If you have the will to achieve, your success story will spread like wild fire! Read more and find out what does it means.
GET A WIGGLE ON
SENTENCE-: Stop being lethargic get a wiggle on or else we will be late.
MEANING-: get moving or hurry
SPREAD LIKE WILD FIRE
SENTENCE-: often gossips spread like wild fire
MEANING-: spread with great speed
A WILD GOOSE CHASE
SENTENCE-: Don’t be foolish, stop this wild goose chase.
MEANING-: search for something unattainable
WHERE THERE IS A WILL , THERE IS A WAY
SENTENCE-: if you have ever decided on a goal, remember, where there is a will, there is a way.
MEANING-: if you have determination, obstacles will pass soon
KEEN AS MUSTARD
SENTENCE-: That girl you seen standing in the hall of fame, she was keen as mustard.
MEANING-: extremely eager or enthusiastic
KEEP OPEN HOUSE
SENTENCE-: mahatma Gandhi always kept an open house
MEANING-: provide general hospitality
YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN/WOMAN DOWN
SENTENCE-: No matter how hard someone tries, remember, you can’t keep a good man/woman down.
MEANING-: a competent person will always fight back after every set back
A DIFFERENT KETTLE OF FISH
SENTENCE-: Don’t apply the general rules to her, she is a different kettle of fish.
MEANING-: a different matter or type of person from the one previously discussed
A KICK AT THE CAN
SENTENCE-: this is your chance, you can either kick at the can or kick yourself.
MEANING-: an opportunity to achieve something
KICK THE BUCKET
SENTENCE-: life is like either you achieve your goals or kick the bucket.
MEANING-: die
KICK SOMEONE WHEN THEY ARE DOWN
SENTENCE-: if you kick someone when they are down, don’t expect to rise yourself.
MEANING-: cause further misfortune to a person who is already suffering
There are people of the opinion that to secure a good job it is important to attend a university while others believe that it is better if you develop soft skills and have an experience.
Discuss both sides.
Write the answer in at least 250 words.
SAMPLE ANSWER
“Education is a relative term”. On one hand, the most successful entrepreneurs, politicians and other personalities are the ones who have graduated from the world’s best universities; there is no dearth of people who made it big, even though they didn’t had any flashy certificates. The world has divided itself on this issue. There are people of the opinion that a degree of a well renowned university is essential for securing a good job, others believe that it is the real life education that makes the difference.
Safety, is the first reason to support a university degree. If you have completed your graduation from university, they provide you a 99% assurance of good job. It could be either a campus placement or a off-campus one. Secondly, people often trust you more. A degree gives people the reason to trust you. For example-: if a Harvard graduate asks for loan to open his/her company, nor would it be easier to get the loan but also people will be ready to support the project. Thirdly, you are saved from the everyday battle. If you have a degree, you need not to fight with everyone for a particular job. The competition reduces, making it all the more easier.
However, people who focus on their soft skills and experience, enjoy a different way of living life. The way that is quite different from others. The foremost advantage being that they experience life first hand. There is no theory in their case, it is all practical. No rules that need to be followed, it is all common sense and past experience that paves their way. For example-: Jack ma, the founder of ali baba and the richest person in china was rejected from Harvard ten times but it was his soft skills and the persistence to battle that helped him open the e-commerce site.
Overall, it doesn’t matters much whether you have a degree from a college or experience of life. What matters is whether you have the vision to monetize all what you have got and a deep desire to succeed in life.
Some people are of the opinion that hard work is the key factor for success in life while others believe that other factors such as money, luck etc play a major role in deciding a persons’ success. Discuss both the sides and give your opinion.
Some children start school at the age of four while others at the age of seven.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of starting school at the age of four or early?
How to the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
SPEAKING SECTION
Do you have a personal room in your house? Do you like it?
Which is your favorite room in your house?
Would you like to change your house? Why/why not?
CUE CARD
Describe an advertisement that persuaded you to buy a product. You must say-:
Where did you saw the advertisement?
what was the advertisement about?
Why did you liked it?
DISCUSSION
Give your opinion about advertising world.
What kind of advertisement are shown in your country?
If you were the telecommunication minister of your country, what changes would you make, if any, in the advertising companies?
So, what are you waiting for. Go on practice them; maybe you get similar questions. IELTSBAND7
There are seventeen words that have been highlighted in the passage; meanings of which are given in the end. Mark yourself off 17 and find out how good you are in vocabulary.
THE OUTLAW OCEAN
CHIOS, Greece — The rickety raft made of empty oil drums and a wooden tabletop rolled and pitched with the waves while tied to the side of the Dona Liberta, a 370-foot cargo ship anchored far from land in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa.
“Go down!” yelled a knife-wielding crew member, forcing two Tanzanian stowaways overboard and onto the raft. As angry clouds gathered on the horizon, he cut the line.
Gambling on a better life, the stowaways had run out of luck. They had already spent nine days at sea, most of the time hiding in the Dona Liberta’s engine room, crouched deep in oily water. But as they climbed down onto the slick raft, the men, neither of whom knew how to swim, nearly slid into the ocean before lashing themselves together to the raft with a rope.
As the Dona Liberta slowly disappeared, David George Mndolwa, one of the abandoned pair, recalled thinking: “This is the end.”
Few places on the planet are as lawless as the high seas, where egregious crimes are routinely committed with impunity. Though the global economy is ever more dependent on a fleet of more than four million fishing and small cargo vessels and 100,000 large merchant ships that haul about 90 percent of the world’s goods, today’s maritime laws have hardly more teeth than they did centuries ago when history’s great empires first explored the oceans’ farthest reaches.
Murders regularly occur offshore — thousands of seafarers, fishermen or sea migrants die under suspicious circumstances annually, maritime officials say — but culprits are rarely held accountable. No one is required to report violent crimes committed in international waters.
the passage has been taken from “The New York Times”.
Vocabulary Used
VOCABULARY EXPLAINED
RICKETY
Rickety means not strong or well made and is likely to break. “the rickety raft made of oil drum” means that the raft is not very strong and is made of oil drums.
RAFT
Raft, here, refers to a flat structure made of woods tied together and used as a boat or a floating platform.(definition by Oxford).
PITCHED
pitched has many meaning to it, but here it means , the movement of ship up and down in the water. “wooden top pitched with the waves” means the wooden top is moving up and down as along with waves.
ANCHORED
Anchored means to let an anchor down from a boat or a ship in order to prevent it from moving.” , a 370-foot cargo ship anchored far from land in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa.” Here it means that the ship is tied with chains in Atlantic ocean preventing its movement.
STOWAWAYS
Stowaway is a person who hides in a ship or a plane before it leaves so as to travel without paying money. ” forcing two Tanzanian stowaways overboard” means the Tanzanians who were travelling without paying were pushed overboard.
OVERBOARD
Overboard means over the side of the boat or a ship onto the water. “ forcing two Tanzanian stowaways overboard into the raft” means that the Tanzanians were thrown from the side of the boat and they fell off on the raft.
GAMBLING
Gambling is an activity of playing a game of chances for either money or any other object. “Gambling on a better life” means they were taking chances so as to improve their lives.
CROUCHED
Crouched means to put your body close to the ground by bending your legs. “Crouched deep in oily water” means that the Tanzanians were hiding in the oily water.
SLICK
Slick refers to something smooth or difficult to hold on i.e. slipper. “Climbed down onto the slick raft” means that the raft is slippery.
SLID
Slid means to pass or fall gradually into a specified state, character, practice, etc. “nearly slid into the ocean” means they were very close to falling into the sea.
LASHING
Lashing has many meanings; the one used here means, a rope used to fasten something tightly to something else. “into the ocean before lashing themselves together to the raft” means they tied them to the raft with the rope.
EGREGIOUS
Egregious means extremely bad. So, “egregious crimes” mean extremely bad crimes.
IMPUNITY
If a person does something bad with impunity, they do not get punished for what they have done.” Crime are committed with impunity” means that the people who commit the crime are not penalized for it.
HAUL
Haul, here, means to cart or to carry. “100,000 large merchant ships that haul about 90 percent of the world’s goods” means that they carry about 90% of the world’s good.
MARITIME
Maritime means related to sea. So , maritime laws means laws related to sea.
SEAFARER
Seafarer means a traveler or sailor of the sea.
SUSPICIOUS
Suspicious is a feeling that someone has done something wrong or illegal. “they die under suspicious circumstances” means that the way they die you feel as if something is wrong.
CULPRITS
A culprit is a person who has done something wrong or against the law.
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