IELTS Speaking Mock Test 4

PART 1 - Introduction:
[The examiner asks the candidate about him/her, his/her home, work or studies and other
familiar topics.]

Family:
Q. Do you have a large family or a small family?
A. I come from a small family. I live with my parents and two siblings. As I recall we used to
live with our grandparents, uncles and aunts many years ago. But now we have a nuclear
family.
Q. Can you tell me something about them?
A. Yeah sure. My father is a doctor and he has been practising medicine for more than 15
years. He is a devoted doctor and possesses a great and exemplary personality. People
think that he has a very controlled personality but we know that he is very kind. I am proud
to have such a great father. He is my idol in my life.
My mother is an angel and she is the most kindhearted woman I have ever seen in my life.
She is a teacher in a school and she teaches literature. She is my best friend and I adore
her very much.

My brother is 3 years senior to me and he is working in a telecommunication company as a

System Analyst. He is around 28 years old and a very good friend and mentor to me.

My younger sister is only 12 years old and she is busy with her homework, study and
computer. She is very sweet and helps my mother often to finish her household chores. I
love her very much and she talks a lot to me. In our house, I am her best friend and I often
help her completing her home works.

Q. How much time do you manage to spend with members of your family?
A. I live with my family and I spent most of my time at home with my family members.
When I am out of home for my classes or go to hang out with friends are the times I stay
away from my family. Apart from that, I mostly spend time with them.
I have a very close relationship with my younger sister and my brother. We often go out
together to watch movies or to go shopping. We sometimes play computer games together.
On an average, I spend 5-7 hours with my family members in a typical day.

Q. What sorts of things do you like to do together?

A. I like to discuss my plans with my father. I often take advice on important things from him.
He discusses his experience, tells me history and often he teaches me morality and
importance of being honest in life. He recommends me books and then we discuss these
books in our free time.
I do everything with my brother John. We hang out together, watch movies, read books,
sometimes we fight, we often complaints to our parents about what I or he should not have
done, we swim, catch fish, play football and many other countless things. Though he is very
friendly, he often scolds me whenever he thinks I did something wrong. He even acts like a
mentor sometimes. Nowadays, he got busy in his office and that’s why we spend our time
together on his days off.

I play computer games and chess with my sister and she often seeks my advice regarding
things she can’t decide alone. We watch cartoons and documentary on History Channel
together.

I love to talk to my mother and she is very fond of feeding us. She often shares her
experience at school with us and we often watch TV serials and sports together. She loves
to hear some classical music and I have become a fan of her favourite singers. So I often
listen to music with her. There are many more activities that actually I do with my family
members and those are the frequent ones.

Q. Did/ Do you get on well with your family? Why?

A. Yes, obviously I go well with my family. They are the most precious things I have in my
life. They care for me a lot, they help me on my difficult times and my whole existence is
surrounded by them. Whoever I am and whoever I become in future would be because of
my family members’ love, care and affection.
I have a strong bonding and friendly relationship with my family. They share their thoughts
and everyday experience with me. They always try to support me no matter what and all
those mutual understanding makes us a small, happy family.

PART 2 - Cue Card

Topic:
Describe a teacher who has influenced you in your
education.
You should say:

• where you met him/her.

• what subject he/she taught.
• what was special about him/her.
and explain why this person influenced you so much.
[ You will have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 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 of this Cue Card Topic
PART 3 - Follow-up Questions
Discussion topics:

Developments in education...

Q. How has education changed in your country in the last 10 years?

A. I live in a developing country where the education sector went through numerous
changes including the government’s more fund allocation in education, more women
enrollment in higher studies, changes in academic syllabus etc.
During the last 10 years, the most significant change that has happened in the education
sector in my country is the people’s mentality regarding the necessity of education. Only
20-30 years back many parents showed little interest in sending their kids to school. But
that has radically changed in my country and nowadays almost every parent sends their
children to school. This is a giant leap in my opinion in terms of the advancement of our
education. The government allocated a share portion of its budget to ensure the school's
infrastructure, study materials and salary of the teachers and that has been proven
effective to build a solid ground to make an education nation. Only in the last 5 years, our
literacy rate has almost doubled and I give a major credit to the government for ensuring
free education in primary level, special scholarship and monetary rewards to women
students.

I am not 100% sure about the exact statistics but my best guess would be that more than
200-300 colleges and universities have been established in the last few years. We had only
4-5 engineering university back in 2000 but we have more than 30 such educational
institutions now. More importance has been given to vocational education and thus a large
number of underprivileged populations have come under the vocational education system.

In a nutshell, that was a massive change and I have witnessed some of those changes in
my own eyes including how public exams’ quality has been improved, how the schools are
emphasising on English and Mathematics as academic subjects and so on and on.

Q. What changes do you foresee in the next 50 years?

A. If you ask me about the type of changes that might occur in the education sector in my
country in next 50 years, I would need to rely on my own past experience and predictions
mostly. My best guess is that the education would be more practical than theoretical in
future. Women’s participation and performance in education would excel to a great extent.
More women would be in research and higher education than their male counterpart.
The education would be expensive and private education institutes would be more
demanding than the public and state-owned ones. More foreign students would come to
study here and the number of higher education institutes would increase by many-fold than
the current number.

The digitalization and computer-based education system would replace many traditional
education systems and the online education would be a very popular form during that time.

Curriculum and subject offered in the college and education level would see a dramatic
increase and technology would be the most important and demanding subject in this era.

Not sure if I will be alive or not to see the changes but I hope many positive changes within
the next 50 years in my country including 100% literacy rate, more engineering and
research-based education system, some of our universities are raking in the world’s best
university list and we are renowned as a country of a very excellent place for education.

A national education system...

Q. How do the expectations of today’s school leavers compare with those of the
previous generation?
A. Well, the school quitters nowadays are expected to study further and get involved in a
part-time job to gain practical experience. The job market is pretty competitive compared to
the previous time. Getting a good job requires talent, some practical experience, good
grades in school and many other criteria. The competition in public service or government
jobs is even higher. In the past decades there were very few school graduates in my
country and hence securing a job both in public and private sector was not that tough.
The requirement is education is higher than the past. Twelve class degree is not enough to
get a decent job. Recruiters are looking for candidates with prior job experiences and at
least Bachelor degree. Thus the school leavers nowadays have no other option but to
continue their studies. Getting a part-time job besides the study is a dream for many.
I heard from my grandfather that there were only few bachelor degree holders in his whole
village while there must be more than 100 bachelor degree holders in a single community
these days.

Those who leave school without completing the course have no other option but to either
look after their family business or manage a job where physical labour is the only skill that
s/he has.

The population in my country has almost doubled in the last decade and that is pretty
obvious that the completion the school leavers nowadays face is tremendous. Among the
school leavers, many decide their major in college or university while others prefer
vocational education. This facility was very narrow in my grandfather’s generation as I know.
So I would say there is a whole lot of difference between current and past generations in
terms of their opportunity, action and plan after leaving school.

Q. What role do you think extracurricular activities play in education?

A. Extracurricular activities sharpen the minds of students and enhance their creativity.
Activities that require physical movements keep their body fit and thus the importance of
extracurricular activities are immense. It is often experienced that kids who have interests
in sports and games outperform the others in many fields. Extracurricular activities like
singing, debating, painting can be very handy in terms of career enhancement. Students
who have extracurricular activities possess better leadership and social activities. Finally,
from my experience, I can say that such students have better knowledge about the world
than students who are solely focused on academic lessons.

Different styles/ methods of teaching and learning...

Q. What method of learning works best for you?
A. I prefer to work in a pair for the complex topics and subjects. The group discussion, in
particular, works best for me. When I study in a group I can discuss my views and learn
opinions of others. Thus the discussion is always helpful and I can better perform in an
exam and remember the details for a long.
Q. How beneficial do you think it is to group students according to their level of
ability?
A. It’s always beneficial for students to make a group for study and discussion. If the group
comprises students of similar calibre and talent levels, they are proven to be more helpful.
Similar abilities of students in a group can be advantageous from mainly two points of
views. They are more frank to participate in any discussion and they have a good
understanding among themselves. Secondly, they understand each other better and can
advise in an effective way.
If a group is formed with different levels of students, there is a chance that a really talented
student would get bored with the silly discussions by the others while a dull student among
really talented group mates would not dare to opine whenever s/he likes.
Describe a teacher who has influenced you in your
education.
You should say:
• Where you met him/ her.
• What subject s/he taught.
• What was special about him /her
and explain why this person influenced you so much.
Follow-up Questions:
• How has education changed in your country in the last 10 years?
• What changes do you foresee in the next 50 years?
• How do the expectations of today’s school leavers compare with those of the previous
generation?
• What role do you think extracurricular activities play in education?
Possible Answer:
I consider myself lucky to get several very good teachers throughout my academic years.
Among them, I'd like to talk about Mr Smith who was an extraordinary teacher, a really
good mentor and who has a great influence in my education.

I met Mr Smith when I was in class 4 and he was our math teacher. Initially, we thought that
he would be a moody teacher and we would have to be very polite in front of him. This
impression came mostly because of his serious face and tidy dress-up. But soon we found
that he is a very friendly person and teaches us very well. He never made things
complicated and tried over and over again to explain something to us. He had a unique way
of teaching. Seems like he would start an interesting story and later we would find that he
would relate the math to the story. Thus everything we learned from him was interesting
and that's why we remember most of the theory and techniques of math he taught us.

I'd say he has a great influence in my education because he made a very strong foundation
on Mathematics. Later on, I studied Science and Mathematics was the most important
subject. I have always been good at math and that' mainly because of Mr Smith who had a
major role in making the subject interesting to me. Before I learned math from Mr Smith, my
impression on math was not good and I considered mathematics to be a very difficult and
uninteresting subject. But his teaching and influences changed my way of thinking about
math and later on math became my one the most favourite subject.
Tips for answering this cue card question:
Talk about a teacher you remember and liked. Say his/her name and the class/grade s/he
taught. Also, mention which subject she taught and what have you learned from him/ her.
 Following are some of the reasons a teacher becomes influential for a student that you can
talk about:

 The way of teaching is very effective and interesting.

 S/he has a great personality and leads an exemplary life.
 S/he tells lots of example and stories to make the subject and topic interesting.
 S/he is a famous teacher on your locality who also taught your elder brother, father etc.
 S/he has a great personality and because of that, students like his/ her very much.
 S/he has is successful explaining difficult topics in an easy and intuitive way.
 S/he behaves very politely with all and never discriminates among students.
 S/he is brave and speaks the right thing no matter what.
 S/he teaches lots of moral values as well as inspires students to study properly.
 Apart from teaching, s/he does some social works, creative stuff and or anything which is
beneficial for others.
 S/he is a great orator and has a great personality.
Part 3: Details Discussion:
Q. How has education changed in your country in the last 10 years?
Answer: The truth is that ten years ago the educational system wasn't the same as it is
now and many aspects have changes in our education system. In the past years, teachers
used conventional methods to transfer information and knowledge to their students and the
only means they utilised was blackboards.

Furthermore, as far as I'm concerned, schoolmasters paid more attention to their student's
weaknesses, problems and needs and the bonds between them were stronger than
nowadays. Moving to the present, the existing ties between teachers and children have
become more impersonal and unfortunately many teachers willingly keep a distance from
students in the classroom. In addition, technological advances play a vital role in teaching
and the methods used before are now obsolete.

To conclude, in my opinion, I prefer the educational system as it was 10 years ago than it is
now because this isn't only the internet that makes someone literate, but teachers and
strong bonding between a teacher and a student do.
Q. What changes do you foresee in the next 50 years?
Answer: It seems to me that in the forthcoming future the changes will be tremendous.
First of all, it won't be necessary for teachers to be present in the classroom as everything
is going to be accomplished by the usage of technology. For example, students will
become knowledgeable about different matters from the comfort of their home and they will
correspond with their tutors rather than having personal relationships. Of course, it still
happens these days to a certain extent, but in the next 50 years, I believe that this will be
the way of teaching exclusively. Going further, I think that apart from some basic and
necessary subjects such as literature and mathematics, all of the other will be optional and
each child will have the opportunity to choose the subject they want to be taught even when
at primary school. From my point of view, I cannot say for sure if this is the appropriate
course of action, but one thing is clear; if this happens the disadvantages will be inevitable.
Q. How do the expectations of today’s school leavers compare with those of the
previous generation?
Answer: When someone completed school in the past, they just hoped to find a job in
order to earn a salary and cover their living expenses. Many, in the past, did not even look
for jobs and continued their family business. They didn't have as high expectations as
present school leavers have these days.
In many cases, nowadays school-leavers don't have realistic expectations and they expect
a high position with high income, even without professional experience. Furthermore, these
days knowledge isn't the only element required for a good job as skills, experience, passion
about work, learning, discipline and adaptability to name but a few, are prerequisites in
order for someone to enter the labour market. That, however, was not the case in the past.

Q. What role do you think extracurricular activities play in education?

Answer: It is commonly believed that extracurricular activities play an important role in
education and have many benefits both in personal and professional life. I quite agree with
that as those activities enhance someone’s capability and improve the way of thinking. First
of all, children with extracurricular activities learn how to collaborate and co-exist with other
peers and learn about soft skills and values. In addition, a great opportunity is provided to
them to interrelate with others and develop and evolve their interpersonal skills. Hence,
these types of activities can create a feeling of contribution, as children are involved in
different things and this will lead them to boost their self-esteem. Lastly, all these
advantages will help children to build a well-rounded personality and an exceptional
character and will benefit the school and teachers by having well-mannered and conscious
students.
[Part three answers are written by- Mary, Economist & Business Consultant, UK]

If you can answer this cue card, you should be able to answer the following topics as
well:

1. Talk about a person from your childhood whom you still remember.
2. Describe a teacher from your school/college whom you want to meet.
3. Talk about your math/literature/history teacher from school.
4. Describe an old person who you admire.
5. Describe a subject taught in your school.
6. Describe a teacher who has helped you in your education greatly.
7. Describe an exemplary person from your hometown.