#51 - IELTS Speaking test in Melbourne, Australia – June 2016 (General Training)

Test # 51

Personal Questions

– Do you like music?

Yes I like to listen to music. I listen to songs often while travelling.

– Do you still listen to music that you liked in the past?

Yes I do. In fact there are some old evergreen songs that I like to hear frequently and I never get tired of listening to them. But I have also started liking more of reggae music now since a few months, so I listen more of that now.

– Why did your taste change?

It hasn’t changed exactly, I still like the old Bollywood songs and Ghazals; this is just a new thing that I found very interesting and I’m having fun exploring more about it.

– Do you have a pet?

No I don’t. I used to feed a stray cat when I was small, and that was as close I could be to having a pet. I do plan to adopt a pet in the future, maybe a dog or a cat.

– Is it more difficult to have a pet in cities or in rural areas? Why?

I think it is more difficult to raise pets in the cities because we don’t get open areas like in the villages. Also many people live in apartments and if they keep pets, they have to keep them inside the house all day and the pets don’t get enough space to play and run. Taking them for a walk on the streets is also dangerous because vehicles are moving swiftly and if your dog tries to run, it may get injured.

Cue Card

Describe an interesting animal that you saw for the first time recently. Please say

– What is it?

– Why was it interesting to you?

– What did it do?

An interesting animal that I saw was a Guinea pig. I hadn’t seen one till now and I was really amazed to see that a member of the rat family could be so cute and fluffy. I saw it at a nature park in my city; the people had just got a batch of guinea pigs and the little things were scurrying around in their cage, nibbling on stalks of celery. I went home and Googled a bit about the guinea pig and I was interested to learn that it is a very smart animal. The article also said that when excited, guinea pigs repeatedly perform extremely cute little hops in the air known as "popcorning", something that I was fortunate enough to see when I went to the nature park. I asked the park manager about its diet and whether it could be a good pet, and I was happy to know that Guinea pigs are great pets. I’ve a good mind to get one in the future.

Discussion

– What was your reaction to its behavior?

I felt very cheerful seeing them! They were making those squeaky little noises that were delightful to hear! I am anyways fond of small animals, like rabbits and squirrels.

– Why do you think people become vegetarians?

People become vegetarians when they realize they don’t want to kill animals for satisfying their hunger. Almost all the nutrients that can be obtained from eating meats can be obtained from vegetarian foods also. Basically it’s a lifestyle choice so when people feel they don’t like non vegetarian food anymore, they might switch to being vegetarian. It is also reported that many meats, for example chickens are chemically bred so eating such food will have very adverse effects on one’s health.

– What should be done to lower cruelty to animals?

I think countries need to pen down stricter laws against animal cruelty. Mostly people feel that they can be cruel to animals and get away with it because after a point of time people’s sympathy may wear out. If there are stricter well-defined laws then people too would find it easy to take the help of such laws and would actively participate in punishing people who abuse animals.