IELTS GT Test – Speaking Mock Test # 22
[The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]
PART 1:
Topic: Keeping in contact with people
Q. How do you usually contact your friends? [Why?]
A. Most of my friends live in the same city I currently reside in, so I usually call them on their mobile phones and meet them in person. I call my friends or chat with them online who do not live in my city. The same goes for online friends from other countries and Facebook is a common platform to contact them.
Q. Do you prefer to contact different people in different ways? [Why?]
A. Yes, that’s something I have been doing for a very long. I usually prefer to meet my close friends who live nearby. I send emails and messages to my colleagues and sometimes write to my relatives and overseas friends. I also chat with online friends and get updates on their life events on Facebook. I believe, the relationship and distance often are two determining factors for the way we contact each other.
Q. Do you find it easy to keep in contact with friends and family? [Why/Why not?]
A. I believe I have a healthy relationship with my friends and family and keeping in touch with them is easy for me. It’s all about willingness and priority. Despite my busy schedule, I always make time to spend with my family and contact close friends of mine. Being in touch is important for any relationship and technological advancements have helped us greatly to keep constant communication with the people we care and love.
Q. In your country, did people in the past keep in contact in the same ways as they do today? [Why/Why not?]
A. The ways people in our country keep in touch with relatives and friends have changed to a great extent. In the past, people either visited others in person or wrote letters to keep in touch. Nowadays, we take advantages of technology. We greatly rely on the internet and mobile phones to contact others. I guess, this has made it easy for us to communicate with others but sadly, it lacks the personal bonding.
PART 2:
[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.]
Describe a party that you enjoyed.
You should say:
- whose party it was and what it was celebrating
- where the party was held and who went to it
- what people did during the party
and explain what you enjoyed about this party.
Cue Card Answer:
Because of our busy schedule, we seldom get a chance to meet our friends and relatives as often as possible despite our best intentions. So, I decided to hold a “get together” party the other day about a few months ago at a nearby hotel. Once I started to count how many friends and relatives would be present at the party, I found out that they were at least 25 of them to my surprise. Even more surprising was the fact that I didn’t meet most of them in months even though they were living within the close vicinity of my neighbourhood!
Our casual “get together” party started as per the schedule with exchanging greeting and pleasantries among each other. To our pleasant surprise, the hotel authority decorated the “party room” for us with some great lighting. We spent the first hour just by talking among ourselves with some occasional coca-cola or some other soft drinks in our hands. Some of them even felt the needs of sharing their “favourite pictures” among themselves which they may have captured in the past in their mobile phones.
Then, finally came the best part of our casual event when we decided to eat our food that included vegetable rolls, french-fries and Chinese fried rice with chicken. We ate as much as we could as we arranged for a “buffet” system. As soon as we finished our meal, it was almost 11:00 pm, and we didn’t even have a clue about it! I guess that time does move fast when we are having fun.
I could for sure say that there was hardly anyone in our party who didn’t enjoy our little “get together” effort as it provided us with some much-needed respite from the “suffocating” city life which is full of busy schedule and tension. Our little party was certainly not anything to “fancy” over with no famous musicians or dancers to perform for us, but it certainly offered us a window of opportunity to reach our friends and relatives when they probably needed it the most. I think that the best thing, which came out of our little get together effort, was that we all agreed upon organizing such a party every month!
PART 3
Discussion topics: Family parties
Q. What are the main reasons people organise family parties in your country?
Answer: Well, this is an interesting question. Family parties in my country are mostly organised to celebrate a special occasion and to spend some quality time with the people we care about. For instance, we invite our relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours to our house to rejoice a family member’s birthday, engagement, marriage anniversary or graduation day. We often like to gather on such a party to celebrate a religious festival, to congratulate someone’s promotion or to welcome a newborn baby. It is often a status quo for the ultra-rich who like to invite others to their house to announce something to the guests or to commemorate an event or an achievement.
Q. In some places, people spend a lot of money on parties that celebrate special family events. Is this ever true in your country? Do you think this is a good trend or a bad trend?
Answer: I believe expensive parties are thrown mostly by the rich. This is also the case in my country where a simple birthday celebration can turn into a grand party of hundreds of invited guests. In this modern era, earthly possessions are often considered the symbol of status and rich people love to show off their wealth by throwing such parties.
I think such extravagant parties are often meant to show off social status and wealth and thus I do not think it is a good trend. While we have thousands of hungry people to feed each day, we can at least keep these parties as modest as possible and help those destitute people. In my opinion, that would better serve our purpose of celebrating a special event.
Q. Are there many differences between family parties and parties given by friends? Why do you think this is?
Answer: I believe that the core objective of a party – be it a family party or a party of friends, is the same. We want to meet people we like, enjoy our time, have drinks and meals, socialise and celebrate a special occasion.
However, the way we celebrate a party with our friends is sometimes different than that of a family oriented party. When friends are together at a party, they shout, listen to loud music, do not care about strict manners and often go wild. These are not the case in a family party where our parents and elder relatives are present. I believe most youths are influenced by modern culture and like to have parties with friends where they define their own rules.
Discussion topics: National celebrations
Q. What kinds of national celebration do you have in your country?
Answer: In Vietnam, we have numerous national celebration and the ‘National Day’ – the declaration of independence of Vietnam is the most notable one. On 2nd September 1945, we got our independence and we commemorate the day each year with great fervour to show our patriotic feelings.
‘Lunar New Year’, locally called ‘Tet’, and ‘Buddha’s Birthday’ in early May are two other big festivals in the country. Moreover, Mid-Autumn Festival – held on the 14th and 15th day of the lunar month is also an important national day and a range of activities such as lion dances and children carrying paper lanterns, and food booths selling traditional food are part of this celebration.
‘International New Year’s Eve’ is a national public holiday in our country and like the rest of the world, Vietnamese people celebrate it with different festivities. Finally, the National Teacher Day on November 20th is a really big event for students and teachers in Vietnam.
Q. Who tends to enjoy national celebrations more: young people or old people? Why?
Answer: I believe both the youth and old Vietnamese like to celebrate national festivals. Such a day is very special to us and people regardless of their age want to be a part of Vietnamese culture and tradition. For instance, if you are in Vietnam during a national festival, you will notice many children, youth and elder citizens on the street who are all enjoying the festival and making Vietnamese way of life really unique.
Q. Why do you think some people think that national celebrations are a waste of government money? Would you agree or disagree with this view? Why?
Answer: A group of people do not like the fact that a large portion of the government budget is being spent on celebrating different national festivals. They suggest using the fund to help the destitute population and to address more pressing issues like healthcare, social security and education. Their argument is somewhat justified especially for a country where many people are deprived of their basic human needs and rights. However, we also need to consider the fact that these festivals are important for people to come closer, forget their differences, and nurture their patriotic feelings.