Day: 12 November 2016

IELTS Practice Reading # New Nation

The article below has been taken from TIME. You can read the entire article by clicking on the link. Today, we are looking at a part of it and try to cover the vocabulary that we come across.

Movies, and sometimes the people who make them, work on us at strange, subterranean levels we can’t even begin to comprehend. That’s why, even though relatively few people have seen it, few know quite how to feel about Nate Parker’sBirth of a Nation, which premiered here at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday to a rousing response from the audience, some seven months after its sensational Sundance unveiling. Parker’s debut picture—about Nat Turner, the enslaved African American who led a violent revolt against slave owners in 1831—is distinctive for one notable reason: Movies about the history of blacks in this country are rarely made, and if you rule out the usual suspects like Spike Lee and Lee Daniels—and count back to the days before 12 Years a Slave and Selma—they have rarely been made by people of color. But months ahead of its release in the United States, in October, The Birth of a Nation has also become infamous for a thornier reason: In 1999, while they were students at Penn State University, Parker and his roommate and wrestling teammate Jean Celestin—cowriter of The Birth of a Nation—were accused of raping a fellow student. Parker was acquitted. Celestin was found guilty, though the verdict was overturned. Their accuser committed suicide in 2012. In the context of this terrible blot, should Parker be lauded as a filmmaker? Should people show tacit support of him and his actions by seeing the film? Is his work, or his view on anything, in any way trustworthy?

WORDMEANING
 strange unusual or surprising; difficult to understand or explain.
 subterranean existing, occurring, or done under the earth's surface.
 comprehend grasp mentally; understand.
 relatively in relation, comparison, or proportion to something else.
 premiered give the first performance of.;(of a musical or theatrical work or a film) have its first performance
 rousing exciting; stirring;(of a fire) blazing strongly.
 response a verbal or written answer.;a reaction to something.
 audience the assembled spectators or listeners at a public event such as a play, film, concert, or meeting.;a formal interview with a person in authority.
 sensational causing great public interest and excitement.;very good indeed; very impressive or attractive.
 unveiling remove a veil or covering from, in particular uncover (a new monument or work of art) as part of a public ceremony.;show or announce publicly for the first time.
 enslaved make (someone) a slave.;cause (someone) to lose their freedom of choice or action.
 violent using or involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something;(especially of an emotion or a destructive natural force) very strong or power
 revolt take violent action against an established government or ruler; rebel.;cause to feel disgust.
 slave a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.;work excessively hard.
 distinctive characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from other
 notable worthy of attention or notice; remarkable.;a famous or important person
 thornier having many thorns or thorn bushes.;causing distress, difficulty, or trouble.
 accused a person or group of people who are charged with or on trial for a crime.
 acquitted free (someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty.
.
conduct oneself or perform in a specified way.
 verdict a decision on an issue of fact in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.
 overturned tip (something) over so that it is on its side or upside down.;abolish, invalidate, or reverse (a previous system, decision, situation, etc.)
 blot a dark mark or stain made by ink, paint, dirt, etc.;a procedure in which proteins or nucleic acids separated on a gel are transferred directly to an immobilizing medium for identification.
 tacit understood or implied without being stated.

IELTS BAND7

IELTS Essay Latest Question # road safety

You should spend 40 minutes on this task.

Some people believe that the age limit for the drivers should be increased to ensure road safety.

 

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

 

Write at least 250 words.

IDEAS
  • Increasing the age limit will make people break the traffic rules more often.
  • Instead, the focus should be on ensuring high standards for giving the driving license.
  • The age does not determine how well a person will drive.
  • Trained traffic police and strict enforcement of traffic rules will ensure safer roads.
SAMPLE ANSWER

Traveling is in the blood of young people with most of them waiting to get their driving licenses. On the other hand, there is a rapid increase in the number of road accidents, especially the ones involving young drivers. Some people believe that the age limit for driving should be raised to tackle this situation. Although this is a feasible solution, in my opinion, there are other ways that should be followed to make roads safer for the general public.

age limit

Increasing the age limit will unlikely reduce the road safety as it is practically impossible to check every individuals driving license. Increasing the age limit will make it all the more fun resulting in increased illegal activities. However, if the focus is put upon improving the standards for getting driving license it will ensure that only the right set of people do get it. This will also make people to work hard to drive legally. For example, people can actually feel proud on gaining the driving license because it will be a proof that they indeed drive good.

Even more, age does not define how well a person can drive. Driving is more of how much you have practiced. Like, a 20 year old can drive better if he or she has been driving on rough edges. On the other hand, a 34 year may not drive that well if he or she does not has practice of driving.

Overall, surely age can play a role in safer roads, in my opinion it cannot be the deciding factor. Therefore the focus should be on improving the quality of rules and enforcement rather than increasing age limit.

IELTS BAND7

 

IELTS Cue Card Sample Answer # Special Thing

There are so many things that we want in our lives, but no matter how rich you are, there are certain things that are so special that we wait for the right time, the right amount of money, we make sacrifices in other things, and save for that one big thing, the one thing that is really special for us. Let us today have a look at the cue card sample question related to it.

Describe something special that you saved money to buy.

You should say:

  • what was it
  • why you bought is
  • how long you saved money to buy it

and explain why it was important to you to buy it.

SAMPLE ANSWER 1

I remember buying my first laptop after months of saving. At that time, there were two kinds of job that I was doing, one was as a freelance writer and the other was of a Software Engineer. Although I could have bought a 30000 laptop from the earning of a month when the day came closer of actually buying the laptop, I for a second thought about it again and for some reasons decided not to buy a normal personal computer and decided to buy a Macintosh.

There was no definite reason for buying it. It is just that while I was about to buy my first laptop, something just came back to me. Some years ago while having a conversation with my uncle, I told him it is a laptop which is very important for me. I would buy myself a Macintosh as the first laptop.

The Macintosh that I fell in love with was MacBook Air. You could just go on doing your work in it forever. And then there is so much attachment with the machine because of his founder, Steve Jobs. I mean every time you work on a Macintosh it feels like you are doing great work and you are being unique.

I remember having saved for three months before I could buy a Macintosh and it took me many sleepless nights before it was mine and trust me the day it was mine, it was amazing, beautiful. Its features were so amazing that it has been six years since I first bought my first Macintosh and it is still running fine.

The reason that I bought it was that I wanted to know Apple better and it is when you use a device of a certain company that you are able to know the company and its ethics better.
special things

SAMPLE ANSWER 2

I am a blogger and there was a time when I wanted to open my own travel blog. For me to be able to open and run an efficient blog, I required a camera. Having thought a lot about it and talking to many people, I decided on buying a DSLR. But, DSLRs are expensive and the one that I thought was fit for my job cost me around 50000.

During that time, I remember earning 35000 monthly and after having covered my expenses I was left with almost 15000 per month. It took me around 3 months before I could buy my first DSLR.

It is because of it that today I am able to click great photographs and also shoot videos. At that time, I felt as if I am spending money, but looking back at it I can surely say that I had done investment. My blog is now running really well and it is great to be able to make something new every day.

IELTS BAND7