1. Describe a typical day in your life when you were a child.

 

You should say:

 

what you did and ate

what sorts of game or sports you played

who looked after you

 

and explain what was most enjoyable of it.

 

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

 

Model Answer 1:

 

As a child, my typical days were like that of most other children, who were attending an elementary school, except, of course, on the days when the weekend arrived because all I used to do during my weekend was to mostly sleep.

 

Anyway, my typical day started at around 7:00 am when I used to get ready to go to my school after freshening up and eating my breakfast. By the way, I really enjoyed having milk and cereal as my breakfast, but sometimes I had to eat just a plain vegetable sandwich with a glass of milk with it when there was no cereal. After arriving my school, of course, I needed to attend classes and other school activities for a marathon 7 hours that included an hour of lunch break and 30 minutes of physical exercise, which, by the way, I never really liked, although I liked the tiffin, provided by my school, of boiled egg, potato chips and a banana/apple a lot during the lunch hour.

 

 

After finishing school, I straight returned to my home and had to take some rest, as was the rule, put forth by my mother, before going out to play with my friends. Sometimes, I used to play football with my friends, and I used to serve as their regular goalkeeper, at a playground next to my home. Sometimes, I used to ride my bicycle there also without going too far from my home as my mother would never approve of that. Later in the day, I sometimes used to watch some TV as well with my family.

 

The most enjoyable part of my day was walking to school with my friends as I could talk about a lot of things with them and make jokes. Another thing, which I really enjoyed, was buying my favourite ice-creams during the lunch break at my school and sharing them with my friends. Finally, I also enjoyed it a lot when my mother sometimes allowed me to watch my favourite children movie before going to bed at night.

 

2. Describe your journey to your school or office.

 

You should say:

 

what type of transport you use

how long it takes

whether you use the same type of vehicle always

 

and explain if you enjoy it or not.

 

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

 

 

Model Answer 1:

 

Travelling at least one hour, back and forth, from home to office and vice versa every day may seem to be an easy task on the surface, but when you are travelling at least five days per week, it suddenly doesn’t seem to be so easy unless your journey is reasonably comfortable.

 

Anyway, talking about my journey from my hometown (“Sintra” which is one of the major tourist destinations of Portugal and a suburb of capital Lisbon) to my office in Lisbon, which fortunately never gave me any trouble for my last few years of journey mainly because I use the train to travel back and forth even though it costs me little extra because I always try to travel by “urban” trains which only run between large cities like Lisbon to Porto and Lisbon to Sintra. By the way, there are four different kinds of trains in Portugal, depending on the distance they travel. Anyway, it takes a good 30 minutes to reach my office from my home but it doesn’t feel that long due to the fact that the trains in my country are very comfortable with spacious seats and comfortable temperatures no matter what time of the year you are travelling. And that’s exactly why, I always try to travel by train unless, of course, there is a valid reason to choose other means of transportation.

 

I enjoy my train journey from my home to office and vice versa because most of the area between Lisbon and Sintra is really scenic and beautiful as Sintra itself is a beautiful tourist spot. In fact, Portugal is a very beautiful country with beautiful mountainsides, vineyards, olive trees and sparkling sea coast.  Besides, the environment inside the train is remarkably peaceful with no unnecessary noise unlike the sound of AC on a bus. Finally, I absolutely enjoy the train journey because it is never really dependent on weather and as such very reliable. By the way, I rather enjoy the “rhythmic” sound of a moving train as it helps me take a little nap during my journey.

 

03.Describe a game or sport you used to play in your childhood.

 

You should say:

 

what type of game or sport it was

how you played it

who you played it with

 

and explain why you do not play it anymore.

 

 

 

Model Answer 1:

I spent my childhood in an urban area that was full of natural graces and wonders. The vast green fields, rivers, hill, the blue sky and the playmates of my childhoods were my best part of my lively and magical childhood. I used to play lots of games in my childhood and among them, Blind man’s buff was one of my most favourite.

 

This game required minimum of 4-5 kids to play. Initially, one kid would be selected to be blindfolded and his/her eyes would be tied up so that s/he can’t see anything. A big circle would be drawn and no one is allowed to go out of this circle. The blindfolded kid would try to catch someone while others would try to protect themselves but would not be able to go outside the circle. If the blindfolded kid can touch someone and can say his/her name, the blindfolded kid would get free and the other one who was touched would be blindfolded this time. This was the basic rules of the game and we used to play this game according to this rule.

 

I mostly played this game with my cousins, neighbouring kids and classmates. I was then around 4-5 years old and the other kids whom I used to play with were around the same age.

 

As I recall, I played this game when I was a kid if 4-5 years old. Probably I have not played this game after I was promoted to grade three. This was a game played by kids and in our country, this is played by the kids only. It is not at all a game for the grown-ups and I have never seen any adult person playing this game. So, I do not play this game anymore. Among the games, I play still now, includes cricket, football, badminton, table tennis but not the blind man’s buff at all. This was a game for kids and I enjoyed this game as a kid.

 

 

 

 

 

04.Describe an exciting experience in your life.

 

You should say:

 

what it is

when and where it occurred

what happened

 

and explain what was so exciting about it.

 

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

 

Life is full of many exciting experiences, some of which, we tend to forget, but as for others, we remember them for a long time. Today, I would like to talk about such an experience, involving riding on a boat, which I will never forget.

 

It was during a long summer holiday about 5 years ago, when my university had just closed, and I decided to visit one of my best friend’s home town at his invitation in order to see one of the biggest lakes of my country. The lake was very famous, not only because of its huge size but also because of its crystal clear water. Anyway, I was very excited about my visit to see the lake, but little did I know that even more excitement and surprise were waiting for me.

 

In fact, after arriving at my friend’s hometown, when he took me to the lake, I could see a brand new, white, and motor-driven boat was waiting for us to ride. However, the problem was I never had a boat journey before, nor did I know any swimming. But my friend was indeed brave, and he assured me that nothing would happen. So, our boat journey started and in no time, I found myself far away from the lakeshore. The exciting thing was that I could actually see the fishes swimming around us through the clear water of the lake! In a second, I forgot about my fear and wanted to catch some of those big fishes, but my friend prevented me.

 

Anyway, it was indeed a “once in a lifetime” kind of exciting experience for me because I never travelled by boat before. Besides, when I was in the middle of the lake, it felt like the sky was only covering the lake like a “tower”.  I also felt like the fishes wanted to talk to us and befriend with us when they were swimming around our boat! Finally, chirping of the birds over our heads felt like they were singing to “greet” us in their world!

 

5. Describe a beautiful house/ home you have been to.

 

You should say:

 

where it was

how it looked like

when you visited there and why

 

and explain why you think this was a beautiful house.

 

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

 

 

 

Model Answer 1:

Thank you very much for this great topic. Rather than telling you about a ‘typical’ home I know, I want to share with you the story of possibly the most amazing house I’ve ever been lucky enough to visit.

 

So, the story was, I was travelling in Australia. An elderly relative of mine, now living in the UK, had spent many years working there and was really keen I look up an old friend of hers who lived ‘in the rainforest’ in a quite remote part of Queensland, near a coastal village called Cardwell.

 

After a few months or so, I arrived at her ‘house’. Oh! my. I have never seen anything like it before or since! Imagine a little wooden house, raised up on stilts, with a veranda completely encircling the structure, a rather crude slatted wooden roof and wooden interior walls. Imagine all of this, but with no external walls! It was as if the property had just grown organically from the forest floor.

 

The weather was warm year round in this part of the world, and clearly, my host felt very safe in the forest. Rather than have a barrier between her and the forest, she chose to have no exterior walls, her living space merged with the plants and animals that surrounded her. I think there may have been a low wooden fence at the back of the property, but really this was mainly to stop things falling off her platform, rather than give privacy or security!

 

What did I like! Well, the feeling of being a part of the rainforest was the most amazing part. It was an unobtrusive dwelling, probably we would call it ‘eco-friendly’ in the language of today. She told me that sometimes she’d be having an early breakfast on her porch and see cassowaries wander past. They are incredibly shy and rare so that is a remarkable thing. I loved the quirkiness of the house, the minimalism of her furnishings. You really don’t need very much in the way of material things to have a good life. Also, I suppose there’s a very little point in having lots of possessions when the rainforest might encroach on you at any moment. The house is a physical reminder of a memory that otherwise seems almost too extraordinary to be true!