IELTS Preparation with Liz: Free IELTS Tips and Lessons, 2024
Hi, I'm Liz. Welcome! Enjoy your IELTS journey to success!
Today (July 20th) the IELTS writing task 2 question was reported. Below you can see the essay question.
IELTS Essay Question: July 20th 2017
Billions of dollars are spent on space research. This is a waste of money. More money must be spent on improving the problems of people on earth .To what extent do you agree or disagree.
The topic of Space Exploration and Space Travel is for Academic students only. It is not an easy topic to write about so make sure you prepare ideas for this topic.
Hi guys,
This video is a free video lesson about how to prepare for IELTS. It is posted on my home page but I feel many students are not finding it. So, here is your chance to watch it and think about the points given.
In the video, it mentions about knowing your level of English. Let me explain:
I am sure you all know how many errors you make on average. You don’t need a teacher to tell you. You can use spell check and grammar check in ms word doc. You should also review your vocab frequently and your understanding of grammar tenses. You can also review your range of grammar tenses by recording your speaking answers and playing it back to check. Or writing a task 2 essay and underlining each grammar tense you use.
IELTS Video Lesson: How to Prepare
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/2TAhwbB8GKM”]
Hi guys,
Yesterday I posted a reading exercise on pterosaur dinosaurs and now you can find the answers. If you didn’t finish the reading exercise, please do it now: TFNG questions pterosaur dinosaurs
Answers
Click below to reveal the answers:
Answers, Explanations & TipsAnswers
Answer: F
Passage Information: “They were also the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight—not just leaping or gliding, but flapping their wings to generate lift and travel through the air.”
Explanation: the word creatures refers to both animals and insects. The passage shows that animals (pterosaurs) could fly after insects. This means insects were first. Creating lift relates to “generating lift”.
The reading passage for this lesson was taken from the American Museum of Natural History. You can read the full information about pterosaurs on their website: AMNH pterosaurs.Some students have comments on “flapping wings”. You can read about insect flight on this page: WIKI Insect Flight or check directly with AMNH about their article.
2. Question = Pterosaurs were able to fly as high as modern aeroplanes.
Answer: NG
Passage Information: ” Some were as large as an F-16 fighter jet, and others as small as a paper aeroplane.”
Explanation: You can see that the passage does not give information about how high the dinosaurs could fly. No mention of height is given. The passage only mentions “F-16 fighter jet” – not a range of modern planes. This means the answer is Not Given.
3. Question = The shape and the size of pterosaurs varied over time.
Answer: T
Passage Information: “Over time, the earliest pterosaurs—relatively small flying reptiles with sturdy bodies and long tails—evolved into a broad variety of species. Some had long, slender jaws, elaborate head crests, or specialized teeth, and some were extraordinarily large.”
Explanation: You can see from the passage that at the beginning all pterosaurs were quite small. But then they changed and some of them grew to be very big. The word “evolved” indicated natural evolution which happens over a period of time and also the confirmation “over time”. The passage also mentioned the shape of the pterosaurs = “Some had long, slender jaws, elaborate head crests”. The word “some” means that some had this shape and others had a different shape.
Tips
The answer might not be in one sentence. Once you locate the information, read the sentences before and after to locate more information. You will often have to read 4 or 5 sentences in the passage in order to decide your answer.
You can see that I posted the passage information and explanation. You should do this when you practice full reading tests at home. After you finish the test, review each question and answer -write down the explanation for the answer so you can see your mistakes more clearly in order to learn and develop.
Message from Liz
Most of you got the answers spot on – well done 🙂 If you got one or two wrong, I hope you can understand why from my explanations above.
I will try and post more lessons soon.
Liz
Below is a short reading passage with questions to help you practice your IELTS reading TFNG. This topic was reported in the test this month, July 2017. This is an IELTS Liz reading exercise, not a test paper.
Tips:
Reading Exercise: Pterosaurs
Neither birds nor bats, pterosaurs were reptiles, close cousins of dinosaurs who evolved on a separate branch of the reptile family tree. They were also the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight—not just leaping or gliding, but flapping their wings to generate lift and travel through the air. They evolved into dozens of species. Some were as large as an F-16 fighter jet, and others as small as a paper airplane.
Pterosaurs were an extremely successful group of reptiles. They flourished all through the age of dinosaurs, a period of more than 150 million years. Over time, the earliest pterosaurs—relatively small flying reptiles with sturdy bodies and long tails—evolved into a broad variety of species. Some had long, slender jaws, elaborate head crests, or specialized teeth, and some were extraordinarily large.
This passage is from amnh.org (American Museum of Natural History) See the full reading passage: What is a Pterosaur?
Questions: Are the following statements True/ False or Not Given according to the information in the passage?
Answers
The answers are now available. Click to see answers: Answers to pterosaur reading exercise
Many students ask me if it is ok to look at your notes during your IELTS speaking part 2 talk. Let me explain…
Looking at your Notes
It is important to look at your notes during your talk. You can’t remember everything and this is the reason why you have 1 mins to plan and write notes.
Checking your notes will make sure you keep a logical order and also make sure you don’t forget to talk about something.
Does it lower my score to look at my notes a lot?
No, it doesn’t. You will not get a lower score if you look at your notes a lot.
Of course, it is good to have eye contact with the examiner because it shows confidence. But it won’t affect your score. Your score is based only on your level of English language: fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Liz’s Advice
Keep checking your notes during your talk. But also look at the examiner. When students talk with their head in their notes, they often lose intonation and don’t speak naturally. So, try to aim for a balance – look at your notes as often as you need but also make sure you speak naturally by looking up at the examiner.
IELTS Speaking Tips & Answers
See my page of speaking tips and model answers for IELTS speaking: IELTS Speaking Main Page
Model Answers for the Speaking Part 1 Topic: Dreams. I’ve written a few model answers for each question so you can see the usual length of answers. You do not need to concern yourself too much with the length of answers in part 1. Just keep talking and allow the examiner to interrupt you when the examiner wants to move to the next question. Allow the examiner to guide you through the test.
I’ve also written a list of useful vocabulary for Dreams Topic below.
Useful Vocabulary for Dreams Speaking Topic:
It is possible to get this topic in Speaking part 2 and part 3. So, use this vocabulary list to help you prepare.
Recommended for you:
See ALL IELTS Speaking Tips & Model Answers
.
Hi guys,
A speaking part 1 topic this summer is the topic of Dreams. Below you will see some questions for this topic.
Instructions
In speaking part 1, you will be asked about 12 questions in 4 to 5 mins. This means you will probably be able to give about one or two long sentences for each answer. Always answer directly and always add a bit more information so that the examiner can hear your English.
Questions
Answers
I have posted model answers on this page: Model Answers to Dream Questions
IELTS Speaking Tips
Get all my IELTS speaking tips: IELTS Speaking Tips & Model Answers
Hi guys,
Here are the answers to yesterday’s exercise about using synonyms in IELTS writing task 1. I think it was a good exercise because I see many students have different answers and are unclear about collocations. Mistakes in vocabulary will lower your score.
Let me know if the lesson was useful 🙂
Questions
Are the verbs correct in the sentences below? Are they Right or Wrong?
Answers
Comment
You can see that paraphrasing is about deciding if nouns and verbs match. It is about understanding the context. It is about choosing correctly. Some words will be repeated – this is normal in English.
Paraphrasing Video
Watch this video to learn more about being careful with paraphrases.
…………………….
Free Subscribe to get new Posts by Email
Hi, my name is Elizabeth (Liz). I am your teacher and the author of this website. I am an experienced, qualified English teacher specialising in IELTS test preparation since 2008. Please enjoy the 300 plus pages of free lessons, tips, model answers, topics etc.