Part 3

Answer these questions related to famous people:

Famous people in your country

 What kind of people become famous people these days?

 Is this different from the kind of achievement that made people famous in the past?
 In what way?
 How do you think people will become famous in the future?

Being in the public eye

 What ate the good things about being famous? Are there any disadvantages?
 How does the media in your country treat famous people?
 Why do you think ordinary people are interested in the lives of famous people?

Music and young people

 What kinds of music are popular with young people in your culture?
 What do you think influences a young person's taste in music?
 How has technology affected the kinds of music popular with young people?

Music and society

 Tell me about any traditional music in your culture.

 How important is it for a culture to have musical traditions?
 Why do you think countries have national anthems or songs?

Qualities of friends

 What do you think are the most important qualities for friends to have?
 Which are more important to people, their family or their friends? Why?
 What do you think causes friendships to break up?

Other relationships

 What other types of relationship, apart from friends or family, are important in people's lives today?
 Have relationships with neighbours where you live changed in recent years? How?
 How important do you think it is for a person to spend some time alone? Why/Why not?

Purpose of festivals and celebrations

 Why do you think festivals are important events in the working year?
 Would you agree that the original significance of festivals is often lost today? Is it good or bad, do you think?
 Do you think that new festivals will be introduced in the future? What kind?

Festivals and the media

 What role does the media play in festivals, do you think?

 Do you think it's good or bad to watch festivals on TV? Why?
 How may globalisation affect different festivals around the world?

Looking after historic places

 How do people in your country feel about protecting historic buildings?

 Do you think an area can benefit from having an interesting historic place locally? In what way?
 What do you think will happen to historic places or buildings in the future? Why?
The teaching of history at school

 How were you taught history when you were at school?

 Are there other ways people can learn about history, apart from at school? How?
 Do you think history will still be a school subject in the future? Why?

 Do you think getting to work is easier or more difficult than it used to be?
 How have methods of transport been improved?
 Are there any problems that have been created by new transport systems?
 Do you think these problems can be solved?
 What about the cost of travelling, do you think it is too high?
 What about your ideal journey, how and where would you like to travel?

The internet.

 How often do you use the internet?

 Does everyone in your family use the internet?
 What do you use the internet for?
 When did you last use the internet?

Gap Year

We've been talking about a place you'd like to visit and I'd like to discuss with you one or two more general questions
related to this. So, let's consider first of all the idea, as a student, of having a Gap Year.

 How important do you think it is for young people to visit different places before they go to university or
college?
 What sort of challenges do you think you'd have, going on a gap year as a student?
 Do you think it's useful to work, for other reasons as well, besides money?
 What sort of jobs do you think would be the best sort of jobs to do?
 What sort of preparation should a student make before they go on a gap year, do you think?

 Let's move on to the topic of travelling to less familiar places. What sort of advantages are there to reading
about a country before you visit it?
 Do you think there are any disadvantages?
 Some people choose to have a guide, when they go to a very unfamiliar place. Do you think that improves the
quality of a travel experience?
 Do you think you learn more from visiting important sites or from meeting local people?

Developments in education
 How has education changed in your country in the last 10 years?
 What changes do you foresee in the next 50 years?
A national education system
 How do the expectations of today’s school leavers compare with those of the previous generation?
 What role do you think extracurricular activities play in education?

Different styles/methods of teaching and learning

 What method of learning works best for you?
 How beneficial do you think it is to group students according to their level of ability?

Family similarities

 In what ways can people in a family be similar to each other?

 Do you think that daughters are always more similar to mothers than to male relatives?
 What about sons and fathers?
 In terms of personality, are people more influenced by their family or by their friends? In what ways?
Attitudes to family

 In what ways have families in your country changed in recent years?

 Should husbands and wives have different roles within the family? Why (not)?

Family or friends

 Which are more important to you: your family or your friends?

 What conflicts can arise between a person's family and a person's friends?

Family responsibilities

 What responsibilities do parents have towards their children?

 What responsibilities do children have towards their parents?

Things to buy

 What typical things can visitors to your country buy?

 What things do young people like to buy in your country?

Money

 Is it a good idea to save money? Why (not)?

 Do you think that people are happier if they have money? Why (not)?

Shopping

 What can shops do to make shopping more pleasant for their customers?
 Do you think that in the future people will do most of their shopping using the Internet? Why?/ Why not?

Shopping at markets

 Do people in your country enjoy going to open-air markets that sell things like food or clothes or old objects?
Which type of market is more popular? Why?
 Do you think markets are more suitable places for selling certain types of things? Which ones? Why do you
think this is?
 Do you think young people feel the same about shopping at markets as older people? Why is that?

Shopping in general

 What do you think are the advantages of buying things from shops rather than markets?
 How does advertising influence what people choose to buy? Is this true for everyone?
 Do you think that any recent changes in the way people live have affected general shopping habits? Why is
this?

Attitudes to food

 What do you think a healthy diet consists of?

 Which do people in your country prefer: traditional food or fast food such as hamburgers or pizzas?

Learning about food

 Do you think children should be taught about healthy diets and cooking at school? Why (not)?
 At what age do you think children should be taught to cook?

Food aid

 What can be done to prevent poor people in the world going hungry?
 Should rich countries help poor countries with more than just food?
Travelling and learning

 What do people learn from travelling?

 Do you think the growth of international tourism is a good thing? Why (not)?

Tourism and culture

 How has tourism changed the way people in your country live?
 How should tourists behave when they visit your country?

Ways of travelling

 What do you think is the best way for a tourist to travel if they want to learn about your country?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of travelling by plane?

Reasons for daily travel

 Why do people need to travel every day?

 What problems can people have when they are on their journey, for example to work or school? Why is this?
 Some people say that daily journeys like these will not be so common in the future. Do you agree or disagree?
Why?

Benefits of international travel

 What do you think people can learn from travelling to other countries? Why?
 Can travel make a positive difference to the economy of a country? How?
 Do you think a society can benefit if its members have experience of travelling to other countries? In what
ways?

Attitudes to education

 How has education changed in your country in the last ten years?
 Is a good education more important to a boy or a girl? Why?

The focus of education

 How well do you think schools prepare young people for working life?
 Do you think schools should teach subjects like art, music and dancing? Why (not)?

Education and technology

 How important is it for schools to have computers for their students?

 Is the Internet a valuable educational tool?

Safety and danger

 In what ways is life becoming safer, and in what ways is it becoming more dangerous?
 Should people always avoid danger, or is it a good idea sometimes to take risks?

Taking risks

 What risks should people try to avoid?

 Do you think people take fewer risks as they grow older? Why (not)?

Adventure

 How important is it to have adventure in our lives?

 What do people learn about themselves from having adventures?
Attitudes to newspapers

 In what ways are newspapers better for learning about the news than listening to the radio or watching
television?
 Do you think newspapers should be completely free to say whatever they want?

Tastes in reading

 What do people enjoy reading in your country?

 Do you think it is important for people to read a lot? Why (not)?

Public and private lives

 What sort of stories do newspapers and magazines publish about well-known or famous people in your
country?
 Do you think the media should be allowed to publish stories about the private lives of public figures?

Sport & Health

 What do you do to keep fit?

 Are you good at sport?
 What sports do you play?
 What is the most popular sport in your country?
 What are the best ways to keep fit?
 Do you think most people consider exercise a chore or do they find it fun?
 What is the most popular form of exercise in your country?
 Do you think people in your country are less healthy than they used to be?
 How can we encourage young people to stay healthy?
 Should governments intervene to force people to be healthier?

Part3

 Did the student respond to the key ideas?

 Did the student support his answers well?
 Did he use a range of words?
 Did he speak fluently, using a range of linkers?