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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Mock Test # 21

Part 1: Introduction & Interview

Good Morning. Could you tell me your name and candidate number, please?
A. Good morning. My name is "Jincy Jibins" and my candidate number is 310537.

And what would you like me to call you?
A. Ahh, you can call me by my first name which is "Jincy" if you don't mind.

What is the meaning of your given name?
A. I've heard from my mother that the meaning of my name is "cute". So I would infer that the word “Jincy” means something beautiful. On the other hand, "Jibins" is just a title that means "special" in our local language.

Does your name affect your personality?
A. I don’t believe that only a name can affect someone’s personality. My personality is quite a different arena and it has nothing to do with my name. However, if someone asks me if I "like" my name, the answer is "definitely yes".

Now let's talk about "travelling"

Do you like travelling?
A. Yes, I love to travel from time to time and I want to see as many parts of the world as possible before I die. Whenever the opportunity to travel to a new place comes to me, I grab it. On average, I travel to two or three places in my country and at least a foreign country each year.

How do you usually travel?
A. I have a job so I must first plan for the tour and decide a place, duration of the tour and my budget for that. I like to travel with my family or friends rather than being alone because, with travel companions, I can enjoy the travel more and take care of each other. I use my car to travel to short distance but for long-distance travel, I prefer either fast trains or aeroplanes.

Where have you travelled to lately?
A. I went to visit the British Museum in London two months ago. I went to London for a training session arranged by my office and during that time, I went to visit the British Museum with two of my colleagues. I had enjoyed my experience of being there so much and I hope to explore this great city once again with more time in hand.

What kind of places do you like to visit?
A. I like to visit mountains, sea beaches, lakes, beautiful parks, gardens and other naturally beautiful places. I also like to visit museums, historical places, art galleries, famous tourists spots and zoological gardens whenever I visit a new city. So far I have been to eight to ten countries in total and every time I spent time in a new country and experienced the local tradition, food and custom, I felt like this was a whole new experience.

Part 2 - Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

Topic:

Describe one of your typical holidays.

You should Say:

• where you go for the holidays
• how long they last
• who you go with

and talk about an interesting thing that happened during your holiday.

[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

What do the people mostly do during their leisure time in your country?
A. We have a big country with a large population of different religions, traditions and cultures. Their leisure activities thus vary to a great extent. Besides, leisure activities among the city dwellers and villagers are not the same. But generally speaking, people go outside for shopping, watch TV, read newspapers and books, meet friends, watch movies, travel to different tourists sports, take their children to amusement parks and museums, and eat dinners at their favourite restaurants when they have leisure time. Many people, however, play different sports and games in the morning and evening. The youngsters mostly prefer to hang out with their friends and use the internet in their free time.

What's the difference between holidays today and 10 years ago? What are the reasons for the changes?
A. A decade ago, people were not much concerned about their holidays as they are today, and travelling to a different city for tourism-related activities during the holidays was not so common. People, in my country, used to visit their relatives or spend relaxing holidays in the past. Going shopping, inviting a few guests, watching a few movies and taking rests were the most common holiday activities in the past. But nowadays, they give more importance to their holidays and if they have a long vacation, they even plan to visit a different country and enjoy the time. They enjoy dinner outside, watch movies in a theatre, go shopping and enjoy a planned vacation in a beautiful place far away from home.  

The widespread use of technology, the popularity of planned-vacation, cheap air travel and people's willingness to get away from the busy city life have something to do with the changes on how they spend their holiday I presume.

Do you think people will spend more time on leisure or working in the future?
A. In terms of time, working hours would be, without any doubt, far greater than the time spent on leisure activities in the future. The daily working hours in many professions is increasing and it will rise even more in the future. But people will be more curious and interested in having thoughtful and pleasant leisure activities in the future as well. 

It is often said that people's life has become more stressful. Why is so?
A. I also believe that life is becoming more stressful and hectic due to ever-increasing competitions in our workplace and our unrealistic expectations for material success. Job insecurity and our sedentary lifestyle are also responsible to fuel it up.  Some say that life was simple in past and I can realise "why".

People in the past did not have unrealistic goals and they could enjoy the company of their family and friends whenever they wanted. They often enjoyed life to the fullest extent because they did not run after money and fame all the time while they did not have the technology to overwhelm their lifestyle.

With the passage of time, we have moved into the modern world and our needs and expectations are increasing rapidly. We aren't satisfied with what we have and we always want more. So, we work for longer hours and take unnecessary stress to earn more and have more. Finally, we start feeling discomfort, and the stress grabs us. And this becomes a cycle we cannot break out from. Thereby, we cannot enjoy life and become even more stressed.

What proper planning a traveller should do before visiting a new city or country?
A. Well, travelling is fun and exciting and this could be amplified if a traveller does the homework before starting the trip. First of all, a traveller should collect the map of the place and list down the interesting locations where she/he should visit. Arranging for local currency is another important task. Furthermore, if possible, they should arrange for a "guided tour" which would be beneficial for them to know everything about the locality. They should let others know about the trip or where they are travelling for safety reason. Such initiatives would be helpful to trace them back in case of emergencies. Doing some internet research to know about the local customs, weather conditions and transportation types are also recommended.

Do you think people will travel more in the future? What will be they more interested in after 10 years? Why?
A. Umm… Yes, I think travelling would be more common and even more exciting activity among people in the future. Countries blessed with natural beauties or of historical importance will take great measures to make travelling easier in those countries, and as a result, tourism will become a bigger industry all around the world. Therefore, it appears that the respective governments will adopt the required policies in this regard to make tourism more attractive and travelling cheaper.

After a decade or so, people might feel more interested in historical places. They also may want to know about the local customs and cultures because, with the passage of time, people are becoming more inquisitive and they will enjoy history even more in the future. Technology will also help people learn about many historical places in the future which are not commonly known these days.

[ Written by - Jincy Jibins ]

• IELTS Speaking

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