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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Test # 116

IELTS Band 8/9 level Speaking sample.

Part 1 Topic:  "Swimming."
Part 2 Topic:  "Describe a famous business person that you know about."
Part 3 Topic:  "Famous people today" & "Advantages of being famous".

Part 1 - Introduction & Interview

[This part of the test begins with the examiner introducing himself or herself and checking the candidate’s identification. It then continues as an interview. In the interview, the examiner asks the candidate about his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]

Topic - "Swimming"

Q.  Did you learn to swim when you were a child? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Yes, I did learn to swim when I was about a 4/5 years old child. I learned to swim, mainly because I grew up in a village where pretty much everybody around me either knew or enjoyed swimming at a nearby pond or lake. I guess, I just didn’t want to be the one to be missing all the fun of swimming.

Q.  How often do you go swimming now? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Unfortunately, I am not really able to go swimming as often as I would love to do because there aren’t any ponds or lakes nearby the place where I live in now. After all, I like to swim only in large and open space water instead of some swimming pool.

Q.  What places are there for swimming where you live? [Why?]
Answer: Well, there aren’t really that many places for swimming nearby where I live except for a couple of public swimming pools. The city, in which I live now, has built these swimming pools, mainly to help young children have some fun during their holidays.

Q.  Do you think it would be more enjoyable to go swimming outdoors or at an indoor pool? [Why?]
Answer: Well, I am more of an outdoor type of person who always prefers to have fun outdoor, close to the Mother Nature, and therefore, it is only natural for me to enjoy swimming outdoors while enjoying natural sunshine and fresh air.

Part 2 - Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

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

Describe a famous business person that you know about.

You should say:

• who this person is
• what kind of business this person is involved in
• what you know about this business person

and explain what you think of this business 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.]

[Examiner: All right? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please?]

Click here for the answer to this Cue Card Topic

Part 3 - Details discussion:

Discussion topic: "Famous people today".

Q.  What kinds of people are most famous in your country today?
Answer: I think that the criteria for being famous in my country are no different from that of any other country in the world. But, generally speaking, movie stars, rich and successful sportspersons, powerful political leaders, artists and cultural icons are usually considered to be the most famous persons in my country today. Besides, successful businessmen also, with a huge sum of money, don’t lag much behind in this race of being famous either in my country today, especially, if they know how to take the advantage of different kinds of media.

Q.  Why are there so many stories about famous people in the news?
Answer: We all like to hear the success stories of the famous people around us because it doesn’t only somehow makes us feel good about ourselves, but also offers us an excuse to identify ourselves with them. And the news people, working to publish it, take the advantage of these things and bring the stories of these famous people in light in order to make more sales and profit. Of course, many of these famous people also deliberately like to feature on the news because it helps them to advertise about their activities which actually made them famous, to begin with.

Q.  Do you agree or disagree that many young people today want to be famous?
Answer: I don’t necessarily like to subscribe to the idea that any more young people want to be famous today (I think that “today” is the operative word here) than there used to be in the past. After all, people, be them young or old, have chased fame and success since time immemorial. Having said that, however, the difference is that there are just more opportunities for anybody, including the young people, to become famous today than in the past, apparently because we all want just more out of our lives today in one way or another, and have the huge benefits of using the technology that is unprecedented.

Discussion topic: "Advantages of being famous".

Q.  Do you think it is easy for famous people to earn a lot of money?
Answer: Yes, I do agree that once people get famous, it becomes easy for them to earn a lot of money. After all, being famous means being successful, and when someone is famous and successful, we all like to see them, hear them and become like them. Naturally, the business and the corporate world want to take the advantage of their fame and face value by paying them more in order to make a profit or other kinds of gains for their business. Besides, many of the famous people also have some natural talent or abilities to do things in a better way than the average people that bring them a large sum of money.

Q.  Why might famous people enjoy having fans?
Answer: Well, the reason is very simple: basically, without fans, they have no fame, no success, no job, no money and probably no happiness. They must maintain a certain sort of relationship with their fans, else they risk losing significant amounts of money and popularity. Besides, famous people are people just like you and me, and so, they also thrive on human interaction just as most other human beings do. It would be great to always have people to talk to and have people to compliment as often as it is possible.

Q.  In what ways could famous people use their influence to do good things in the world?
Answer: Famous people have tremendous leverage to do good things. Since they are famous, they have the power to communicate and reach to a large group of people. And since, they can reach a large group of people through the internet, television and other kinds of print media, they can easily create some sort of awareness or opinion in favour of some noble causes. Besides, if famous people request their fans to do something constructive for the betterment of humanity, the fans would be more than happy to oblige. 

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• IELTS Speaking Mock Test
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