This IELTS Speaking post covers the complete answer package for Cambridge IELTS 12 Test 7 Speaking full test. Here, I’ve provided answers or solutions for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The candidates may make changes where needed to suit the answers for their own circ*mstances. Hopefully, this post will come in handy for newcomers to IELTS who have major problems understanding the test.
Part 1
Clothes
Where do you buy most of your clothes?
I generally visit my local shopping mall once or twice a month. But I don’t buy clothes very often. When I need to buy new clothes, I prefer to go to a big shopping mall named “The Big Sea”. It’s only a 10-minute walk from the block where I live in.
I prefer this mall because they sell quality products and the price is quite reasonable. The environment is also very consumer-friendly.
How often do you buy new clothes for yourself?
As I mentioned earlier, I do not buy clothes for myself quite often. It’s more like once every 4/5 months. But, sometimes when I go to different places to visit or for job-purpose, I try to buy some clothes from those places.
How do you decide which clothes to buy?
It depends on different circ*mstances. Say, I need to buy some pants or trousers for myself or a family member or maybe a gift for someone; I go to a place outside my town. It’s a pretty small shopping center, but I know someone from that place who sells some excellent products of such kind at a very cheap rate.
Again, if I need to buy some sports gear or so, I prefer to visit “The Big Sea”, the shopping mall I mentioned earlier because they give a 100% cash-back guarantee if there is a problem with any clothing they sell.
I also think about the weather, place, occasion, and most of all, the current trend in the fashion world when I buy some casual dresses. Thus, I decide which clothes to buy.
Have the kinds of clothes you like changed in recent years?
Well, if you tell me to compare the last 5 years or so, I don’t think the kinds of clothes I like have changed much. I still have some 5-years old clothes in my closet which I can wear till now. But, compared to the last decade, there has been a major change in the way people wear clothes. People have become more aware of current fashion trends. Our country’s people have become more and more Westernized. So, they follow Western dress cultures a lot.
Click the following links for practicing other Speaking Part 1 topics:
- friends, home, family, food, free time/pastime
- weather, travel, tourism
- games, sports, music
- computers, internet, email
- work, studies, school, hometown/city
- shopping, festivals, smoking
Part 2
CUE CARD:
Sample Answer:
Thank you for the cue card. I want to talk about an important discussion that I had with my younger brother about how I spent my own money and how he should spend his money too. I particularly like this discussion because it makes me happy in different ways.
So, my younger brother was given a large sum of money to spend on his higher education. But somehow we came to know that he wasn’t spending it accordingly. I felt that someone from the family should talk to him about the matter as this is serious stuff and he might spend all the money without having understood what he was actually doing. So, I took the initiative personally and called him over the phone and urged him to come and stay a few days with the family. Though it was tough for him to reschedule everything with the college and hostel issues, he managed to come and stay at home for a couple of days.
So, after having dinner together, the next night I told him to have a walk with me outside. I asked him about his studies and other stuff about his life in college and what he was planning to do after his course in college finished. Then I told him about the fact I came to know about and advised him not to waste the money in such ways. I advised him to deposit the money in a bank account so that he can look after it properly. I told him the process of opening the account and how to deposit the money. I also give him some recommendations on how to withdraw a minimum sum of money in case of an emergency. I told him to become more accountable regarding spending money. Most of all, I advised him to be frugal, not a miser. I gave him examples from my own experience and shared with him the tips I got from my father on how to spend money in a fruitful way and told him it worked for me perfectly.
The result of this conversation between me and my brother was really successful because, after a couple of months, he phoned me and told me that he understood why I suggested so many things about spending money. I felt really happy that my brother actually appreciated the conversation.
I think this conversation was an interesting one for me due to the fact that I had to take action and I thought I did the right one. Whatever happens, I think, saying something negative to my brother would not provide a good result. Rather I advised him to become smart and thoughtful about spending money which made him do the right things.
Thank you.
Part 3
Money and young people
Why do some parents give their children money to spend each week?
Actually, I think, they give their children money to spend on some of their favorite foods such as chocolates, ice creams, different types of chips, etc. They also give money to them so that they can buy stationery items like pens, pencils, notebooks, and some toys. Sometimes some parents give a handful of money to their child which is not good. It might put them at some sort of risk.
Do you agree that schools should teach children how to manage money?
Well, in my opinion, it might be a very good idea if they are taught the basics of economics in schools, yes.
We know that money management is a great life skill. So, the school should take the responsibility to teach them how to spend money in the best ways possible. They should also teach them how to save money and the value of saving money for the future.
It’s a very significant lesson that will remain with them forever.
Do you think it is a good idea for students to earn money while studying?
Well, this depends highly on the circ*mstances of the students. If needs be, they can earn money in the best way possible and there is no shame in it. I personally did some teaching in education centers while I was a student. This was due to my financial situation and I think this part-time job not only helped me financially but also gave me a strong foundation for taking on challenges and setting my future goal.
Money and society
Do you think it is true that in today’s society, money cannot buy happiness?
As a matter of fact, it can in a sense. Money is very important in this competitive world and we can enjoy a comfortable, even luxurious life if we have a handsome amount of money. We can plan for a better future life and achieve our dreams.
But still, it is true that money cannot buy happiness. The true happiness of life lies in contentment. Earning a lot of money cannot buy it. If we are satisfied with our work and sustain ourselves happily, we can be happy. I know many rich people who have every modern facilities and amenities in their life, yet they feel empty all the time.
So, money can give us some worldly comfort for sure, but we can assume safely that true happiness lies in contentment with whatever we have in life.
What disadvantages are there in a society where the gap between rich and poor is very large?
I think the main problem that this gap between the rich and the poor creates is antipathy among the poor about the rich. They always think that the rich are corrupted which might not be true all the time. Hard-working people can be successful defying all the odds of life. The poor might not think about them. They might generalize everything.
Being wealthy is clearly a target of everyone in this society. But it is not so easy to earn a large amount of money easily in this competitive world because there is always a job crisis in the market. For this reason, the gap between the poor and the rich is amplifying day by day.
It also puts the society in a vacillating situation. Even people who try their heart and soul to make society a sustainable balance become afraid of doing so because they are very few in numbers.
We are all aware of the quote “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This actually happens in real time where there is a serious gap between the rich and the poor. Rich people start to dominate so much that they forget about the ethics of life and move forward together.
The poor suffer from all sorts of disadvantages such as unemployment, hunger, poverty, and so on. This leads to an increasing rate of crime and insecurity in the society.
Do you think richer countries have a responsibility to help poorer countries?
There is no better way than this. I think it is the responsibility of the richer countries to come forward and take steps to improve the conditions in poorer countries. Here they can gain profits as well.
Countries that are financially strong need markets to sell their products to. In this case, helping the poor countries can, at the same time, develop emerging markets in those nations and serves the interests of rich countries.
But, more importantly, rich countries should educate the citizens of poor countries and make them skilled so that they can shape their own future. Otherwise, rich countries will only gain profits from those nations, which in return, increase the gap further.
So, I believe, an extensive plan is needed which can be effectively applied to the development of those poorer countries so that none can take major advantage of them. Only proper and kind thoughts to help the countries go forward can fulfill this plan. Rich countries have all the resources to help a striving nation move forward. So, it is indeed their responsibility to help them.
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