Friday

IELTS Practice Tests Writer Marries




Robbie Nicholson, our main IELTS practice tests writer, and Katarzyna (Kasia) Baliga, were married last weekend on 10th August at Sw. Marcina Church in Krakow. Following the marriage, the wedding party walked down Grodzka to Wawel castle and took a boat with champagne up and down the Vistula for a half hour before arriving at their reception at Manggha Japanese Museum, where they celebrated until late.

Kasia met Robbie in London in July 2008. Robbie, a cricket fanatic, was at Lord's cricket ground watching England versus South Africa and met Kasia whilst ordering a coffee. From there, the couple met regularly until Kasia took the plunge of going to Germany to be with Robbie. While in Germany, Kasia became a qualified teacher and worked with Robbie at Dresden International School.

Four years after their meeting, Robbie proposed in San Sebastian, Spain, one morning on a swimming platform. After an awkward moment while Robbie extricated the ring from his swimming shorts, the penny dropped and accepted the proposal after some shock and surprise!

Back now in Germany, Kasia is back at the school, while Robbie is working on ieltshelpnow.com's promotion and of course IELTS practice tests writing. He has already completed a further five IELTS listening tests and is now working on a further ten. Fifteen further IELTS practice tests listening module are planned to be released at Easter 2014.




ALL ABOUT IELTS

What is IELTS?
IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who need to study or work where English is the language of communication.

IELTS is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia. IELTS conforms to the highest international standards of language assessment.

IELTS is recognised by universities and employers in many countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. It is also recognised by professional bodies, immigration authorities and other government agencies.

Note: This website is NOT the same or connected or associated with any of the IELTS Test Partners. If you want to prepare yourself for IELTS exam, you are in the right place! But if you are looking for information about registering for the IELTS, test dates or test fees, visit the official IELTS website, www.ielts.org.


Where can I take IELTS?
More than 400 test centers around the world administer IELTS. Most test centers are run by the British Council, IELTS Australia, or universities and language schools. Some testing centers also offer off-site testing for large groups by prior arrangement with IELTS. Contact your local examination center or visit www.iefts.org to find out where the nearest IELTS test center is located.

Where can I find information about registering for the test?
You can contact your nearest examination center or visit the official IELTS website for more information about application procedures and the location of a test center near you.

The Test Format
There are four sub-tests, or modules, to the IELTS test: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. Students must sit all four sub-tests. While all students take the same Listening and Speaking tests, they sit different Reading and Writing tests, depending on whether they have selected the Academic IELTS test or the General Training IELTS test.

On the day of the test, the four subsections will be taken in the following order:


The Speaking test may even take place a day or two later at some centres.

IELTS listening test lasts for about 30 minutes. It consists of four sections, played on cassette tape, in order of increasing difficulty. Each section might be a dialogue or a monologue. The test is played once only, and the questions for each section must be answered while listening, although time is given for students to check their answers.

IELTS Reading test lasts for 60 minutes. Students are given an Academic Reading test, or a General Training Reading test. Both tests consist of three sections, and in both tests the sections are in order of increasing difficulty.

IELTS Writing test also lasts for 60 minutes. Again, students take either an Academic test, or a General Training test. Students must perform two writing tasks, which require different styles of writing. There is no choice of question topics.

IELTS Speaking test consists of a one-to-one interview with a specially trained examiner. The examiner will lead the candidate through the three parts of the test:
An introduction and interview, an individual long turn where the candidate speaks for one or two minutes on a particular topic, and a two-way discussion thematically linked to the individual long turn. This interview will last for approximately 11-14 minutes.

FREE IELTS WRITING TASKS

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:
Modern technology now allows rapid and uncontrolled access to and exchange of information.
Far from being benefical, this is a danger to our societies.

What are your views?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.

Sample Answer

In last few years, the morden technology has been developed very fast. People getting used to use the rapid and uncontrolled technology instead of (some people believe that) manpower. On the other hand, it brings problems to our societies. I will consider these different points of views in favour to support the modern technology. It has been argued that too much morden technology cause people losing their job. Nowadays, many factories are useing automatic technology instead manpower, in order to increase their business. However, It brings a huge problem of unemployment, furthermore, it would increasing on the crimes rate. Similiy, morden technology speeds up our life. people feel stressful about their jobs, families, and societies. It is no doubt that morden technology deveoloped our life more convenient than before. For example, we could keeping in touch with our friends which live far away from us pass through the internet. Moreover, companies could contact with their customer by the internet. It’s much cheaper than calling the long-distance phone. Besides, the technology development could help medicine inventing.

Task Achievement
The writer does not address the proposition contained in the task rubric. Instead of discussing issues to do with the accessibility of electronic information, he/she deals with the general pros and cons of technology.
At 175 words, the response is considerably under length.

Coherence and Cohesion
The response is clearly structured: it contains three paragraphs, each of which has a distinct function. To that extent, the response is coherent. However, in certain ways the presentation of the argument is cou ter to expectations, and so causes a degree of miscommunication. The first paragraph is an introduction, which outlines opposing views about technology, and states the writer’s opinion. The second and third paragraphs then illustrate the two views in more detail. The absence of any concluding paragraph, where writers summarise arguments and explain opinions, means it is unclear why one particular view is supported in preference to the other. Though if the link between the second and third paragraphs had been made more overt, perhaps by introducing the third with On the other hand, any doubts might have been reduced. Elsewhere organising expressions are used to very good effect.

Lexical Resource
The writer demonstrates a reasonably wide range of vocabulary, including less frequent items such as crime(s) rate, manpower and speeds up. These are usually used correctly, although uncontrolled is used inappropriately, and has possibly been misunderstood. Apart from the use of morden, repeated several times, and Similiy, spelling is accurate. 

Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses a wide range of structures, including complex ones. Although errors occur throughout, comprehension is rarely if ever impeded, and the reader has the overall impression of fluency. Punctuation is largely accurate, and sentence divisions are appropriate.

FREE IELTS PRACTICE TESTS: EXAM 03

Reading passage 1

BAKELITE The birth of modern plastics

In 1907, Leo Hendrick Baekeland, a Belgian scientist working in New York, discovered and patented a revolutionary new synthetic material. His invention, which he named 'Bakelite', was of enormous technological importance, and effectively launched the modern plastics industry.  The term 'plastic' comes from the Greek plassein, meaning 'to mould'. Some plastics are derived from natural sources, some are semi-synthetic (the result of chemical action on a natural substance), and some are entirely synthetic, that is, chemically engineered from the constituents of coal or oil. Some are 'thermoplastic', which means that, like candlewax, they melt when heated and can then be reshaped. Others are 'thermosetting': like eggs, they cannot revert to their original viscous state, and their shape is thus fixed for ever., Bakelite had the distinction of being the first totally synthetic thermosetting plastic. The history of today's plastics begins with the discovery of a series of semi-synthetic thermoplastic materials in the mid-nineteenth century. The impetus behind the development of these early plastics was generated by a number of factors - immense technological progress in the domain of chemistry, coupled with wider cultural changes, and the pragmatic need to find acceptable substitutes for dwindling supplies of 'luxury' materials such as tortoiseshell and ivory. Baekeland's interest in plastics began in 1885 when, as a young chemistry student in Belgium, he embarked on research into phenolic resins, the group of sticky substances produced when phenol (carbolic acid) combines with an aldehyde (a volatile fluid similar to alcohol). He soon abandoned the subject, however, only returning to it some years later. By 1905 he was a wealthy New Yorker, having recently made his fortune with the invention of a new photographic paper. While Baekeland had been busily amassing dollars, some advances had been made in the development of plastics. The years 1899 and 1900 had seen the patenting of the first semi-synthetic thermosetting material that could be manufactured on an industrial scale. In purely scientific terms, Baekeland's major contribution to the field is not so much the actual discovery of the material to which he gave his name, but rather the method by which a reaction between phenol and formaldehyde could be controlled, thus making possible its preparation on a commercial basis. On 13 July 1907, Baekeland took out his famous patent describing this preparation, the essential features of which are still in use today.
The original patent outlined a three-stage process, in which phenol and formaldehyde (from wood or coal) were initially combined under vacuum inside a large egg-shaped kettle. The result was a resin known as Novalak, which became soluble and malleable when heated. The resin was allowed to cool in shallow trays until it hardened, and then broken up and ground into powder. Other substances were then introduced: including fillers, such as woodflour, asbestos or cotton, which increase strength and. moisture resistance, catalysts (substances to speed up the reaction between two chemicals without joining to either) and hexa, a compound of ammonia and formaldehyde which supplied the additional formaldehyde necessary to form a thermosetting resin. This resin was then left to cool and harden, and ground up a second time. The resulting granular powder was raw Bakelite, ready to be made into a vast range of manufactured objects. In the last stage, the heated Bakelite was poured into a hollow mould of the required shape and subjected to extreme heat and pressure; thereby 'setting' its form for life. The design of Bakelite objects, everything from earrings to television sets, was governed to a large extent by the technical requirements of the moulding process. The object could not be designed so that it was locked into the mould and therefore difficult to extract. A common general rule was that objects should taper towards the deepest part of the mould, and if necessary the product was moulded in separate pieces. Moulds had to be carefully designed so that the molten Bakelite would flow evenly and completely into the mould. Sharp corners proved impractical and were thus avoided, giving rise to the smooth, 'streamlined' style popular in the 1930s. The thickness of the walls of the mould was also crucial: thick walls took longer to cool and harden, a factor which had to be considered by the designer in order to make the most efficient use of machines. Baekeland's invention, although treated with disdain in its early years, went on to enjoy an unparalleled popularity which lasted throughout the first half of the twentieth century. It became the wonder product of the new world of industrial expansion -'the material of a thousand uses'. Being both non-porous and heat-resistant, Bakelite kitchen goods were promoted as being germ-free and sterilisable. Electrical manufacturers seized on its insulating: properties, and consumers everywhere relished its dazzling array of shades, delighted that they were now, at last, no longer restricted to the wood tones and drab browns of the prepfastic era. It then fell from favour again during the 1950s, and was despised and destroyed in vast quantities. Recently, however, it has been experiencing something of a renaissance, with renewed demand for original Bakelite objects in the collectors' marketplace, and museums, societies and dedicated individuals once again appreciating the style and originality of this innovative material.

 Reading pessage 2

What's so funny?

John McCrone reviews recent research on humour

The joke comes over the headphones: ' Which side of a dog has the most hair? The left.' No, not funny. Try again. ' Which side of a dog has the most hair? The outside.' Hah! The punchline is silly yet fitting, tempting a smile, even a laugh. Laughter has always struck people as deeply mysterious, perhaps pointless. The writer Arthur Koestler dubbed it the luxury reflex: 'unique in that it serves no apparent biological purpose'. Theories about humour have an ancient pedigree. Plato expressed the idea that humour is simply a delighted feeling of superiority over others. Kant and Freud felt that joke-telling relies on building up a psychic tension which is safely punctured by the ludicrousness of the punchline. But most modern humour theorists have settled on some version of Aristotle's belief that jokes are based on a reaction to or resolution of incongruity, when the punchline is either a nonsense or, though appearing silly, has a clever second meaning. Graeme Ritchie, a computational linguist in Edinburgh, studies the linguistic structure of jokes in order to understand not only humour but language understanding and reasoning in machines. He says that while there is no single format for jokes, many revolve around a sudden and surprising conceptual shift. A comedian will present a situation followed by an unexpected interpretation that is also apt. So even if a punchline sounds silly, the listener can see there is a clever semantic fit and that sudden mental 'Aha!' is the buzz that makes us laugh. Viewed from this angle, humour is just a form of creative insight, a sudden leap to a new perspective.

However, there is another type of laughter, the laughter of social appeasement and it is important to understand this too. Play is a crucial part of development in most young mammals. Rats produce ultrasonic squeaks to prevent their scuffles turning nasty. Chimpanzees have a 'play-face' - a gaping expression accompanied by a panting 'ah, ah' noise. In humans, these signals have mutated into smiles and laughs. Researchers believe social situations, rather than cognitive events such as jokes, trigger these instinctual markers of play or appeasement. People laugh on fairground rides or when tickled to flag a play situation, whether they feel amused or not. Both social and cognitive types of laughter tap into the same expressive machinery in our brains, the emotion and motor circuits that produce smiles and excited vocalisations. However, if cognitive laughter is the product of more general thought processes, it should result from more expansive brain activity. Psychologist Vinod Goel investigated humour using the new technique of 'single event' functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRl). An MRI scanner uses magnetic fields and radio waves to track the changes in oxygenated blood that accompany mental activity. Until recently, MRI scanners needed several minutes of activity and so could not be used to track rapid thought processes such as comprehending a joke. New developments now allow half-second 'snapshots' of all sorts of reasoning and problem-solving activities.

Although Goel felt being inside a brain scanner was hardly the ideal place for appreciating a joke, he found evidence that understanding a joke involves a widespread mental shift. His scans showed that at the beginning of a joke the listener'$ prefrontal cortex lit up, particularly the right prefrontal believed to be critical for problem solving. But there was also activity in the temporal lobes at the side of the head (consistent with attempts to rouse stored knowledge) and in many other brain areas. Then when the punchline arrived, a new area sprang to life -the orbital prefrontal cortex. This patch of brain tucked behind the orbits of the eyes is associated with evaluating information.

Making a rapid emotional assessment of the events of the moment is an extremely demanding job for the brain, animal or human. Energy and arousal levels may need, to be retuned in the blink of an eye. These abrupt changes will produce either positive or negative feelings. The orbital cortex, the region that becomes active in Goel's experiment, seems the best candidate for the site that feeds such feelings into higher-level thought processes, with its close connections to the brain's sub-cortical arousal apparatus and centres of metabolic control.

All warm-blooded animals make constant tiny adjustments in arousal in response to external events, but humans, who have developed a much more complicated internal life as a result of language, respond emotionally not only to their surroundings, but to their. own thoughts. Whenever a sought-for answer snaps into place, there is a shudder of pleased recognition. Creative discovery being pleasurable, humans have learned to find ways of milking this natural response. The fact that jokes tap into our general evaluative machinery explains why the line between funny and disgusting, or funny and frightening, can be so fine. Whether a joke gives pleasure or pain depends on a person's outlook.

Humour may be a luxury, but the mechanism behind it is no evolutionary accident. As Peter Derks, a psychologist at William and Mary College in Virginia, says: 'I like to think of humour as the distorted mirror of the mind. It's creative, perceptual, analytical and lingual. If we can figure out how the mind processes humour, then we'll have a pretty good handle on how it works in general.


Reading Passage 3

The Birth of Scientific English


World science is dominated today by a small number of languages, including Japanese, German and French, but it is English which is probably the most popular global language of science. This is not just because of the importance of English-speaking countries such as the USA in scientific research; the scientists of many non-English-speaking countries find that they need to write their research papers in English to reach a wide international audience. Given the prominence of scientific English today, it may seem surprising that no one really knew how to write science in English before the 17th century. Before that, Latin was regarded as the lingua franca for European intellectuals.

 The European Renaissance (c. 14th-16th century) is sometimes called the 'revival of learning', a time of renewed interest in the 'lost knowledge' of classical times. At the same time, however, scholars also began to test and extend this knowledge. The emergent nation states of Europe developed competitive interests in world exploration and the development of trade. Such expansion, which was to take the English language west to America and east to India, was supported by scientific developments such as the discovery of magnetism (and hence the invention of the compass), improvements in cartography and - perhaps the most important scientific revolution of them all - the new theories of astronomy and the movement of the Earth in relation to the planets and stars, developed by Copernicus (1473-1543).

England was one of the first countries where scientists adopted and publicised Copernican ideas with enthusiasm. Some of these scholars, including two with interests in language -John Wall's and John Wilkins - helped Found the Royal Society in 1660 in order to promote empirical scientific research.

Across Europe similar academies and societies arose, creating new national traditions of science. In the initial stages of the scientific revolution, most publications in the national languages were popular works, encyclopaedias, educational textbooks and translations.

Original science was not done in English until the second half of the 17th century. For example, Newton published his mathematical treatise, known as the Principia, in Latin, but published his later work on the properties of light - Opticks - in English.

There were several reasons why original science continued to be written in Latin. The first was simply a matter of audience. Latin was suitable for an international audience of scholars, whereas English reached a socially wider, but more local, audience. Hence, popular science was written in English.
    
A second reason for writing in Latin may, perversely, have been a concern for secrecy. Open publication had dangers in putting into the public domain preliminary ideas which had not yet been fully exploited by their 'author' . This growing concern about intellectual properly rights was a feature of the period - it reflected both the humanist notion of the individual, rational scientist who invents and discovers through private intellectual labour, and the growing connection between original science and commercial exploitation. There was something of a social distinction between 'scholars and gentlemen' who understood Latin, and men of trade who lacked a classical education. And in the mid-17th century it was common practice for mathematicians to keep their discoveries and proofs secret, by writing them in cipher, in obscure languages, or in private messages deposited in a sealed box with the Royal Society. Some scientists might have felt more comfortable with Latin precisely because its audience, though inte national, was socially restricted. Doctors clung the most keenly to Latin as an 'insider language'.

A third reason why the wriling of original science in English was delayed may have been to do with the linguistic inadequacy of English in the early modern period. English was not well equipped to deal with scientific argument. First, it lacked the necessary technical vocabulary. Second, it lacked the grammatical resources required to represent the world in an objective and impersonal way, and to discuss the relations, such as cause and effect, that might hold between complex and hypothetical entities.

Fortunately, several members of the Royal Society possessed an interest in language and became engaged in various linguistic projects. Although a proposal in 1664 to establish a committee for improving the English language came to little, the society's members did a great deal to foster the publication of science in English and to encourage the development of a suitable writing style. Many members of the Royal Society also published monographs in English. One of the first was by Robert Hooke, the society's first curator of experiments, who described his experiments with microscopes in Micrographia (1665). This work is largely narrative in style, based on a transcript of oral demonstrations and lectures.

In 1665 a new scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions, was inaugurated. Perhaps the first international English-language scientific journal, it encouraged a new genre of scientific writing, that of short, focused accounts of particular experiments.

The 17th century was thus a formative period in the establishment of scientific English. In the following century much of this momentum was lost as German established itself as the leading European language of science. It is estimated that by the end of the 18th century 401 German scientific journals had been established as opposed to 96 in France and 50 in England. However, in the 19th century scientific English again enjoyed substantial lexical growth as the industrial revolution created the need for new technical vocabulary, and new, specialised, professional societies were instituted to promote and publish in the new disciplines.


*** lingua franca: a language which is used for communication between groups of people who speak different languages

Questions 1-3


      Complete the summary.
      Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
      Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

Some plastics behave in a similar way to 
1 .................... in that they melt under heat and can be moulded into new forms. Bakelite was unique because it was the first material to be both entirely 
2.................... in origin, and thermosetting.
      There were several reasons for the research into plastics in the nineteenth century, among them the great advances that had been made in the field of 
3 .................... and the search for alternatives to natural resources like ivory.

Questions 4-8


     Complete the flow-chart.

    Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

    Write your answers in boxes 4-8 on your answer sheet.

The Production of Bakelite

phenol combine under vacuum  formaldehyde stage one resin, called 
4 ....................cool until hardened break up and grind into powder
5 ....................(e.g. cotton, asbestos)   catalyst ammonia
6 .................... formaldehyde tage two resin cool until hardened break up and grind into powder
7 .................... Bakelite heat pour into mould apply intense heat and 
8 .................... cool until hardened



Questions 9-10


Write your answers in boxes 9 and 10 on your answer sheet.
NB Your answers may be given in either order.
Which TWO of the following factors influencing the design of Bakelite objects are mentioned in the text?

A. the function which the object would serve
B. the ease with which the resin could fill the mould
C. the facility with which the object could be removed from the mould
D. the limitations of the materials used to manufacture the mould
E. the fashionable styles of the period


Questions 11-13


Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE                   if the statement agrees with the information
 FALSE                if the statement contradicts the information
 NOT GIVEN      if there is no information on this

11 Modern-day plastic preparation is based on the same principles as that patented in 1907. 
12 Bakelite was immediately welcomed as a practical and versatile material. 
13 Bakelite was only available in a limited range of colours. 



Questions 14-20


Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet, write


TRUE                if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE               if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN      if there is no information on this

14.  Arthur Koestler considered laughter biologically important in several ways. 
15.  Plato believed humour to be a sign of above-average intelligence. 
16.  Kant believed that a successful joke involves the controlled release of nervous energy. 
17.  Current thinking on humour has largely ignored Aristotle's view on the subject. 
18. Graeme Ritchie's work links jokes to artificial intelligence. 
19. Most comedians use personal situations as a source of humour. 
20. Chimpanzees make particular noises when they are playing.


Questions 21-23


The diagram below shows the areas of the brain activated by jokes.

Label the diagram.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 11-23 on your answer sheet.


Right prefrontal cortex lights

up - area of brain linked to

21 ....................




Orbital prefrontal cortex is

activated - involved with

23 ....................
IELTS
22 .................... become

active too






Questions 24-27


Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-G below.

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet.
24. One of the brain's most difficult tasks is to 
25. Because of the language they have developed, humans 
26. Individual responses to humour 
27. Peter Derks believes that humour

A. react to their own thoughts.
B. helped create language in humans.
C. respond instantly to whatever is happening.
D. may provide valuable information about the operation of the brain.
E.  cope with difficult situations.
F. relate to a person's subjective views.
G. led our ancestors to smile and then laugh.


Questions 28-34


Complete the summary.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 28-34 on your answer sheet.

In Europe modem science emerged at the same time as the nation state. At first, the scientific language of choice remained 
28 .................... It allowed scientists to communicate with other socially privileged thinkers while protecting their work from unwanted exploitation. Sometimes the desire to protect ideas seems to have been stronger than the desire to communicate them, particularly in the case of mathematicians and 

29 .................... In Britain, moreover, scientists worried that English had neither the 
30 .................... nor the 
31 .................... to express their ideas.This situation only changed after 1660 when scientists associated with the 
32 .................... set about developing English. An early scientific journal fostered a new kind of writing based on short descriptions of specific experiments. Although English was then overtaken by 
33 .................... it developed again in the 19th century. as a direct result of the
34 .....................


Questions 35-37


Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 35-37 on your answer sheet, write

YES       if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
 NO      if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NOT GIVEN       if there is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

35. There was strong competition between scientists in Renaissance Europe. 
36. The most important scientific development of the Renaissance period was the discovery of magnetism. 
37. In 17th-century Britain, leading thinkers combined their interest in science with an interest in how to express ideas.  




Questions 38-40


Complete the table.


Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.


Science written in the first half of the 17th century
       Language used      Latin        English
      Type of science      Original        38 ....................
       Examples       39 ....................         Encyclopaedias
     Target audienceInternational scholars    40 .................... , but socially wider


   









Answer

1... candlewax
2... synthetic
3... chemistry

4... Novalak
5... filters
6... hexa
7... raw
8... pressure

9... B
10.. C

11.. true
12.. false
13.. false
14.. false
15.. not given
16.. true
17.. false
18.. true
19.. not given
20.. true

21.. problem solving
22.. temporal lobes
23.. evaluating information

24.. C
25.. A
26.. F
27.. D

28.. Latin
29.. doctors
30.. technical vocabulary
31.. grammatical resources
32.. Royal Society
33.. German
34.. industrial revolution

35.. not given
36.. false
37.. true

38.. popular
39.. Principa / the principia / newton's principia / mathmatical treastise
40.. local / more local / local audienc


Sunday

FREE IELTS Academic Writing and FREE General Training Writing Differences.




Today, we will follow the previous article which discussed the differences between the academic and general training modules. It was outlined in the previous article how the listening and speaking sections of the tests were the same in the academic and general training modules. Students taking the IELTS test cold then buy either module of our IELTS practice tests to train for these areas of the IELTS test.

Naturally though, it would be silly to buy IELTS practice tests that were not the module that you were taking. This article will therefore examine the IELTS writing tests, so that the differences between the academic and general training modules are clear.

The IELTS academic module writing consists of two tasks. The first task should take around 20 minutes to complete. Students will get some kind of pictorial or graphical information an they will have to write a report for a university teacher on the information. Task 1 should be no fewer than 150 words. Task 2 is an essay of not fewer than 250 words. The essay questions will be of a general though mildly academic nature.

The IELTS general training module also consists of two tasks. The first task requires the student to write a letter in response to a certain given situation. Again, the first task should take around 20 minutes to complete and it should be no fewer than 150 words. Like the academic module, Task 2 is an essay of not fewer than 250 words. The essay questions will be of a general nature.

Find help on all elements of the IELTS writing tests HERE.

Our IELTS practice tests provide realistic IELTS style questions for both tasks for the academic and general training modules. We also provide model example essays for all our questions, so that students can see one excellent way of answering the questions.

In our next article, we will look at the academic and general training reading tests and our IELTS practice tests on these.

More FREE IELTS Listening Tests Produced.




As you may have read in previous articles, ieltshelpnow.com are set on adding to their IELTS practice tests canon 15 more full tests. This will continue the original plan of increasing the IELTS practice tests on the site from 10 to 30 in 4 years. The first of this plan saw 5 full tests being uploaded, both in academic and general training format. As our sister sites, ieltsinteractive.com and ieltstestsonline.com, are most suited to first listening tests and secondly, reading tests, we have decided to now focus our attention on listening tests first and get them uploaded onto the sister site. This will be followed by 15 reading tests.

This will also suit our plan of launching a tablet application, as again listening and reading are the formats that can most successfully be transferred interactively to the digital format.

Right now, listening tests 16 to 25 are in the proof reading stage and tests 26 to 30 are in the writing stage. We hope that listening tests 16 to 30 will be written and proofread by the coming Christmas, so that the recordings can be done in time for a release at Easter 2014. This timetable should be attainable if things continue as they have been doing. As they won't be full IELTS practice tests, they will at first be only released on the sister sites in an interactive format, or be made available to our partners around the world.

We will keep you informed of our progress regularly.

FREE IELTS LESSON - THE GENERAL WRITING TEST - TASK 2



Task 2 in the General Training Writing Test is more important than task 1. You have to write more, it's a more difficult task and it is worth more to your final band for writing as more weight is given to Task 2 than to Task 1. Practice on IELTS practice tests is important for both tasks.
The IELTS General Training Writing Test

The IELTS General Training Writing Test lasts for 1 hour and includes 2 tasks. Task 1 is a letter and you must write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes out of the hour for Task 1. Task 2 is an essay and you must write at least 250 words. You should spend about 40 minutes for Task 2.
The Task for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing

The IELTS General Training Writing Task 2 asks you to write a short essay of a minimum of 250 words. The essay is usually a discussion of a subject of general interest. You may have to present and justify your opinion about something, give the solution to a problem or compare differing ideas or viewpoints. It is important that you consider finding IELTS practice tests, so that you can practice this part of the IELTS in order to achieve your true potential.
Marking for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing

Your task will be marked in four areas. You will get a mark from 1 to 9 on Task response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Your final band for Task 2 will be effectively an average of the four marks awarded in these areas. Task 2 writing is more important than Task 1 and to calculate the final writing mark, more weight is assigned to the Task 2 mark than to Task 1's mark. To get a good overall mark though, both tasks have to be well answered so don't hold back on Task 1 or give yourself too little time to answer it properly.

Task Response
This mark grades you on the content of your essay. It marks whether you have fully addressed all parts of task. The examiner wants you in your essay to have a fully developed answer to the question given with relevent and extended ideas and support. The support is the facts that you use to back up your ideas. Support is very important in Task 2. You need to bring in facts from your own experience in order to support your ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion

These two are interrelated which is why they are done together. Cohesion is how your writing fits together. Does your writing with its ideas and content flow logically? Coherence is how you are making yourself understood and whether the reader of your writing understands what you are saying. An example of bad coherence and cohesion would be as follows:

1 We went to the beach because it was raining.

Probably the writer of this sentence does not mean "because" as people don't usually go to the beach when it is raining. The writer should have written:

2 We went to the beach although it was raining.

Sentence 1 has made a cohesion and coherence error (as well as a vocabulary one). "Because" does not join the ideas of the sentence together correctly and, as a result, the reader does not understand what the writer wants to say. This is an exaggerated example but it shows what I mean. Good cohesion and coherence is not noticeable as it allows the writing to be read easily. Good cohesion and coherence also includes good and appropriate paragraph usage.

Lexical Resource

This area looks at the your choice of words. The marker will look at whether the right words are used and whether they are used at the right time in the right place and in the right way. To get a good mark here, the word choice should not only be accurate but wide ranging, natural and sophisticated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Here the examiner will mark your appropriate, flexible and accurate use of grammatical structures. Many people are worried about their grammar but, as you can see, grammar is only one section of four used to grade your writing. IELTS is much more interested in communication rather than grammatical accuracy. It is, of course, still part of the marking scheme and important as such.
Paragraphing for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing

This is a very easy thing to do but it can have an enormous effect on the clarity of your writing. I have said this for Task 1 but for Task 2 it's is even more important. In Task 2 you will be writing more and it is therefore more important to divide your writing up into divisions to make it easier to read.

Very often people use no paragraphing and the examiner is faced with a "sea" of writing with no breaks from start to finish. For me, the best writings are those where there are paragraphs separated by an empty line and also indented. In this way your ideas are separated clearly. It shows and gives organization to your writing and makes it more readable.

For Task 2, have a paragraph break after your introduction, and then for every differing section of your separate ideas with the supporting evidence. Then have a final paragraph for your conclusion. You should aim to have 3 or 4 paragraphs plus the introduction and conclusion.

Look at this section on paragraphing. It is divided into 5 separate paragraphs dividing the 5 different areas that I want to present to you, the reader. The 5 areas are:
Paragraph 1 Why paragraphing is important for Task 2.
Paragraph 2 How to divide your paragraphing.
Paragraph 3 Where your paragraph divisions should occur.
Paragraph 4 The division of paragraphs in this section.
Paragraph 5 Explaining the comparison with this section and the one below to show how paragraphing can work.

Below I will repeat paragraphs 1 - 4 of this section on paragraphing but I am going to remove all the paragraphs and line breaks and make it a "sea of writing" as I said can happen above. I hope you feel that this section is easier to understand than the one below!! (By the way, I haven't used line breaks through this entire tutorial as there would be too many and it would be too confusing).
Paragraphing (bad example section)

This is a very easy thing to do but it can have an enormous effect on the clarity of your writing. I have said this for Task 1 but for Task 2 it's is even more important. In Task 2 you will be writing more and it is therefore more important to divide your writing up into divisions to make it easier to read. Very often people use no paragraphing and the examiner is faced with a "sea" of writing with no breaks from start to finish. For me, the best writings are those where there are paragraphs separated by an empty line and also indented. In this way your ideas are separated clearly. It shows and gives organization to your writing and makes it more readable. For Task 2, have a paragraph break after your introduction, and then for every differing section of your separate ideas with the evidence. Then have a final paragraph for your conclusion. You should aim to have 3 or 4 paragraphs plus the introduction and conclusion. Look at this section on paragraphing. It is divided into 4 separate paragraphs dividing the 4 different areas that I want to present to you the reader. The 4 areas are: Paragraph 1: Why paragraphing is important for task 2: Paragraph 2: How to divide your paragraphing. Paragraph 3: Where your paragraph divisions should occur. Paragraph 4: An example to show you how paragraphing works.

I hope you feel that the first section was easier to understand than this second one!!
Ideas to Think About for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing
1 Timing

The exam paper recommends that you spend about 40 minutes on this question and this is about right. Remember that Task 2 gives more to your final writing band and so you should make sure that you have enough time after Task 1 to properly answer Task 2. Some students do Task 2 first in order to make sure that Task 2 is answered well before they get onto Task 1. There is no problem with this but make sure you write the 150 words to give a good answer for Task 1 as well.

So, whatever you decide to do about your approach to Task 1 and Task 2 in the writing paper, make sure that you spend approximately 20 minutes on Task 1 and 40 minutes on Task 2. This should give you the right amount of time to provide good answers to both tasks.

Practice from IELTS practice tests on writing both tasks in under an hour is an important part of your preparation for the IELTS exam.
2 Answering the question.

Although this sounds very straightforward, people don't often properly answer the question set and therefore don't get the band that they should even if the writing is very good.

First of all read the question very carefully in order to see exactly what it asks you. Very often there will be more than 1 part to the question; sometimes even 3 or 4 parts. When you produce your answer you must answer all the different parts of the question. How much you produce on each part depends on how important you think it is.

You have to write a formal academic English essay of the type that would be required for teachers or tertiary education courses. Formulate and develop an argument and show a personal response. Give your opinions and back them up with evidence and examples. Your answer should persuade, be consistent and develop logically towards a conclusion, which answers all parts of the question.

Another important basic is to write at least 250 words. Writing less does not answer the question, which tells you to write at least 250 words. If you write less than 250 words, the examiner marking your paper will give you a maximum of 5 for Arguments, Ideas and Evidence or even less. It is no problem to write more than the 250 words; there is no upward word limit on the essay. Time is your only constraint. Time is your only constraint. Writing more than the minimum under the time limit requires practice on proper questions from IELTS practice tests.

The question wants you to produce an essay. Therefore don't give a list of numbered notes (your paragraphs should not be numbered). Give the examiner a proper essay with an introduction, a main body with your ideas and evidence and a conclusion, all divided of course with the paragraphing techniques discussed above.
3 Planning

Many students that I have taught have regarded writing an essay plan as a waste of time. The only answer I can give is that it depends on the individual. If you are a good essay writer who can automatically organize your ideas and structure in your head so well that you can produce a good structured essay without planning, then I say that's it's fine not to write an essay plan.

Also if you're really short of time and you need to get writing on page, then you don't want to waste time on planning. However, if none of these conditions apply, then 1 or 2 minutes thinking about your ideas and how you are going to present them will not be wasted. I'm not saying that you should spend 10 minutes on this. Just take a scrap of paper and jot down some ideas that you are going to use in your essay.

Then you can divide the ideas into 3 or 4 paragraphs in a logical order. This shouldn't take you long and the structure that this will give your essay will be well worth the time that you spend doing it.

The above skills do not come easily and it is important that you practice planning with proper IELTS writing questions from IELTS practice tests.
Writing The Essay
1 The Introduction

First of all, don't repeat any part of the question in your introduction. This is not your own work and therefore will be disregarded by the examiner and deducted from the word count. You can use individual words but be careful of using "chunks" of the question text.

Your introduction should first say what you understand by the question. Then give the main issue or issues that you intend to bring into your answer. Don't go into any detail; you can save that for the later paragraphs.

Finally, the question often asks you to take up a position over an issue. There is no right answer for putting your views at the start and then explaining this through the essay, or developing your opinion though your essay and stating your final stance at the end. I personally like the opinion at the start of the essay. Quickly and clearly answer the question, making your attitude plain. Don't give any reasons. Again, that's what the body of your essay is for. You don't have to do it this way though. You can wait until your conclusion to give your position as regards the question.
2 The Body of Your Essay

You should aim to have 3 or 4 paragraphs in your answer. This is not exact. You can write more or fewer paragraphs, as your answer requires. Remember you've only got about 40 minutes to cover all the question areas so don't be too ambitious and try to write too much.

In the body of your essay you should do several things. You need to examine all parts of the question. Remember there is often more than 1 question contained in the essay question text. You need to look at all that is asked and look at both sides of every issue. IELTS essay questions usually ask you something which has two or more points of view, and you need to consider both sides of every argument no matter what your opinion is.

Look below at the example. The question asks whether or not you believe whether societies should use capital punishment. There are, of course, two points of view:

(1) capital punishment should be used and

(2) capital punishment shouldn't be used.

Let's say for example that you don't believe that capital punishment should be used by societies. No matter what point of view you have, you should look at both sides, though naturally your writing will favour the position that you have taken. Give the reasons why you don't believe in capital punishment but then look at the opposing view and say why you don't accept it. In this way you will show the reader your powers of analysis when looking at such an issue.

Don't forget that when you have finished looking at this issue there is a second part of the question to be analysed too.

As we said earlier, your ideas need to be supported by examples and it is in the body of your essay that they should appear. For every idea that you present try and give an example from your own experience that shows that your idea is right.

An example from your own experience means something that you know from your life, from your country's news or history or anything that you have read anywhere. You can actually invent examples if you need as long as they seem realistic and believable. The examiner is probably not going to research anything you write about.

The example below should illustrate what we have been discussing here.
3 The Conclusion

This doesn't need to be a long paragraph. You need to sum up your points providing a final perspective on your topic. All the conclusion needs is three or four strong sentences, which do not need to follow any set formula. Simply review the main points (being careful not to restate them exactly or repeat all your examples) and briefly describe your feelings about the topic; this provides an answer to all parts of the question. An anecdote can also end your essay in a useful way.
An Example of the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing

It's very difficult to visualize and understand all the things that I have said above. You need to practice with good quality questions from IELTS practice tests. Here I will try and provide you with an example question and then go through the stages of thought to show you how to approach an IELTS General Training Writing Task 2 essay.

Here is a possible question that would be typical for a Task 2 essay question.

"Do you believe that societies ought to enforce capital punishment or Are there alternative forms of punishment that would be better used?"

First of all you need to consider the question. What does it ask? Straight away, you can see that it asks 2 things.

It wants to know if you believe that society should use capital punishment (cp) and it also wants to know if you can offer any alternatives to capital punishment. Your answer should give a balanced view of both parts of this question. What is important to realize is that there is no correct answer here. You can present any point of view as long as you can support it.

So, in your planning stage you should have a roadmap for the introduction, each paragraph and the conclusion. Here is my brief plan for the essay.
Intro
What cp is. Where it's used. (not my country). Differing opinions.
I don't believe in cp.
There are alternative punishments.
Body
Inhumane - we shouldn't sink to the level of criminals.
We can get convictions wrong; prisoners can be released if there's an error. Mentally ill. Examples.
Alternative punishments: life means life; hospitals for criminally insane. Costs more but society has a duty to care.
Many countries favour it and they say it works. Prisons too full. Killers deserve nothing less. Some crimes deserve it. Not my morals though.
Conclusion

I don't agree. We can do other things. Avoid mistakes and make modern society a humane one.

The above is a basic plan of how I want to write my essay. It's not rigid. I can change my ideas and format as I write if I feel I can do better.

I can also add things that I've forgotten as the essay goes on. It's normal of course for you to have new, good ideas as you write and the skill is to get them into your essay without upsetting the balance of the essay. How do you do this? It's practice again. You won't get good at writing essays and adapting your writing well without practice with relevant questions from quality IELTS practice tests.

So, below is an example essay using the plan above as a basis.
Example Essay for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing

Capital punishment is the killing of a criminal for a crime that he has committed. Previously most countries employed this method of punishment but nowadays it is much less widely used. I personally do not believe that societies today should use capital punishment and I also believe that there are alternative punishments that can be used.

My main argument against capital punishment is that I believe we do not have the right to kill another human being regardless of the crime. I don't believe in the old religious maxim of "an eye for an eye." Modern societies shouldn't turn to such barbaric punishments.

Another argument against capital punishment is that people can be wrongly convicted and executed. If a man is in prison, he can be released if later proved not guilty. If he is dead, there is nothing that can be done. In the UK, a group of supposed terrorists were convicted of murder in Birmingham in the 1970s. They were proved innocent about 15 years later and released. If they had been executed, innocent people would have died.

There are alternative punishments available. For bad crimes prison life sentences can be given with criminals imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Also a lot of horrific crimes are committed by people who are mentally sick. These people are not responsible for their actions and can be kept safely and permanently in secure hospitals. Yes, this costs a lot more but I believe it is the duty of society to do this.

There are arguments for capital punishment. Many people feel its threat stops serious crime and that criminals deserve nothing less. It's cheaper and keeps the prisons manageable. I can understand this point of view but I cannot agree with it.

So, in conclusion, I don't believe in capital punishment, as there are less barbaric alternatives available. We can avoid horrific mistakes and make modern society a humane one.
Final Comment for the IELTS General Training Task 2 Writing

I hope that this essay shows how to approach the Task 2 question and illustrates the ideas that I have written above.
Finally I will leave you with the message that I always do. To really improve your skills at writing essays, you need to practice. Get some essay titles from good quality IELTS practice tests, sit down when you get the chance, give yourself 40 minutes and write some essays. Try and do it as I have directed with a couple of minutes for planning, as this will train you to make a better-constructed essay in the long run.




FREE IELTS LESSON - THE GENERAL TRAINING WRITING TEST - TASK 1



The IELTS General Training Writing Test Task 1 is, I feel, the part of GT test that people can prepare most for. Because the scope of the task is fairly limited, you can practise extremely similar tasks, which will greatly prepare you for the exam.

Practice is the magic word though. Even good English users need practice for the IELTS exam and it could mean all the difference between pass and fail. There is limited practice available and it's quite expensive. That's why we would recommend you download our IELTS practice tests. You will get more practice for less money. Go to the Home Page to find more information about our IELTS practice tests. The IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing Test

The IELTS General Training Writing Test lasts for 1 hour and includes 2 tasks. Task 1 is a letter and you must write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes out of the hour for task 1. Task 2 is an essay and you must write at least 250 words. You should spend about 40 minutes for Task 2. The Task for the IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing

The IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 asks you to write a letter of a minimum of 150 words in response to some situation or problem. The task will probably ask you to complain about something, to request information, ask for help, to make arrangements and/or explain a situation. All these are fairly similar tasks.
Marking for the IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing

The IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing will be marked in four areas. You will get a mark from 1 to 9 on Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Your final band for task 1 will be effectively an average of the four marks awarded in these areas. Task 1 writing is less important than task 2 and to calculate the final writing mark, more weight is assigned to the task 2 mark than to task 1's mark. To get a good overall mark for The IELTS General Training Writing though, both tasks have to be well answered so don't hold back on task 1 or give yourself too little time to answer it properly. The marking system below can also be used for marking IELTS practice tests and it is used to grade the example writing in our IELTS practice tests.

Task Achievement This where you can really make a difference through careful preparation. This mark grades you on basically "have you answered the question". It marks whether you have covered all requirements of the task suffiently and whether you presented, highlighted and illustrate the key points appropriately.

Coherence and Cohesion These two are interrelated which is why they are done together. Cohesion is how your writing fits together. Does your writing with its ideas and content flow logically? Coherence is how you are making yourself understood and whether the reader of your writing understands what you are saying. An example of bad coherence and cohesion would be as follows:

1 We went to the beach because it was raining.

Probably the writer of this sentence does not mean "because" as people don't usually go to the beach when it is raining. The writer should have written:

2 We went to the beach although it was raining.

Sentence 1 has made a cohesion and coherence error (as well as a vocabulary one). "Because" does not join the ideas of the sentence together correctly and, as a result, the reader does not understand what the writer wants to say. This is an exaggerated example but it shows what I mean. Good cohesion and coherence is not noticeable as it allows the writing to be read easily. Good cohesion and coherence also includes good and appropriate paragraph usage.

Lexical Resource This area looks at the your choice of words. The marker will look at whether the right words are used and whether they are used at the right time in the right place and in the right way. To get a good mark here, the word choice should not only be accurate but wide ranging, natural and sophisticated.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy Here the examiner will mark your appropriate, flexible and accurate use of grammatical structures. Many people are worried about their grammar but, as you can see, grammar is only one section of four used to grade your writing. IELTS is much more interested in communication rather than grammatical accuracy. It is, of course, still part of the marking scheme and important as such.
Paragraphing for the IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing

This is a very easy thing to do but it can have an enormous effect on the intelligibility of your writing and, of course, good use of paragraphing is part of the marking under the section Coherence and Cohesion. Very often people use no paragraphing in The IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing and the examiner is faced with a "sea" of writing with no breaks from start to finish. For me, the best writings are those where there are paragraphs separated by an empty line and also indented. In this way your ideas are separated clearly. It shows and gives organization to your writing and makes it more readable. Paragraphing is an important skill and something you can practise when doing IELTS practice tests.

For a longer section on paragraphing and how useful it can be, see GT Writing Task 2 Tutorial.

Areas to Prepare

As I said earlier, Task 1 is the best for preparation. Below are some areas for you to consider:
1 Answering the question.

As I said above, task achievement (answering the question) is one quarter of your total mark and it is an area in which everyone should do well. This is often, however, not the case.
What you must do is to write a letter, which would fully answer the needs of the problem in a real life situation. Even if you have covered all that the question itself asks, have you included everything in the letter needed to realistically perform its function. For example, a question I have seen somewhere gives the candidate the following task:

You have some library books that you are unable to return as a member of your family in another city has fallen sick and you have had to go and look after them.

Write a letter to the library explaining the situation. Apologize for the inconvenience called and say what you are going to do.

You should write at least 150 words.

This seems a fairly typical IELTS General Training Task 1 writing question. Answering the question in a way that will get you a good Task Fulfilment grade needs a number of things for you to do.
1) Write at least 150 words.

Writing less does not answer the question, which tells you to write at least 150 words. If you write less than 150 words, the examiner marking your paper will give you a maximum of 5 for Task Achievement or even less. Making sure that you write enough is one of the vital things you can do when using IELTS practice tests.
2) Fully do all the things that the question asks you.

In this case it asks you to do 3 main things:
explain the situation
apologize for the inconvenience
say what you are going to do

The important part is to fully do these things. Don't take 1 line to explain about your relative - people who do this often don't make the 150 word limit. Enlarge on what the question tells you. Use your imagination. It must be something fairly serious to make you leave town and you must be the only one possible to look after the relative so go into these things. Be realistic as well.

You're writing to a library and you won't make it too personal. Apologizing won't take up much space but you can still devote a couple of sentences to it. Saying what you are going to do should be a full explanation as well.
3) Make your letter realistic so it would function in a real life situation.

This involves adding other things to the letter, which it may not ask you for, but without which your letter would not perform its function. For this question, it would mean introducing yourself by name, giving your library card membership number, telling the library the titles of the books that you have borrowed, the names of their authors, their library reference numbers, when you borrowed them and when they were due back.

Finally, in this question, the situation might involve you getting a fine for the late books so you could ask politely for that to be cancelled due to the circumstances. Without this information, the letter wouldn't help the library much in real life and, even though the question doesn't ask you specifically to include it, the examiner reading your work will be looking for such things. These are things that are needed to get a 9 for task fulfilment and, theoretically, anyone, whatever their level of English, should be able to get a good mark here.
2 The Opening Greeting of the Letter

Your letter will probably need to be a reasonably informal letter to a friend or a semi-formal letter. The opening of your letter should reflect which one you are writing.
A friendly letter will open with Dear followed by a name which should then be followed by a comma, eg:

Dear John,

A semi-formal letter will also open with Dear and then be followed by a name, (if you decide that in the situation you would know the name) or by Sir (if it's a man), Madam (if it's a woman) or Sir/Madam if you don't know, eg:
Dear Mr. Phillips,
Dear Mrs. Phillips,
Dear Sir,
Dear Madam,
Dear Sir/Madam,

The question also might specify how you are to begin so follow what it says.
3 The Opening Paragraph of the Letter

In a semi-formal letter, I feel it is important to state the reason for the letter straight away. You could use the following to help you:

I am writing to ask/ tell//inform you that...
I am writing to ask/inquire...
I am writing with regard to...
I am writing with reference to...
I am writing in connection with...
I am writing in response to...
In reply to your letter, I am writing to... (if the question indicates that you
have had a letter)

If the letter is a less formal one to a friend then you should open the letter in a friendlier way. EG:

Dear John,
Hi there! It's been so long since I've heard from you. I hope you are doing well and I hope all you family are doing fine. I'm pretty good in spite of working hard. Anyway, the reason I'm writing is...
4 The Substance of the Letter

I've already gone into detail about answering the question fully and using your imagination to produce a realistic letter fulfilling all functions so I won't repeat that. Through great experience with IELTS, I can say that questions tend to ask you to do certain things. Here I will give you some ideas about some language to use in the substance of the letter which will help you to answer the task well.

Asking for Help
I would like you to...
I would be grateful if you could...
I need to ask your advice about...
I'd like to ask for information about...
What I'm looking for is...
Complaining
I'm writing to express my dissatisfaction/annoyance/ about...
I'm writing to express my anger at...
I am not happy about...
... is not what I expected/was expecting.
I want to know what you are going to do about this situation.

NB When complaining, don't get too angry. I've had students who really became too heated in their complaints. In a polite semi-formal letter, this should not happen. Also, do not over-exaggerate. If it's a reasonably small and understandable problem, do say that you're not satisfied but show that you understand and stay calm in your expressions.

Thanking
I'm very grateful for...
I'd like to thank you very much for...
I very much appreciated...
Apologizing
I'm very sorry that/about...
Please forgive me for...
I'd like to apologize about...
Please accept my apologies

Of course it is hard to remember all these things. By using IELTS practice tests, you can use these words and phrases under controlled conditions and later you will be able to use them better in the pressure situation of the real test.
5 Ending your Letter

First of all, in English we often end letters before the sign off with certain phrases. These can be included in most letters and will make your letter seem realistic and polished. For a formal letter, you could use:

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanking you in advance for your help, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

For a more informal letter you could use:

If you need to know anything else, just get in touch with me as soon as you can. Thanks a lot for your help and I hope to hear from you soon.

Be careful though! IELTS examiners quite rightly look for writing that has been memorised and just repeated so, if you use expressions like the ones above, make sure that they fit in with the rest of your letter.
Finally you'll need to sign off your letter. For a formal letter use:

Yours faithfully, OR
Yours sincerely,

Remember the commas (it makes a good impression on the examiner if you use good punctuation) and spell "sincerely" correctly (a lot of people don't!).
For an informal letter, love is not always appropriate though English speakers use it a lot. Better would be to use:

Regards,
Yours,
Best wishes,
Other Hints for the IELTS General Training Task 1 Writing

DON'T copy any part of the question in your answer. This is not your own work and therefore will be disregarded by the examiner and deducted from the word count. You can use individual words but be careful of using "chunks" of the question text.

Don't repeat yourself or the same ideas. This gives a bad impression and the examiner realises that it isn't adding to the content of your letter.

If you are weak at English grammar, try to use short sentences. This allows you to control the grammar and the meaning of your writing much more easily and contributes to a better coherence and cohesion mark. It's much easier to make things clear in a foreign language if you keep your sentences short!

Think about the tenses of your verbs. If you're writing about something that happened in the past, your verbs will need to be in the past tenses. If you're arranging something in the future, you will need to use the future tenses. If it's a habitual action, you'll need the present simple tense and so on. If you have time, a quick check of your verbs at the end of the exam can help you find errors.

As I just said, if you have finished the exam with time to spare, DON'T just sit there!! Check what you have done. If you have time after the check, check again. And so on....

Don't be irrelevant. Although you can use your imagination to expand on your answer, if any part of your letter is totally unrelated to the question and put in to just put up the word count, then the examiner will not take it into account and deduct it from the word count.

If you want to improve, there's no secret. Practice. Practice. Practice. You won't get better sitting and doing nothing. Even good English users need practice for the IELTS exam. It could make all the difference between your getting the band that you need, and getting half a band less than you need and having to do the exam again.



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