IELTS SPEAKING PART 2 & 3 BAND 9: TOP Q&A - TOPIC: CITY, JOB, TRAVEL, SUCCESS | S1

[Music] I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes before you talk you have one minute to think about what you're going to say you can make some notes if you wish here's a pencil and some paper for making notes thanks here's your topic on this task card I'd like you to describe a city you have visited okay thank you now remember that you have one to two minutes for this don't worry if I stop you I'll tell you when the time is up can you start speaking now please I don't have a lot of experience of visiting other cities I live in Rome which of course is a very big city and when I go on vacation with my family we prefer to get away from the city and go to the beach or visit the countryside so I'm going to talk about a very small city in the south of Italy called leche it seems more like a town really but technically it's a city because it's the administrative capital of the region I don't think it's well known outside Italy I went there because two years ago my family had a beach holiday about 20 kilometres away and we went in to let Jade to go to restaurants there I remember it well because we went there five or six times when you drive through the outskirts it really doesn't appear to be a very interesting place I'm not saying it's unpleasant but there are lots of very ordinary apartment blocks and a lot of traffic congestion however when you actually get to the center and find somewhere to park it's very nice there are several beautiful old churches and the historic center is surprisingly Pleasant most of the shops seem quite old-fashioned some of them give the impression that nothing has changed since the 1950s the whole place feels very relaxed and the local people are extremely friendly you get the feeling that they're happy living there and are proud of their city I liked it very much [Music] would you like to live there yes I would I think I'd be very happy there do you think you will visit Lecce again I'd like to perhaps we'll have another summer holiday in that area sometime soon it sounds a nice place now can I have the task card back please thank you we've been talking about towns and cities I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general questions relating to this let's talk about living in cities and the countryside do you think life is better in the city or in the countryside I suppose it depends on the person in many ways life is easier in the countryside by that I mean that there's more space no crowds and it's usually cheaper to live on the other hand it can be a lot less interesting most cultural activity goes on in cities personally I wouldn't want to live outside the city but I've lived in Rome all my life I imagine that if I'd lived all my life in a small village I probably wouldn't want to live in a city in many countries cities are growing fast why do you think this is um I'm not sure perhaps it's because in some countries the standard of living in the countryside is very low and life for a lot of people is just about growing enough food to live I guess many people in that situation they get bored and be hoped to find a higher standard of living in the city what problems can rapidly expanding cities have let me think well when cities expand very rapidly it's often without any control over how they develop in other words they become mega cities with huge shanty towns and no proper what's the word infrastructure for millions of people unfortunately a lot of people don't find the better life they were hoping for and can end up in an even worse situation this is probably one of the biggest problems we face today hmm some cities receive millions of visitors what problems can this cause ah well this is an entirely different problem and I know a lot more about this because I live in Rome if you go into the historic center on a Saturday in the summer it can seem that you're the only local inhabitant there the problem is that cities with too many visitors can lose their original character although of course it's not a problem for people who own restaurants and shops in the historic center and to put it another way tourism supports a lot of people financially what can be done to ensure tourism doesn't cause too many problems that's not an easy question to answer if you limit tourist numbers you also limit the benefits to the local economy and how do you limit visitor numbers you can't put a wall around the city if the tourist board in my city tried harder to promote the less famous parts of the city the visitors might spread out there are some beautiful areas outside the center with some great historic monuments but very few tourists colder because they're all in the most famous places in the center thank you very much that's the end of the speaking test [Music] I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes before you talk you have one minute to think about what you're going to say you can make some notes if you wish here's a pencil and some paper for making notes thanks here's your topic on this task card I'd like you to describe the job or career you have or hope to have in the future okay thank you now remember that you have one to two minutes for this don't worry if I stop you I'll tell you when the time is up can you start speaking now please right okay I am going to talk about my job as a waiter it's not a very difficult job of course but it's more complicated than most people think the customers are spending a lot of money and they expect to have a perfect evening you have to you have to be kind of an actor playing the role of the perfect waiter it can be hard to do that at the end of a long evening when you're tired but I try my best most of the customers seem nice people I enjoy meeting them and I want to do the best I can to help them have a good time when they come to the restaurant so why did I choose to become a waiter well actually I didn't really choose it a couple of years ago I had just finished college and didn't have a job a friend of mine was working in the restaurant and somebody was off sick so I went to help out for a few days then I just stayed I started to like it the basic pay is very low but I earned quite a lot in tips so in fact it's quite well paid the best part is that I have a lot of fun with the other people who work there we're all really good friends the only part of the job I really don't like is the hours I can never go out on a Friday or Saturday night because I'm always at work however I'm not going to do this job for the rest of my life I've been applying for other jobs recently what sort of jobs have you been applying for my degree is in media studies and so I'd really like to work in the media in some form so I've been applying to local radio stations and the local TV production company they don't have any vacancies at the moment but I keep reminding them who I am I'm going to apply to some other companies related to the media as well good luck with that can I have the task card back please Thanks we've been talking about jobs I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general questions relating to this let's consider the balance between work and free time do you think that the balance between work and free time in your country is about right ah I think it depends for example people who have government jobs mostly only work around 37 maybe 40 hours a week however in my country a lot of people have their own small businesses really a lot of people and if you have a shop for example it can be difficult to decide to close you don't know if another customer is just about to come through the door with a lot of money to spend from what I've seen people with their own shops regularly work extremely long hours up to perhaps 14 hours a day seven days a week the same can be true for other people who work for themselves I see and what problems can be caused by too much work do you think it's it can cause problems for family life in my opinion it's obviously not very good for children if they hardly ever see their parents and from what I've seen it can be very bad for relationships between married couples if they just work continuously and never have any fun together I'm sure this is a common reason for divorces what can people do if they feel they are expected to do too much work well there's a law in my country which limits the working week - I think it's 48 hours per week maybe even less but bosses frequently take no notice of this so it can be a problem if somebody is asked to work more than this they should speak to their boss and ask to be given less work but of course this can be difficult it's not always easy to make a complaint to your boss from what I've seen they tend to make employees feel guilty for complaining now let's consider workaholics why do you think some people work so much that they become workaholics workaholics obviously it depends on the person but in my experience it's well it's not really the money that makes them workaholics I think it's just something in their personalities which doesn't allow them to to stop thinking about work and switch off for example I have a friend who runs his own website he works on it all the time I don't think he sleeps much but he doesn't make a lot of money from it just enough to live and I don't think he would make less money if he worked on it less he's become a perfectionist every part of the site has to be absolutely perfect it's become a kind of obsession for him I think he's happy but he just doesn't really have any interests at all apart from his work I guess that's just how he likes to live his life it's up to him thank you very much that's the end of the speaking test okay Armenia now you must start talking please well in relation to success I have to say that I consider my education my by far my most important success this is due to the fact that while I was in university I did meet my husband that I am married so that was before I finished my degree since then even though I have started a family I've managed to obtain a degree within honors and subsequently was accepted on a postgraduate program which was actually quite difficult to get into I think the main people who contributed to my success must have been my immediate family my parents were very supportive in all my decisions and also my spouse gave me all the support that I could possibly need from from the husband I have to say that the most important factor was my own self determination my self-discipline time management and also uncompromising goals that I set for myself little goals but nonetheless goals that made me reach where I am now it's very important in my opinion to feel successful in an area that you choose in my case it was education of course this success has opened many doors for me and will of course open many more for instance I know that I will be financially independent I know that I will have a sense of achievement that is probably not comparable to much else Thanks Armenia now I would like to ask you a few more questions related to the same topic how important is goal-setting in your life this is extremely important if you don't set goals reachable feasible goals then you may as well just stop doing what you're doing if you don't set these goals then you lose track of what you've been up to and what else needs to be done this leads to really destructive disorganization and at the end of the day you probably will end up with without any enough time sufficient time to reach what you set out to reach that's why self-discipline in keeping within your timeframe for these goals and working hard to reaching them really does make a difference [Music] Oh tell me I'm Anna do you consider yourself a real success um that's a difficult question to answer because I might not be the biggest success compared to other people but for me personally yes my personal opinion of myself with the circumstances that I had I do consider myself quite a success because after all I did manage to divide my time fairly between my studies and the pursuit of my education and my family I don't think I compromised my family in order to reach my educational goals so therefore yes I do consider myself a success ok thanks and do you think having an organized program can lead to people's success well I think it's of the utmost importance actually I think they're not having an organized program or schedule will almost certainly result in the shortage of time it's specifically important for short-term goals as time is of the essence a schedule is also necessary for for long term goals because it's human nature to put things off too later or you know procrastinate and you end up running out of time without even realizing it so having a schedule will help you keep track of it thank you very much have a nice day that is the end of the speaking test thank you very much [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] heart to describe your perfect holiday you should say where you would go and who you would go with where you would stay what you would do and explain why it would be the perfect holiday well my perfect holiday let me see there's really only one place it could be and that's Iceland I've always wanted to go there ever since I saw a documentary about it on TV when I was a young kid the landscape looks amazing my dream visit would take place in April just when it's getting warm enough for the lowland snow to melt and the animals in plants to start to come to life again after the winter I take my best friend Anna with me we're both nature lovers you see and like the same things so wouldn't really fight about what to do and where to go I wouldn't like to stay in one place though so definitely not a hotel besides I couldn't afford one anyway we'd probably stay in youth hostels or something a different one each night as we would explore the island as for what we do that's easy we'd go hiking in the countryside to see all the spectacular features of the island up close the volcanoes the lava rock the geysers the glaciers you know and it would be the best holiday ever for the simple reason that I would be with my favorite company in my favorite place the Icelandic wilderness and it doesn't get any better than sharing your love of nature with your best friend not to mention the fact that I would be living out a childhood dream part three do you prefer active holidays or holidays where you get to relax it's active holidays for me every time I like to get out and about and explore the places I visit and really get to know them I'll never understand people who sit by the pool sunbathing for the whole week I mean they never get to experience anything if I had my way I'd be hiking in the mountains or doing a city walking tour anything interesting like that rather than being stuck in my hotel for seven days boring are there any countries you would not like to visit a few I can think of Iran maybe because it's unsafe or so I've heard and that's such a shame as it's supposed to be a beautiful country full of for the most part friendly little village communities Singapore as well because it's too hot and humid there I would die of heat exhaustion anywhere else hmm yes well I'm not sure about South Korea and China either I don't think the food would really agree with me [Music] what was your worst holiday experience I'm shaking just thinking about it my worst holiday experience ever was undoubtedly when I was six and I got lost in a market area in a rural town in Bavaria I kept screaming and shouting out my mum's name but I couldn't see her anywhere next thing I knew a policeman had picked me up and I didn't know where he was taking me of course he took me to the station and eventually everything worked out in the end and my parents came and picked me up but that was the most scared I've ever been in my life [Music] what are the benefits of holidaying in a foreign country first of all it's a complete change of scene which people need sometimes to help them unwind and relax secondly it's a chance to experience another culture and way of life this is good in the sense that it broadens your horizons and maybe you'll pick up some good tips you can take back home with you thirdly you get to meet the locals I think it's important to meet all sorts of different people in life it promotes tolerance and peace if we meet people who look different or speak or behave differently to the way we do then we will not be afraid of them or distrust them fourthly you get to see things you might never otherwise be able to appreciate like for example unique landscapes and areas of beauty or different styles of architecture then there is also the fact that you'll get the chance to try out the local cuisine and that might influence the way you cook and improve your cooking for language learners going to a country where they get to practice the language is probably the best way to learn so that's another major plus point of holidaying abroad I think the point I'm trying to get across is that really the list is endless there's so much to get out of a foreign holiday what sorts of problems can people experience when they are abroad well I think the most obvious and common one is the language barrier communication can be really hard if you don't speak the same language not to mention the fact that there can also be embarrassing misunderstandings when things get lost in translation another issue that often crops up is culture shock for example in some countries they are not used to queueing and tourists can get very angry and upset at being passed out in the line if you have a sensitive palate you may not find the local cuisine agreeable either which can make life very difficult by limiting your options for places to eat weather can also be an issue it may be that tourists have to adapt to a hotter or colder climate than they are used to another major concern is often driving if you're used to driving on the left you may have to drive on the right side of the road during your holiday or vice versa this can be very trying crime can ruin a foreign holiday as can the loss of your bags or wallet another big spoiler is the tendency some locals have to try to take advantage of tourists and overcharge them the list of potential problems is very very long [Music] do you think foreign holidays are affordable to everyone these days not exactly they are definitely more affordable than ever I mean flights within Europe have gone very cheap over the last 10 years and now with the internet cutting out the middleman you can book entire packages of flights hotels and activities for bargain basement prices that said though it is still expensive to go abroad for those on lower than average salaries which is a shame because foreign travel can be such an enlightening experience besides long-haul flights remain pricey I mean it certainly isn't cheap to fly to America or Australia yet all in all I'd say that it's definitely getting Cheaper by the year too holiday abroad but I think there's a long way to go yet before we can all afford to is flying a safe way to travel nowadays yes I would have to say that it is after all great strides have been made in aviation and air travel is safer than ever before the evidence of this is in the fact that there are fewer and fewer cases of accidents of course even though the risk is small if it goes wrong then you're still in big trouble but I would definitely consider flying to be a very safe form of travel today you are far more likely to be run over by a car as a pedestrian or cyclist or involved in a car crash as a driver than to have an accident on a plane that's how far aircraft safety has come why do some people come back from holidays more stress than when they left well I think it's easy to understand why that happens holidays can be stressful dealing with a different culture or language etc is never easy then there's also the matter of having to spend a lot more time than usual with your family or friends this can lead to arguments and it's often hard for everyone to stay calm another common problem is that people try to do and too many things try to pack too much into one week away in a country they end up coming home more tired and worn out and when they left what safety issues do you have to think about when you go away on holiday well first of all you need to consider how safe the place you are going on holiday to is some destinations are safer than others I mean in some countries there are dictatorships and the leaders are a law unto themselves other places have very strict laws to do with culture or religion and you can get in big trouble for breaking them even by accident besides if you go to very religious countries they may not be very tolerant towards foreigners they may even be anti them it may be a good idea to know the local police and emergency numbers in advance in case anything goes wrong and also to have the contact details for your local consulate to hand in the event of something really awful happening that you need help with another thing is the fact that tourists often get targeted by criminals no matter where you go so you have to be really careful with valuables like cameras and phones not to mention your wallet credit cards cash and so on and try not to stand out too much try not to look like a tourist you've got to check out your accommodation in advance too to make sure the area is a good one and that the owners are legit weather factors can also affect safety it's important to find out if the place you are going to is prone to violence storms earthquakes and so on and then there are health issues do you need vaccinations are certain deadly diseases a problem there and so on [Music]

Channel: Tony IELTS Box

Views: 351,507

Keywords: IELTS SPEAKING PART 2, IELTS SPEAKING PART 3, TOP QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, IELTS SPEAKING BAND 9

Id: -E-YZKig5rw

Length: 32min 55sec (1975 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 04 2018