Recent IELTS speaking test with sample answersIELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE QUESTIONS
This IELTS speaking practice test includes questions about:- Part 1 | Patience, Pets, Beauty,
- Part 2 | Describe a person that you know who you think is beautiful/handsome
- Part 3 | Beauty &338; Fashion, Celebrities, Defining beauty
IELTS SPEAKING PART I
Patience
What do you think patience is?
It’s that quiet strength to stay calm and keep a lid on your frustration when everything inside you wants to do the opposite.
It's about waiting your turn without huffing and puffing or tapping your foot like you've got a personal beef with the ground. It's the ability to endure a slow internet connection without wanting to chuck your device out the window. In simpler terms, patience is an art really, mastering the silence between the chaos, believing that after every storm, there's a rainbow—assuming, of course, you've got the patience to wait for the rain to stop.
Is it good to be patient?
Yes, I think in general patience is a good quality to have as a person. There aren’t many occasions in life when it’s better to be impatient. And sometimes being patient can stop you from becoming frustrated and angry about things, for example, when you have to wait in line for something.
Were you patient as a child?
To be honest, I don’t really remember being particularly patient. I seem to recall being more impatient – always wanting things instantly or not wanting to wait for things.
One example I can think of was when my mother used to take me to the dentist. Every time we went, we had to wait for what seemed like an eternity – it wasn’t but I can remember being bored and impatient while waiting, but I guess that’s quite normal for most children.
Do you ever get impatient?
Nowadays, generally, I would say no. I have learned to control my impatient nature. When I need to wait for something and I can’t control it, like waiting for a bus, or waiting for someone at work to finish something, I keep myself busy doing something like reading or chatting with friends on my phone.
I’ve learned that being impatient or becoming frustrated doesn’t help the situation, and importantly, doesn’t make the ‘thing’ happen any faster – so it’s better to keep busy with something else.
Pets
Why do people have pets?
I guess there are various reasons. Some people might like a pet as company, you know, something to look after, talk to, spend time with, things like that.
Then, for example, if you have a dog, you need to take it for a walk every day, maybe a couple of times, so it’s a good reason to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.
Many parents get pets, especially dogs, to help teach their children about responsibility. They need to learn how to feed it, look after it, and walk it.
And some older people like having pets because it stops them from being lonely if they live on their own. It’s like having a companion, and it makes them feel better.
Is it common to have pets in your country?
Yes, quite common. I would say that cats and dogs are probably the most common pets. But people also have all kind of other pets, like fish, birds, and others.
What kind of pets do people keep?
Like I said, dogs and cats are probably the most popular pets, then maybe fish, birds, small animals like rabbits or maybe mice or hamsters. And then some people have pets which are less common, like horses or reptiles.
IELTS SPEAKING PART 2
Describe a person that you know who you think is beautiful/handsome
You should say:- who he/she is
- how you know him/her
- what you know about him/her
Cue Card Sample Answer
Okay, so my best friend Sarah, who I’ve known since childhood, is a person I consider to be beautiful, in many ways.
She is a mentally strong woman, who does not doubt herself. A woman who knows when to say no without fear. She is also not afraid to be judged, she admits her faults, she knows how to forgive, and if she fails at something, she picks herself up and tries again.
I also love her sense of humor. She not only laughs at things, but also laughs at herself, and does not fear ridicule. She’s really good at breaking the ice with people and can always add a touch of humor to any situation.
She has a beautiful smile. Although it sounds cliché, her smile is indeed one of her best features. It makes her pretty in itself. She smiles at everyone, the man at the gas station, the people who sell things in stores, in short, she smiles at life.
Something else I love about her, and which makes her beautiful is her authenticity. There is nothing sincerer than a woman who shows herself as she is, who is not afraid of ridicule, who does not care what other people say, who does not compare herself with the rest; a free and uninhibited woman who enjoys her beautiful way of being.
Then, there’s always here intelligence. She grows day by day, reads, researches, and develops her intellect in different ways. She’s aware that she doesn’t know everything and always seeks to learn more each day.
Also, she loves herself. She knows that she is not perfect but loves every one of her imperfections. She doesn’t mind being called "fat", "skinny", "pretty" or "ugly". She loves herself as she is and knows that her happiness depends only on herself, not on others.
She is also not afraid to have her own opinion. She doesn’t get carried away by what others say and forms her own opinion based on what she considers and believes. She knows how to debate arguments and isn’t afraid to be wrong and accepts the points of view of others if they are valid.
She’s also courageous. It is not the absence of fear that makes her brave, it’s because she knows how to overcome it. She knows how to face her fears and constantly leaves her comfort zone, to bravely confront new things.
And finally, I love her independence. She’s a woman who has gone ahead alone, who does not need anyone to do things for her. Someone who has their own interests and hobbies, and who is not afraid to take charge of their own affairs.
All these qualities make her a beautiful person, in my eyes.
IELTS SPEAKING PART 3
Beauty & Fashion
What do you think the connection is between beauty and fashion?
Well, the most obvious connection is that most fashion labels, at least the high-fashion labels almost always use ‘beautiful’ models in their photoshoots, to present their creations.
So, people automatically and subconsciously associate ‘beauty’ with fashion. Let’s face it, you don’t normally see anyone ugly walking down a catwalk at a fashion show.
Supposedly, everyone has their own opinion about beauty, you know the old saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but the fashion industry has for decades pushed a certain standard of beauty through the models it uses, in the case of both men and women.
Clearly, you can be fashionable without being beautiful, and vice versa, but that is not the stereotype which is propagated by the fashion and beauty industry, in general.
People seem to be more focused on beauty these days, is this good?
I suppose if it makes them happy, then, yes, it’s okay. The increased focus on beauty comes from easier access to celebrities and the beauty industry creating the demand for new beauty products and treatments.
Before social media, celebrities appeared in magazines and on TV, but now people are literally bombarded with images of beautiful looking people 24/7.
Celebs share details of cosmetic surgery and treatments they have had done, and many of these are now accessible to ordinary people.
Treatments like Botox, eyelash extensions, teeth whitening, etc. have become normal for many people in some countries. They’re not considered expensive or only for the rich and famous anymore.
Is it a good thing? Well everyone should have the right to spend their time and money on what they want, but there have been some sad cases where people have become depressed, gotten into financial problems, or even committed suicide because of their relentless pursuit of ‘beauty’. And that’s not a good thing.
Most people don’t naturally have the classic and natural beauty of most famous models. That is why we celebrate beauty the way we do.
It’s a small fraction of the population who possess true head-turning natural beauty (in the classic sense), it’s a rare thing, but now more people want to be like that through pursuing treatments and changing their bodies through surgical or other means.
And, of course, the beauty industry and the cosmetic surgeons only help fuel the demand by demonstrating what’s possible, and what we should aspire to become.
Why is there a need for clothes to be paraded by models?
You could argue that there isn’t a need for it. The clothes could be put on mannequins and paraded down the catwalk for example.
Most stores don’t use real models in the window displays they have, they use mannequins or dummies.
So, why use models? A fashion show is an event, just like trade show or conference where people in the industry come together to see the latest developments by certain designers.
It’s a social event as well as a forum for doing business. The models make the event more dynamic and glamorous, and also humanize the creations for the benefit of the public.
How do the beauty and fashion industries impact society?
Primarily, they are responsible for promoting ideas of what we should like and how we should dress. There are more beauty products and more different types of clothes available now than ever before.
There are various ways that these two industries impact society; they create employment for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. They influence popular culture and shape people’s concept of what is good-looking or beautiful. They are also responsible for making people, especially young people, buy things which they don’t need but they want.
It’s a double-edged sword; the fashion and beauty industries can help people boost their self-esteem, but they can also make people feel uncomfortable in their own skins because they aren’t fashionable enough or beautiful enough.
Like almost anything in the world, you can find something positive and negative associated with the beauty and fashion industries in terms of the impact they have on society.
Defining Beauty
What are some examples of beauty stereotypes promoted in your country?
The majority of fashion and beauty companies still seem to promote tall and thin as the norm. Most female models are quite tall, thin and most people would consider them beautiful because of their facial features, physical symmetry, and healthy good looks.
As for male models, they always appear to be thin or athletic looking, with well-defined jawlines and classically handsome.
These are typically the examples portrayed in fashion magazines, and elsewhere by the mainstream media. There are exceptions you can find, but they are a very small minority.
How do you think people feel about such expectations regarding beauty?
There has been a long debate about the unrealistic expectations of the fashion industry regarding the ideal female look. But not so much regarding how men feel about the ridiculously good-looking male models used in men’s fashion and lifestyle magazines.
I think most people realize that models are just that; models. They are ‘the ideal’ and not like the majority of people otherwise we would all be models, wouldn’t we?
There’s also more of a movement nowadays for people to be happy with themselves, as they are, and happy with what they do, rather than trying to conform to someone else’s idea of being beautiful or fashionable.
So, there are mixed feelings about the images portrayed by the fashion and beauty industry. Of course, they want to make their clothes and products look as good as possible, so they seek the ideal. But real people rarely conform to such standards, and most people realize this, so it’s not a big problem.
How has the growing influence of celebrity cosmetic surgery influenced young people’s opinions about beauty in your country?
It has opened their eyes to what is possible, options which used to be only for the rich and famous, like movie stars, are now available to almost everyone.
What’s also interesting is the rise in non-invasive procedures, like the use of Botox, fat freezing, and other such procedures, which do not require traditional cosmetic surgery. People can undergo some procedures in a couple of hours and then return to their life as normal.
The increased availability of beauty treatments, their reduced cost compared to years ago, and the barrage of social media content regarding celebrities mean that people are constantly exposed to beauty-related content, and the demand is fueled further by the readily available products and treatments provided by the industry.
It’s now easier for ordinary people to do what celebrities do, so it’s natural that people will do it because everyone wants to try and improve themselves and becoming more ‘beautiful’ is just one way to achieve it.
How might people’s perception of beauty change in the future?
Honestly, it depends on how far into the future you want to look. Personally, I can imagine the day when genetic engineering is so far advanced that parents will select the skin color, hair color and eye color of their children.
I can also imagine children being genetically engineered following a specific formula, so parents will be able to select how their child looks based on a genetic pattern.
You’d be able to say to a doctor (or engineer) that you want your daughter to look like a specific person, like a celebrity or someone else. Call it partial cloning, but as technology advances, all kinds of new options will become available which means that one day, all people might look perfect and beautiful, like fashion models.
Clearly, when beauty can be completely engineered, and it becomes accessible to the masses, then the perception of beauty might become something different, or more likely, when everyone can look like they want to, the current aspirations we have to be more beautiful will simply cease to exist.
We might stop thinking about beauty as we do currently, just like we don’t think about some things which existed in the past anymore.
How would you answer the questions in this IELTS speaking practice test?