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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Test # 66

Part 1 - Introduction & Interview

Q. Tell me about the town or city you live in now.
Answer: I live in Abu Dhabi which is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the second-most populous city of my country. The city is situated at the coast of the Persian Gulf, which is about 140 km (87 miles) by road from the south-west of Dubai.

Q. How long have you lived in this city?
Answer: I have been living in this beautiful and vibrant city for almost 27 years since the day I was born. In fact, if my memory serves me well, I was told by my parents that we have been living in this city for my last four generations.

Q. Do tourists visit your city? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Yes, plenty of tourists visit my city because it offers something for everyone, regardless of their age and interest, from the scorching desert, blissful nature, magnificent architecture, Islamic cultural splendour to year-round sunshine, making it one of the most thriving multicultural cities in the Arabian deserts.

Q. What places do you think tourists should see in your city?
Answer: There are several tourist spots in my city. However, tourists should be particularly interested to see The Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which is the city’s most beautiful building and the biggest mosque in the UAE. Besides, people should also visit some of the cities pristine and sandy sea beaches with crystal clear waters if they are really into enjoying nature.

Q. What is the best way for tourists to travel around your city? [Why?]
Answer: The best way for tourists to travel around the city is to travel by bus, which is the most reliable public transportation system in our country. However, travelling by taxi is also equally popular among the tourists, who visit Abu Dhabi, because of its comfort and convenience.

Part 2 - Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

[The topic for your talk will be written on a card which the examiner will hand you. Read it carefully and then make some brief notes.]

Describe a TV or radio programme you enjoyed when you were a child.

You should say:

• what the programme was about when it was on
• whether your friends enjoyed this programme too
• whether you would still like this programme today

and explain why you enjoyed this programme when you were a child.

[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.]

Model Answer:
When I was growing up as a child during the ’90s, I used to love watching cartoon films. While I watched many of those cartoon movies during my childhood, one particular cartoon show, which I really liked, was “Thundercats”.

“Thundercats” was an American cartoon series (which had probably continued for almost 4 or 5 years on the UAE television), featuring a fictional group of five (if I remember it correctly) “catlike humanoid aliens” in their unique shapes and looks. In that show, they were seen to be busy in fighting the evil forces, like “Mumm-Ra”, after escaping from their dying planet called “Thundera”. But, the “alien catlike humans” were not alone in their fights against the evil forces as they received helps from the natives of the “third earth”, the new home to the “Thundercats”.

Anyway, I enjoyed the show so much after watching it for the first time that I don’t remember missing an episode of that series later on. Besides, my friends also loved watching this cartoon show as much as I did. In fact, I used to watch that awesome cartoon show with my friends whenever we got an opportunity.  However, would I still like to watch this cartoon show today? Well, I would say “no” in response simply because I am not a “child” anymore. Besides, I would not want to spoil the love and affection for this cartoon show as a child that I still bear in my mind.

I enjoyed watching the programme as a child mainly because it was for the first time that I got introduced to the idea of “different planets” other than the earth. Besides, it allowed me an opportunity to hang out with my friends at my house, which wasn’t always possible to do other times of the day. I also enjoyed watching this particular programme because it made my English lessons easier at the elementary school, which I was attending at that time. Finally, I liked watching this show also because it made me feel just as much “brave” as those “Thundercats” characters every time I watched them on TV.

Rounding off Questions:

[At the end of your talk, the examiner will ask one or two brief questions to signal that it is time to stop talking.]

Q. Do you think watching TV and listening to radio programmes help children learn new things?
Answer: Yes, I do think that watching TV and listening to radio programmes help children learn new things. At least, they helped me as I came to learn about different countries, cultures, religions and languages. Besides, many TV and radio programmes include science, arts and scientific discoveries as their subjects in order to inform people about new things and developments.

Q. Do you think the types of TV or radio programmes are changing rapidly?
Answer: Yes, I do think that the types of TV and radio programmes are changing fast both in substance and technology because the audience today are usually too “dynamic” and “informed” to be satisfied with “less than average” programmes. Moreover, there are just too many programmes to pick from, unlike the past.

Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Let’s talk about TV and radio in your country...

Q. In your country, which do people prefer: watching TV or listening to the radio? Why?
Answer: I would say that people in my country prefer watching TV than listening to the radio mainly because the programmes on TV offer more entertainment value for their programmes. To be more precise, television programmes in my country today are very rich in their substances which don’t only air local programmes but also many international programmes from other countries. And as a result, the appeal of TV watching is way more popular in the UAE than just listening to some random programmes on the radio. But, people like to listen to radio programmes when they are in their cars and driving to somewhere.

Q. What kind of programmes are most popular in your country? Why?
Answer: If you are asking about TV programmes, then I would say that movie shows, American soap opera shows,  different kinds of drama series, sports shows like football, international musical shows, cooking shows, talk shows with prominent personalities of the country and travel shows are some of the most popular TV programmes in my country. In recent days, movie, music and travel channels have gained huge popularity in my country.

Among the radio programmes, frequent traffic updates during the day, talk shows, musical programmes and live sports are most popular in the UAE.

Q. Do men and women tend to like the same kind of programmes? Why /Why not?
Answer: No, I wouldn’t say that men and women tend to like the same kind of programmes because they have different kinds of psychology. As a result, while most women would prefer to watch some romantic movies or family drama, most men would prefer to watch either a sports programme or travel shows. Besides, men and women have different perspectives on life and relationship, and as a result, they tend to differ in their taste and preferences when it comes to liking TV or radio programmes.

Now let’s think about the effects of TV...

Q. Some people think that watching TV can be a negative influence. Would you agree? Why/Why not?
Answer: I don’t think that there is any negative influence of watching television unless, of course, we are watching it by completely forgetting about the other priorities in life. On the contrary, watching TV helps us relax by sitting together with our family members after a long and tiring day at work. Besides, there are many programmes on TV, which stimulate us intellectually, by introducing us to different cultures, traditions and lifestyles of other people in the world.

Q. What about developments in programming? Are these a good or a bad development? Why?
Answer: In recent years, certainly, a lot of significant developments have taken place in making TV programmes as they have incorporated different ideas, techniques, styles and technologies in order to appeal to their audiences even more. In my opinion, they are “good developments” because they have allowed the TV audience more options to choose from, based on their taste and preferences. Besides, these developments will open the doors for even better programmes in the future by encouraging healthy competition among all the TV programme artists.

Q. What kind of 'interactive' programmes are there in your country? And what kind of programmes will there be in the future, do you think?
Answer: As far as I know, currently we have several interactive programmes which are mostly talk shows, such as “the Dubai Talk Show” and “Sky News Arabia Talk Show”. The Dubai Talk Show is a late-night, English-speaking show that showcases celebrity interviews and different comedies.  Sky News Arabia Talk Show broadcasts “Nikash Tag”, a first interactive program of its kind in the Arab world, which discusses a trending topic on Twitter. Apart from these two interactive programs, Netflix also has launched another interactive TV show that let viewers choose their own adventure programmes.

I think that TV programmes will be more and more “interactive” in the future whereby people would be able to choose their own programmes that best suit their schedules and convenience. Besides, I also think that many TV programmes will allow their audience to “rate” them in real-time.

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