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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Test # 82

Part 1 Topic: "Your country".
Part 2 Topic: "Describe a well-known person you like or admire".
Part 3 Topic: "Famous people in your country" & "Being in the public eye".

Part 1 - Introduction

[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]

Your country:

Q. Which part of your country do most people live in?
Answer: Population around my country is pretty much evenly spread since it mostly has a flat landscape. However, if one was to ask this question purely for “academic” purpose, I would say that the northern part of my country, along with the adjacent areas to our capital city, is home to most of the people in my country.

Q. Tell me about the main industries there.
Answer: My country is a semi-industrialized nation with major industries like agro-food processing industries, garments industries, fish industries, coal industries and tea-producing industries. However, we also have some minor industries, operating on a limited scale, like food packaging industries and motorbike manufacturing industries.

Q. How easy is it to travel around your country?
Answer: I would say that it is really easy to travel around my country whether one wants to travel by roads, railways or air. We also have a considerably large network of ferries through which people can transport themselves through the major rivers which are crisscrossing pretty much all over my country.

Q. Has your country changed much since you were a child?
Answer: I would say that my country has changed significantly for better, since I was a child, especially in terms of quick economic development and building better roads and infrastructures. My country has improved significantly also in terms of incorporating modern technologies in our lives. Finally, my country also has witnessed a notable increase in its population since I was a child.

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 well-known person you like or admire.

You should say:

• who this person is
• what this person has done
• why this person is well-known

and explain why you admire this person.

[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 - Two-way Discussion:

Discussion topics:

Famous people in your country:

Q. What kind of people become famous people these days?
Answer: Rich and powerful people with lots of money are usually famous these days. But if you want me to be specific, I would say that music artists, movie stars, cultural celebrities, successful sportspeople, top business executives of very big and profitable companies, successful professionals and politicians usually fall into the categories of famous people. Even some “controversial” persons – controversial not in the good causes most of the times though – with the help of a little bit of their “wits” as well as “media” can become “famous” overnight these days.

Q. Is this different from the kind of achievement that made people famous in the past? In what way?
Answer: No, the same kinds of achievement or “success” used to make people famous in the past as it is today except, of course, in the past, those famous people didn’t receive as much media coverage as these days, probably because the media technology back then wasn’t exactly as advanced as today. Then, of course, the standard bars for becoming “famous” in the past used to be pretty stiff and high also, and as a result, it was not exactly very easy to become famous quickly as in these days. Besides, in the past, successful peoples didn’t necessarily chase “fame” with the same intensity as we see it today, so the number of “famous” people was relatively much lower.

Q. How do you think people will become famous in the future?
Answer: People will become famous in the same way, as we see it today, by hard work, dedication and determination as well as by using their “god-gifted” talents. However, in my humble opinion, the use of social media networks will probably play the most crucial role in deciding how much famous a person will become in future. Besides, I also have a feeling that the same kind of “professions” or the same kind of “success” won’t necessarily make people famous in future as more and more new “professions” would probably be created while the “measure and standards” of success could also be redefined in future.

Being in the public eye:

Q. What are the good things about being famous? Are there any disadvantages?
Answer: When a person is popular, everybody knows about him or her. Fans and followers run after the famous persons just to get a glimpse of them while others are afraid to say a word against them out of the fear of “reprisals”. Companies beg of a prominent person to promote their products even if it means offering the “shares” of the companies. Restaurants offer them the best seats and the most special dishes, sometimes, for free. However, the biggest disadvantage of being famous is that a famous person doesn’t usually have a “private” life, and he/she is most often in fear of losing his or her popularity.

Q. How does the media in your country treat famous people?
Answer: Like any other country, most of the media in my country also treat the famous people like “Gods” with a capital “G”.  Sometimes, I even feel like it is the media which make some people more famous than they really should be. Of course, media have a huge interest in publishing and showing the news, views and images of these eminent persons, unless they are some convicted criminals or crooked politicians, so that their sales and viewership increase as much as possible. However, if these “famous persons” ever fall out of favours of these media, they never hesitate to put “dirt” on them, be it fairly or unfairly. 

Q. Why do you think ordinary people are interested in the lives of famous people?
Answer: Ordinary people are interested in the lives of influential and popular people because, well, they are just “ordinary” since they only do their day to day “ordinary” things in their lives. So, naturally, they become a bit interested in the lives of the famous persons to learn what kind of things they exactly do that makes them so “famous”. Besides, everybody wants to “identify” themselves with successful and important people in order to prove that they are also considered “important” to others. Then, of course, there are some others who genuinely want to follow in the footsteps of the famous people, by learning about them, in order to become just like them in future.

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