IELTS Speaking Test 1 (Cambridge IELTS 12)
Part 1
Topic: Art
Questions
the examiner may ask you:
·
Did you enjoy doing art lessons at
school when you were a child?
e.g. I think so, yes. Art was the easiest subject at school but also the
most fun, so naturally, I always looked forward to art classes. We would be
painting fruit, sketching portraits of our own faces, sticking bits of paper
with glue, sculpting clay into pots and other fun things using our hands. It
was always nice to have a break from academic work by bring creative.
·
Do you ever draw or paint pictures
nowadays?
e.g. Not really. I tend to be busy with work or studying these days.
Drawing is a past-time that doesn’t really appeal to me much anymore since it
has no real use in my day-to-day life. I use computers a lot in my life and
everything is done online. I think drawing and painting is only something you
do at school or if you’re in a creative job such as a graphic or fashion
designer.
·
When was the last time you went to an
art gallery or exhibition?
e.g. I don’t really visit art galleries or exhibitions, I don’t have
time. I’m too busy working or studying. I prefer to do other things in my spare
time such as go to the gym. Maybe in the future when I have more time, I might
visit a few.
·
What type of art or paintings do you
like to have in your home?
e.g. My home has basic and simple decorations so there no paintings or
art. Since I live in a rented apartment, we’re not allowed to put anything on
the walls. I might have a few photos of my friends and family around but no
artwork. If I had my own house, I would probably put paintings of flowers and
fishes as I think they’re beautiful.
Part 2
You
will have to talk about the topic for 1-2 minutes. You have 1 minute to think
about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you
wish.
Describe
a time when you visited a friend or family member at their workplace.
You
should say:
·
who you visited
·
where this person worked
·
why you visited this person’s workplace
·
explain how you felt about visiting this
person’s workplace.
e.g. Last
year, I went back to my home country for Christmas. During this time, I went to
visit my friend who worked in the city to catch up. We arranged to meet for
lunch on a weekday at her workplace. She works as a waitress at a nice cafe
that sells delicious Italian cakes and excellent coffee. I was not only excited
to see her as it had been over 2 years, but also intrigued to try some a
selection of cakes they had there.
When
we met up, she was waiting by the bar and we sat down at the back of the cafe.
She had already ordered me a cafe latte which she knew was my favourite. I had
never been inside this cafe before, it was really elegant, clean and had bright
flowers on each table. It reminded me of little Italy, with Italian music
playing in the background and the elegant looking menus. My friend offered to
buy me some cake so we looked at what was on display and a walnut coffee cake
took my fancy. It was delicious!
Anyway,
we both enjoyed talking about what we had been up to since we last saw each
other. She was planning on getting a job at a hotel next year after getting
some experience here and completing her course at university in hospitality.
She loves food and wishes to work in catering. It was really good to see her
looking so well but she did put on a bit of weight. I think we both noted we
were a bit chubbier since we last met. Must be all those cakes in her cafe and
for me, well, Melbourne has too many nice places to eat as well!
Part 3
Discuss: Different kinds of
workplaces
·
What things make an office comfortable
to work in?
e.g. It depends on what you mean by comfortable. Comfort for me is about
having the right environment, that means good lighting, lots of space so you’re
not cramped, not too noisy so you can concentrate on your work and, not too far
to walk to the staff kitchen. My desk needs to be well laid out, organised and
not cluttered. Although, when I’m busy, my desk can be very messy and that is
usually when I’m stressed about a deadline. Being tidy really helps clear your
mind and help you concentrate better.
·
Why do some people prefer to work
outdoors?
e.g. For me, I love being indoors when it’s extreme weather outside,
which is quite often in Melbourne. It’s mostly too hot or too wet or too cold
in Australia, there aren’t many days where it’s cool, sunny and dry. So people
who work outside are brave in my opinion. They must love the freedom of being
in large open spaces and not mind the weather changes. Some people like being
active, walking around and not sitting down too long. Sometimes the air can be
fresher if it’s in the countryside and also more peaceful. I suppose if I were
a gardener, it wouldn’t be such a bad job on a nice day but even then, the heat
or rain would make it uncomfortable for me when moving around. I prefer to sit
in a temperate climate all day with aircon or a heater, though it’s probably
why I’m a bit fat too.
·
Do you agree that the building people
work in is more important than the colleagues they work with?
e.g. No, I disagree with that. People can dramatically change the way
you feel at work. I believe that if you have a great set of colleagues who you
can have some fun with, it doesn’t matter where you work, even if it’s in a
dungeon or a dark hole somewhere. Yes, it’s true that a nice building can make
you feel more comfortable and help your mood while at work, but it’s definitely
not more important than the people you work with. A nice environment or
building only adds to the positives at work but your colleagues can make a
difference to whether you get out of bed or not for work.
Topic: The importance of
work
·
What would life be like if people didn’t
have to work?
e.g. It’d be awesome! I think most people don’t enjoy work at all, only
a lucky few actually like their jobs. So if they didn’t have to work and were
still able to earn some money, we’d be in heaven. However, that’s not how the
world works and things need to get done so someone has to do them. We need
people to work in the supermarkets so we can buy food, we need farmers to grow
food so we can eat, we need drivers to deliver the food, we need computer
people so that we can use the internet. There are jobs everywhere, so unless we
want to spend our days staring into space all day, we all need a job and the
world needs workers to make things happen. Otherwise, we’d eventually grow
bored and find that working is actually better than doing nothing in the
long-term. So ideally, it’d be great if we could work less for the same salary
so that we could have more time for ourselves. We can’t just not work at all.
We need a balance.
·
Are all jobs of equal importance?
e.g. No, I don’t believe so. Some jobs make a far greater impact on
society than others. For example, a doctor saves lives which is incredibly
important for human survival. If you compare that to a person who cleans cars,
I think if we never had an car cleaners, our lives would be pretty much the
same and we’d learn to clean our own cars. So I would measure the importance
based on how much of an impact a job has on our lives and whether it changes it
for the better. I can think of countless important occupations such as
teachers, healthcare workers, air traffic controllers, policemen, politicians,
aid workers, soldiers and so on. However, less impactful jobs would be ones
like traffic wardens, librarians, parking lot attendants, check-out staff, and
waiters. That is not to say that we don’t need these insignificant jobs, it is
only they do not pay such a high contribution as those in the important list.
All jobs are necessary for a fully functioning society, but some are more so
than others.
·
Why do you think some people become
workaholics?
e.g. I believe it is has something to do with career, money and
technology. Over the past few decades, living costs have risen and in turn,
people feel the need to work longer hours. We always want more money, to buy
things that we want and to go on holidays around the world. In parallel to
this, technology has developed so fast, that it is as important as the clothes
we wear. Technology is no longer just a useful tool, it is a fashion accessory,
similar to a handbag or a dress. Everybody wants to be seen with the latest
gadgets or devices such as the newest iPhone. We could already own a perfectly
working phone but want a new one because it’s not the latest model. It is more
socially acceptable to own the latest model of everything. Thus, we must work
more hours to get the money to feed this habit.
There is also pressure to impress people at work as workplaces become
more and more competitive. In some cultures, working after hours without
overtime pay is common and sometimes expected. The idea of the workaholic is
actually regarded as a positive image to have at work. You’re more likely to be
rewarded or acknowledged by your boss and thus be able to progress higher in
your career. As companies are constantly competing, more workers are expected
to put in that extra mile to be ahead of their competitors.
My opinion is that there has always been workaholics but it has become
more recently accepted as the norm with the demands of the job, career
progression, money expectation and technology. It’s not a positive development
of course, ideally people should learn to respect to value their own time so
that they can take care of their health and relationships. A work-life balance
is essential for a happy life.