Is this essay plan good?

Lets take a look at a plan for an IELTS opinion essay.

Below you will find an essay question, an essay plan and also questions for you.

IELTS Essay Question

Some people think that children should spend their free time doing homework, while others believe it would be better for children to participate in sports activities instead. What is your opinion?

 

IELTS Essay Plan

Below are notes for an essay plan. The notes show what the content of each paragraph will be.

Introduction:

People have different views as to whether children should spend their free time doing homework or playing sport. In my opinion, children should be encouraged to take part in sport and exercise.

BP 1:

Sport is good for children because it benefits their health. Add supporting details.

BP 2:

Children can also benefit in other ways from playing sport by learning to unwind and meeting new people. Add supporting details on each point.

Conclusion:

Restate opinion.

Question for You

Think about the essay question and the essay plan, then answer the questions below.

  1. Is this a good plan?
  2. How do you think it can be improved?

Answers

Post your answers in the comments box below.

I will post my comments on Wednesday. That gives you all two days to post your comments 🙂

Liz

Speaking Answers for Topic of Change

Speaking Part 3 Questions for the Topic of Change:

This topic is currently being used: Oct – Dec 2017.

  1. Why do old people not accept change?
  2. Why do some people keep changing their jobs?
  3. What changes have occurred in your country in the last few decades?

Sample Answers

Why do old people not accept change?

  1. Answer 1: I guess one of the main reasons they don’t accept change is because they have spent the last few decades living a life of routine. For that reason, they find it difficult to alter that routine in order to accept changes. For example, old people who have been used to going to into the bank to do transactions find it difficult to change this habit and bank online. I think new technology must be really challenging for them.
  2. Answer 2: I think some old people are afraid of change. I mean, they find it difficult to understand and learn new ways of doing things and this makes them feel afraid. They don’t want to expose their age or their weaknesses so they try to resist change.

Why do some people keep changing their jobs?

  1. Answer 1: Well, I think some people change their jobs frequently for no other reason than they can’t find a permanent position. But other people choose to change jobs. I mean, they want to try difficult jobs in order to learn new skills, have new experiences and enjoy the opportunities that life has to offer.
  2. Answers 2: It’s not easy to say why people change their jobs but I suppose that career growth is one of the reasons. There are so many people trying for the same jobs or trying to get promotion that people need to show a range of skills and the ability to adapt. So, by changing jobs frequently, they can develop their CV and hopefully have a better chance of a better job.
  3. Answer 3: I don’t think people have much choice these days. It’s really hard to find a long term job that offers good job security. So, people have no choice but to move from one job to another. But it’s also a good way to develop new skills in different fields and hopefully land a better position.

What changes have occurred in your country in the last few decades?

  1. Answer 1: There have been so many changes it’s hard to choose which one to talk about. I think there have been big changes in education, mainly university education. When I was younger, all students had access to free university education but now they have to pay which means they leave university with greater debt but with less job opportunities at the end of it.
  2. Answer 2 posted from a student: In Nigeria here, some changes has taken place over the past few decades. We the Nigerians have witnessed how a small religious sect metamorphosed into a full blown globally recognized terrorist group. Indeed, our once peaceful country changed into a war zone where the lives and properties of her citizens aren’t secured. We also witnessed a great change in the political arena where for the first time ever, an incumbent president contested and lost the presidential elections to the opposition party.

More IELTS Speaking Model Answers

You can find more model answers and speaking tips on my main speaking page: IELTS Speaking Main Page

 

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Answers to Museum Listening

Below are the answers to the listening practice about the Natural History Museum.

Make sure you have finished the listening practice before you see the answers. You can find the listening practice on this page: Museum Listening

Most students got about 4 answers correct. That’s great. For students who got all 5 correct – very well done 🙂

Transcript and Answers

Click below to view the transcript and answers:

Transcript

The Natural History Museum in London is a museum of natural history that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture—sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature—both exemplified by the large Diplodocus cast that dominated the vaulted central hall before it was replaced in 2017 with the skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling. The skeleton is some 25 m long and weighing 10 tons.

Notice: This information was from wiki. You can read more about the Natural History Museum on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_History_Museum,_London

Answers
  1. 80 million
  2. zoology (the spelling must be correct)
  3. vaulted central hall / central hall / hall
  4. blue whale
  5. 10 tons

 

See all my IELTS listening exercises and tips: Liz’s Listening Main Page

 

IELTS Speaking Part 3: Change Topic

A recent topic in IELTS speaking is the topic of change. This topic can come in speaking part 2, speaking part 3 and also writing task 2.

Speaking Part 3: Topic of Change

Below are some sample questions for this topic in speaking part 3.

Speaking Part 3 Questions:

  1. Why do old people not accept change?
  2. Why do some people keep changing their jobs?
  3. What changes have occurred in your country in the last few decades?

Share your Answers

Post your answer below for the questions above.

  • Remember to think about the language you are using.
  • Remember that speaking is an informal test.

I will post my model answers tomorrow.

Liz

Listening Practice Museum

Listening Practice

This listening practice is on the topic of museums. It’s a common topic in IELTS listening and reading.

Read the questions below first and then listen to the recording. Post your answers in the comments box below.

Natural History Museum

Listening Recording

Read the questions below first and then listen to the recording.

Questions 1-5

Complete the sentences below with no more than three words and/or a number.

      1. The Natural History Museum houses about ……………….. items.
      2. The items are taken from five collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and ………….
      3. The cast of a large Diplodocus was the main focus in the …………………..
      4. The Diplodocus was replaced by the skeleton of a ……………….. in 2017.
      5. The skeleton is 25m long and weighs ……………

Answers

The answers to this listening practice are now available. Click below:

View transcript and answers: Museum Listening Answers

 

You can find more listening tips and exercises for IELTs on this page: Liz’s Main Listening Page

If you want to read more about the Natural History Museum in London, visit the wiki page. This where I found the information to create this lesson.

 

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Answer to Reading Paraphrasing Lesson

Answers to Paraphrasing Practice

Please complete the lesson before you look at the answers. You can find the lesson on this page: Paraphrasing Lesson

Passage: Ancient Egyptian Powder

Summary of Passage

The pigment (1)………. Egyptian blue, which was formulated (2) ……….. 5,250 years ago, can now be used to (3)……… finger prints on complicated surfaces.  This pigment was used in the painting of statues and tomb wall reliefs in Ancient Egypt. However, it has now been (4)……….. that, when it is it exposed to a (5)……….. light, it emits near-infrared radiation.

  1. known as
    1. you can’t choose the answer “names” because it is grammatically wrong.
  2. about
    1. You can’t have the answer “over” because we don’t know if it is over or under. Therefore, you need to use the word “about”. Another option for paraphrasing would be “approximately”.
  3. identify
  4. revealed / found
    1. Both options are fine.
  5. particular
    1. You must have the correct spelling. If your spelling is wrong, your answer is marked wrong.

I hope you found this lesson useful.

I’ll post more paraphrasing lessons later.

All the best

Liz

Reading Skills for IELTS: Paraphrasing

In IELTS reading, you will need to pay attention to synonyms and paraphrasing. This is a vocabulary exercise to help you matching synonyms and become aware of the problems using them. This is not an IELTS test, it is a reading lessons to develop skills of paraphrasing for IELTS. Although these types of questions do not come in the test, you will need these skills to succeed in IELTS.

Paraphrasing Practice

Passage: Ancient Egyptian Powder

Crime scene investigators are about to get an assist from the land of the pharaohs. New research has shown that a pigment called Egyptian blue, formulated some 5,250 years ago, can be used as dusting powder to detect fingerprints on complicated surfaces. The earliest known synthetic pigment, Egyptian blue is found in some of the paint that still colours ancient statues, coffins, and tomb walls. Modern scientists were intrigued by this long-lasting tint and figured out its chemical components decades ago. More recently they discovered that it emits near-infrared radiation when exposed to a certain kind of light.

Notice: This passage is from a National Geographic magazine. You can read the full article on this page: NatGeo Ancient Egyptian Powder

Filling the Gaps with Synonyms

Below is a summary of the passage above. Fill in the gaps using the word list given below. Make sure the summary is grammatically correct when you insert the word.

The pigment (1)………. Egyptian blue, which was formulated (2) ……….. 5,250 years ago, can now be used to (3)……… finger prints on complicated surfaces.  This pigment was used in the painting of statues and tomb wall reliefs in Ancient Egypt. However, it has now been (4)……….. that, when it is it exposed to a (5)……….. light, it emits near-infrared radiation.

Word List:

Choose words to fill in the gaps above. The meaning should be the same as the original paragraph.

make     /        identify     /      observe      /   revealed    /     about     /     names      /      found       /      using        /    creates         /     known as          /      particular      /      over

Answers

Click link below to reveal answers:

Answer to Reading Paraphrasing Lesson

…………………………………

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Useful Links for IELTS Line Graphs in WT1

Useful tips and link for vocabulary, content & paragraphs for IELTS writing task 1 line graphs.

Below I have listed some useful links to learn about IELTS line graphs. Line graphs are quite common in IELTS writing task 1.

There are six types of IELTS writing task 1 for the academic paper:

  1. line graph
  2. bar chart
  3. table
  4. map
  5. diagram
  6. pie charts

Sample IELTS Line Graph

Source: IELTS Cambridge English Test Books

You must prepare for all types of charts in academic writing task 1. You might also be given a combination of a line graph with a table for example. Writing task 1 is worth about 33% of your total writing marks so it’s worth learning well.

Tips for IELTS Line Graphs

Here are some useful tips for Line Graphs:

  1. Introduce the time frame and individual categories
  2. the overview will contain the main trends over the whole period  – a bird’s eye view
  3. use language of change for line graphs: increase, drop, fluctuate etc (see below)
  4. vary your sentence structures: “the number of sales decreased over the period / there was a decrease in the number of sales …”
  5. support sentences in the body paragraphs with data – time frame and numbers
  6. don’t spend more than 20 mins on task 1
  7. make sure you have four paragraphs (occasionally five are possible)
  8. don’t overload your writing with small details – be selective
  9. aim for between 160 and 180 words
  10. task 1 is a report, not an essay

IELTS Line Graph Lessons

Click on the links below to access the pages to learn about line graphs:

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