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Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab Speaking Lab Part 1: Q1 Let’s begin by talking about your neighbourhood What kinds of activities are there to in your neighbourhood area? A1 My neighbourhood Well, let’s see…things to do…um Well, there are a lot of things to in my neighbourhood I live in a suburb of Brisbane, Australia called Belmont Because many people are moving to my area from the colder southern climates, my neighbourhood is growing and so too are the facilities For example, construction on a new park with a children’s playground and barbeque facilities was just completed It’s a great place for activities Picnics, family games, walking the dog…that sort of thing Also, more and more shopping centres are being built so shopping is another popular activity in my neighbourhood area Q2 What is it about your neighbourhood that you like least? A2 Do you mean things about my neighbourhood that I don’t like? [examiner: Ah, yes] Um, that’s quite a difficult question…Well, to be honest, I like everything about my home town! Let’s see…well I guess one thing I would change um, that I don’t like… is the lights in the street – there are simply not enough of them! When the night comes, it’s so dark in my neighbourhood that visitors have said to me that the place feels kind of unfriendly If it’s a cloudy night, it’s true, it’s very dark…so that is one thing I guess I like least about my neighbourhood Of course, we have lots of lights in our homes and outdoor lights in our yards, it’s just that when you are out on the road – driving or walking – my neighbourhood is too dark Q3 Ok, that’s interesting What changes would you make to your neighbourhood? A3 Well, as I mentioned, I think my neighbourhood - at night time - is a little too dark I guess one of the recommendations that’s made to our local government is to install some new street lighting So, if I was able to make a change in my neighbourhood, I guess it would be the installation of more street lighting…um…yea…some more lights would be good… Q4 Good Let’s talk a little about the topic of writing Do you enjoy writing? A4 To be honest, no I’ve never really enjoyed writing I find it incredibly boring! It seems as though my brain works faster than I can write and I end up forgetting all my Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab good ideas before I have a chance to write them down! Of course, I am planning to go to university so I’m going to have to get used to more and more writing The funny thing is that I did quite well with my writing in high school Anyway, I’d rather be outside than stuck indoors writing stuff! Q5 What is the best piece of writing you have ever written and what made it so memorable? A5 Best piece of writing? Ah, that’s easy! It was a poem I wrote, believe it or not, when I was in primary school The poem was included in our school yearbook – it’s a book that summarises the events that occurred in the school throughout the year My father and mother were so proud – they bought two copies of the yearbook! Anyway, it was a poem about my new brother and sister…at the time I was 12 and my mother had had twins! But that’s not the end of the story! The next year, my…my first year in high school we had to write a poem on the topic of family Well, I copied my poem from the previous year and presented it to the teacher Well, the next week I was shocked to receive a out of 10 for the poem - the best ‘A’ I’d ever received! Later on the teacher told my mother that she would have loved to have had another child and that my poem made her cry! Q6 Do you think students are writing more or less these days? What are some of the advantages of being a good writer? In my opinion, I think students are generally writing more these days Not A6 necessarily with pen or pencil but I think typing on the computer – emails, Internet messaging, MSN…that kind of thing I think it’s a big advantage to be a good writer A person who can write effectively and decisively has a tremendous advantage over those who can not A good writer, for example, who is studying in university will achieve higher scores for assignments If a student achieves higher marks for assignments, then it is a high possibility that he or she will get a better, higher paying job in the future Another advantage of being a good writer…it’s just come to my mind now…is that their writing is not confusing Sometimes I read, for example, the messages left for me by my sister and they’re difficult to understand because she’s a poor writer! Q7 Ok Please tell me about your favourite piece of writing – it may be a book, magazine or a newspaper A7 My favourite piece of writing Well, I’m not a big reader but I guess one of my favourite pieces of writing is a book It’s called the Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr Stephen Covey I heard that this book as written as part of his PhD Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab dissertation I have read it several times and I feel that it’s a very valuable book in building better relationships with others Over the years, I’ve encouraged others to read this book Speaking Lab Part 2: Transcript Ok, that’s good I’m now going to give you a topic that you will need to speak about Q1 for 1-2 minutes You can take notes if you want You have minute to prepare what you want to say I want you to talk about an effective commercial or advertisement you have seen… Ok, you have a maximum of minutes to speak so if you go over minutes, I will ask you to stop Can you please begin speaking now? The most effective television commercial I’ve ever seen was shown many years ago I A1 remember it was for an insurance company I’ve seen many effective ads in my life but I decided to talk to you about this one because it was so effective that I still remember it today, even though I was a child when I first saw it I remember sitting in the kitchen - I think I was doing some homework on the kitchen table and all of a sudden I could hear this loud, uncontrollable laughter coming from the lounge room I rushed in to see what was going on My sister and my father were both laughing at an insurance ad that was being shown on TV I remember looking at the TV and seeing lots of different animals ‘talking’ to each other! It was really, really clever and they were saying some funny things I’d never seen anything like that before Let’s see… there was a lizard, he was sitting outside the window, a cat, a dog and the most talkative animal was a beautiful, sulphur-crested cockatoo who kept squawking, “Who stole the TV? Who stole the TV?” All of the animals talking to each other made it really memorable and to this day I still remember the name of the insurance company, Eagle Insurance Over the years I’ve seen other companies feature animals in their commercials but for some reason, in my opinion…they’re not as effective as the Eagle Insurance ad To this day, when I think about this TV commercial, I can picture my Dad and sister laughing so hard… it still makes me laugh! Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab Speaking Lab Part 3: Transcript Q1 OK We’ve been talking about an effective advertisement that you remember and I’d like to discuss one or two more questions that are related to this Firstly, let’s consider the effect of advertising What effect you think advertising has on people today? A1 Well, ultimately, the biggest effect that advertising can have is it makes a person something - go out to a shop and purchase something, I guess Perhaps it was something that a person was not planning to buy, or even thought to buy This makes advertising a powerful medium…it can make people something that perhaps they had no intention of doing – until they saw the ad And also, advertising can have the effect of educating people If an individual doesn’t know about a product – how, for example, it can help or satisfy a need – they can learn about the benefits of a particular product and this, I think, is a good effect Q2 Can you give reasons why people pay more for certain brands and less for others? Yes This is an interesting question In my opinion, the reason people pay extra for a A2 particular product is due to how the product is advertised Usually, for example, clothing companies like Ralph Lauren, Polo or Calvin Klein, use lots of beautiful people, you know, attractive or good looking people…sometimes movie stars…to advertise their products Somehow, I think people who see these ads - either on TV or in magazines - see these people and want to identify themselves with such people… they want to be like these people so they pay extra money on the clothes I guess the desire to ‘belong or identify’ with a particular group makes people pay more for certain brands and less for others Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab Some products are known to be cheap and so people don’t feel special when they buy them For example in the supermarket, there’s a brand called Black and Gold everyone in my country knows that this brand is the cheapest type of product you can buy…so this product is associated with people who are not successful, who don’t have much money…so people don’t pay much for Black and Gold products Q3 Good We see advertising everywhere – on TV, in the newspaper, the internet and many other places Which form of advertising you think is the most effective and why? A3 At the moment, I think TV is still the most effective medium for advertising The reason for this is the picture quality is very good and so is the sound Unlike Internet, even with broadband, there are delays while things download Oh, and those popup ads are so annoying! Yea, TV is the most effective but I suppose in the near future, the Internet will become just as popular…maybe even more so…providing that information can be downloaded quicker than it does now Q4 OK Let’s now consider how advertising standards are set and maintained Who you think should be responsible for standards in advertising? A4 In my country, the government is responsible for advertising standards I’m not sure how they decide what is ok and what is not ok Some of the stuff that they show on TV for example is not, in my opinion, appropriate Some of the ads for example, use swear words…you know, bad language that people shouldn’t use I’m not sure exactly who in the government has the final say on what is or isn’t appropriate, I’m not sure about who decides the standard I think there is a diversity of opinion on this topic…I guess, overall they a pretty good job Q5 Can you suggest how advertising should be regulated or controlled? A5 Um…that’s a tough question…I’m not exactly sure about the regulations for advertising in my country As I said, I believe the government is responsible for controlling the standards But if the standards were up to me…if I was responsible for regulating and controlling the advertising standards, I would begin by drafting a… um…a list, yea, a list for example, that would clearly state what is ok and what is not ok For example, certain language such as foul language or content that’s termed ‘adult’ I think should be eliminated altogether from TV…in fact all print media, as far as I’m concerned I guess that this would have to be enforced by the government because if somebody broke the rules, it would be up to the government to enforce the law Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab Q6 Ok One last question Do you think there are any dangers associated with advertising? Yes, I believe there are numerous dangers associated with advertising There’s an A6 attitude that can occur amongst people who want to ‘keep up with others’ and they can become obsessed with each new thing that comes out The problem is that they’ll never be satisfied because there are always new products coming out…so it’s an impossible dream! Another danger with advertising, in my opinion, is that advertising can in a way, influence the standards of society – sometimes for bad People see certain advertisements and they – either overtly or subliminally – can feel compelled to buy the products Sometimes, these products can be harmful to society For example, cigarettes…in the early days, ads for cigarettes were popular on TV and they’re still advertised in print media This kind of advertising had…and continues to have…a real negative effect on the health of millions of people around the world! Texas Academy ... Dad and sister laughing so hard… it still makes me laugh! Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab Speaking Lab Part 3: Transcript Q1 OK We’ve been talking about an effective advertisement... Stephen Covey I heard that this book as written as part of his PhD Texas Academy Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab dissertation I have read it several times and I feel that it’s a very valuable book...Sample Speaking Test Speaking Lab good ideas before I have a chance to write them down! Of course, I am planning to