Month: July 2016

IELTS Speaking Sample Answer # Education In Present

Education is the reason you are here, the reason you are thinking of IELTS and it becomes quite obvious that you might be asked questions related to education, most probably in part I of IELTS. Let us today, have a look at some of the questions related to education and their possible answers.

What kind of school did you go as a child?

I did my schooling at a co-educational convent school.

What was your favorite subject during school?

I really loved English as a child. I remember, reading chapters that the teachers had not taught and reading the book again and again. I used to be the one in English class who knew the story before hand and would have by the end of the term, almost memorized it by words.

Who was your favorite teacher?

During school days, I used to really admire our social science teacher. He was one of those very few people you could see, who were very calm and quite and would rarely scold anyone for anything. But, his teaching style was so effective that one could just understand everything at one go. Even more, he used to tell things, beyond the course which really helped us in the later years of my life.

What is the education system like in your country?

Our education system comprises of two main exams, one is the High school and the other is the Intermediate. Most often, the score that students get in high school define the kind of school they will enter in intermediate and on the basis of intermediate school they get the college. Apart from this, there are several exams that a student gives to enter into the college.

Are you a full time or part time student?

I am presently, a part time student. I am pursuing a course on writing that I take during weekends.

I am a full time student and currently doing my Intermediate studies.

What subjects are you studying?

Presently, I am studying fiction writing from the online course provided by the Harvard university.

I am studying math, physics, English and chemistry.

Why did you choose these subjects?

I am interested in becoming an engineer and for that it is very important to take science stream during intermediate. In my country, when one takes science, these are the subjects that are taught.

I love writing and wanted to explore the different facets of it and therefore chose it.

What do you plan to do when you finish studying?

Once I am done studying, I will take up a job in a company or may be open my own startup.

Once the course on writing is done, I am planning to take a English degree from some ivy league college to help my writing career.

Some people say that your school days are your best days. Do you agree?

I think definitely yes. School days are the time when we are least bothered about life and earning money. We have so less desires and we are so happy with the little things that we get. It is more about having fun with friends and learning things. It is only when we grow that we start over thinking and ruining things.

Do you think school and university prepares young people adequately for real life?

I am not very sure of it. Because, I have seen people who have learnt a lot about real life from their teachers and friends and the books that they have read. On the other hand, I have even come across people who don’t know a thing about life. So, I think too an extent it all depends on the kind of teachers and school that you go into. It surely does have an impact.

education

Do you think there is lot of pressure on young people at school these days?

Surely, yes. Pressure has increased among young people when compared to the earlier times. In our times we were more bothered about learning things and going to our granny house during summer holidays. Today, I see people going to lot of groups and doing activities in their summer holidays. When you look at it in a way it is kind of good for their over all development, but I think when done without taste it does becomes pressure.

Have their been significant changes in schooling methods in your country in recent years?

Lot of changes have come in education system of our country, but I would say they are at a very high level. So, deep down too an extent it is just the same. So, there are still teachers in our schools and we get homework but with computers coming in, we can also smart classes and then these days more schools are taking students to excursions and places like that. So, yes, the way teachers are teaching has definitely changed, but when looked up on as a system, I don’t think so.

Well, I believe there have been great changes in the education system of my country. Firstly, you can now see students learning from smart classes, making learning more effective. Even more, these days, there is lot of emphasis being laid down on the overall development of child which earlier was quite limited. Even more, now with the increased suicide rates, grading system has come up, which is definitely a welcoming change. So, yes there have been changes and we hope that we will improve like this with every passing year.

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IELTS Reading Sample Question # Victims

Victims of Their Own Success

[A] Young men, spurred on by religious beliefs and encouraged by their peers, gathered on the edges of Asia Minor, waiting to attack the Christian world to the west. Immense kudos was to be won within the Muslim world from inflicting pain and damage on innocent victims: men, women and children who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Launching attacks could and did cause untold damage to the economy, driving fear and changing the way people lived, moved and thought. Training bases in northern Syria prepared eager would-be soldiers, teaching them the survival techniques needed to infiltrate enemy territory and, of course, how to launch their attacks. And spiritual rewards were on offer too: a place in paradise, if you met your end during the mission. That was Asia Minor 11 centuries ago.

[B]The Roman Empire splintered in two spectacular explosions. First, Rome itself was sacked in 410 and then its western provinces and many of those of North Africa collapsed later in the fifth century. Two hundred years later, ‘the most important parts of the Empire’ did not just remain standing, but were flourishing. Centred on the great city of Constantinople, the East Roman (or Byzantine) Empire, controlled the wealthy grain basket of the Nile delta, as well as Anatolia (modern Turkey), much of the Balkans, Greece, Palestine and Syria. Life looked rosy, as the numismatic  and archaeological records show.

[C]The second expansion brought the Byzantine Empire to its knees as followers of the Prophet Muhammad poured out of the Arabian peninsula in the 630s, forging a vast new world that linked Spain with the Middle East and Central Asia, pushing right up to the border with China by 751. The Empire hung on for dear life, pouring resources into a frontier network across Asia Minor to hold back the tide.

[D]Byzantine generals were realistic about how secure the border could be: there was no hope of stopping bands of motivated, fast-moving individuals from penetrating under the cover of darkness or otherwise: policing a frontier in this way required (and still requires) money, time, resources and people to maintain it. Instead, the Byzantines had to learn how to deal with attacks.

[E]They identified patterns. Timing was predictable; so, too, were the targets: the attackers were more keen on glory than death, on the bragging rights in this world than the next and more keen on enriching themselves than finding out what paradise had to offer. The best approach was to adapt to the reality and prepare for regular pin-pricks, rather than becoming the target of more powerful forces further away. As seen from Constantinople, there would always be problems on the periphery, so it was important to build relations with Baghdad and Cairo and to use official channels to try to rein in troublesome warlords in border zones, whose successes could destabilise not just the Byzantine Empire but the Abbasid Caliphate, too.

[F]In the 10th century, however, the balance began to change. A series of economic shocks rattled the economies of the Middle East and Central Asia, result of a period of climate change. Soul searching in Baghdad opened the door for daring Byzantine raids that knocked out the attack bases that had been used to such great effect for almost 200 years. That, in turn, changed the make-up and fighting practices of the imperial military. Having pioneered defensive tactics to prevent raids causing too much damage, attention now turned to big targets: fortified towns and cities.

[G]Within the space of a generation, the Byzantines had rolled the frontier back hundreds of miles, recovering places long lost to Muslims. The jewel in the crown was Antioch in northern Syria, the gateway to Palestine, but also the protecting valve to defend Asia Minor and the interior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the century that followed saw an astonishing period of economic and demographic growth, as well as an intellectual and cultural flowering, as artists, scholars and writers like Michael Psellos created some of the treasures of Byzantine culture.

[I]The problem was that when a new threat appeared in the form of the Sekjuk Turks in the 11th century, it took the Byzantines too long to remember how to fight a rearguard action. Instead of dealing swiftly with nimble attackers, a ploy that had worked in the past, the response was to send large, heavy armies that took too long to move and were left chasing shadows.

[J]A similar problem, it seems, is facing the US Air Force today. In a recently published report, Lt General David Barno, former Commander of Military Operations in Afghanistan, argued that the USAF – like the Byzantine army of the 10th and 11th centuries – is a victim of its own success. Not a single American warplane has been shot down by an enemy aircraft since 1991; and not one has been lost to enemy air defences since 2003. ‘As a result’, General Bardo notes, ‘the risk to aircraft and airmen in combat has become nearly negligible’.

[I]At a time when the US is acutely aware of growing ambition and military expenditure by China and Russia, the fact that pilots have never experienced ‘contested air war’ means that investment is needed to prepare for threats of the future and not those of the present. It also means that skills need to be taught and developed in advance, rather than when it is too late. ‘Resilience’, for example, to enable soldiers and airmen to cope when ‘more and more squadrons of their mates don’t come home’, should be impressed on serving a military that has got used to undisputed superiority.

[J]When the going had been good in Constantinople 1,000 years ago, there were voices like those of General Barno, too, who warned about under-funding in the armed forces and the fact that young people did not want to serve the emperor but to feather their own nests by becoming lawyers and making money. By the time anyone listened, it was too late. Whether General Barno’s warning meets the same deaf ears remains to be seen.

VOCABULARY

spurred – a thing that prompts or encourages someone

infiltrate – enter or gain access to surreptitiously and gradually, especially to gain secret information

splintered – break or cause to break into smaller fragments

sacked – dismissed

numismatic – relating to or consisting of coins and medals

squadrons – a number of persons grouped together for some purpose

rattled -knocked or shattered

 

Questions 14-19

Sample Passage 7 has ten paragraphs labelled A-J

Which paragraphs contain the following information?

Write the correct letter A-J in boxes 14-19 in your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once

  1. During the 4th and 5th century, Rome was divided into two parts.
  2. Bryzantines were in danger from Sekjuk Turks during the period of 1001 to 1100.
  3. General Barno gave a signal that in future the young people of the country will be more interested in working for themselves rather than the country.
  4. The Americans have not lost a single aircraft to enemies in the 20th
  5. The soldiers were convinced to join army saying if they die during the war, they would certainly go to heaven.
  6. Bryzantine dealt with attacks by figuring out patters in them.

Questions 20-24 Choose the appropriate letters A, B, C or D.  Write your answers in boxes 20-24 on your answer sheet.

  1. What caused the shattering of economies of the Middle East and central Asia during the 10th century?
  1. Climate change
  2. War
  3. Both A and B
  4. Neither A or B

 

  1. What kind of army did Byzantines send when they were attacked by the Sekjuk Turks in 11th century?
  1. Small and nimble
  2. Large and slow
  3. Foreign attackers
  4. Neither of the above
  1. What was the warning given by general Barno?
  1. Soldiers will stop working of army
  2. People will prefer working for themselves rather than army
  3. People are more likely to become businessman
  4. There will be no need of army in later years
  1. What was offered to the future soldiers in the Syrian training camps?
  1. Place in paradise
  2. lot of money
  3. security
  4. financial support to the family
  1. How did Bryzantines dealt with the possible terrors possible in the border?
  1. Stopped bands of individuals marching towards border.
  2. Identified patterns of war.
  3. Predicting the timing and targets
  4. Both C and D

 

ANSWERS

  1. B
  2. I
  3. J
  4. J
  5. A
  6. E
  7. A
  8. A
  9. B
  10. A
  11. D

 

 

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IELTS Speaking Sample Questions # Weekends And Work

Work is worship but then it is also very important to have work life balance. But, then there are some who believe that work is part of life and should not be associated with a particular day or time. Let us have a look at some of the questions related to weekends and work and their possible answers.

Do you know anyone who works at weekends?

Well, I would say I know a lot of people who know how to associate weekends and work, including me. We are actually a group of four people and during weekends we go out and travel around places and click photos, do interviews, meet people and get to know a lot about the place. On Sundays, we then work late night to compile all our work and present it in a form of a blog and a video. It is lot of fun, but also lot of work.

weekends and work

Should people be working or resting on Saturdays and Sundays?

I think a person should work on themselves during the weekends. Because, it is very important to upgrade oneself in this changing society. There are lot of things that we don’t know and lot of things that we can learn and I think its weekends when we can actually expand our horizons. So, definitely a person should not do the same old work but work on themselves during weekends.

Do you think working people need to take a rest on weekend?

Of course yes. It is always a good idea to spend some time with your family and friends as it is very important for leading a balanced life. But apart from this, I think people should also indulge in some extra curricular activity like reading a novel or joining a sports club or may be being part of dramatics. It is very important to be doing different thing as it allows a person to expand their horizons.

Do you think people should be asked to work on weekends?

I believe there should not be any compulsion on people to work on weekends and they should be allowed to do whatever they want to do. Because, as the old adage goes, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Is it important for people to have weekends off?

I think definitely yes. It allows a person to do something more than just the daily nine to five job. It allows the person the freedom to have a work life balance and also improve on areas that they are weak in or areas that interest them. Like, I have known so many people who are passionate about photography or other activities and pursue them during the weekends off.

Should people be paid more money if they work on weekend?

Paying people for working on weekends might not be a great idea, according to me, because I think it will compel people to do work on weekends for some extra money, giving them no time to improve on their other aspects.

Do you think it is reasonable that employees be paid at a higher rate for working overtime?

Paying more for people who work overtime is surely a very positive decision, according to me. The reason being they are working more and are taking time out of their personal lives for the company and at the end of the day, this increased work is helping the company grow better. So, I think the employee must be given his/her share of reward.

If you were asked to work on the weekend, do you think it would be reasonable to ask for extra pay?

To start off, I don’t think I would prefer working on weekends, even if it is for money. But, ever if I have to work on weekends it will definitely be for money and I think it will be very reasonable to ask for extra pay.

I think it is very reasonable for an extra pay if someone has to work on weekend, because there needs to be some motivating factor for a person to do a job even at weekend. If the person gets the same money as his/her peers who don’t work at weekends, it might leave the employee with the feeling of betrayal, which is not a very good sign for the company.

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IELTS Speaking Sample Answer # Television

Television! Who does not know about it? No matter how busy you have got with your lives, there was a time you watched television, enjoyed those cartoons and had fights with your siblings for the remote. Let us have a look at some of the questions related to television and their possible answers.

Do you watch television a lot?

Well, I used to watch but now I have altogether stopped watching it.

Oh! I love watching television. It is something that helps me break off stress after a tiring day.

What do you usually watch on television?

I really don’t watch television, but when I used to, I loved watching romantic serials and the history channel.

I love watching travel shows and discovery channel. Also, I like watching the old cartoon series. For some reasons, I think they were the best we could ever have.

How many hours of television do you really watch?

Per day, I would say I watch around an hour of television. This includes either watching a entire one episode of bbc travel or may be listening to some songs.

What are the most popular shows in your country?

Well, my country is divided in two parts for television. The elder generation and the younger ones.But then there are some enjoyed by all. Like Comedy nights with kapil, ballika vadhu, Code red.

What kind of shows do you like to watch?

I like watching serials with some historical content in it, like ashoka samrat or the history channel. Also, I love watching Mtv and channel V shows. One of my favorite being girls on top.

What are some advantages of television?

Television is a good time killer, I believe. It keeps people entertained and joined together. So, there are friends made who like the same show and then they talk about it, discuss the story line. It keeps people imagination opened up. Also, it is good way to be informed about the daily happenings of the world.

television

What are some of the disadvantages of television?

Television, if seen more than necessary can make yo dumb. Because it is sort of hearing activity when you are not using more of your senses on reacting and the mind is not working. You are just watching whatever is going on. This can make the mind dull. Also, it affects your life, when people get stuck to it. Most people procrastinate on their work and exams because of it and I think that leads to lot of trouble.

What did you last watch on television?

I think the last time I saw television was some months ago. I don’t know. These days with so much happening on internet, television too an extent has got a little outdated.

I think yesterday was the last time I watched television. I was actually watching a show on the mysore history and it was quite fascinating to see it.

Why do you think certain TV shows are so popular?

I think  the only reason that TV shows become so popular is because they are able to connect with the nerve of the individual. So, like I love watching girls on top because it is story of three girls trying to make big in a big city. This is a story of so many girls. So, they surely watch it and make the show popular.

Do you like to watch TV? – How often do you do it?

I am not really fond of television as such. So, you can find me seeing television very rarely. Like may be sometime in two months or when there is a cricket match. I like watching matches on television because the entire family comes together to watch it.

Do you think children are addicted to TV these days?

Too an extent yes they are. But, I believe that with internet coming out and the play stations and other video games coming into market, television has surely got a little side. But, then when we are talking of those very little kids like below 12, I think certainly yes, they are addicted to television.

Has television changed your life in any way?

I believe that watching television has benefited me in some way, as well as bringing me some detrimental consequences. Watching television program enabled me to broaden my vision because I came to know so much more about the world, but later on I got addicted to it. So, I had to wear glasses from a very early age.

Do you think television has changed in the past few decades?

Yes, as the techniques have advanced in these years, the TV has also developed a lot. They have become thinner and clearer. Also, you can do internet, connect them with whatever device you have and do so much more. Earlier the screen was made with plasma panel making TV size way too big, but with LED and LCD coming in, there has been lot of improvement on size.

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