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Prepare For IELTS - Forum
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Prepare For IELTS
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:07 AM | Message # 1 |
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| Prepare For IELTS is a book of practice iELTS exams to help students wilh their preparation for the IELTS test It contains
• • Information about the IELTS test
• Helpful study hints to make preparation more effective
• 3 practice Module C Reading and Writing tests
• 3 practice General Training Module Reading and Writing tests
• 3 practice Listening tests with cassette tape
• Annotated Answers to all the practice tests
• A guide to the Interview Phase of IELTS
Prepare For IELTS has been prepared and produced at Insearch Language Centre al the University of Technology, Sydney, by a team of teachers experienced in IELTS preparation and testing It is modelled on the format of the IELTS test and practices the skills students need for the test It is an indispensable aid for self-study and for classroom use in IELTS preparation
ISBN 1 863650172
Practice Tests for Module C (Humanities)
- and General Training Module
Mary Jane Hogan Brenn Campbell
Todd Gillian Perrett
INSEARCH LANGUAGE CENTRE
< »
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:07 AM | Message # 2 |
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| Insearch Language Centre
Level 3, Prince Centre,
8 Quay Street,
Ilaymarket NSW 2000
International Programmes,
University of Technology, Sydney
PO Box 123
Broadway NSW 2007
Copyright © 1991 Insearch Language Centre/International Programmes, University of Technology, Sydney
All rights reserved. No part of this publication, book and cassette tape, may be reproduced or transmitted in a form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage a retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publicalion data
Prepare for IELTS
ISBN 186365 017 2.
1. English language - Examinations.
2. English language - Examinations, questions, etc.
3. International English Language Testing System.
I. Hogan, Mary Jane, 1952-
II. University of Technology, Sydney. Insearch Language Centre.
428.0076
Book Cover and Cassette Design by Lcong Chan, Public Affairs and Publications,
University of Technology, Sydney
Cassette tape recorded at 2 SER-FM, University of Technology, Sydney
Set in 11/13 New Century Schoolbook
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:08 AM | Message # 3 |
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| Contents
How to Use this Book page iv
Chapter 1. Introduction to the IELTS Test page 1
Chapter 2. Preparation for the IELTS Test page 3
The Day of the Test page 5
Chapter 3. Module C Reading & Writing Practice Tests
Practice Test Number 1 page 7
Practice Test Number 2 page 27
Practice Test Number 3 page 49
Chapter 4. General Training Module Reading & Writing Practice Tests
Practice Test Number 1 page 68
Practice Test Number 2 page 90
Practice Test Number 3 page 113
Chapter 5. Listening Practice Tests
Practice Test Number 1 page 131
Practice Test Number 2 page 139
Practice Test Number 3 page 147
Chapter 6. The Interview page 155
Chapter 7. Answers
Reading & Writing Practice Tests page 162
Listening Practice Tests page 170
Acknowledgements page 172
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:09 AM | Message # 4 |
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| O How To Use This Book
Chapter 1 contains general, useful information about the IELTS test. Chapter 2 contains hints and suggestions that will help you prepare well for the test, as well as advice to help you to do your best in the different subtests of the IELTS test.- You should read these chapters before you begin to work on the practice tests in this book.
Reading Practice Tests
Chapter 3 contains three practice reading tests based on the Module C IELTS test and Chapter 4 has three based on the General Training Module. At the end of each practice test you will find an Answer Sheet that can be cut out of the book if you wish, to make it easier to use. Follow the instructions for each question and write y9ur answers on the answer sheet. There are 40 boxes on the answer sheet; however, not all the tests have 40 reading questions. Work through each practice test for the module you are applying for, checkingyour answers in Chapter 7. It is better not to check the answers until you have completed each test. Try to avoid writing on the pages of the reading passages; this will slow down your reading speed and is generally not permitted in the real IELTS test. Allow yourself 55 minutes only for each reading test; remember that it is important to practice reading fast. The answers in Chapter 7 have
notes to explain any points of difficulty, and why one answer is right and another wrong. Writing Practice Tests At the end of each reading subtest in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 there is a practice writing test. Each practice test has pages for writing your answers to each of the writing tasks. Allow yourself 15 minutes for the first writing task and 30 minutes for the second writing task, a total of 45
minutes. Chapter 7 contains a model essay for each writing task to give you one example of a satisfactory way of completing the task; these model essays are not the only way to answer the question, but they give you an idea of what kind of answer is required. Do not look at the model essays until you have written an answer yourself, then compare the two essays for their content and for different ways of giving the same information. Remember to write at least as many words as the writing task asks. You will lose marks for writing too little. Remember also to give all the information asked for in the question.
Listening Practice Tests
Chapter 5 contains three practice listening tests, with space for writing your answers on the pages. The listening section of the IELTS test is the same for all candidates. The instructions for each question are given on the cassette tape. Allow yourself approximately 30 minutes for each listening test and work straight through each test. It is not a good idea to stop and go over parts of the tape; first you should complete a whole practice test and check your answers in Chapter 7. The answers have notes to guide you to the section of the tape that gave the information you needed to answer the question. The Interview
Chapter 6 has a detailed description of what you can expect in the interview for the IELTS test. There are also many suggestions of ways you can practise your speaking skills to help you to perform better in the interview.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:09 AM | Message # 5 |
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| Chapter 1
Introduction to the IELTS Test
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is the main test used to assess the language proficiency of students from a non-English-speaking background who want to study in an English-speaking country, especially Australia or the UK. It has four subtests, or sections. The Reading and Writing Subtests In the first two sections, reading and writing, students take one of four modules. Which module they take depends on what they hope to study. Modules A, B, and C are for university entrance. People who want to study Maths, for example, or Computing, Physics or Engineering take Module A (Physical Sciences). People who want to study Biology, Nursing or Medicine take Module B (Life Sciences). People who want to study Business,
Economics, Journalism or Drama take Module C (Humanities). In Australia people who want to study at high school, in TAPE (colleges of Technical and Further Education), in Foundation Studies courses, or at busirfess.colleges take the General Training Module. The General Training Module is easier than the other modules, but it is not possible to score above Band 6 on it, nor is it acceptable for university entrance. This book includes three practice reading and writing tests for the Module C test and three
for the General Training Module. Like the real tests, these take 55 minutes for reading and 45 minutes for writing. These are the most popular modules with students hoping to study in Australia. The Listening and Speaking Subtests The second two subtests, listening and speaking, are general and are taken by all students. The listening test takes 30 minutes. This book and the cassette tape contain three practice listening tests. The last test is the speaking test. It takes the form of an interview and lasts 11-15 minutes. This book contains a description of the interview and suggests things that you can do to practise speaking to help prepare for the test.
T he reading and writing and the listening practice tests in this book have been designed to resemble the format of the IELTS test as closely as possible. They are not, however, real IELTS tests; they simply give practice in the type of question you may have to answer in the real test. For this reason, there is no system of marking or scoring your practice tests in this book, so you cannot use them to assess your band score. These practice tests are to practise your English to help vou to do better in the real IELTS test.
The Band Scores
You cannot pass or fail the IELTS test. Your score will be reported in a series of band, Band 9 is the highest level, band 1 the lowest. Different colleges and universities require different band scores before they will admit you. Different institutions indicate what ban, levels they want students to achieve. These may be between 5.5 and 7 for university entrance.
The band levels indicate a candidate's ability to use English as follows:
9 Expert User
8 Very Good User
7 Good User
6 Competent User
5 Modest User
4 Limited User
3 Extremely Limited User
2 Intermittent User
1 Non User
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:09 AM | Message # 6 |
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| Advantages of the IELTS Test
What are the advantages of the IELTS test over the other tests whjch are often used? Unlike the TOEFL it tests all four skills. Some students who have very high TOEFL scores are noi able to function in English when they arrive at university because they cannot speak 01 write the language. This means that if you achieve your target band score on the IELTS tost both you and the college you hope to attend can be confident that you will be able to cope With English when you start your course. Unlike some other tests IELTS is an international test. This means that if you change your mind about the country you want to study in, your test results will still be recognised (outside the USA) if you have taken the IELTS test. It also means that you can take the test in your own country or in the country where you hope to study. The IELTS test is available at least once a month, at some centres it is run fortnightly and, at busy times of the year, every week. You can take the test as often as you like, but not less than three months apart. So for example, ifyou take the test in January you can take it again in April. This way you are able to keep track of your improvement in English. The results are published quickly. They are sent to you and to the college you want to enter within two weeks. It is considered that students need anything from 100 hours to 200 hours of teaching to improve by one step in the band scale; all students differ from each other but most need more time at the higher levels than they do at the lower levels.
Chapter 2
Preparation for the IELTS Test
You are a student planning to sit for the IELTS test. Naturally, you want to get the best core you possibly can. What is the most effective preparation for the IELTS test? First of all, you must be realistic. How good is your English now? A student who currently has a band score of 5 will need about 6 months full-time study to raise it to 6,5, Preparation for the IELTS test — improvement in your level of English — will take time and work. Below are some suggestions for useful activities.
Time
One of the biggest problems that students have in the test is that they run out of time. The first thing you need to practise is speed, especially in the reading and writing sections. Whenever you read something in English, give yourself a time limit. While you are reading, stop at the end of every paragraph and summarise it to yourself. By forcingyourself to read with time limits you will find your reading speed increases, and reading under exam conditions will get easier. In the same way, practise writing quickly. Every day, sit down and write as much as you can for 5-10 minutes on any subject. Don't worry about accuracy when doing this — the idea here is to increase your speed, not your accuracy.
Use your classes
Speed without accuracy, however, is not enough. Not only must you use your present language skills more quickly, you must gain new skills, and improve old ones. This can be done through classwork and personal study. Most students reading this book will be studying English with a teacher. Here are some of the skills your teacher will be working on with you, all important in the IELTS test:
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:09 AM | Message # 7 |
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| Speaking: pronunciation, intormtioh, fluency, common phrases, interaction (dynamics with another speaker), asking questions;
Listening: voice tone, listening for keywords, listening for general information, vocabulary, summarising;
Reading: skimming (general understanding), scanning (looking for specific information), vocabulary, summarising;
Writing: adjusting style according to purpose; writing paragraphs, introductions and
conclusions; using conjunctions and reference; structuring information within a text.
Make the most of every class by reviewing your lessons, preferably the same day. Make a note of any new vocabulary learnt (spelling, pronunciation, meaning, part of speech). Look at the activities the teacher gave you — what were they for? If you had problems, do the activities again at home. If you still have problems, see your teacher. By looking at your
classwork again, you remember it better; by thinking about it, and how it will benefit 3 you will acquire the skill(s) it teaches you more quickly.
Extra work
You will also find it useful to do other study apart from class review: extra work on thii that you find difficult.
Also, you simply need to hear, read, write and speak as much English as possible. Here I some suggestions:
do an adult education course;
join a social club, or a community service organisation;
use every opportunity where appropriate to talk to native speakers;
read at the supermarket, in the street, in offices and shops;
use a detailed TV guide to gain more information about a programme;
dial-a-robot — work through the recorded messages in the phone book;
telephone for transport information: specific buses, trains, flights;
telephone for travel information: costs of journeys, accommodation.
(From K. Willing, 1989, Teaching How To Learn, pp 65, 67-70, NCELTR.)
Many of these things you could do only in an English-speaking country. If you are studyiтп in a non-English-speaking country you should try to find English interest groups with whom to practise. You should also regularly read books/journals on topics related to you future study. This will increase your knowledge of the vocabulary and style of academic writing.
All of these things will help you to prepare for the IELTS test, and you will find many good books on study skills that will give more information on effective study techniques.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:10 AM | Message # 8 |
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| Stay Calm
Two further comments should be made.
1. While it is important that you study hard, you also need rest, exercise and relaxation. Without these things, you will grow tired, you may lose interest in your study, and your health may suffer. You will prepare best for the exam by living a balanced lifestyle.
2. Many people get very nervous when taking an exam, especially an important one. To do the very best you can in the IELTS exam, you could sit the test once just to find out what it is like, as a practice. You will learn the procedure (what section comes first, and so on) without having to worry about doingyour very best. When you want to sit the test 'for real', you will be more relaxed because you will know what to expect, and will be able to concentrate on performing to the best of your ability.
Every English exam is supposed to show how good a student's level of English is. This is done in different ways in different tests, and with different measures of success. The IELTS test is a good test because the language skills needed in the exam are similar to those needed at college/university. You can thus be sure that as you prepare for IELTS you will be preparing well for your future study.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:10 AM | Message # 9 |
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| Preparation for the 1ELTS Test
The Day of the Test
There are no magic formulas for doing well in the IELTS test. However, these simple Jugge'stions will help you do as well as possible.
Be calm even if you feel depressed or discouraged. As one part of the exam finishes, forget it and go on to the next one.
Do Not Memorise Answers. Firstly, an examiner can tell if you've memorised an answer, d you will lose marks. Secondly, there is no guarantee whatsoever that the question you were expecting will appear in the exam. In that case, you will probably do worse than if ou had never memorised anything, because you will have neglected your normal English practice. Again, you will lose marks.
Read the Questions. For the reading, writing and listening sections, you must read the questions carefully. You cannot get marks if you do not answer the questions correctly.
Use your time. Find out how much time you have for each section and divide it sensibly among the questions. If you finish early, check your answers. Use every second of the time you have. Don't waste time by working too long on one question or by finishing early and j sitting doing nothing.
Reading Subtest
Begin by reading the questions first. This will give you an idea of what to look for when you read the texts.
Do not attempt to understand every word in the reading passages, at least on the initial reading. Read quickly to get a general understanding. When answering a question, skim the passage until you find the relevant section, then read it in detail. Do not read everything in detail —you haven't got time. If you find a question difficult, leave it and come back to it later. Do all the easiest questions first.
Writing Subtest
Read the task questions carefully. Rephrase them to yourself if you are not sure you fully understand them. Constantly refer back to the question to check that you are not digressing from the topic. Briefly plan your answer, especially for Task 2 in the academic modules.
The two writing tasks are of different lengths. You should thus spend about 15 minutes on Question 1 and 30 minutes on Question 2.
The two writing tasks are of different types: Question 1 may be a description of a diagram or a letter etc, Question 2 may be an essay or a report etc. Modify your writing style according to the question.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:11 AM | Message # 10 |
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| Do not write your answers in note form, unless the instructions specifically permit you to do so. While notes show the examiner the structure of your text, you will lose marks in the area of cohesion and sentence structure because your ideas are neither elaborated nor joined. Write as neatly as possible. This makes it easier for the examiner to mark your work, and there is less likelihood of the examiner misunderstand ing what you have said. Write neatly, but do not waste time by writing a rough draft, then rewriting it. Write one draft only and write on every second line. In this way you will have enough space to change/correct your answer if you need to. Don't waste valuable time by using white-out (just cross out anything you want to change), writing the essay title, or writing in capital letters (use cursive writing if it's at all readable). If you have spare time at the end, check your work for small errors ryerh agreements, plurals, punctuation. These things are easily corrected and are important in deciding what mark your work will receive.
Listening Subtest
You will hear each listening passage only once. To make the most of it, read the questions through quickly before each section and try to predict what subject the listening text is about. This will increase your ability to understand what you hear.
Look at what kinds of questions you m-ust^answer: true/false, multiple choice, pictures/diagrams, forms to be filled in. This will ffeterrm'ne what kind of listening you do, whether you listen for individual words or for the general meaning.
Look through any pictures and diagrams in the exam before each listening as these will help you choose the correct answers.
Speaking Subtest
Breathe deeply and relax while waiting. Talk to your friends in English while waiting.
Speak as much as you can during the interview, don't just give one word answers. Unless you speak, the interviewer can't find out how good you really are. Don't be afraid to ask the examiner to repeat a question if you don't understand it. You will not lose marks.
At the beginning of section 3 (the role play) the interviewer will give you a card with some information on it. Note carefully the role the interviewer will take: is (s)he your friend? A classmate? an official? Make sure you vary your speech accordingly (because you don't speak in the same way to a friend as to an official)
Section 3 of the interview is the one where you must take the initiative. Here it is not impolite to ask questions, it's essential. Your questions should be as natural as possible. Think: What sort of questions would I ask if this situation were real?'
If you have prepared yourself by practising the skills mentioned earlier in this chapter, and if you are familiar with the format of the test, and remember the suggestions written here, then you are ready to do your best in the IELTS test.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:12 AM | Message # 11 |
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| Chapters 3 (Hunities)
fj Module C Reading and Writing Practice Tests
G Test Number 1
Q Reading
Part 1. Australia's Linguistic History
Read the passage below, then answer Questions 1 - 6 on page 9.
Aboriginal Australia was multilingual in the sense that more than two hundred languages were spoken in specific territorial areas which together comprised the whole country. Because mobility was restricted, one lan- guage group had knowledge of its own language together with some knowledge of the languages spoken in the territories immediately adjacent to their own. However, from the beginning of European settlement in 1788, English was given predominance by the settlers. As a result Abo- riginal languages were displaced and, in some areas, eliminated. By 1983, about 83 per cent of the Australian population spoke English as a mother tongue. Less than one per cent did not use English at all. The pre-emi- nence of the English language reflects the fact that European settlement of this continent has been chiefly by English-speaking people, despite prior Portugese and Dutch coastal exploration. The first white settlers, convicts and soldiers and, later, free settlers, came almost exclusively from the British Isles. Some of these settlers spoke the then standard form of English whilst others spoke a wide variety of the non-standard forms of English that flourished in various areas of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In addition, many spoke the Celtic languages including Gaelic, Irish and Welsh. However, speakers of languages other than English did not arrive in the Australian colonies in significant numbers until the goldrushes of the 1850s, which attracted people from all over the world, including substantial numbers from China. The reac- tion of the Europeans to the Chinese led to restrictions on Chinese and other non-European immigration and eventually to the Federal Immigration Act of 1901. By prohibiting the entry of non-European immigration this Act hindered the spread of non-European languages in Australia. By the late nineteenth century, German appears to have been the major non-English language spoken in the Australian colonies. In J891, about four per cent of the total population was of German origin.
(Reading passage continues over page)
Part 1 continued
Despite increased immigration from southern Europe, Germany and east- ern Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, the period from 1900 to 1946 saw the consolidation of the English language in Australia. This process was accelerated by the xenophobia engendered by the two world wars which resulted in a decline in German in particular and of all non-English languages in general. As the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs noted, the result was that 'at the end of World War II, Australia was at its most monolingual ever: 90 per cent of the population tracing its ancestry to Britain'.
The post-war migration program reversed the process of increasing English monolingualism. The post-war period also witnessed a reversal of a trend of diminishing numbers of Australians of Aboriginal and Asian descent. Dr C. Price, a demographer at the Australian National University, has estimated that in 1947 only 59,000 Aborigines remained from a population of 110,000 in_1891 By 1981 their numbers had increased to 160,000. Between 1947 and 1971, nearly three million people came to settle in Australia. About 60 per cent came from non-English-speaking countries, notably, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands. Since 1973, Australian immigration policies have not discriminated against people on the grounds of race, and more Asian settlers have arrived, especially from South East Asia generally and, more recently, from East Timor and Vietnam in particular. Between 1971 and 1981, the Asian population of Australia more than doubled to 8.5 per cent of the total overseas-born population. Traditional migration from Europe, although remaining substantial, declined in relative importance during this decade. The numbers of new settlers from Lebanon and New Zealand also more than doubled during this period and there was much greater migration from Latin America, Africa and Oceania.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:12 AM | Message # 12 |
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| Part II. Australia's Linguistic History
Questions 1-6
Read the passage headed 'Australia's Linguistic History'. Answer the questions below by writing the correct date in the boxes on the Answer Sheet for Questions 1 to 6. The first one has been done as an example.
Example: Although there had been many Aboriginal languages in Australia before white settlement, English took over as the main language from
example
ex 1788
1. The first period when speakers of languages other than English arrived in Australia in large numbers was in the 1
2. In 2 the Australian Government enacted a law that prohibited all non-European immigration into Australia.
3. Figures from 3 show that at that time about four per cent of Australia's
population was of German origin.
4. Even though there were large numbers of non-English-speaking European immigrants for part of this period, from the turn of the century up to 4 English
was the unchallenged dominant language in Australia.
5. From the years after the Second World War until 5 almost 3 million people
emigrated to Australia, with about 60 per cent coming from non-English-speaking countries.
6- In 6 the laws preventing non-Europeans from emigrating to Australia were removed, resulting in an increase in Asian immigration.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:12 AM | Message # 13 |
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| Part 2. The Composition of Australia's Overseas Born Population by Birthplace
Look at the information in the map and answer Questions 7-14 on page 11
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:13 AM | Message # 14 |
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| part 2. The Composition of Australia's Overseas Bom Population by Birthplace
Questions 7 -14
Look at the map on page 10. Use the information in the map to complete the passage below.In the boxes on the Answer Sheet, write the correct word, words or number to complete the spaces. The first one has been done as an example.
The map shows the composition of Australia's overseas born population by
example , comprising over three million people or 21 per cent of the total
Australian population in 1981.
ex birthplace.
The United Kingdom/Eire and 7 were the two most important sources of
migrants, with more than half of all immigrants coming from non-English-speaking
countries. Thirty-seven per cent were European, principally from 5 ,
Greece, Germany and Yugoslavia. Non-European migration, particularly South East
Asian, has become much more significant since the 1970s. People born in
9 accounted for 8.5 per cent of the population: they came chiefly from 10 , Malaysia and 11 Smaller numbers of people had been
born in the 12 , (3.2 per cent), in 13 (5.9 per cent) and
in Africa (2.0 per cent), although of this number 14 per cent were from one country. In the years 1982-83, about 26 per cent of new settlers arriving in Australia came from Asia.
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| Bakhtiyor | Date: Sunday, 2012-06-10, 11:14 AM | Message # 15 |
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| Part 3. Some Traits of Language
Read the passage and answer Questions 15-22 on pages 13 to 14.
One estimate puts the number of languages in active use in the world today somewhere between three and four thousand. Another makes it five thousand or more. The latter is probably closer to the truth, for many languages are spoken by relatively few people — several in one small area of New Guinea, for instance, have fewer than a hundred speakers each. The number of different languages is formidable and is quite awesome if we include the tongues once spoken but now dead.
All languages use the same channel for sending and receiving: the vibrations of the atmosphere. All set the vibrations going in the same way, by the activity of the speech organs and all organise the vibrations in essentially the same way, into small units of sound that can be combined and recombined in distinctive ways.
Languages can be related in three ways: genetically, culturally and typologically. A. genetic relationship is one between mother and daughter or between two sisters or two cousins: there is a common ancestor some- where in the family line. A cultural relationship arises from contacts in the real world at a given time; enough speakers command a second language to adopt some of its features, most often just terms of cultural artifacts but sometimes other features as well. A typological relationship is one of resemblances regardless of where they came from. Engjish is related genetically to Dutch through the common ancestry of Germanic and Indo-European. It is related Culturally to North American Indian languages from which it has taken many place names. And it is related typolpgically to Chinese which it resembles more than it resembles its own cousin Latin in the comparative lack of inflection on words.
Though genetic and cultural relationships tend to spell typological ones, it often happens that languages of the same family diverge so radically in the course of time that only the most careful analysis will demonstrate their kinship. The opposite happens too: languages unrelated genetically may converge to a high degree of similarity.
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