IELTS GT Test – Speaking Mock Test # 41
[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]
PART 1:
Topic: Social media
Q 1. Which social media websites do you use?]
Answer: Even though there are several social media platforms on the internet, I don’t exactly have time to use all of them except just a few. And they are popularly known as “Facebook”, “Twitter” and “Instagram”. Sometimes I also “Quora” and “LinkedIn”.
Q 2. How much time do you spend on social media sites?[Why/Why not?]
Answer: I must admit that I am not really that regular on social media websites, mainly because I just don’t think that most content on social media, to which I get exposed on a regular basis, adds any real value to my life. I like to visit them to get updates from my dear and near ones. So I use them once in a while – let’s say 3 or 4 hours a week.
Q 3. What kind of information about yourself have you put on social media? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Well, to tell the truth, I am more of an “introvert” person, meaning I don’t really like to share much information about myself on social media except when I travel to any interesting places. However, I am aware that different social media platforms still have my pictures, address, habits, likings and dislikings, places where I visit and the list of my friends.
Q 4. Is there anything you don’t like about social media? [Why?]
Answer: Yes, there are at least three things that I don’t like about social media: the first thing is that it takes a lot of time away from our daily routine which could be used to have some real/physical interaction with our friends and relatives. The second thing is that people feel pressurized in doing some things because others are doing the same things when they are on social media. Finally and most importantly, social media is full of misinformation and fabricated information which often mislead people.
PART 2: [IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card]
Describe something you liked very much which you bought for your home.
You should say:
- what you bought
- when and where you bought it
- why you chose this particular thing
and explain why you liked it so much.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Cue Card Answer:
I don’t think that I have bought many things for my home, simply because there are more “qualified” persons in my family to do that thing. But, about a year ago, I bought something for my home to prove that I was also equally good at choosing something great for my home, and today I would like to share that story with you here.
Talking about a “table clock” here, which I bought from a yearly international trade fair in my country about a year ago. Now, here I must say that I didn’t really visit that trade fair because I wanted to buy any kind of clocks or any other things from there, rather I visited it because I wanted to enjoy a lazy evening there with a couple of my friends, watching the crowds and their activities there from up close.
So, anyway, as I was strolling around the fair and also pretending to be a prospective customer, I noticed a fairly large stall that was selling all kinds of table clocks. Initially, I tried to ignore it; but decided to step into it because of the “peer pressure” around me. After browsing those table clocks, built with some unique designs and great materials, for a little, I was actually convinced that I needed to buy one of those clocks for my home as well, not only because I wanted to commemorate this first visit (to an international trade fair) of mine with this small but beautiful looking “souvenir”, but also because it would complement my computer desk perfectly. Well, on second thought, it would actually complement any furniture piece inside my home.
In the end, I was so glad that I actually bought that table clock, not only because it was made of some fine, expensive and rare types of wood, but also because it had some nice artworks of handicrafts. I liked it so much also because it was made with some nice themes and those themes were changing momentarily with the passage of time.
PART 3
Discussion topics: Creating a nice home
Q 1. Why do some people buy lots of things for their home?
Answer: I am sure that different people attribute different reasons to this particular habit, even though the definition of “lots” is a rather subjective matter. But as far as I can understand, some people tend to buy plenty of stuff for their homes, purely because they think that those things would make their houses look more beautiful and “homely”. Then some people think that buying a lot of things for their houses would allow them to project their “wealth” and “value” in front of the others. Finally, there are some who just love the idea of buying small things wherever they go which eventually end up being placed at their home.
Q 2. Do you think it is very expensive to make a home look nice?
Answer: Not sure how one would choose to define “very expensive” and “nice”, but, in my humble opinion, I don’t necessarily like to believe that it is very expensive to make a home look nice unless, of course, it becomes our sole purpose to furnish our houses with the most pricey or expensive things, money can buy, to make our homes look nice. But, even that – I mean, buying the most expensive things – won’t ensure the “nice look” of our homes if we don’t know how to use them or take care of them. Personally, I have visited many beautiful homes with excellent decoration even though they hardly had any expensive items.
Q 3. Why don’t some people care about how their home looks?
Answer: I could come up with plenty of reasons as to why some people don’t care about how their homes look. The first reason could be that they are probably a bit too busy to keep up with the “appearance” thing. Besides, it is also possible that some people are just outright lazy to take care of their homes in general, no matter whether they are busy or not. Then, some people probably also take the liberty to think that they would rather spend their valuable time accomplishing something more constructive than worrying about how their homes look. Finally, some people don’t care about how their home looks because they are not organised enough and do not like to keep things tidy most of the time.
Discussion topics: Different types of home
Q 4. In what ways is living in a flat/apartment better than living in a house?
Answer: Well, from the top of my head, I can think of at least three reasons for which living in a flat or apartment should be considered better than living in a house. The first reason, of course, is the low cost. In other words, since houses are usually larger than a flat/apartment, it takes more gas and electricity to heat them or cool them. Not to mention, of course, the higher cost of illuminating the entire house is also a factor in many cases when compared with the cost of a flat, since flats are usually smaller than houses. Secondly, it also takes extra effort and labour to maintain a house. Finally, when someone lives in a flat or apartment, he or she can change the living place whenever they like and move to a new place close to their workplace. It is not quite the same when someone lives in a house that he or she owns.
Q 5. Do you think homes will look different in the future?
Answer: Yes, I do think that homes will look different in the future. In fact, I have some good reasons to believe that homes in most cases would look smaller in size because the availability of real estate land is shrinking due to huge population growth in many parts of the world. Besides, the ever-increasing cost factors of building houses is also likely to force people to build smaller houses. Finally, houses are going to look different also because different building materials – different from the traditional materials – are going to be used to deal with the cost and changing weather factors.
Q 6. Do you agree that the kinds of homes people prefer change as they get older?
Answer: Yes, I think that when people grow older, their preferences for the kinds of homes change. For example, they would prefer to stay in places where they would be able to stay closer to their families and friends to benefit from their physical and emotional support. Sometimes, they would also like to live in houses that are easily accessible and manoeuvrable due to their deteriorating health. For example, some old people would prefer to live on the ground floor because they are not always able to use stairs due to physical weakness. Moreover, elder people would not prefer a very big house, unlike most young people, due to the maintenance effort it requires.
Fantastic…