[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]
Topic: Colour
Q. What’s your favourite colour? [Why?]
A. I like white the most and this is my favourite colour. I think this colour is eye-soothing and represents peace. I personally like to wear white dresses and I think this colour is liked by a large number of people in my country.
Q. Do you like the same colours now as you did when you were younger? [Why/Why not?]
A. I liked the sky-blue and scarlet colours the most in my childhood. My choice of colour in my childhood had been predominated by the books and dresses I had. However, when I grew up, I picked my favourite colour based on the meaning it has, not how attractive it looks.
Q. What can you learn about a person from the colours they like?
A. I think the colour represents the personality of a person and tells a great deal about a person’s background. For instance, a person with a sensible mind likes to wear dresses that do not have many flashy colours. Similarly, someone who likes to show off and likes to lead a reckless life pays little attention to the colour he wears. We can tell if a person likes white, he is usually a peace-loving person and many people attracted to nature like the green most.
Q. Do any colours have a special meaning in your culture?
A. Yes, colour, in fact, is tied to many special meanings in my country. White and green represent patriotism and respect for our country while red is connected to sacrifice. Similarly, green is the colour of love and blue is the pain. Finally, white is related to peace, and yellow to young lovers. In my country, colours have distinctive meanings and they are related to our culture, tradition and history.
[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.]
You should say:
and explain why you like it.
Cue Card Answer:
I love so many songs by the English rock band Pink Floyd and perhaps the song ‘Perfect Sense – part one’ is the one I like the most. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to let me talk about this piece of masterpiece.
‘Perfect Sense, Part I’ is a song from the highly creative concept album ‘Amused to Death’ on the changing values of humanity and it was released in 1992. It was written by Roger Waters, one of the most creative songwriters of the era and falls in the rock category. I first listened to this song when my elder brother, David, played it on his stereo. I was around 12 years old at that time. I was taken aback by the brilliant music composition, perfectly set background music, rich and unique lyrics and Roger Waters’s glorious voice.
The song starts with the lines “The monkey sat on a pile of stone, And he stared at the broken bone in his hand..” perhaps to denote our ancestors and the beginning of the human evaluation. It carries on to tell us how they got civilised and got into the war. The human fighting each other from utter foolishness and a line read “And is it any wonder that the monkey’s confused…” The storyline goes on and states how deadly wars among civilisation were always for money and power. The final lines state “And they gave him command of a nuclear submarine, Sent him back in search of the Garden of Eden…” to satire our leaders’ foolishness and greed to eyewash people only to get involved in more conflicts and chaos.
Many other songs have touched me so profoundly as this song did and I can still listen to this song with intense attention as if this is the lyrics I always wanted to hear. No doubt this is one of the best songs I have ever heard or will hear in life.
Discussion topics: Music and young people
Q. What kinds of music are popular with young people in your culture?
A. Young people in my country like pop, rap and rock music the most. Some of them like to listen to country songs but the percentage is lower. Finally, some are fans of western music and their choice is greatly shaped by the internet and music channels.
Q. What do you think influences a young person’s taste in music?
A. I believe friends and family members have a great impact on the type of music a young person listen to in my country. A teenager first starts listening to music his or her parents prefer and play at home. Moreover, the music channels they listen to or watch shape their choices. The internet, these days, play a great role in shaping young minds’ choice for music. Finally, I can say from my experience that friends also influence youth to try a particular type of music or a music genre.
Q. How has technology affected the kinds of music popular with young people?
A. As I have already said, the FM radio, the Internet, satellite TV channels and other technologies allow us to tune in to any sort of music we want to listen to and that has a great impact on our music choice. For instance, YouTube has made pop music even more popular these days among youth than it was in the past. With the extensive use of social media, teenagers these days can follow their favourite singers and observe what their friends are following. This way their choice of music is shaped to a great extent. Finally, smartphones allow us to listen to music more often and share our music with our friends.
Discussion topics: Music and society
Q. Tell me about any traditional music in your culture.
A. In my country, the country song and folk music are the two most revered music genres in traditional music. While country songs still attract a great number of music lovers, folk songs are popular among the elder population.
Q. How important is it for a culture to have musical traditions?
A. I believe music represents the lifestyle, tradition, history, love and sorrows of people and musical traditions for culture is quite important. Lyrics, musical instruments and music composition are often unique to a nation and thus represents the heritage of this nation. This is why I consider music an essential ingredient in any culture.
Q. Why do you think countries have national anthems or songs?
A. National anthem in a country is an official capacity to inspire and represent patriotism to the fellow countrymen. With it, we show our pride for the country we love. The national anthem is generally a patriotic musical composition and lyrics and eulogies our country, its history and the people who sacrificed themselves to build the nation. It often inspires us to show how much we appreciate our country and our admiration for it.
This post was last modified on 11th April 2019 12:30 pm
View Comments
The national anthem gives an identity to every nation as well as inspires us to be patriotic. The national songs transpire motivation and spirit among young minds and also remind us about the sacrifices that our ancestors have made to make our lives peaceful. Some national songs remind us about special occasions such as Independence Day, Defense Day, Republic Day etc.