SPEAKING

The four questions/tasks resemble real-life

situations you might encounter both in and
outside of a classroom.
 Independent Question 1
For this task, you'll be given a topic to speak about with no additional reading or listening passages.
You'll have 15 seconds to prepare your response and 45 seconds to speak your answer.

In question one, you'll be presented with two situations or opinions. You'll be asked which you
prefer and you need to explain your choice.

Number one: Use the preparation time to organize your thoughts and maybe jot down some notes. Don't try to
write a full response because you won't have time, and the raters scoring your response want to hear you
speaking, not reading, and they can tell the difference.
Number two: Don't memorize responses before the test, especially ones that you get from the Internet or from
test prep instructors who say that's a good idea. It's not, and it will lower your score. It's very easy for ETS raters
to identify memorized responses because they sound different and the content is different from responses that
are more natural and spontaneous.
Number three: It's not necessary to organize your response into an introduction, a middle and a conclusion like
you would with a written essay. Just speak naturally and use common connecting words. Some of those are:
because, so, after that, on the other hand, I want to mention, and what this means is.
 Integrated Question 2

You will read a passage about a campus-related topic. Then, you will listen to a conversation
about that topic. Then, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to
speak your answer.

For question two, where you have both reading and listening passages, you will be asked what the
opinion is of a speaker in the listening passage, and you’ll need to explain how that person’s opinion
relates to the issues presented in the reading passage.

Number one: Be careful not to speak too quickly because this might make it difficult for the rater to
understand you. The questions are designed so that if you speak at a normal pace, you will have
enough time to give a complete response. You’ll get better at this if you time yourself when you
practice.

Number two: In question two, where you have the reading passage then the conversation between two
speakers, listen carefully to the speaker’s reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with points made in the
reading. Then, make sure you summarize the opinion of the speaker in your answer.
 Integrated Questions 3 & 4
In question three, you will read a passage about an academic subject. Then, you will listen to part of a lecture
on that same subject. You’ll have 30 seconds to prepare your response, and 60 seconds to speak your answer.
In question four, you’ll listen to part of a lecture. Then, you will have 20 seconds to prepare your response and
60 seconds to speak your answer, which will always be a summary of the lecture.

For question four, the listening passage is an excerpt

For question three, the reading passage will always be
from an academic lecture on a single topic. Usually, it
about an important academic term or concept that
starts with the professor either defining a concept or
might be found in a first-year college textbook
highlighting an issue.
Number one, the topics for these questions can be from a variety of fields — life science, social science, physical
science, history, art, literature. And although it’s important that you practice with academic texts, the questions
are designed so that you don’t need any prior knowledge in a specific field to answer the question. In other words
even though a question is about an academic topic, ultimately, it’s not testing your knowledge of that topic. It’s
testing your English.
Number two: You’re allowed to take notes during the test. So, during the Listening passages, write down a few key
words or ideas on your scratch paper. Then, use the preparation time to review your notes and prepare your
response.
Number three: If you finish your response before time runs out, don’t just repeat yourself to fill the remaining
time. Say something that clarifies, develops or elaborates on your response. Practice timing yourself so that you
get used to the amount of time you have to answer a question.
WRITING

There are two writing tasks.

•Integrated writing task (20 minutes) — read a
short passage and listen to a short lecture, then
write in response to what you read and listened
to.
•Writing for an Academic Discussion task (10
minutes) — state and support an opinion in an
online classroom discussion.
 Writing Integrated Question

For this task, you will first read a passage about a topic. Then, you'll listen to a short lecture related to the
same topic. And then, you will have 20 minutes to type your response at the computer. There is no
maximum length for your response, but typically an effective response has between 150 and 225 words.

it's important to identify the main idea, which is usually in the first paragraph, and see how it's developed.
Usually, there will be three points that support that main idea.
The question will always ask you to summarize the lecture and it will always ask you how the lecture
responds to the points made in the reading passage. So, if you only write about what's in the reading
passage, you're not answering the question.

First, accurate development: The raters are looking for how well you're able to select important information
from the lecture, then clearly present it in relation to the relevant information from the reading.
Second, organization: This basically means the reader can read your essay from beginning to end without
becoming confused. You can help the reader follow your ideas by writing in paragraphs and using good
transitions; and avoid redundancy, which is saying the same things over and over, just using different words.
The third criterion is language use. Raters are looking for things like sentence structure, word choice and
vocabulary. It's also important that your use of grammar is strong and consistent, though it doesn't have to be
perfect to get a top score.
 Writing for an Academic Discussion Question
For this task, you're presented with an online academic discussion. A professor has posted a question about
a topic, and some classmates have responded with their ideas. You have 10 minutes to type your own post
that contributes to the discussion. There's no maximum length for your response, but a good response is
usually at least 100 words.

First, relevant and clearly developed ideas. The raters are looking for ideas that contribute to the
discussion and are well supported by reasons and examples. If you just use a lot of words and sentences
that are not well connected and do not support each other, or that don't add up to a clear point of view, or
if you develop empty ideas, you'll receive a low score.

Second, variety in the use of language. The raters are looking for evidence that you can use a variety of
structures and vocabulary. The variety should be natural and support your ideas. If you try to use varied
structures of vocabulary without a good reason, that will not help you get a high score.

The third criterion is a correct use of language. It is important that your use of grammar is strong and
consistent, that your word choices are correct and appropriate, and that your spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization are correct. Your writing doesn't have to be absolutely perfect to get a top score, but the few
small mistakes you may leave behind have to be typical of competent writers writing under timed
conditions.