Part 1 – Introduction & Interview
Q. What’s your name?
A. My name is Anton Bruckner, and you can call me ‘Anton’.
Q. Where are you from?
A. I am from Frankfurt, Germany. Frankfurt is located in the federal state of Hesse which lies in the heart of central Germany. I live in an apartment in the “Altstadt”, which is a city district of “Frankfurt am Main”, and contains many of Frankfurt’s most important sights.
Q. Do you use the Internet very often? What for?
A. Yes, I use the Internet almost every day. I generally use it to update the blog I own, check emails, find updates of my friends on social media networks, watch YouTube videos, share the pictures I take, chat with my friends, listen to music and read news articles. In fact, my activities on the Internet are sometimes far more vast than the things I have mentioned. For instance, I often use the internet to do some serious research and sometimes to kill my time by watching some funny videos.
Q. How important is the Internet in our daily life?
A. The Internet is an irreplaceable technology which affects our personal, social and professional life to a great extent. We use it to read online newspapers, download important files, order some groceries or gift items, send and receive emails, make video calls and pay our bills and the list goes on. It is used extensively in offices to do things faster and more efficiently and not to mention quick and cheap communication among people with the help of the Internet.
Q. How about in the future? How important the Internet will become in our daily lives?
A. In future, we would become greatly dependent on the Internet. From simple Google voice search to automated utility bill payment, from submitting class assignments to booking air tickets, we will heavily rely on the Internet. We will also use it in our education and communication sectors. The day is not far away when we will rely on the Internet to purchase everything we need in our life and use this technology to reach our destination on a vehicle. Moreover, a great number of professionals will rely on the Internet to earn their livings and traditional marketing and brick and mortar businesses will be replaced by Internet marketing and e-commerce.
Q. How do you think the Internet will change entertainment in the future?
A. The Internet has already changed the concept of entertainment and the way we like to enjoy that in our life. Video sharing websites like YouTube, social networking sites like Facebook are two great sources of entertainment for many people throughout the world and they will attract more people in the future. The internet TVs are replacing the traditional TV viewing experience and people can now watch 3D movies indoors and that will get ever more popular in the near future. The popular music websites will replace the CD players and people will listen and share their favourite playlists on the go. The movies are easy to download, they come with far better resolution and picture quality and people will watch movies in small devices like smartphone and wristwatches. Reading a magazine or a newspaper article and listening to favourite music stations would be just a finger tap away in the future.
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Part 2 – Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card
Describe a film/movie you have enjoyed watching.
You should say:
- what the name of the movie was
- what was the central theme of the film/movie
- when you watched it
and explain why you enjoyed watching this movie so much.
[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.]
Model Answer 1:
There are movies which we watch and then forget about them completely after a few days, if not any sooner. Then, there are movies like “Forrest Gump”, which we never exactly get tired of watching again and again because they make us think and experience our lives in some new lights.
A simple-minded (some would say with “low IQ”), but kind-hearted, Alabama boy, named “Forrest Gump” grows up with his best friend – a beautiful girl called Jenny. His supportive mother teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny.
Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends, winning medals, starting multi-million dollar shrimp fishing business, writing bumper stickers and songs, donating to people, meeting the president several times and doing many other things. However, this all becomes irrelevant to Forrest because he can’t seem to save his childhood sweetheart Jenny Curran, who has messed up her life.
The underlying theme of the movie is that it advises a person to run from all the negative thoughts, influences and bullies of life as fast as he can, no matter how others around him try to “degrade” him physically and intellectually.
Why do I like the movie so much? Well, I like this movie primarily because it teaches us to find out on our own what exactly life is all about instead of paying attention to what others say about it. Besides, I like this movie also because it asks us to show “respect” to people, who seem rather “simplistic” in their thoughts and actions, because they also have their own dreams, and that they also chase their dreams very successfully in life. Finally, I like this movie also because of some of its “simple yet powerful” dialogues (ie. “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.”), which are really difficult to forget.
Sample Answer 2:
The name of my favourite movie is ‘Casablanca’ which was directed by Michael Curtiz. It was released in 1943 and the story was adapted from a stage-play named ‘Everybody comes to Ricks’. The movie starred Humphery Bogart & Ingrid Bergman and was made in the USA. It was a romantic drama film and the storyline was set during World War II.
It focuses on a man torn between love and virtue. In 1941 American expatriate Rick who professed to be neutral by all means met his former lover Ilsa in his nightclub and gambling den. She was accompanied by her husband, Laszlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance Leader. They needed a letter to escape to America, where he can continue his work against the Nazis. German Major came to Casablanca to see that Laszlo does not succeed. One night Ilsa confronted Rich in the deserted cafe and asked for the letter. She threatened him with a gun for the letter and later on confessed that she still loved him. Rick’s bitterness dissolved learning that Ilsa was married to Laszlo before even their relationship began. When Rick and Ilsa planned to fly together, she could not do so because all of a sudden she found that her husband was still alive and needed her badly to recover. Hearing the story Rick calmed down and agreed to give the letter to Laszlo so that he can fly to America safely. They would take a different path to fly away together. But finally, Rick let Ilsa and Laszlo fly to America which surprised IIsa very much.
In 1989, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry a being deemed ‘Culturally’, ‘Historically’ and ‘Aesthetically’ significant. It is the second-best movie of all time based on AFI’s 100 best movies of all time.
I’ve seen the movie more than 2-3 times. The story is excellent, the casting, plot, acting, dialogues and all other aspects of the movie are superb. The movie deeply touched me and became the most favourite movie I have ever seen.
Model Answer 3:
Thank you very much for letting me talk about this cue card topic. Interestingly, I initially thought that it would be so easy to talk about my favourite movie but then I realised it is not because there are so many things to talk about but the time is limited! However, I will try.
Well, my favourite movie is ‘Citizen Kane’, – an American mystery drama by Orson Welles which is often considered the best movie ever made. Orson Welles was also its director, producer, co-screenwriter, and the protagonist. This movie won an Academy Award for Original Screenplay and I believe the screenplay of the movie makes it so distinctive and brilliant. Considered by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane is especially appreciated for its cinematography, music, editing and narrative structure, which have been considered innovative and precedent-setting.
Orson Welles’s epic tale of a publishing tycoon’s rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in the movie industry. When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s dying words, his investigation gradually reveals the fascinating portrait of a complex man who rose from obscurity to staggering heights. Though Kane’s friend and colleague Jedediah Leland and his mistress, Susan Alexander shed fragments of light on Kane’s life, the reporter fears he may never penetrate the mystery of the elusive man’s final word, “Rosebud.”
The film was absolutely a masterpiece and I had several reasons to like it. Acting, production, cinematography, music, editing and narrative structure, which have been considered innovative and trend-setting, are the main reasons anyone would enjoy this movie. It’s a kind of movie that we do not watch quite often and for me, I consider it the best movie I have ever watched.
At the end of the movie, the reporter – who was assigned to reveal Kane’s last word, concludes that he is unable to solve the mystery and that the meaning of Kane’s last word, “Rosebud”, and it will forever remain a mystery. As the film ends, the camera reveals that “Rosebud” is the trade name of the sled on which the eight-year-old Kane was playing on the day that he was taken from his home in Colorado. Thought to be junk by Xanadu’s staff, the sled is burned in a furnace. The innocence of childhood and happiness in simple thing are incomparable and often hold the secret of life, is something I learned from the movie.
Part 3 – Details Discussion:
Q. What are the differences between watching movies and reading books?
Answer: A movie is an audio-visual presentation while a book is a composition of written words. They are both great sources of entertainment and knowledge. However, reading a book, in my opinion, is more effective than watching a movie. A great number of actors, as well as producer, screenwriter, director and other staffs, are required to finally produce a movie while the book is the printed version of the writing of a writer.
Movies present a story using different actors and actresses and the acting is captured using a camera and then finally edited before releasing the movie. On the contrary, books are mainly printed after the original writing is being edited and corrected. We can watch movies with many others but we usually read books alone. Movies are the sources of easy entertainment and people naturally love to watch movies as a pure source of entertainment although there are numerous movies that have deep underlying themes and lessons. On the contrary, most books enhance the knowledge and imagination power of readers and preferred by book lovers only.
Q. Which one is more powerful- movies or books? Why?
Answer: In my opinion, books are more powerful. A book is aimed to deliver a story, facts, or lessons and they are a great source of information. Reading books enhances our knowledge, imagination and our horizon of wisdom. Most of the books are packed with the experience and imagination of creative minds and they are written to pass the knowledge and wisdom to the coming generations.
On the contrary, we mainly concentrate on the story and visual presentation of a movie while watching it. That gives us pure entertainment but in terms of enhancing knowledge, it is less effective than reading books. Books present written words and lines and a hypothetical world- which we need to imagine in our mind. In the case of movies, things are already seen; there is a little scope to use our imagination power. Thus the impact of reading books is far more powerful than watching movies as films are often made for pure entertainment purposes while books for enhancing our knowledge.
Q. How can movies help to shape our society?
Answer: Movies reach to a large segment of people in a society and people watch movies very often. Thus the movie can be an effective media for entertainment as well as a tool for changing our society for good. A great movie that focuses on the pressing issues of society can create awareness among people and can also suggest some solutions.
If movies are based on real events and historical facts, people would learn from watching them. Movie actors and actresses are quite popular in many societies and they can pass moral lessons to their fans.
Besides, movies reflect the society and the people as a whole and thus have a great influence to shape the mentality of the people. It is not unusual that people would try to mimic the personality, behaviour, costumes of their famous actors and movie producers can use this as a positive tool to foster a better new generation.
Q. What are the differences between movies made in the past with that of now?
Answer: Well, the differences between movies made in the past and the present are quite visible. In the past, movies used to be made on nice themes and great plots. The use of violence, sex scenes and vulgar language was almost nil. The moviemakers, in the past, tried to tickle the sense of humour of the audience and concentrated more on social issues.
But scenarios have changed in the present days and movies are now made for commercial purposes most of the time. The violence is more frequent, and in many cases, parents are not comfortable watching such movies with their children. Besides, comic and animated movies have gained huge popularity these days and more superheroes are present on the silver screen than they did in the past. Finally, not to mention the use of technology that has made the movie more visually attractive these days.
Q. Are international movies popular in your country? Why?
Answer: Germany is a land of diversity and it is a cosmopolitan country that is mainly shaped by a pluralism of lifestyles. Recreational activities are quite popular here and many people love watching movies regularly. They love to watch both local and international movies. The German movie industry is strong and has produced many of the reputed movies so far. But the appeal of international movies is no less here. People go to theatres to enjoy newly released movies and discuss the movie plots among them. Sometimes, they love the movie and in other cases criticize them. But, only a few international movies are screened in Germany considering the taste of the audience. So, it is hard for international movies to excel in Germany if those are not up to the mark.
Q. How technology has changed the way movies are made? Is it a positive or negative development?
Answer: Uhhh… The use of technology has certainly elevated the movies made in the present days. People enjoy various types of movies where technology is ever-present. But I personally think this is not the right way to make movies. In fact, the use of technology has made it easier to make movies but the application of technology is easily detectable and to me, those parts do not have any appeal at all. For instance, a movie star might be seen climbing a hill and the shots are taken with technological tools in an indoor location. But if the shot would have been taken in real locations, the appeal would have been more fascinating. Therefore, I do not think this is always a positive development to use technology in a movie.
Having said that, animated movies and some special effects used in movies have been possible due to the blessing of technology and people enjoy this a lot. From this regard, technology has helped make movies more popular.
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