#12 - IELTS Speaking test in India – April 2016

- What is your full name?

My name is (name)_(surname).

- Can I see your ID?

Yes sure!

- Where are you from?

I'm from (city). It is the (biggest/metro/industrial….) city of the state of (State’s name), situated in the (northern/western) part of my country.

- Do you work or study?

I'm studying (course name) from (college name) in (location/city).

OR

I’m working as a (designation) in a local/international/private/government) firm called (company name).

- What do you do?

I am responsible for (eg.: recruitement and selection of new employees to the company). Besides this I also (eg.: manage and maintain office supplies).

- Where do you live now?

I currently live in (current city) since 1 year.

- What do you like about your home?

If you mean my home in my hometown, I would say I like the fact that it is huge. It is an ancestral mansion and people get pretty awed by it, so it is very gratifying.

- What changes do you wish to make there?

Just the one thing I want to change is the few shanty roadside shops that are built a few meters away from my house. The have only recently come up as there was an open space and have settled illegally. I would want them removed.

- How do you usually communicate?

I communicate through my cellphone, and more so through a free messaging application on my phone called WhatsApp.

- Do you still write letters?

I know it’s old fashioned but yes I do! I love writing! I feel any handwritten text reflects the writer’s feelings. I frequently write letters to my sister who is married and stays in a different city.

- How can you describe communication these days?

I can say that communication nowadays is brisk and precise. Not many people talk about things apart from the work they have from the other person. The only leisure conversations that happen are in get-togethers like weddings or parties.

Cue Card

Talk about a place you recently visited that was affected by pollution. Please say

- What is this place?

- What is the effect of pollution on it?

- What causes the pollution?

The place that was very polluted that I came across was in my city only; it was an area name Naroda. It was around 5 to 6 days back that we happened to be passing through it. It is an industrial area so the pollution is obviously supposed to be more here, but this was way above the expected level. It was 9 or 9:30 a.m. so you don't really expect a lot of pollution to be around, but when we entered the area, it was really foggy with pollution. There was a lot of traffic of cars and two wheelers in the area with all the people coming to work so we had to stay in the area for a long time and while we were there we had to roll up the windows of the car for the whole time. There was this really nauseating smell of diesel fuel floating in the air. There were a lot of buses too, releasing purplish smoke. The effect of pollution was such that the people who I think were the workers in that area, who are supposed to be used to this situation were moving around covering their face with handkerchiefs and masks. I was amazed to see that if in the morning this is the level of pollution then what would be the condition in the afternoon on the evening. So this was the place I visited with excessive pollution.

Discussion

- How can the situation be improved?

The situation can only be improved if people start realizing that they are being very careless and selfish towards the environment. The government can impose as many laws as it wants but it would be of no use if the people themselves don’t understand the severity of the damage to the environment.

- Who should take responsibility for it?

Everyone! We are all living and breathing in this environment so it is everyone’s responsibility to nurture the environment, and not point fingers at others for taking up this responsibility.

- What can be done to avoid these situations in the future?

As I said, people need to adopt to environmental friendly ways to travel, for example we can use bicycles or electric vehicles; non-polluting forms of energy can be harnessed like solar or wind. Basically the concept of sustainable development needs to be taught to everyone.