IELTS Oral English in 2011

　　There are many new and different kinds of question in the speaking part of IELTS in 2011. Some of them are not related to one’s daily living or some are far away from a candidate’s daily life. For example, the topic of “art“ or the questions about it usually gives the test takers a hard time to answer because most of them does not have any knowledge about it. Below is an example of question about the topic art in Part I and how it should be answered.
　　What kind of art do you like?来源：和谐英语
　　I don’t have any particular favorite when it comes to art because I am appreciative of each work of art that I see. I like looking at abstract and colorful paintings as much as I like looking at portrait paintings. I also enjoy looking at clay sculptures the same way that I enjoy looking at ice sculptures. Each work of art has its own reason, background and history.
　　Furthermore, questions like “Which kind of art do you like and why? What do you think about arts? Are they important? Do you usually go to music hall or museum? Do you like paintings or sculptures? Do you like music? What kind of art did you do when you were young?” are also asked in part I.
　　In Part II of the IELTS Speaking Module, you need to give a short talk, of about 1-2 minutes, on the topic about “art”. The questions do not require any specific knowledge, but are based on personal experience. You are handed a card with the topic and you have one minute to prepare your talk. You can make notes and use these notes during your monologue. The examiner will not ask you any questions during this part of the test, so you must know how to answer all parts of the question you are given and speak fluently for a few minutes by yourself. Sample IELTS Speaking Module topics (for Part II) are given below. It is quite likely that you will be given one of these topics or something very similar, so make sure you can speak confidently and clearly on each one.

Describe a sculpture you have seen. You should say: what kind of sculpture it is where did you see it did you like it and explain why you think this sculpture is special.

　　I could never forget the ice sculptures of the different Disney characters that I saw way back the early nineties. I saw the said beautifully done sculptures inside a newly opened amusement park. We were entering a snow zone area in the park that was why we wore winter coats at the entrance area, but I never expected to see the Disney characters in there. I was surprised and in awe of everything that I saw in that area that my mouth swung open without me noticing it. The charming gentleman beside me had to embarrassingly tell me to close my mouth. We entered the snow zone area in batches of 10 so I ended up going in with strangers as my friends were all counted in the next batch. I was expecting snowman, snowballs, hollow block style ice and the like but I never expected to see such creative sculptures. I not only like it, but I really love it. Perhaps I would not have appreciated it that much if it were not an ice sculpture. The fact that I am a big fan of Disney characters is another factor why I appreciated it more. Also, it was really my first time to be able to see such beautiful masterpieces. I could just imagine how meticulously those figures were done. I kept on thinking how it would look like if the whole thing melted. I was wondering how many degrees celcius it took to preserve the whole thing. That was the first and the last time that I was able to see ice sculpture. But just last month, as I passed through the open area of our school campus, I saw some students from one of the school organizations conducting ice sculpture seminar. I could not believe my eyes and my luck as I saw it. I stared in disbelief, but this time, I was mindful not to let my mouth left opened wide again. I almost volunteered myself to join the organization so that I would be able to try making my own ice sculpture. As I was approaching the organization head, I realized that I may love art, but apparently, art does not like me so I headed to the opposite direction instead.