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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Mock Test # 9

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: Shops

What are the types of shops that you usually go to?
A. I usually go to the supermarket where I can get all sorts of products. Actually, I go to a supermarket twice or sometimes more than that in a month for my various needs for shopping. Apart from that, I go to a drug store to get medicines for my parents, to a shoe store whenever I need to buy a pair of new shoes and to a gift shop to buy gifts for others.

What is the name of the shop you visit most frequently? [Why?]
A. The name of the shop I usually go to is called "Daily needs". It's a large superstore in a supermarket which is located nearby the residential areas where I live with my family. As I can get almost all the products I need to purchase from this supermarket, and they offer a convenient shopping experience, this is the place where I do most of my shopping from.

Did your parents take you to different shops when you were a child? [Why/ Why not?]
A. Well, my parents often took me to different shopping malls and markets when I was a child. My parents took me to those shops and markets because they knew how much I loved to be outside of the home when I was younger. Besides, being a nuclear family, they probably felt it was safe to take me with them when they went out shopping.

What changes have you seen in those shops these days?
A. Honestly speaking, I haven't seen any significant changes in those shops over the years. While I do see some changes in the way people purchase different products and how new brands and products have made their way to these shopping malls, the shops are almost the same after so many years, well, except they now accept a wide range of credit and debit cards while they only took cash in the past.  Finally, apart from better decoration and more salespersons, things have been almost the same as it was when I was much younger.

Part 2 - Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

Topic:

Describe a newspaper or magazine that you often read.

• what is it
• what type of articles or contents it offers
• whether it is popular in your country

and explain why it is important for you to read this newspaper or magazine.

[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

Rounding-off Questions:

Did you read books or magazines when you were a child? How often?
A. Yes, I did read many books and magazines when I was a child. I read many fairy tales when I was a child, like "Puss in Boots", and "Snow White", and fascinating stories from the "Aesop's Fables". I also read detectives books when I grew a little older. Magazines that had cartoons and pictures, were my favourite.

Do children nowadays love reading?
A. I'm afraid children do not love reading as much as children in the past did. Children nowadays prefer to play games or watch videos on different electronic gadgets and smartphones rather than reading books. In our childhood, reading books was the main activity among children but nowadays, they have electronic gizmos and the internet connection to spend their leisure time. So they read less on an average than our generation and the generations before us.
 

Part 3 - Details Discussion.

Discussion Topics: "Newspapers and magazines"

Why do people read newspapers and magazines? Compare reading a newspaper with reading a magazine.
A. People primarily read newspapers and magazines to get updated news and information and learn about what is happening around the world. For some people, this is entertaining and educative while for others, this is just a way to kill some time. Many professionals and students prefer to read magazines as those often come with special news, in-depth articles and research papers related to their profession and study.

Newspaper, as its name suggests, includes all kinds of news, updates on recent events and interesting and enlightening editorials. Magazines, on the other hand, are more likely to focus on certain areas, such as geography, entertainment industries, sports, travel, living, food, technology and so on. For instance, the magazine "Hello", includes lots of news about celebrities. People, who like stars like Beyonce or Victoria, can get special information from it. Again, newspapers are daily publications and target all types of people while magazine targets people with a special attraction to a certain niche or field. For instance, a newspaper might include a piece of interesting news about a successful genetic engineering experiment that has grabbed considerable attention from people recently with other regular and diverse type of news. On the contrary, a magazine which is based on Genetic Engineering is aimed to target professionals and students of this field and would cover most of its articles on this subject.

How do people read those newspapers and magazines in your country? Do they just read the headlines or the entire story?
A. It depends. Most people in my country prefer to read the headlines of a newspaper first. If a headline attracts their attention, they prefer to read the whole story afterwards. Again, in the case of newspapers, people read the headlines and often skim through the news. Magazine readers often read the details article. Finally, some people prefer some newspapers or magazines so much that they are likely to read all the articles on them.

What are the other sources of news? Do people from rural areas have the same access to these sources as people from urban areas?
A. People in my country can obtain news and updates on recent events by watching TV, listening to FM radio channels and using the internet other than reading newspapers and magazines.

I guess urban people have better access to the internet while rural people still prefer watching TV for news. However, more and more rural people are being connected to the internet facility each year. 

Discussion Topics: "Internet Technology"

What are the advantages of the Internet for getting news? Are there any disadvantages?
A. When people read a printed newspaper or a magazine, they can't choose exactly what kind of information they are willing to read. For example, it is hard to chase a piece of information about how a particular medical technology has developed recently by reading them in a newspaper. But it works just the way we want on the internet. People can simply put keywords in Google search and get the results in a second. It is much easier and convenient. Again it’s not possible for us to purchase all the newspapers and magazines from a store but we can read as many newspapers, magazines and other news from the internet. The advantages of internet technology in terms of communication and news source is unparalleled.

Every coin has two sides and so does the internet as a source for news. The disadvantage of using the internet is that there are too many results and we have to choose which one to read that contains more useful information. The other disadvantage is that it is not very healthy to sit in front of a laptop or computer for long hours. Finally, the news sources on the internet are not always authentic and one has to be very wary of fake and fabricated news on the internet.

Describe the impact of the internet on the lives of the students.
A. Well, it all depends on individual students, their age and what they choose to do with it. For elementary and high school students, I think the negative impacts outweigh the positive ones. They are more likely to be attracted by online games, entertainment, and illicit contents instead of learning which would be detrimental to their physical and psychological growth. They would spend too much time chatting and playing games than reading interesting articles.  The college and university students, on the contrary, can control them better. The Internet is a useful tool for them. The Internet offers them information to help them find reference materials, especially for their dissertations and assignments.  

Overall, students, these days, are relying on the internet heavily than in the past. They find study materials, submit their homework, find references from the internet and that has many positive sides in terms of their interaction with the teachers and classmates.

Do you recommend that all countries adopt the latest trends in technology? Why do you think this way?
A. I don't think so. Whether the "latest trends" in technology should be used or not depends on the socio-economic conditions of the country. For example, when the technique of mitochondrial donation was published earlier this year, it was impossible for some developing countries to adopt this. It is not because of the amount of money spent on this technique but also the condition in the country. Maybe America can use this one quickly, but for some countries, they can't even think about this when many people are living in poverty. However, the widely accepted technologies like online learning, online communication and so on should be adopted by all countries for the sake of advancement.

[ Written by  - Veta ]

• IELTS Speaking

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