I've checked all the questions students reported in recent IELTS Speaking exams
and selected the three most difficult ones two from part one and one from part three in this
lesson you'll hear model answers and learn some useful vocabulary to help you improve
your answers it's Asiya let's get started [Music] our first topic is Ambitions and the question is
do you consider yourself an ambitious person I have two answers for you here is the first
yes I think I'm pretty ambitious I mean I always try to push myself to the limits in whatever I do
if you don't aim high then you'll never realize your dreams if that's a bit too much here is the
opposite answer I wouldn't say I was particularly over ambitious I mean I try to achieve my aims but
I think it's equally important to set realistic goals things that are within your reach that
are achievable even if I'm never the best at anything perhaps I don't have enough drive to
get to the top are these answers long enough too long what do you think well in part one you're
gonna be asked around 11 or 12 questions in just five minutes including the identification part
this means around 20 seconds per question or two three sentences short and to the
point in our answers you might have noticed some interesting collocations or combinations of words
some of these collocations are also idiomatic expressions which if you use them correctly
and appropriately can help you get a high band score let's have a look at them push yourself
to the limits to work very very hard aim high to be very ambitious and try to be the best
realize your dreams make your dreams a reality over ambitious is too ambitious
achieve your aims succeed in something usually after a lot of effort set realistic goals means
to have Ambitions you know you can achieve Drive is motivation this personal desire that pushes you
get to the top to reach the highest position possible in your studies or work the next
question is what did you want to be when you were younger well I always dreamed of becoming a doctor
I was inspired by my aunt who worked as a doctor in a big hospital and I wanted to
make a difference just like her but by my late teens I completely abandoned the idea when I
found out how long I need to study for here are some more interesting and useful collocations
dream of becoming it means you really want to be or do something and notice that gerund becoming
be inspired by it means to be influenced by a good example
and notice the passive voice this story inspires me I'm inspired by the story
make a difference to have a significant effect on something by the way if you have access to
the IELTS speaking Library you can download the updated version with the sample answers
and vocabulary from today's video on your student portal and if you don't have it I'll leave the
link in the description this ebook covers over 40 challenging IELTS speaking topics
okay the next question is do you have any goals or aspirations for the future
my short-term goal is to finish my masters and find a great job after that I haven't
really thought that much on the personal side my one burning ambition is to try parachuting
that was my answer so here is the vocabulary a short-term goal is a plan for the near future and
a long-term goal is something you can accomplish over a long period of time like 10 years burning
ambition is something you feel you really want to do is it important for people to have ambitions
everybody should set themselves some Targets in life you can't just drift leaving from day to
day without some kind of plan having AIMS in life gives you purpose something to strive for to set
yourself some targets means to establish aims for the future strive for something to make a great
effort to achieve something have you noticed the similarities between some words and expressions
do we set or establish goals or aims or targets how important is it to push ourselves or to strive
for something we want this variety shows the examiner how wide your vocabulary is boosting
your score at the same time I'm not trying to deliberately use some rare or formal Words which
would sound unnatural in a conversation okay let's turn to our second part one topic repairing things
and the first question is are you good at fixing things again I have two options for you I wonder
which Camp you belong to a or b a I'm pretty good at fixing most things around the house
I'm good with my hands and I have a toolkit with all you need you know screwdrivers and so on
so simple plumbing jobs like fixing a leaking tab or something similar I can do
but one thing I don't touch is electrics anything to do with wires scares me a lot answer B
I must admit I'm no handyman in fact I feel quite helpless when things stop working or break
I just call for help or buy a replacement but I'm not bad at gluing broken pieces together and
managed to glue the handle on my favorite coffee cup recently so maybe I'm not as bad as I thought
so do I get that already good with my hands skillful and doing things you know with your hands
a toolkit is a box containing tools used for repairing things screwdrivers and a hammer one
thing I don't touch that's something you never do I'm no handyman handyman is a person who is
good at repairing things not bad at if you're not bad at something it means you're probably pretty
good and notice it gerund after add I'm not bad at doing this has anyone ever taught you how to fix
things my grandfather was a skilled electrician and very practical about everything he always told
my sister and I how important it was to know how things work and what to do when they go wrong it
was him who showed me how to do simple jobs with fuses and how to open up electrical appliances
like an iron when it stopped working to be very practical is to be very good with your hands
know how things work like understand the mechanics or how machines function when they go wrong or the
time when they stop working is there anyone in your family who's good at fixing things answer
a my father pretends he's good but all he does is take things to pieces and then he never knows
how to put them all back together again that's why we now have quite a few broken gadgets some
headphones a digital camera an old Walkman lying around answer B my mother she's amazing whenever
anything breaks or just stops working she would do her best to put it right it doesn't matter what it
could be gluing broken pots together plates toys kitchen appliances car mechanics even she'll try
her hand at anything to take things to Pieces is to separate something into pots to disassemble
and to put them back together is to reassemble the parts gadgets are usually small electronic devices
and kitchen appliances are anything from a microwave to the fridge try your hand at anything
to attempt anything next do you think it's necessary for people to learn how to fix things
I think it's very important that at the very least everybody should know the basics because that kind
of knowledge will always come in handy and will probably save you a lot of money too to know
the basics is to understand the fundamental principles of something always coming handy
it means it will always be useful now I'd like to try something new usually we only cover part 1
topics but this time I'm including a part 3 topic too so let me know in the comments if you find it
useful or not really the topic is climate change these questions in part three follow up at part
2 topic on environment climate change is always in the news these days and now it's in IELTS too
remember that the examiner will choose questions from two of three sets the easier or the more
difficult depending on your performance to that point The Examiner will try to ask you five or six
main questions and with some follow-up questions over five minutes so let's look at some possible
part three questions are there many environmental problems in your country yes and it's all to do
with climate change what's been happening over the last few years is that for one thing the Summers
seem to be getting hotter and hotter and also the weather in general is becoming so unpredictable
trains when it never used to and this unusual weather patterns have had a catastrophic effect
on farming entire harvests have been ruined and that has led to foot shortages and inflation
there's also been a lot of flooding in low-lying coastal areas and near rivers it's really getting
serious hotter and hotter you can repeat the adjective for emphasis other examples worse
and worse better and better have a catastrophic effect on collocations will have a very common
notice the own after effect and we can use different adjectives significant
enormous tremendous or the opposite negligible insignificant do you think older people are as
aware as the young when it comes to these issues it's hard to say and it's unfair to generalize we
tend to associate the young with the more active protest movements but a lot of older people do
their bit too for example where I live there is this local voluntary group of mostly retired
people who've set up a rescue center for animals caught up in wildfires in the nearby Countryside
fires brought about by record high temperatures and these people attacking the issue head on while
so many of us young and old do next to nothing do your bit do something useful make a contribution
through your efforts tackle the issue head on this means to take direct action to solve a problem
do next to nothing do very little or make no effort next is enough been done either in your
region or worldwide to deal with climate change I don't think so we've reached the Tipping Point
or we're getting very close to it just take the impact it's having on rising sea levels
if something isn't done right now it'll be too late to save the planet most of the blame lies
without dependence on fossil fuels and if we don't reduce that dependence by investing in a
renewable energy sources like solar panels I just don't know what will happen to reach the Tipping
Point The Tipping Point is the point of no return when you can't reverse or change what's happening
the blame lies with it means that's responsibility of someone or something or it's their fault is
international cooperation necessary to solve climate change issues of course but it's not
that simple world leaders should be showing us the way but as far as I can see some of them seem to
be in denial saying that we have nothing to worry about they have all these conferences and they
all sign up to agreements about Net Zero carbon emissions and talk about protecting the rainforest
and whatever but then most of them break their promises afterwards the Outlook is not encouraging
okay let's talk about some vocabulary to show somebody the way to lead by example in denial
this means you refuse to admit the truth or the reality of the situation sign up to something
this means to promise to do something by putting your signature on the document
so here are the examples of climate change vocabulary it's just a sample if you are asked
to talk about this topic in the speaking test nobody expects you to be an expert on the subject
but it's a good idea to be familiar with some tones so here are some examples flooding that's
where Rivers overflow or the sea Rises and has occurred so often in the last few years wildfires
these are fires out of control usually in areas where there are a lot of trees and they cause
terrible destruction tropical rainforests such as the Amazon need to be protected against the
effects of climate change and human exploitation of course look again at the list you can add more
to it yourself you don't have to be an expert but it's good to know some topic specific vocabulary
in the speaking Library you can find all the sample answers and vocabulary
on this and over 40 other IELTS speaking topics and will regularly add new topics
it's a great result if you have a bit of time before your exam and you want to improve your
speaking skills I'll link it in the video description arguably part 3 of the speaking
test has more effect on your score than part one the last impression is stronger
than the first so if you'd like to improve your part three answers watch this video here and
thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam bye