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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Mock Test # 48

Part 1: Introduction & Interview

Q. What is your full name?
A. My name is Neeraj Mehra but you can call me by my last name which is 'Mehra'.

Q. Can I see your ID?
A. Sure, here it is.

Q. Where are you from?
A. I am from one of the cosmopolitan cities of India called "New Delhi" which is also the capital city of our country.

Q. Do you work or study?
A. As a matter of fact, I am in a dual role right now! I am a working executive as well as a student and pursuing a Masters degree in "Law" at present. I have been working for the last 4 years in a multinational company in New Delhi and taking the evening course in 'Law' faculty at a university for the last couple of months which I expect to complete by June next year.

Q. Do you like writing emails?
A. Of course, I like writing emails for personal and professional reasons. Emails are one of the most convenient ways of communicating with people and they serve as documentary proof for future references. I send and receive emails almost every single day for professional and personal purposes and to be honest, without it, modern communication would be impossible.

Q. What type of emails do you receive at work?
A.  At work, most of my emails are related to my job. I get inquiry emails from clients, official emails from my superiors and co-workers. These emails are either related to the tasks I am assigned to or about the meeting agenda. Sometimes I get emails from colleagues about ongoing project progress or replies to my emails. A greeting and invitation email is also common in our office. For instance, when an employee has his son or daughter's birthday approaching, he/she invites us all via emails.

Q. Is it better to communicate via email or a phone call?
A. I believe, emails are a great way of communication as it serves the purpose of documentary proof as a person may turn back from his words which were spoken verbally but not from the written emails. With emails, there are always a reminder and proof of every task. However, which one is better depends on the situation. Let’s say when I need to inform a client or a friend about something instantly, calling them is an easy approach. However, if I need to inform so many people, email is the better solution. Email is also handy for delivering a lot of information at a time. If I have to inform my co-workers about a meeting agenda, I would always prefer email. When I need to say "hello" to a friend or family, I would rather prefer phone conversations over email communications.

Part 2 - Individual long run - (Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card)

Topic:

Describe your favourite photograph.

You should say:

•  what is in that photograph
•  who took it and why
•  when it was taken

and explain why this is your favourite photograph.

[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.]

Click here for the answer to this Cue Card Topic

Part 3: Details Discussion

Q. Is it better to have a postcard or a photograph of the place you have visited? Why?
Answer: In my opinion, it is always better to have photographs of the place as the memory of clicking a photograph gets etched in our minds whereas a postcard refreshes the memory of the place we visited. In terms of convenience, taking photographs of a place is a lot easier than purchasing interesting postcards especially in this era when everyone owns a smartphone. Finally, we can take as many pictures as we want but buying so many different types of postcards would cost someone dearly, especially in a foreign country.

Q. Is it good to take pictures of historic buildings? Why?
Answer: Yes, it is a good idea to take pictures of historic buildings unless the rules prohibit the visitors not to take any pictures of the place. This way we will be able to share those pictures online which might attract others to visit the place as well. Besides, it will allow us to take photographs of ourselves alongside or at the forefront of the historic building which will be exciting to look at at a later date. Since taking pictures of some historic buildings, religious structures or national heritage are not allowed, we should be respectful to the rules and sentiments.

Q. Is it necessary to show photographs of places when advertising for tourism? Why?
Answer: Yes, it is absolutely necessary to show photographs of the places or structures in tourism-related advertisements to attract visitors. Adverts with visual elements and beautiful sceneries leave lasting and exciting impressions on the viewer's mind and ignite their desire to visit the place. Since the objective of a tourism-related advertisement is to inform people about a beautiful place which is worth visiting, photographs and videos could be used to produce effective results.

Q. Is having a collection of photo albums helpful in any way? How?
Answer: Of course, albums full of photos of ourselves and our dear ones take down us to the memory lane in no time. One feels like being at the past as soon as the photo album is opened or is browsed through. We like to take photographs so that we can share them with friends and families or look at them at a later date. The feeling of browsing through the photo album is not only exciting but also helpful to revive our memory and feel connected with the people we love and care about. I have never seen my great grandparents but when my father showed me their photos from an old album many years ago, I felt connected to them and this feeling was strange yet delightful.

Q. How the way we take photographs changed in the last few years? What changes do you predict in the future?
Answer: Taking photos in the past was not the same as they are today. Only a handful of people owned cameras in my hometown when I was a child and most other families used to hire a professional photographer during a family occasion to take photos. It used to take around a week to get those printed photographs and we used to put them in a photo album. These days, virtually everybody owns a camera or a smartphone which allows us to take photographs whenever we wish. The digital photography has enabled us to take as many pictures as we want and view them instantly. We can even share them in no time with our friends and family on our favourite social networking platform.

I think taking photographs would be even easier with a voice command in the future. We will wear smart sunglasses and watches which will take photos for us and then sort out the best photos for us. On the downside, our privacy will be somewhat compromised with the increasing facilities of taking photographs with those new technologies.

Q. How digital photographs are advantageous? Are there any negative sides of digital photography?
Answer: Digital photography offers numerous benefits. First, photos from a digital camera can be viewed immediately and we can delete pictures that we do not like. Furthermore, we can edit our images directly on the camera or on a computer with photo-editing software. Moreover, hundreds of digital photos could be saved in a tiny memory stick which is way more convenient than traditional cameras and photography style. Finally, what I like most about digital photography is that they allow us to share our photos with our dear ones instantly.

Among the negative sides of digital photography, I can think of the initial cost of purchasing a good digital camera, high power consumption by the batteries of such cameras and not to mention the possibility of losing all the photos due to a technical or hardware malfunction.

[Written by - Neeraj Mehra]

• IELTS Speaking

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