Candidate Task Card
Describe a situation when you were in a place where mobile phones were prohibited
You should say:- where you were
- what you were doing
- why you couldn't use them
Answer
One such situation I can remember was when I went to visit my grandmother in the hospital recently. I haven’t been inside a hospital in many years and so I was quite surprised to see warning notices stating that the use of mobile phones (cell phones) was not permitted in certain areas of the hospital.
Anyway, I guess if you think about it there must be a good reason why they are not allowed. I suppose maybe some of the medical equipment might be affected by the signal or something like that so they don’t want to take any chances.
The airlines don’t allow you to use your phone onboard a plane when it’s taking off or landing, so not being able to use a phone in a hospital if it’s close to electronic monitoring or other medical equipment makes sense I suppose.
It’s possibly to do with the radio waves and the fact that they might interfere with other signals in the area, although strangely enough they have wireless networks within the hospital so I’m not really sure if there is a real danger of signal interference or not.
Most hospitals prohibit the use of phones, so there must be some grounds for it – but nobody seems to actually know what the real potential problem is. I guess the big difference is that the wireless systems within the hospital are under strict control and use limited signal frequencies, and if there is any interference then the hospital tech staff can simply turn it off or isolate it.
But with numerous mobile phones being used at the same time within the same area, each one slightly different and the variety of signals used, it makes it more difficult to control and almost impossible to turn off or isolate them all if there is a problem with signals interfering with medical equipment, so they play it safe and just prohibit using them.
Luckily, it wasn't a problem or inconvenient because I didn't really need to use it, I was there to see how my grandmother was recovering; using my phone wasn't a priority, so the fact that mobile phones were prohibited wasn't a big problem for me.
Follow-up question
Do you have a monthly phone plan and is it expensive?
Yes I do - and it's not too expensive, about $10 per month for unlimited calls and texts, and enough data to last me month.
Similar IELTS Candiate Task Cards
- Describe a situation where people shouldn't use their mobile phones
- Describe a time when you couldn't use your cell phone.
- Describe a time when you were not permitted to use your mobile phone
Test Your Mobile Phone Vocabulary Quiz
- Which type of mobile phone can perform various functions like browsing the internet and taking photos? Smartphone
- What do you call applications or software designed to perform specific tasks on a mobile phone? Apps
- Which term refers to a subscription to use mobile internet? Data Plan
- What is a display on a mobile phone that responds to touch? Touchscreen
- What is the term for sending written messages via mobile phone? Texting
- Which mode on a mobile phone disables all wireless communication? Airplane Mode
- What allows other devices to connect to the internet through a mobile phone? Hotspot
- What technology is used for exchanging data between devices wirelessly? Bluetooth
- What is a digital assistant that responds to voice commands? Voice Assistant
- What is an alert or message displayed on a mobile device? Notification
Feature Phone
Flip Phone
Widgets
Extensions
Roaming
Bandwidth
Keypad
LCD
Messaging
Emailing
Silent Mode
Power Saving Mode
Router
Modem
Wi-Fi
NFC
Virtual Assistant
AI Assistant
Alert
Reminder
Questions about mobile phones (cell phones)
- How important is your mobile phone in your business and personal life?
- Do you normally send and receive a lot of text messages? Do you type texts using special texting language or do you just type messages in normal language?
- When you fly do you always turn off your mobile phone when the plane is taking off and landing?
- How would you react if you saw another person using their cell phone while the plane is taking off or coming in to land?
- Smart phones can now interoperate with other devices like vending machines and ATMs. Is such functionality useful in your opinion? How much use would you make of such a service if offered by your mobile phone service provider and bank?
- Mobile phones come with various operating systems like Android or Windows. Do you think the type of operating system makes a difference? What are the differences?
- When do you use yoour phone to connect to the internet? What features of the internet do you use?
- Do you have a company mobile phone? Are you allowed to make personal calls?
- Do you check your email on your mobile phone?
- What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a hands-free cellphone?
- Are you an "expert" user, or do you have to look at each key before pressing it?
- Have you ever paid for an app for your mobile?
- Is being a mobile phone app developer a well paid job in your country?
- Do you sometimes switch off your mobile? When/where? What do you think of people who take calls during meetings or other such events?
- What make of cell phone do you use?
- Do you use a mobile phone while driving? What is the law in your country about this?
- Do you think that mobile phones should be banned from certain areas? Which areas?
- Do you think there is much difference between different makes of mobile phone? Which do you think is the best?
- Most smartphones can be used for video-conferencing now. Is this a feature you use? Would you be interested in using such a feature? When would you find such a feature useful?
- Some people say that the mobile phones emit radiation which can lead to brain damage. Are you concerned about this?
- What mobile phone apps have you found most useful?