Part One – Introduction
[This part of the test begins with the examiner introducing himself or herself and checking the candidate’s identification. It then continues as an interview. In the interview, the examiner asks the candidate about his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.]
Photographs:
Q. What type of photos do you like taking? [Why/Why not?]
A. This is an interesting topic and to be honest, up until now I have not thought about it. It was kind of amusing to think about the type of photos I like taking. Well, I like to take photos of natural sceneries, birds and people. While taking a person’s photo, I love to take my daughter’s snapshot the most.
Q. What do you do with photos you take?
A. Well, at first I sort out the photos worth saving for the future and then I delete the snapshots I do not like. I have a Flickr account, which is the most popular online photo sharing and storing platform, and I upload the photos I select for saving. I share some photos on my Facebook and Instagram account. A few years ago I used to print the pictures I liked the most but I do not do that these days.
Q. When you visit other places, do you take photos or buy postcards? [Why/Why not?]
A. This is another intriguing question for me. Whenever I visit a new place, I love to capture the memory in my smartphone and camera. Buying postcard was something I did in my childhood, but not these days. Postcards have become less common and they are hard to find these days, especially in my country.
Q. Do you like people taking photos of you? [Why/Why not?]
A. This is a hard question for me to answer and I would be completely honest here. I mostly do not allow others to take random photos of mine. However, if I find that there is a group of people and they expect me to be on the frame, I do not oppose. However, my usual doctrine for letting others capture my photo is not applicable for my daughter. Whenever she is ready to take a shot, I obey her order!!!
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Part 2 – Cue Card
[The topic for your talk will be written on a card which the examiner will hand you. Read it carefully and then make some brief notes.]
Describe a day when you thought the weather was perfect.
You should say:
- where you were on this day
- what the weather was like on this day
- what you did during the day
and explain why you thought the weather was perfect on this day.
[ You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you’re going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
[Examiner: All right? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don’t worry if I stop you. I’ll tell you when the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please?]
Sample Answer 1:
Days before the winter are perfect, I think, for travelling across the beaches in Florida. The days remain sunny and clouds float on the air with a light shape. In such a day, I went to Clearwater Beach on last month and had some wonderful moments.
The Clearwater Beach is located on the west central coast of Florida and the entire area is divided into several parts- residential and resorts. The locality is famous for its white sandy beaches. The beach is around four kilometres in length. Different water vehicles and ships always occupy the harbour. Besides, there are some restaurants available to cater the needs of travellers in the locality. Usually, a large flock of the visitors get engaged with the leisure activities like jet ski driving, travel on boats, parasailing, golfing, fishing etc. on the beach. In such days, the beach area remains crowded by thousands of local and foreign tourists.
The beach is considered as one of the best beaches in the USA and the resorts also famous for their world-class service. Besides, the weather was sunny and clear. Right before the winter, there are some changes in the weather pattern. But fortunately, there were little such changes found and thus I planned for the trip. Actually, I had long been planning that I will rise early in morning and pass an entire day at the Clearwater Beach in such a sunny weather. But hardly I could manage time then for my classes and exams. Since my exams were over, I was a bit relaxed and made the day out for me, alone. If the weather was cloudy, I could not have done the trip to Clearwater Beach. I think I had to wait for some other day to make it happen.
After breakfast on the day, my first destination was to reach the beach on foot (this was a 15-minute walk from my home in Florida). Earlier I had lost my shoes and decided to move now on barefoot. Arriving at the beach, I selected a place to make my camp with the umbrella. I walked for around half an hour on the beach. The sands were wet by waves and I felt no heat reflected from them. I took a boat tour for the next one hour. Visiting the Clearwater marine aquarium was another great experience for me. Though I visited the place with dad, it was my first solo visit. I planned to have a ride on the waterski but discarded the idea due to the unusual waiting line. Just before the noon, I swam on the beach for half an hour. In fact, I played with some kids on water than swimming.
Usually, the Florida weather is almost unpredictable. Though it rains heavily in October for the subtropical climatic condition, fall makes late to appear and summer does the same. In such conditions, the weather remains sunny only for few days. I took the chance and made my day. The day started with a bright sun and fortunately, I had no important tasks to complete. The college is closed for three days and it was more convenient for me to go out. Considering all the aspects, I thought the weather was perfect for going to the beach. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the perfect weather.
Sample Answer 2:
Thank you very much for this candidate task card and the opportunity to let me talk about a day when the weather was just perfect.
It would be around 4 to 5 months ago and I was supposed to meet my friends on our college campus in the morning. This was a weekend and we planned to visit a local park and then play cricket on our college playground. The wind was chilly the previous night and that is why I took a jacket with me. The sun, however, unlike the past few days, was shining brightly and the sky was clear and blue. Just after I reached the college campus, I found that my friends were already there. Together we walked to the park and spent an hour there. In fact, this was our favourite park and we often visited it during our college days. The sweet and gentle breeze in the park was quite comfortable. I checked the temperature on my smartphone and it showed that the temperature was 17-degree Celsius. The weather forecast said that the weather on this day would be quite comfortable and it would be a sunny day. Though weather forecasts are often proven wrong, this was not the case on this day! The slight possibility of fog on the weather forecast was also true but not before 11.00 pm at night.
After we left the park, we ate burgers at a local fast food restaurant and brought balls, stamps, bats and other equipment from a friend’s house to play cricket. We played cricket for approximately 2 hours and I bowled for more than 7-8 overs. The humidity was so good that even after we played for a long, we were not perspiring. The wind did not bother our playing at all. What could we expect more than that!
I went home at around 2.30 pm and was tired. After I took a shower, I slept for a while and went out for a walk with my mother in the evening.
The mild temperature, the sunshine, soothing humidity, gentle breeze, and the season made it a perfect day to hang out with friends, play outdoor games and take a walk in the evening. I was outside for the most part of the day and it was neither cold not too hot. Previous few weeks were almost freezing cold and we hardly saw the sun during this time. However, the day I am talking about had been an exceptionally bright and sunny day with the clear blue sky and gentle wind. This was just a perfect weather everyone in our town could wish for!
Sample Answer to this Cue Card Topic:
Part 3 – Two-way Discussion:
Discussion topics:
Types of weather:
Q. What types of weather do people in your country dislike most? Why is that?
A. Well, we live in a tropical country and people hate it when the temperature and humidity are high. They love the rain but heavy downpour sometimes causes trouble and people hate this as well. During the summer, we have Nor’wester and we also dislike it.
Q. What jobs can be affected by different weather conditions? Why?
A. Jobs which require employees in a city to stay outside, communicate with people or visit different factories and offices are mostly affected by the adverse weather condition. In rural areas, fishermen and farmers cannot continue their works due to unusual weather as well. In fact, everyone wants a shiny and comfortable whether to go to their offices or workplace and any exception can cause discomfort.
Q. Are there any important festivals in your country that celebrate a season or type of weather?
A. Yes, people in Singapore have many such festivals. Every year in July, we have an authentic Asian culinary fare especially to celebrate the food festival in Singapore. Another such festival is called the Mid-Autumn Festival and it is observed on the 15th day of the lunar month, the Mid-Autumn. This festival is also known as the Mooncake or Lantern Festival and it is traditionally celebrated during the farming year of the abundant harvest.
Weather forecasts:
Q. How important do you think it is for everyone to check what the next day’s weather will be? Why?
A. The weather greatly affects the daily routine and schedule of each individual. From a schoolboy to a corporate big shot, everyone has a plan for the next day and if proper preparation is not taken based on the weather forecast, the day may simply be ruined. This is why everybody should look at the weather forecast for the next day and prepare accordingly. I myself regularly check the weather prediction in AccuWeather, an online weather forecasting application, and plan my days ahead.
Q. What is the best way to get accurate information about the weather?
A. These days, reliable and large weather forecasting service providers are the best source for this. AccuWeather, CNN weather, BBC Weather are some of the most reliable weather forecasting service providers who cover almost every city and country in the world for offering their service. With the widespread popularity of smartphones, many authentic applications have emerged to provide this service as well. Weather forecasting news on TV channels are also reliable but they are less convenient to follow, in my opinion.
Q. How easy or difficult is it to predict the weather in your country? Why is that?
A. Well, it is not that difficult these days and many solid predictions of storms and disasters have saved countless people in recent years. However, it was not that easy only a decade ago when the weather forecasting department had to rely on primitive devices. With the advancement of satellite and computer technology, this has become easier and more accurate. Having said that, I must mention that ‘it is still a prediction’ and not “something 100% accurate”.
