[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]
Topic: Clothes
Q. Where do you buy most of your clothes? [Why?]
Answer: I buy most of my clothes from regular shops in regular markets where clothing items are affordable. However, when it comes to buying some special clothes for special occasions, I try to buy them from shopping malls where I can choose some clothes from a large collection of clothing items.
Q. How often do you buy new clothes for yourself? [Why?]
Answer: I don’t really buy new clothes that often for myself as it usually takes a long time to wear them down. And, unless my clothes are worn out to make them look old, I don’t like to buy any clothes for myself. So, anyway, if you are asking me to be precise, I would say that I buy new clothes as often as twice or thrice a year unless I have a very good reason to buy on more occasions than that.
Q. How do you decide which clothes to buy?
Answer: I decide which clothes to buy largely depends on what time of the year I want to wear them. In other words, if I want to wear then during summer time, I would go for heat-resistant clothes. Similarly, if I want to wear them during winter time, I would buy warm clothes to keep myself warm and comfortable. I also decide which clothes to buy depending on whether I want to wear them casually or for some special occasions such as attending parties or enjoying a soccer game in the field.
Q. Have the kinds of clothes you like changed in recent years?[Why?/Why not?]
Answer: Yes, I do think that the clothes, which I like, have changed for “worse” instead of getting better in recent years in terms of “quality”. Besides, my preference and choice of costumes have changed as well. In the past, fashion was my top priority while comfort is the most important issue now.
In fact, in the past years, I could buy a good quality dress and forget about buying another one in the next few months, in the least. But, nowadays, I buy the same types of clothes, and they look old and faded only after a couple of months or so. Of course, the clothes have become more stylish and fashionable in recent years, but without meeting the minimum quality requirements, they are only as good as they “look”.
You should say:
and explain why this discussion was interesting for you.
[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:
There is no doubt that money is one of the most important things, if not the most important thing, in life as it just can’t only build our life but also can destroy it. Therefore, it is absolutely important that we just don’t earn our money, but we make sure that we spend and manage it properly by discussing it with the elderly and wise. And that’s exactly what I tried to do a couple of years ago with my father.
After opening up a savings account right after starting my new job about a few years ago, I didn’t really know that I had managed to save up a “substantial” amount of money (substantial for me, at least) little by little every month. In fact, suddenly I felt like I was a “rich” as the money was all mine and only mine. Then, again, I became a little cautious too. So, it was a “mixed” bag of feeling after all. Not knowing what to do with the money, I decided to discuss with my father about it.
My father, of course, didn’t seem so excited and instead, he just told me to wait for a few days after which he would offer me some concrete advice. Exactly after two days, my father came and asked me to buy some company “stocks” from the stock exchange market. Without saying a word, I started to learn about the stock market. He explained to me a great deal of this new stock market concepts to me and how I should be more cautious about money management for the rest of my life to do better financially.
The talk was interesting because it actually helped me come of an age where I was starting to this like an intelligent “businessman” and “investor”. It was also interesting that it was at that discussion that my father ever treated me like an “adult”! The discussion also made me realize for the first time that I was also able to take charge of my own life by becoming a proud “owner” of something or some assets.
Discussion topics: Money and young people
Q. Why do some parents give their children money to spend each week?
Answer: I guess that this is one of the instances where one gets to say that we, adults, just don’t love and need money, but children do it too! Anyway, some parents give money to their children in order to spend each week because some children have their own “ideas of food” such as “cakes” or “ice creams”, and they have to eat those “food” every day, if not every hour, no matter how full they are in their “stomach”.
Some other parents offer money to their children as some precious “gifts” probably to show their “love and affection” for them, even though I just don’t quite fully share the idea of such “gifts”. Then, of course, there are another group of parents who would give money to their children to make them understand the “importance” of money so that they could actually learn how to “manage” money from their childhood in order to become a “successful” person in future.
Q. Do you agree that schools should teach children how to manage money?
Answer: Yes, I do agree that the schools should teach children how to manage money because, whether we like it or not, money probably is the single most important factor of our adult lives which helps us decide whether we are “successful” or not. In fact, I believe that the schools make it “mandatory” for all children to learn about “money management” in the classes. Anyway, “Money Management” classes at schools can teach children the basic knowledge of money management such as budgeting, saving, debt, investing, and giving, and then that knowledge can lay a very good foundation for children to build strong money habits early on and avoid many of the mistakes that lead to lifelong struggles of money.
Q. Do you think it is a good idea for students to earn money while studying?
Answer: Yes, I do think that it is a good idea for students to earn money while studying, but, only if the money earning thing doesn’t affect the studies negatively. If students earn money while studying, they can actually learn even more about the idea of shared responsibilities and punctuality that are associated with the role of a job position. Students can also learn how to work as a team member as well as the “art of compromise” with other employees and the employers alike when the situation comes. Finally, the act of earning money will also teach students about not only the value of money but also the value of “hard works”.
Discussion topics: Money and society
Q. Do you think it is true that in today’s society money can’t buy happiness?
Answer: In my opinion, money can buy a lot of things in today’s world, but it certainly can’t buy happiness. But that, of course, depends on how we like to define “happiness” in the great scheme of things.
Money will certainly buy us the biggest villa, the most luxurious and comfortable car, the best of the dresses and the most expensive and delicious of the food, but I can bet a million “quid” that it just won’t be able to buy us the sound sleep, the love, the respect, the knowledge and the health to offer our life the “truly complete” feeling it deserves.
Of course, money is a very popular and important avenue through which we can look to reach “happiness” but that happiness is sure to fade away in time as there is no such thing as “happily ever after”. However, if you look to find “inner peace and security” instead of looking for some “artificial happiness” in the luxuries and comforts of your lives, that money can buy, you surely are not going to spend all your life in earning money, only, of course, to find out at the end of the day that you have “run out of all your time” to “spend” your hard earned money! Now, isn’t that really ironic!
Q. What disadvantages are there in a society where the gap between rich and poor is very large?
Answer: In a society where the gap between rich and poor is very huge, the first “casualty” there, of course, is “humanity”, or lack of it thereof, I should say. But the greatest disadvantage of income inequality, in my opinion, in a society, is that the poor resent the rich with a lot of hatred and animosity inside their hearts which we don’t get to see often. But, if such a situation goes on for a long period of time without trying to find its remedy, it is only natural that a society will witness a lot of ‘crimes’ “violence’ and unrest as the poor will also want their “fair” shares of food, clothes, medicines and shelters at one point or another by hook or by crook.
And I must say that it is a “doomsday” scenario for any society. Besides, the consolidation of wealth and capital in few hands is economically inefficient because it depresses demand to such a point where the economy is sure to “collapse” which is even worse, and which is certainly not good for anyone whether you are rich or poor!
Q. Do you think richer countries have a responsibility to help poorer countries?
Answer: Yes, I do think that richer countries have a responsibility to help poorer countries only so far so that the poorer countries don’t become fully dependent on the help of rich countries. In other words, the rich countries should help poor countries only if it helps the poor countries to stand on their “own feet”. Of course, there are many reasons for helping poor countries, but primarily, the help goes mainly for humanitarian reasons. Just as many individuals like to give charity to help their other fellow human beings, many countries also feel that it is their religious, social or moral obligation to help people in other countries who are suffering from famine, drought, war and diseases. And, I certainly have no issue with these kinds of help.
However, the problem is many rich countries provide help purely for political or diplomatic reasons in order to serve their “ill” motives. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest that the very “reasons”, for which some countries like to “help” poorer countries, are also created by the very same countries in most cases one way or another. In fact, they just want to maintain a relationship of dependency with the recipients of the “help”, in order to influence the government and direction of the poor countries. Besides, many rich countries help poorer ones is for economic reasons as they donors may want to control the supply of essential commodities such as rice, oil or wheat in order to control the markets of the poor countries. And if such is the case, the poor countries should avoid receiving help from rich countries.
This post was last modified on 13th August 2019 10:59 am
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