IELTS SPEAKING
A Collection of Common Topics
Unit 1 People
Lesson 3 An old friend that you got in
contact again
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Unit 1 People
Now in the first part, I’d like to ask you some questions about yourself.
Part 1
This part lasts for 4-5 minutes.
Friends：
1. What do you think makes good friends?
2. Do you keep in contact with friends from childhood?
3. What kind of people do you make friends with?
3
TI: Act as the examiner and keep the time. Then comment on student’s performance.
Unit 1 People
Sample Answer to PART 1
1. What do you think makes good friends?
I think a good friend is there for you when you need them. Whether it's helping you through the
grief of losing a loved one or being by your side when you're sick. Good friends are present in
good times and bad. Another important quality of a good friend is loyalty. We all experience times
when we've done something wrong or we're in a bad mood. Good friends are loyal and accept you
for who you are during the good and bad times.
2. Do you keep in contact with friends from childhood?
I hardly keep in touch with my childhood friends, even though I still have their Wechat or other
contact information. Because when we grow up, we just simply grow apart. We’ve been through
so many different things like we went to different schools and we had different interests. So, when
I tried to contact them again, I just found that we had little in common.
3. What kind of people do you make friends with?
Well, I’m a shy quiet type myself, so when I’m confronted with another shy quiet type it can be a
bit awkward, like two clams. I get on best with someone outgoing enough to bring me out of my
shell, and then no one knows I'm usually shy. I'll be as much of a silly chatterbox as anyone.
Unit 1 People
You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have
Part 2 one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some
notes to help you if you wish.
Describe one of your old friends you got in contact again.
You should say:
• who this friend is and how long you have known this person;
• where you met this friend;
• what you did after you met this friend;
• and explain how you felt when you got in contact with this
old friend again.
4
TI: Act as the examiner and keep the time. Then ask 1-2 questions about S’s statement.
Unit 1 People
Sample Answer to PART 2
Let me tell you about a time when I met with my friend at the airport in Beijing. That was
at the end of last year, when the Spring Festival was coming, and I was on my way back to
my hometown.
I was reading a magazine while waiting for my flight, then I heard a voice calling my name.
I looked around and found that my old friend was standing in front of me and smiling at
me. It was so surprising because you know, it was nearly impossible to meet a person you
knew in such a big city, and we even would take the same flight to the same destination.
He was my classmate and one of my best friends in college. He was taking a business trip
to my hometown.
It was so exciting to meet my old friend and we hadn’t seen each other for three years, so
we had lots of things to talk about. We shared a drink in the cafe and talked about the past
things which had happened during the three years. The waiting hours passed very quickly
and before we started to board, we promised to keep in touch in the future regularly.
Unit 1 People
Part 3 Discussion Topics. This part lasts for 4-5 minutes.
PART 3
1. How do people in your country keep in touch with
their friends?
2. Why do some people lose contact with their
friends after graduation?
3. Do you think social media has helped people to
get in touch with their old friends?
TI: Act as the examiner and keep the time. Then comment on student’s performance.
Unit 1 People
Sample Answer to PART 3
1. How do people in your country keep in touch with their friends?
I think for most people, if they live in the same city with their friends, they usually call
their friends on their phones and meet them in person. Apart from that, people usually
use social media to connect with friends who don’t live in the same city. Wechat is a
common platform through which we keep in touch with friends.
2. Why do some people lose contact with their friends after graduation?
The reason why it is common to lose friends after graduation is because everyone is
going in their own ways. They start doing new things which take up all of their time.
They have more responsibilities, therefore more stress and less free time.
3. Do you think social media has helped people to get in touch with their old friends?
Yes, social media is a critical platform for making and staying in touch with friends. By
using social media, I can receive frequent updates from my old friends. Since most of
my old friends and I live in different cities, social media is an essential channel for us to
stay in touch.
Unit 1 People
End of the Speaking Test
Tutor should comment on the following criteria:
Fluency and coherence
Lexical resource
Grammatical range and accuracy
Pronunciation
S’s overall speaking score is: ________
