IELTS Practice tasks 3

In addition to the words and phrases which appear in the General Vocabulary section of this book, you may also find some useful words and phrases on pages 71 and 72. 

You will find some sample answers on the following two pages, but try to do the tasks first.

SPEAKING
PART 1
Answer these questions. Try to speak for about 4 or 5 minutes in total.
• What was your favourite subject at school and why did you enjoy it?
• Were there any subjects that you particularly disliked at school?
• Did you have a teacher who you found particularly inspiring or influential?
• Which of the subjects that you learnt at school will benefit you most in the future?

Look at this task and spend one minute thinking about what you are going to say (you can make notes if you like). Then talk about the topic for between one and two minutes.
Describe a particularly memorable day you had at school or college.
You should say:
what happened on that day
who else was with you when it happened
how you felt at the end of the day
and explain why you think this day was particularly memorable

Part 3
Answer these questions. Try to speak for about 4 or 5 minutes in total.
• Have schooling methods in your country changed since your parents were at school?
• Do you think that continuous assessment is a less stressful way of grading a student’s progress than exams?
• How useful do you think computers are as a teaching resource?

WRITING
A lot of people think that the things you learn outside school are much more useful than anything you learn in school. Others believe that school teaches you most of the essential skills which will be useful later in life.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.

Practice tasks 3: Sample answers
SPEAKING
PART 1
• What was your favourite subject at school and why did you enjoy it?
My favourite subject at school was always history. I’ve always been interested in learning about the past, and I’m fascinated by the way that things which happened hundreds of year ago can still be relevant today. I particularly liked learning about ancient Rome and how its influences can still be felt. For example, their political system, many of their laws, their language and even their alphabet still exist in one form or another in dif erent parts of the world. And of course I liked learning about all those famous people whose names are still known today, like Caesar, Cicero and Nero.

• Were there any subjects that you particularly disliked at school? 

There weren’t really any subjects that I disliked at school, although there were some I wasn’t especially keen on, like biology. I enjoyed learning about natural history, but I really didn’t enjoy cutting up dead frogs and mice to see how they worked. And there were subjects that, although I liked them, I wasn’t good at. I loved art lessons, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t paint. And I also loved music classes, even though I couldn’t sing in tune or play a musical instrument.

• Did you have a teacher who you found particularly inspiring or influential?
Well, I said that my favourite subject at school was history because I’ve always liked learning about the past. However, what made it particularly enjoyable for me at school was my teacher. He had a real passion for his subject, and his enthusiasm had a positive influence on my desire to learn. He also had the ability to bring history to life. He didn’t just stand there and talk to you like some teachers. He got his students actively involved in the subject. For example, he once divided the class into two groups. One group wanted the emperor to rule Rome and one group wanted the senate to rule. Each group had to argue its case to him, and he had to decide who had the best argument.

• Which of the subjects that you learnt at school will benefit you most in the future?
That’s dif icult, because most of them will benefit me in one way or another. If I had to make a choice, however, it would have to be languages. I learnt English, of course, and this will definitely benefit me because English is the language of international business and politics, and is probably the most widely spoken language in the world. I also learnt Spanish, another widely spoken language. Since Spanish has the same Latin roots as languages like French and Italian, it will help me communicate in lots of countries.

Part 2
Describe a particularly memorable day you had at school or college.
You should say:
what happened on that day
who else was with you when it happened
how you felt at the end of the day
and explain why you think this day was particularly memorable

It’s often said that the schooldays you remember the most are your first day and your last day at school. For me they were both memorable, but it was my last day at secondary school that brings back particularly vivid memories. It was also the last day of my final school-leaving exams, which was geography. It had never been my best subject, and because I really wanted to get a good grade, I’d been up really late the night before revising. I think I finally got to bed at about 2 o’clock in the morning. Anyway, I remember waking up feeling worried about the exam but also excited because once the
exam was over, I’d be leaving school and beginning a whole new chapter in my life. I’d arranged to meet my classmates Paola and Mercedes for a cof ee before the exam, so we met up in a café near the school and then walked into the exam hall together. I don’t remember much about the exam itself, except that I found it less dif icult than I had expected, but I do recall the moment we were told to stop writing and hand in our answer sheets. It occurred to me that this would be the last time I would be told what to do as a child. From that moment, and from the moment I walked out of school later that day with my classmates, I was entering adulthood for the first time. I was both excited and apprehensive about the future, but most of all I felt free. That’s what makes it particularly memorable for me, I think.

Practice tasks 3: Sample answers
Part 3
• Have schooling methods in your country changed since your parents were at school?
I think that there have probably been a few changes in the thirty years or so since my parents were at school. For a start, there was much more discipline at school then, and you had to follow lots of strict rules. If you broke those rules, you were punished. The teachers were even allowed to hit you, which would probably be illegal now. Teaching methods were probably very dif erent too. In those days, you sat in silence while the teachers taught you, and you would only speak when you were asked a question. Nowadays, things are definitely more relaxed. Pupils are encouraged to get more involved in the learning process, and are actively encouraged to question and challenge things in the classroom. This is probably a much more ef ective way of learning.

• Do you think that continuous assessment is a less stressful way of grading a student’s progress than exams?
I’ve always hated exams, and found them really stressful. In fact, I’ve never really seen the point of them. I hate the fact that everything you’ve learnt over the year is tested under pressure in three or four hours. And in addition to being stressful, they don’t really say much about your knowledge of the subject or your ability as a student. With continuous assessment, your school work is graded over a period of time. Because you’re not under so much pressure, you can plan your essay or assignment or whatever more thoroughly, and present a better piece of work at the end. I would say that continuous assessment is far less stressful and a much better indicator of your ability in any given subject.

• How useful do you think computers are as a teaching resource?
Computers have certainly changed the way we learn over the last thirty years or so. They’re invaluable as a source of reference, when we’re writing an essay for example, and they can be used as an exam resource to test what we’ve learnt. And they’re very useful if you want to study on a course but are  unable to get to a school or college. After all, computerbased distance learning means that millions of people around the world now have an opportunity to study on a real course. However, in my opinion, as an actual teaching resource, they’re no substitute for being in a real classroom with a real teacher. You don’t have that same level of interaction with the teacher, for a start, which I think is essential for ef ective learning. And you don’t have other students who you can interact and work with.

WRITING
When we go to school, we study a lot of subjects. Some of these, such as reading, writing and arithmetic, are essential skills which we will use throughout our lives. Others may be useful in certain careers or other circumstances, but in most cases are rarely if ever needed in our day-to-day lives. In my experience, I have never been in a situation where the history, geography, chemistry and physics I learnt at school have benefited me in any way.
Outside of school I have acquired far more important and useful knowledge and skills. For example, I have learnt how to drive a car, I have studied three languages, I have taught myself the importance of careful financial budgeting and I have travelled and learnt to appreciate and accept other people and
cultures. Furthermore, I have become mechanically and technologically proficient: school never taught me how to fix a car engine, change a plug or set up a website. On the surface, therefore, it would appear that almost everything useful I have learnt has been outside school. However, is this entirely true? When we are at school, we tend to look at each day as little more than a series of classes broken up by breaks, meals, sports and other activities. What we are not really aware of at the time is what I would call ‘between the lines learning’. In class, for example, we are learning how to record, process and filter information. We are also learning how to work with others. When we play sports, we are learning about the importance of teamwork and strategy. At other times we are learning how to behave and
how to follow rules (or, if it suits us, how to bend or break the rules without
getting caught out). In conclusion, therefore, I think that while most of the practical skills we need throughout our life are learnt outside school, most of the formative skills we need to succeed in life are acquired at school. In other words, schools teach us much more than just a series of unrelated subjects. It is just that we don’t realise this at the time.