Ielts Speaking part 3

IELTS Speaking Samples: Values

 

Let’s consider values and the way they change.

What kinds of possessions give status to people in your country?

That’s a good question. Let me think…I’d say it depends on where you are and who you are with. If you are out in public, it’s things like the car you are driving. If you have the latest Mercedes Benz model, then in my country that is a sign of status, as most people can’t even afford a car at all, whatever the make. Property, or the house you own, and the possessions you have in it are also a sign of status. If you have a nice house in a nice area, then this shows you have money and are someone important. 

Has it always been the same or were different possessions thought of as valuable in the past?

I’m too young to remember exactly what it was like a long time ago, but yes, I think it was different. For example, cars as I mentioned before only really came to our country in the last ten years or so. That kind of consumerism is a fairly recent thing so this couldn’t have been used as a representation of something valuable. I think it was things like gold and jewelry that were seen as valuable. Of course these are still seen as valuable today, but previously it was these things over anything else as a lot of the modern day possessions were not available. 

Why do you think people need to show their status in society?

I believe that this is because it's important in society to show you have money or are successful – it is nature, or the way we are brought up, that makes us feel like this, but also the pressure that society puts on everyone to be successful. And showing status is basically showing that you have money and you have success, so this is what people want to do. Going back to the example of the car, driving around in a Mercedes is a very conspicuous show of status – it basically says to people, “Look, I am successful and I have money.” Another reason is possibly for respect. In many cultures, if someone has high status, then they will be respected by others and they may receive preferential treatment.

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IELTS Speaking Samples: Advertising

 

Now we'll discuss the role of advertising.

Do you think advertising influences what people buy?

Yes, definitely. If there were no advertising and you went to a shop, then you would just buy what you wanted based on maybe what others have told you, what the product looks like, or, depending on the product, what it says on the label. Advertising builds up a brand and people then trust a certain thing because they have seen it on television or elsewhere. Also, there is so much advertising around it must influence us. You can’t escape it as it is fed to us constantly in our daily lives – not only in magazines, radio and television, but on billboards, on TVs installed on trains and platforms, even in schools and universities. So yes, advertising influences what we buy.

Do advertisements give correct information, or do they encourage people to buy things that they may not need?

I think some do and some don’t, but it’s difficult to know which are giving us the correct information. For example, the skin whitening products – I do not believe that these work but we see them everywhere in Asian countries, and we are encouraged to buy them even though they are not actually necessary. The adverts, though, tell us they are necessary as they will improve our lives and we will become more accepted and successful. This then, is an example of advertising encouraging people to buy something they do not need. I do think there are checks in most countries these days to make sure that adverts are giving the correct information and not lying to people, but I think it is still easy for advertisers to exaggerate or to do this without breaking the regulations.

Is advertising really necessary in modern society?

It could be seen to be necessary in terms of the fact that, as I mentioned before, there is so much choice that we need someone to guide us in what to buy or to give us some extra information about products. Without this, it would be difficult to know where to start. However, that said, I’m not sure that I would regard it as ‘necessary’ as overall I think it may do more harm than good. As we just discussed, advertising encourages people to buy things they possibly do not need. We live in a consumer society and many people are in debt because we are encouraged to buy and buy, and I’m sure advertising plays a major role in this. Without advertising we could just do our own research and decide what we really need. So no, I would not say that advertising in necessary in modern society.

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IELTS Speaking Samples: The Internet

 

Now we'll move on to the influence of the internet.

Do you think people take notice of advertisements on the internet?

Despite the fact that there are many adverts on the internet these days, I think actually many people tend to ignore them, or at least that is my experience. People usually go onto the internet to find something specific that they are looking for, which may be a product, or to read about something, so they will ignore what is not relevant to that. But of course there is no doubt that some people take notice of them. Advertising on the internet is a practice most companies partake in now, and they have to pay quite substantial sums to advertise on highly ranked sites. Of course they would not do this if it were not attracting customers for them.

How do you think it will change people's buying habits in the future?

Buying from the internet is becoming more and more popular. For example, we’ve seen many book shops close down because people can buy online at cheaper prices from sites such as Amazon. It makes life much easier if products can be delivered direct to our door, especially with our busy modern lifestyles. I think this will only increase in the future as more people feel safe to buy online and online shops make it easier to purchase this way. Also, I think our lives are only going to become busier, so more people will choose to shop this way.

Are there any disadvantages to shopping on the internet?

There certainly are some. Firstly, buying clothes can be a problem. When you go into a shop you can check what you are buying fits you and suits you, but it is obviously not possible to do this online. Shopping does not become less hassle if you have to send something back in the post. Another problem is the security. We have to give out our bank details to people we don’t know. There have been several recent reports in the press about sites that have had their security breached and credit card details have been stolen. So far this is fairly uncommon, but it is a risk none the same. Another disadvantage is to society as it could destroy local shops and businesses if people are not going out to shop in their local town.

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IELTS Speaking Samples: Transport

 

Let's talk about transport.

How do most people travel long distances in your country?

I’d say that the main ways are cars, buses and trains. If someone has a car, I think this is their preference because to be honest the trains are not that much cheaper where I live. Also there are often delays with the trains which can be a real pain, so you may end up with a really long journey. The buses are a bit cheaper but I don’t think that is such a comfortable way to travel.  There is the option to travel by plane as well of course, but most of the bucket airlines go abroad – you can’t really travel that cheaply by plane within the country. So then, cars are really the best option, and of course they give you the most freedom when you are travelling.

Have the types of transport people use changed much over the last few decades?

I don’t think they have really. We’ve had the transport I mentioned before for many decades now in my country, and it is much the same today. Of course cars have become much more popular as people’s incomes have risen which accounts for the problems we see on the roads today such as congestion and more accidents and pollution. This has probably led to some changes within cities. Many have now introduced environmentally friendly forms of transport such as trams and guided buses that don’t run on gas and mean that people can travel without the use of the car. There has also been an increase in air travel, but like I said, this is quite expensive in my country so most cannot afford it.

What kinds of improvement have there been in transport in your country in recent years?

There has been several ways that transport has improved. More major roads have been built which means it is easier to travel long distances, though of course some would argue that more roads are not an improvement. They can be an eyesore in the countryside and they have encouraged more people to drive which may mean these improvements ultimately don’t work because there are more cars using the roads. As I mentioned before, there has been the introduction of mass transit in many cities, such as trams and trains. In our capital city they have also extended the underground system so it now links many more areas of the city. This has helped many people as commuting times are horrendous if you have to travel on the roads.  Those are the main improvements.

IELTS Speaking Samples: Environmental Problems

First we'll talk about global environmental problems

Tell me about some of the environmental problems that are affecting countries these days?

Well, there are a lot at the moment. Although it has not been proven for sure, there is a great deal of consensus about the fact that global warming is leading to severe weather change and this is resulting in many problems. We are seeing a lot of countries with the same problems that they have always had but on a much larger scale. For example, in the United States there seem to be far more hurricanes and tornadoes than in the past, with more devastating effects. There seems to constantly be news of serious flooding in many countries from Asia to Europe. Forest fires also seem to be getting worse, particularly each year in Australia.

Do you think that governments around the world are doing enough to tackle the problems?

No, usually I don't think they are doing enough. There are countries that do what they can do help their people when problems occur and they are trying to come up with measures to mitigate the effects but when it comes to the major issue of global warming countries are not doing enough. We see time and again that no agreement can be made on how to reduce carbon footprints. This is usually because governments know that to make a serious reduction in carbon dioxide emissions they will have to sacrifice economic growth and they are not prepared to do this. Governments think very short-term. They know that if there is economic decline, then they will be voted out.

Why do some people not consider environmental problems to be serious?

I think there are several reasons for that. In some cases it is simply because people are not affected on a day-to-day basis so it does not concern them. They just see it on the news affecting other people. It does not mean they do not care but they will soon forget about it. Also, some big organizations can be responsible for putting the wrong information out. For example, oil companies have a vested interest in making sure people do not believe in global warming as it could affect their profits, so they play the issue down. Also, some people think as it is a long-term problem, they will be dead by the time it will affect them so they think it is not important for them!

 

Now we'll look at environmental problems and disasters caused by humans.

What do you consider to be the world’s worst environmental disaster caused by humans?

I think that may be the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine. In that case there was an explosion and nuclear meltdown. It caused great loss of life. The environment was badly affected and it is still affected today and could be for many years. There are also many people who are still getting sick from the disaster and no one can live anywhere near the site. Of course there are many other serious ones, some more recent such as the oil spills in Africa and the US.

Why do you think environmental disasters caused by humans happen?

It could be for different reasons. In some cases it is simply because not enough care is taken. Maybe procedures are not good enough. It could also be because the drive for profit means that there is cost cutting and that again could mean that good procedures are not in place. There is usually a situation when a disaster happens where blame will be deflected and it is difficult to establish exactly who is responsible. Nobody wants to admit responsibility because it means they will have to pay compensation. Sometimes a disaster can happen because of a simple mistake by someone.

Do you think there will be more environmental disasters caused by humans in the future?

I don't think there will necessarily be more. Procedures are always getting tighter so in theory there should be fewer, but mistakes will always happen so I'm sure they will continue unfortunately. Governments must continue to prosecute any companies that do cause environments problems or disasters so that they are less likely to happen again.