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For any questions, feel free to contact us: @Cambridge_materials_bot 📩 Official books and audios 👇 @cambridgeielts_robot 🤖
Here's why this performance was given a Band 7⃣:
👉 This candidate can maintain the flow of speech without noticeable effort and there is no loss of coherence. He uses a variety of linking words and markers (I would say; that’s a good question; as I said; as long as), but he overuses the filler (yeah) and sometimes referencing is inaccurate (for the one or the other reasons).
👉 He uses a wide range of vocabulary, including some less common and idiomatic items and effective collocation (easy to blame; global warming; financial crisis; he stands for something; can’t stand the pressure). However, sometimes he lacks precision in his choice of words and expressions (Greek instead of ‘Greece’; on the other side of the lake; environmentally people/things; a big branch).
👉 His grammar displays a good range of both simple and complex structures. Many of his sentences are error-free but he makes some mistakes in subject/verb agreement (people who wants; the people who admires him), articles (the normal person) and relative pronouns (everything what happens).
👉 His pronunciation is clear and easy to follow. He uses both sentence stress and intonation effectively to convey meaning (you can’t blame a soccer player but it’s easy to blame the politicians).
👉 He does have a noticeable accent, however, and his mispronunciation of a few words results in occasional loss of clarity (wole model for ‘role model’; wong for ‘wrong’; serf the planet for ‘serve the planet’).
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
📖IELTS Reading: the time problem ⏳
'Not having enough time' is the biggest problem for most people taking the reading test. Here are some tips for dealing with this problem: 👇
1. Go straight to the first question. Don't waste time reading the full passage or the first sentence of each paragraph, and don't read any of the other questions.
2. Do 'paragraph' questions last. Questions that ask you to match headings or statements with paragraphs are much easier if you are already familiar with the passage.
3. Don't get stuck on one question. As soon as you realise that you are having difficulties with a question, leave it and move to the next one. Return to difficult questions later if you have time.
4. Remember that the answers to most question sections are in order in the passage. You don't need to go back to the beginning of the passage to search for each answer.
5. Only skim or scan for numbers and names. Otherwise, read at normal speed.
6. Work with an alarm ⏰. You can't do this in an exam, but at home you could set the alarm (on your phone) for 2 minutes and try to do each question within this time.
Note:
When preparing for the reading test at home, try not to worry about time at first. Your first concern should be to get the score you need, even if it takes you 3 hours instead of 1 hour to do a full test.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
🗣IELTS Speaking: Comparing Fluency and Coherence for bands 5⃣ to 8⃣ in IELTS Speaking Part 3
Watch the video and learn what fluency and coherence means, how it is assessed so that you can speak more fluently and coherently on your IELTS test date.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Writing Task 1: process diagram 🔄
Sample Answer
(This task comes from Cambridge IELTS book 8 Test 3)
The first diagram illustrates the process of cement manufacture, and the second diagram shows the materials that go into the production of concrete.
It is clear that there are five stages in the production of cement, beginning with the input of raw materials and ending with bags of the finished product. To produce concrete, four different materials are mixed together.
At the first stage in the production of cement, limestone and clay are crushed to form a powder. This powder is then mixed before it passes into a rotating heater. After heating, the resulting mixture is ground, and cement is produced. Finally, the cement is packaged in large bags.
Cement is one of the four raw materials that are used in the production of concrete, along with gravel, sand and water. To be exact, concrete consists of 50% gravel, 25% sand, 15% cement and 10% water. All four materials are blended together in a rotating machine called a concrete mixer.
(160 words)
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
👨🏫IELTS Advice: use a dictionary for accuracy
Most students use a dictionary to find the meanings of words. However, this is not enough; you also need to know how to use words correctly or accurately.
For example, you might know the meaning of the word "blame", but do you know which preposition follows it? Do you know that it can be a verb or a noun? Do you know which verbs can be used with the noun "the blame"?
🔸Many people blame politicians for the economic crisis. (verb)
🔸Politicians have taken the blame for the economic crisis. (take + noun)
🔸Other people put the blame for this problem on the banks. (put + noun)
🔸They think the banks are to blame for the crisis. (phrase: is/are to blame)
❗️At advanced levels, you should stop thinking that your dictionary is just a translator. Use it to improve your accuracy.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
📥DOWNLOAD the premium version of the most popular vocabulary apps for free⚡️
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
📖IELTS Reading: YES, NO, NOT GIVEN
Read the relevant part of passage and answer the question below it.
Relevant part of the passage:
A review of studies published in 2011 found that short bursts of physical activity - 10 minutes or less - increased pupils’ attention in the classroom. Children who took short breaks for physical activity also performed better in school and displayed lower stress levels and better moods.
Question:
The optimal amount of physical activity for children is 10 minutes.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Reading and Listening scores 📊
Students often ask how many correct answers they need (out of 40) to get a band score of 7 in the reading and listening tests.
According to official IELTS guidelines for academic* reading and listening:
Band 6⃣ is about 23 out of 40
Band 7⃣ is about 30
Band 8⃣ is about 35
❗️Note:
The score needed for each band can change depending on the difficulty of each test. If you have a really difficult test, the score needed for band 7 might be 28 or 29. If the test is easier, you might need to score 31 or 32 to get a 7. Click here to see the banding guide on the official IELTS website.
P.S. General reading is scored differently.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Reading: read better, not faster🏃♂🚶♂
Many IELTS candidates worry that they read too slowly, and they ask me for advice about reading faster. These students are surprised when I tell them that it might be better to slow down and read "better" rather than faster.
🚀 If you read too quickly, or if you try to find the answers by skimming and scanning, you probably won't fully understand what you're reading 🤷♂, and you might miss the answers that you're searching for. On the other hand, 💡if you read at normal speed, you're more likely to understand what you're reading, and you'll have plenty of time to find the answers.
If you struggle to finish all 40 questions in one hour, it's probably because you didn't understand the passage well enough, not because you didn't read it fast enough. So, you need to analyse your mistakes and look up the words and phrases that you didn't understand. In other words, work on becoming a better reader, not a faster reader.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
GETTING READY TO LISTEN 🙇♂️🎧
For many years, I was an invigilator for Cambridge English exams in Brisbane.
I was always interested to see the changes in behaviour as the day progressed, and the
language level of both the tests and the candidates increased. Even before the recording began, there were marked differences in the candidates’ approaches to getting ready to listen.
At the ⬇️lowest levels, many candidates would simply look at the question paper, often turning over pages and
looking ahead at later sections.
At band 6️⃣, candidates would use a highlighter to mark key parts of
the questions, but several would highlight almost all of the paper, rendering it useless.
At the highest 🔝level (bands 7️⃣ to 9️⃣), candidates would prepare to listen by highlighting only the key words and phrases they knew they would have to listen for in the test. This helped them not only to focus, but also to recognise the answers when they heard them.
This is what you must do in the test. 👉✔️
#PaulineCullen
👩🏫 @ielts_weekly
#Cambridge_IELTS
VOCABULARY CHALLENGE 7⃣+
Advertising
1. Some people find advertising......., but I think it's a necessary evil.
2. The salesman told me the phone would never break, but I wasn't....
3. Many special celebrations have become much too.... now.
4.Giving a free gift is a marketing.... often used by magazines.
5. Adverts often.... the effectiveness of beauty products
Options:
a. 👉 exaggerate
b. 👉 ploy
c. 👉 intrusive
d. 👉 convinced
e.👉 commercialised
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Writing Task 2
Cambridge IELTS 16 Test 2
Model Answer
In their advertising, businesses nowadays usually emphasise that their products are new in some way.
Why is this?
Do you think it is a positive or negative development?
Companies often advertise their merchandise as having novel features. The reason for this is that product differentiation is often critical to convincing consumers to purchase. This is a progressive development as it leads to more informed consumers.
The motivation for commercials to highlight product innovations is to persuade consumers to purchase the featured products. By communicating the unique features of a product consumers may be convinced to purchases it. This is because they will see the featured product as being better than others. For instance, every time Apple releases a new version of their I-phone the new features of it are clearly articulated to potential purchasers. This highlights the value that can be derived from upgrading your phone to the latest version of the Apple brand, which increases the likelihood of a purchase.
This is phenomenon is highly beneficial to consumers as they become more informed shoppers. By having the information about a products unique and novel features, savvy consumers are able to make product comparisons and choose the exact product that best suits their unique circumstances. For instance, I purchased an I-phone 12 because I saw that it has the highest camera resolution of all phones currently available. As an amateur photographer, the purchase of this phone ensures that I can take the best photos possible with a smartphone, and this feature was well worth the high price tag to me.
In conclusion, companies are choosing to advertise the new features of their products as a way of convincing shoppers to purchase their products. This is a highly constructive phenomenon as it is leading to more informed consumers who are making better purchasing decisions.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
CORRECT ANSWERS
✅ The indoor pool. we've expanded it to 8 lanes
(there isn't space for an outdoor pool)
✅ The gym. recently refurbished fitness suite.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Writing Task 1: nouns and verbs
Charts and tables usually show nouns rather than verbs. However, you need to find the right verb in order to write a good sentence.
Example:
Picture above 👆
🙅♂Don't write:
- Walking was 255 miles per person in 1985.
- Car was the highest form of transport.
✍Do write:
- The average person walked 255 miles in 1985.
- People travelled more miles by car than by any other form of transport.
(Table taken from Cambridge IELTS 6, page 52)
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
🗣 IELTS Speaking Part 1: laughing 😁
The following questions are taken from Cambridge IELTS 7, page 55. The aim in part 1 is to give short, simple answers. Don't worry about using 'difficult' grammar.
1. What kinds of thing make you laugh?
I laugh most when I'm with friends talking about funny things that have happened to us. I also like watching comedians and comedy films.
2. Do you like making other people laugh?
Yes, it's a nice feeling when you can make someone laugh because you can see that you've made them happy. It's great to share a funny moment with someone.
3. Do you think it's important for people to laugh?
Yes, of course. It's important to see the funny side of things; humour helps us not to take life too seriously. I think that laughter is good for our health.
4. Is laughing the same as feeling happy?
It's not exactly the same because you can be happy without laughing, and sometimes we laugh when something bad has happened; a sense of humour can help us to cope with difficult situations
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
Cambridge IELTS 7 Writing Task 1 Test 4
The pie charts below show the units electricity production by fuel source in Australia and France in 1980 and 2000
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
🗣 IELTS Speaking Part 3: 🏠 'nice home' answers
Here are some sample answers for the 'nice home' questions. The questions come from Cambridge IELTS 14.
Note: I try to answer in a natural and slightly informal way, but with some good 'topic vocabulary'.
🛒 Why do some people buy lots of things for their home?
I think there could be a couple of different reasons for this. Some people like to surround themselves with beautiful objects and furnishings to brighten up their lives, while others buy lots of devices that are supposed to save time. In my own home we have examples of both types of object: we have things like ornaments and pictures because they look nice, and we have useful gadgets, like a small vacuum cleaner that we recently bought.
💵 Do you think it is very expensive to make a home look nice?
No, definitely not. Basic furniture isn’t expensive these days, especially now that we have shops like Ikea. I know plenty of people who have furnished and decorated their homes really nicely without spending too much money. Personally I also like the minimalist look: some basic furniture, light colours and not too much clutter.
🏚 Why don't some people care about how their home looks?
Maybe they just see their homes as a base - somewhere to eat and sleep - rather than a reflection of their tastes or personalities. And many people are just too busy with work and life outside the home to worry about furniture and decorations. A friend of mine, for example, doesn’t seem to care about the way his house looks, but this is because he’s almost never there; he travels for work and spends more time in hotel rooms than in his own house.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
🎞Watch this IELTS Speaking test sample- Part 3, where Hendrik from Germany talks about 'Famous people'.
What score would you give to his performance?
‼️ Carefully watch the video before assessing his speaking performance.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
#advice
✍ IELTS Writing Task 1: shows, compares, illustrates
Many students learn ten different ways to paraphrase "the graph shows". If you look in a dictionary, you'll find many synonyms for the word "show" (e.g. display, exhibit, parade, depict, convey). But is it a good idea to use these synonyms?
🙅♂The answer is NO.
First, most synonyms of the word "show" are not appropriate for descriptions of a graph or chart. The phrase "the graph exhibits" will look very strange to the examiner. Second, if you learn ten synonyms, you'll probably waste time deciding which one to use.
👨🏫It is recommended to use just two synonyms for "shows": compares and illustrates (e.g. the bar chart compares; the diagram illustrates). It won't help your score if you use a strange synonym that you found in a dictionary.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Writing Task 1: process diagram 🔄
Cambridge IELTS 8 Test 3
The diagrams below show the stages and equipment used in the cement-making process, and how cement is used to produce concrete for building purposes.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
Why is the answer 'NOT GIVEN'?
Well, the key word in the question is 'optimal' - it might help if we replace this word with the word 'best'. Does the passage tell us that 10 minutes is the best amount of physical activity? No, we only know that 10 minutes or less is enough exercise to increase pupils' attention. Maybe 15 minutes works even better; we don't know.
Sometimes it is just one key word that makes the answer 'NOT GIVEN'.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
✍ IELTS Writing Task 1: a big mistake
Many students make a big mistake when describing numbers. For example, look at the graph above.
Now look at these four sentences and choose the correct one 👇
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
📊 IELTS Writing Task 1: two-chart answer
The chart below shows the value of one country's exports in various categories during 2015 and 2016. The table shows the percentage change in each category or exports in 2016 compared with 2015.
(Source: Cambridge IELTS 14)
Sample answer
The bar chart and table give information about a country's export earnings from five groups of products in 2015 and 2016.
It is noticeable that export revenues in all but one of the five product categories increased over the period shown. While petroleum products were the highest earning exports in both years, the textile industry saw the most significant growth in earnings.
Export earnings from petroleum products rose from around $61 billion in 2015 to $63 billion in 2016, which was an increase of 3%. Income from engineered goods reached a similar level. The country’s export earnings from these goods went up by 8.5% to approximately $62 billion in 2016.
From 2015 to 2016, there was a 15.24% increase in export revenue from textiles, with earnings rising from roughly $25 billion to over $30 billion. By contrast, there was almost no change in the amount of money earned from agricultural products, which remained at just over $30 billion. Finally, the only decline in income occurred in the gems and jewellery product group, where export earnings fell by around 5% to approximately $40 billion in 2016.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
CORRECT ANSWER: A
Keywords:
whose = which famous historical figure
statue = sculpture
at the door = at the entrance
An important note about answer B:
Although "exact" opening times are not given, the speaker doesn't say that the decision about this hasn't been made.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
🎧 IELTS Listening: multiple choice transcripts
It's always useful to check the transcripts at the back of the Cambridge IELTS books after you've done a practice test. This is especially helpful when you've done a multiple choice exercise.
Here's an example from Cambridge IELTS 10, page 35:, [Test 2, Section 2]
What decision has not yet been made about the pool?
A) whose statue will be at the door
B) the exact opening times
C) who will open it
Here's the relevant part of the transcript: 👇
We're on schedule for a June 15th opening date and well within budget. We have engaged award-winning actress Coral White to declare the pool open and there'll be drinks and snacks available at the pool side. There'll also be a competition for the public to decide on the sculpture we plan to have at the entrance; you will decide which famous historical figure from the city we should have.
❗️Task:
Can you see what the correct answer is, and explain why? Which 'keywords' gave you the answer? Also, can you see that all three choices are mentioned ?
Leave your answers in the comments below! 👇
📌🔎@cambridgematerials👈
Using It, This, and That
A common grammatical mistake I see is when people use It, This and That in their writing. These words are important because they are used to refer back to something mentioned earlier. Referencing, or referring back in this way, has an impact on your Coherence and cohesion score. The image above shows how to use It, This and That correctly, so that you can explain your ideas clearly in IELTS writing.
#PaulineCullen
The Key to IELTS
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
#writing_solutions ✏️
☑️ Sample Answers
👉 Cambridge IELTS 15
🔷 Full list: 👇👇👇
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 1 Writing Task 1
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 1 Writing Task 2
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 2 Writing Task 1
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 2 Writing Task 2
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 3 Writing Task 1
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 3 Writing Task 2
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 4 Writing Task 1
✍ Cambridge 15 AC Test 4 Writing Task 2
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Listening: multiple choice difficulties
Multiple choice questions in the listening test are always difficult. I can think of four reasons for this:
👉 There's a lot of information in the question choices, so there's a lot to think about while you're listening.
👉 Some of the choices might be similar.
👉 All of the choices might be mentioned in some way.
👉 Synonyms or paraphrasing may be used instead of the words that you see in the choices.
Here's a good example from
Cambridge IELTS book 10, page 12 🤏
Click here to listen (audio above)
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
IELTS Advice: big mistakes!
Here are some mistakes that can really affect your IELTS score:
Writing less than 150 or 250 words.
💁♂Advice: count how many words you write, on average, per line. If you write about 10 words per line, make sure that you write more than 25 lines for writing task 2.
Not separating paragraphs. Your score will immediately drop if you don't separate paragraphs clearly.
💁♂Advice: leave a full line between paragraphs.
Not answering the question (writing and speaking).
💁♂Advice: in the writing exam, keep checking the question to make sure you are answering it fully.
In the speaking exam, answer the question directly, then explain your answer.
Not finishing the reading test.
💁♂Advice: you must get to the end of the test paper. If you get stuck on a difficult question, miss it out and return to it later.
Making spelling mistakes in the listening test.
💁♂Advice: if you have a spelling problem, you must keep a list of your mistakes and learn the correct spellings by heart. Test yourself every day.
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
✍️ IELTS Writing Task 1: Four pie charts essay
Model answer
Cambridge IELTS book 7, page 101:
The pie charts compare the amount of electricity produced using five different sources of fuel in two countries over two separate years.
Total electricity production increased dramatically from 1980 to 2000 in both Australia and France. While the totals for both countries were similar, there were big differences in the fuel sources used.
Coal was used to produce 50 of the total 100 units of electricity in Australia in 1980, rising to 130 out of 170 units in 2000. By contrast, nuclear power became the most important fuel source in France in 2000, producing almost 75% of the country’s electricity.
Australia depended on hydro power for just under 25% of its electricity in both years, but the amount of electricity produced using this type of power fell from 5 to only 2 units in France. Oil, on the other hand, remained a relatively important fuel source in France, but its use declined in Australia. Both countries relied on natural gas for electricity production significantly more in 1980 than in 2000.
(170 words)
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
✏️ IELTS Reading: try this ⏰'time' experiment
IELTS students often say that "not having enough time" is their biggest problem in the reading test. But is time really the problem?
Try this experiment to find out how time is affecting you:
1) Normal speed
Give yourself one hour to do a full reading test (from one of the Cambridge books). Or just take one passage and do that in 20 minutes. How many correct answers did you get?
2) Too fast
Give yourself just 30 minutes to do a full reading test, or only 10 minutes to do one passage. Use skimming, scanning, guessing, or any other 'trick' to get through all of the questions. This goes against my normal advice, but it's fine for this experiment.
3) Too slow
Give yourself 2 hours to do a full reading test, or 40 minutes to do one passage. Read everything slowly and carefully, and aim for a perfect score!
👉 Results:
What happened when you performed this experiment? What scores did you get at normal, fast and slow speeds? Was time really the big problem, or did the experiment highlight any other difficulties?
🔎📌@cambridgematerials👈
