watches less of TV. Even more a child seeing the fights or other aggressive shows, could try to imitate them and get himself/herself hurt.

Another issue is that, more than often a child gets attracted to the lives of television stars that they end up watching it for hours. This not only has negative impact on their health but also distracts them from their studies.

To sum up, television is like a weapon. One can either use it to protect or harm oneself. Personally, I believe television is watched under the strict guidance can prove to be a boon for the child.

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