Is it ok in IELTS Speaking…

Here is a question to check your understanding IELTS speaking:

Is it ok to use “gonna” or “wanna” in IELTS Speaking?

Answer

The answer can be found on this page:

Click here: Answer about using Wanna and Gonna

All the best

Liz

Answers to Ant Reading

Below are the answers to the reading exercise: “About Ants“. If you haven’t done this reading lesson, please do it before looking at the answers. Click here: Reading Exercise About Ants

Click below to reveal the answers:

Answers
  1. abdomen
  2. thorax
  3. stinger / abdominal stinger
  4. compound eyes
  5. mandibles
  6. F
    1. The passage shows that the antennae are “elbowed” which means they contain a joint and can bend.
  7. NG
    1. The passage states that queen ants have wings. But it does not state if they are the only types of ant with wings. We don’t know if the other types of ants have wings or not. So, the key word was “only”.
  8. T
    1. The passage shows that metamorphosis happens during the pupal stages when the larva change into adult ants.

Comments: Questions 6 and 8 were quite hard so don’t worry if you got them wrong. Only band 8 or 9 students will have been successful with those questions.

 

 

Reading Practice: About Ants

The following is a lesson for IELTS reading practice based on the topic of ants. This reading exercise is to practise diagram completion and also TFNG questions for IELTS reading.

There are 8 questions below. Questions 1-5 are diagram completion and questions 6 – 8 are true, false, not given. The answer link is provided below the questions.

Reading Practice Lesson for IELTS: 

Passage: About Ants There are more than 10,000 known species of ants living throughout the world. Ants can be identified by the constriction that looks like a waist between the abdomen, at the end of the body, and the part of the body called the thorax , which is located before the head. Their bodies are covered with a hard armour called the exoskeleton. While the exoskeleton is their defensive weapon, their rear abdominal stinger is their offensive one. Like other insects, they have six legs; each with three joints. Ants have large heads with compound eyes, elbowed antennae, which act as sensors, and powerful pincers, known as mandibles. These pincers are an ant’s most useful tool which are used for grabbing things, cutting and are a kind of trap-jaw.

There are three types of adult ants living in the colony: the queen, female ants, and male ants. Queen ants are the largest ants in the colony. They have wings and their purpose is to lay eggs. The queens can live up to 30 years. Depending on the ant species and the nest community size, there may be one or more queens in the colony. The ant life cycle has four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The queen lays the eggs, which will hatch into larvae in a couple of days. The helpless larva are fed and groomed by the worker ants until they pass through the pupal stage. In a little more than a week, an adult ant will emerge and the metamorphosis is complete.

You can DOWNLOAD the reading passage here but the 8 questions must be viewed online: Reading Passage Ants. The answers are linked below.

Questions 1 – 5

Complete the diagram below using no more than two words from the passage for each question.


Questions 6 – 8
Are the following statements True, False or Not Given according to the information given in the passage above?

  • 6. The antennae of an ant cannot bend.
  • 7. Only queen ants have wings.
  • 8. Larva undergo metamorphosis in the pupal stage.

Answers 

The answers are now available for this reading lesson.

Click here: Answers Ant Reading Lesson 

Notice & Disclaimer: This reading passage has been adapted from the following article: all about ants  The diagram was adapted from this article: External Ant Anatomy.  All lessons have been produced to provide free practice for IELTS students. They are not IELTS tests. Wishing you all the best, from IELTS Liz.

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Answers about paragraphs in writing task 2

Hi guys,

Yesterday, I asked you how many paragraphs you can have in your IELTS writing task 2 essay.

You can find the answer: Click here Paragraphs in IELTS Writing Task 2

All the best

Liz

Can you have 6 body paragraphs in writing task 2?

Hi guys,

A lot of students seem confused about how many paragraphs you can have in your IELTS writing task 2 essay.

How many paragraphs can you have?

  • A) three paragraphs
  • B) four paragraphs
  • C) five paragraphs
  • D) six paragraphs

Answers

The answers for this lesson are now available. Click here: Paragraph Answers

 

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Speaking Part 1: the best answer

Learn which is the best answer for IELTS speaking part 1 “Do you like vegetables?”. Below you will find the right answer, tips and also more possible answers. Furthermore, you can find useful vocabulary for vegetables on this page: Test your Veg Vocab

I asked you which answer is best for this question: “Do you like vegetables?”

There were two options:

  1. Yes, I do. I consider vegetables an important part of any healthy diet due to amount of vitamins and minerals that some vegetables can supply. Without vegetables in a person’s diet, health problems might occur later in life.
  2. Yes, I do. I am particularly partial to leafy greens, such as spinach, although I do eat pretty much any kind of veg. In fact, on the whole, most of my main meals contain at least 5 different types of veg.

Answer

Number 2 is appropriate and number 1 is not.

IELTS speaking part 1 is mostly about you and your life. If the question asks about YOU, you must answer about YOU – not about people in general.

The questions are often very simple and basic in part 1, such as “Do you like …”.  This means you should be straight forward and give a natural answer. You should NOT change the question into an academic discussion about the importance of vitamins and minerals. In part 1, imagine you are talking to a friend. Answer naturally and be chatty.

Answer number 2 provides:

  • a) fluency – it is an extended answer with a good length for a simple questions in part 1
  • b) grammar – a complex structure and variation.
  • c) vocabulary: I’m partial to .. / leafy greens / spinach / pretty much / veg

Other Possible Answers

The answers below were posted by students:

  1. Yes, i definitely do. I’m really keen on organic crops such as potatoes, squash, green leafy veggies, and even bitter gourd despite of it’s unpleasant taste. i basically grew up eating these type of food, because my mom likes to cook vegetarian dishes.
    1. A great answer. It demonstrates excellent vocabulary in a very natural way which is perfect for part 1. The examiner might interrupt the examiner to move on to another question before the end, but don’t worry about that. The examiner will decide when to move on. Your task is to keep talking until that happens.
  2. Yes, i do. I eat green leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce. I enjoy to eat salad made of vegetables. It’s pretty delicious and healthy as well.
    1. The technique is fine and the vocabulary great. However, the sentence structures are basic  and simple.
  3. Yes I like vegetables. I am very keen about having veggies in many of my meals as this provides the balance I want to get from every diet in the meal I take, though i have better preference for uncooked vegetables.
    1. The tone is great -it’s personal. The fluency is fine and the sentences complex. However, the grammar is not strong as it contains a number of errors.

I hope this lesson was useful 🙂

Liz

 

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Choose the best answer: IELTS speaking practice

Hi guys,

Below is a speaking question from part 1:

Do you like vegetables?

Which answer do you think is the best to answer this question?

  1. Yes, I do. I consider vegetables an important part of any healthy diet due to amount of vitamins and minerals that some vegetables can supply. Without vegetables in a person’s diet, health problems might occur later in life.
  2. Yes, I do. I am particularly partial to leafy greens, such as spinach, but I do eat pretty much any kind of veg. In fact, on the whole, most of my main meals contain at least 5 different types of veg.

Answer

The answer to this lesson is now available:

Click here to see the answer: The best answer

 

IELTS Problem Solution Essay Model Answer

Below is an IELTS model answer for the IELTS problem solution essay in writing task 2. There are five types of essays in IELTS writing task 2 and the “solution” type essay is a common one. However, make sure you follow the instructions. You need to know the difference between “what are the causes?” and “what problems does this cause?”.  The first requires causes and the second requires problems.

Problem Solution Essay Instructions

The instructions for problem solution questions are often paraphrased in different ways. Below you can see a few examples:

  1. What are the problems to this and how can it be solved?
  2. What problems are caused by this? What solutions would you recommend?
  3. What problems arise from this situation? What measures can be taken to deal with it?
  4. What problems does this cause? What can be done to deal with this situation?

You can find some essay questions for solution essays and problem solution essays on this page: Solution Essay Questions and you can find over 100 essay questions to practice: 100 Essay Questions for IELTS

IELTS Problem Solution Essay Question

An increasing number of professionals, such as doctors and teachers, are leaving their own poorer countries to work in developed countries. What problems does this cause? What can be done to deal with this situation?

Model IELTS Essay: Problems and Solutions

More and more professionals from developing or underdeveloped countries are choosing to live and work in richer countries. As a result, poorer countries will struggle to develop but this can be tackled by offering more incentives to stay and better living conditions.

The main problem faced by poorer countries due to the brain-drain, in fields such as medicine and education, is that they will struggle to develop and find it difficult to improve their economy as well as living conditions. One of the main ways that a developing country can better themselves is through the skills and dedication of their professionals which is negated when they choose to take their skills to benefit another country. Consequently, less developed countries will not be able to offer their citizens high levels of education or health care, and this in turn will hinder their ability to compete on a global scale, to entice investors and ultimately to stop the poverty cycle.

One effective solution to deal with professionals leaving their country is for their government to encourage them to stay by offering better work conditions. This can be done by increasing wages and investing in state-of-the-art equipment and training to tempt doctors and teachers to continue working there. Another possible answer is for  poorer countries to offer better standards of living, more tolerance and a positive future as a way to entice their professionals back to their own country after they have completed their training abroad. However, these solutions are financially demanding which means poorer governments may have to look to developed countries for aid in order to implement these changes.

In conclusion, poorer countries are unable to develop due to the brain-drain which can only be tackled by enticing professionals to remain in their country of origin through better conditions.

 

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