Speaking lab test 5

Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 5

Speaking Lab 5
Part 1:
Q1 Let’s begin by talking about your neighbourhood. What kinds of activities are
there to do in your neighbourhood area?
A1 My neighbourhood. Well, let’s see…things to do…um. Well, there are a lot of
things to do in my neighbourhood. I live in a suburb of Brisbane, Australia called
Belmont. Because many people are moving to my area from the colder southern
climates, my neighbourhood is growing and so too are the facilities. For example,
construction on a new park with a children’s playground and barbeque facilities was
just completed. It’s a great place for activities. Picnics, family games, walking the
dog…that sort of thing. Also, more and more shopping centres are being built so
shopping is another popular activity in my neighbourhood area.

Q2 What is it about your neighbourhood that you like least?
A2 Do you mean things about my neighbourhood that I don’t like?
[examiner: Ah, yes]
Um, that’s quite a difficult question…Well, to be honest, I like everything about my
home town! Let’s see…well I guess one thing I would change um, that I don’t like…
is the lights in the street – there are simply not enough of them! When the night
comes, it’s so dark in my neighbourhood that visitors have said to me that the place
feels kind of unfriendly. If it’s a cloudy night, it’s true, it’s very dark…so that is one
thing I guess I like least about my neighbourhood. Of course, we have lots of lights
in our homes and outdoor lights in our yards, it’s just that when you are out on the
road – driving or walking – my neighbourhood is too dark.
Q3 Ok, that’s interesting. What changes would you make to your neighbourhood?
A3 Well, as I mentioned, I think my neighbourhood - at night time - is a little too dark. I
guess one of the recommendations that’s made to our local government is to install

some new street lighting. So, if I was able to make a change in my neighbourhood, I
guess it would be the installation of more street lighting…um…yea…some more
lights would be good…
Q4 Good. Let’s talk a little about the topic of writing. Do you enjoy writing?
A4 To be honest, no. I’ve never really enjoyed writing. I find it incredibly boring! It
seems as though my brain works faster than I can write and I end up forgetting all my
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Speaking Lab 5

good ideas before I have a chance to write them down! Of course, I am planning to
go to university so I’m going to have to get used to more and more writing. The
funny thing is that I did quite well with my writing in high school. Anyway, I’d
rather be outside than stuck indoors writing stuff!
Q5 What is the best piece of writing you have ever written and what made it so
memorable?
A5 Best piece of writing? Ah, that’s easy! It was a poem I wrote, believe it or not, when
I was in primary school. The poem was included in our school yearbook – it’s a book
that summarises the events that occurred in the school throughout the year. My father
and mother were so proud – they bought two copies of the yearbook! Anyway, it was
a poem about my new brother and sister…at the time I was 12 and my mother had
had twins! But that’s not the end of the story! The next year, my…my first year in
high school we had to write a poem on the topic of family. Well, I copied my poem
from the previous year and presented it to the teacher. Well, the next week I was
shocked to receive a 9 out of 10 for the poem - the best ‘A’ I’d ever received! Later
on the teacher told my mother that she would have loved to have had another child
and that my poem made her cry!

Q6 Do you think students are writing more or less these days? What are some of
the advantages of being a good writer?
In my opinion, I think students are generally writing more these days. Not
A6 necessarily with pen or pencil but I think typing on the computer – emails, Internet
messaging, MSN…that kind of thing.
I think it’s a big advantage to be a good writer. A person who can write effectively
and decisively has a tremendous advantage over those who can not. A good writer,
for example, who is studying in university will achieve higher scores for
assignments. If a student achieves higher marks for assignments, then it is a high
possibility that he or she will get a better, higher paying job in the future. Another
advantage of being a good writer…it’s just come to my mind now…is that their
writing is not confusing. Sometimes I read, for example, the messages left for me by
my sister and they’re difficult to understand because she’s a poor writer!
Q7 Ok. Please tell me about your favourite piece of writing – it may be a book,
magazine or a newspaper.
A7 My favourite piece of writing. Well, I’m not a big reader but I guess one of my
favourite pieces of writing is a book. It’s called the 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People by Dr. Stephen Covey. I heard that this book as written as part of his PhD
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Speaking Lab 5

dissertation. I have read it several times and I feel that it’s a very valuable book in
building better relationships with others. Over the years, I’ve encouraged others to
read this book.

Speaking Lab 5

Part 2: Transcript
Ok, that’s good. I’m now going to give you a topic that you will need to speak about
Q1 for 1-2 minutes. You can take notes if you want. You have 1 minute to prepare what
you want to say. I want you to talk about an effective commercial or advertisement
you have seen…
Ok, you have a maximum of 2 minutes to speak so if you go over 2 minutes, I will ask
you to stop. Can you please begin speaking now?
The most effective television commercial I’ve ever seen was shown many years ago. I
A1 remember it was for an insurance company. I’ve seen many effective ads in my life but I
decided to talk to you about this one because it was so effective that I still remember it
today, even though I was a child when I first saw it.
I remember sitting in the kitchen - I think I was doing some homework on the kitchen table and all of a sudden I could hear this loud, uncontrollable laughter coming from the lounge
room. I rushed in to see what was going on. My sister and my father were both laughing at
an insurance ad that was being shown on TV. I remember looking at the TV and seeing lots
of different animals ‘talking’ to each other! It was really, really clever and they were saying
some funny things. I’d never seen anything like that before. Let’s see… there was a lizard,
he was sitting outside the window, a cat, a dog and the most talkative animal was a
beautiful, sulphur-crested cockatoo who kept squawking, “Who stole the TV? Who stole
the TV?” All of the animals talking to each other made it really memorable and to this day I
still remember the name of the insurance company, Eagle Insurance.
Over the years I’ve seen other companies feature animals in their commercials but for some
reason, in my opinion…they’re not as effective as the Eagle Insurance ad. To this day,
when I think about this TV commercial, I can picture my Dad and sister laughing so hard…
it still makes me laugh!

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Speaking Lab 5
Part 3: Transcript

Q1 OK. We’ve been talking about an effective advertisement that you remember
and I’d like to discuss one or two more questions that are related to this. Firstly,
let’s consider the effect of advertising. What effect do you think advertising has
on people today?
A1 Well, ultimately, the biggest effect that advertising can have is it makes a person do
something - go out to a shop and purchase something, I guess. Perhaps it was
something that a person was not planning to buy, or even thought to buy. This makes
advertising a powerful medium…it can make people do something that perhaps they
had no intention of doing – until they saw the ad. And also, advertising can have the
effect of educating people. If an individual doesn’t know about a product – how, for
example, it can help or satisfy a need – they can learn about the benefits of a
particular product and this, I think, is a good effect.
Q2 Can you give reasons why people pay more for certain brands and less for
others?
Yes. This is an interesting question. In my opinion, the reason people pay extra for a
A2 particular product is due to how the product is advertised. Usually, for example,
clothing companies like Ralph Lauren, Polo or Calvin Klein, use lots of beautiful
people, you know, attractive or good looking people…sometimes movie stars…to
advertise their products. Somehow, I think people who see these ads - either on TV
or in magazines - see these people and want to identify themselves with such
people… they want to be like these people so they pay extra money on the clothes. I
guess the desire to ‘belong or identify’ with a particular group makes people pay
more for certain brands and less for others.
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Some products are known to be cheap and so people don’t feel special when they buy
them. For example in the supermarket, there’s a brand called Black and Gold everyone in my country knows that this brand is the cheapest type of product you can
buy…so this product is associated with people who are not successful, who don’t
have much money…so people don’t pay much for Black and Gold products.
Q3 Good. We see advertising everywhere – on TV, in the newspaper, the internet
and many other places. Which form of advertising do you think is the most
effective and why?
A3 At the moment, I think TV is still the most effective medium for advertising. The
reason for this is the picture quality is very good and so is the sound. Unlike Internet,
even with broadband, there are delays while things download. Oh, and those popup
ads are so annoying! Yea, TV is the most effective but I suppose in the near future,
the Internet will become just as popular…maybe even more so…providing that
information can be downloaded quicker than it does now.
Q4 OK. Let’s now consider how advertising standards are set and maintained.
Who do you think should be responsible for standards in advertising?
A4 In my country, the government is responsible for advertising standards. I’m not sure
how they decide what is ok and what is not ok. Some of the stuff that they show on
TV for example is not, in my opinion, appropriate. Some of the ads for example, use
swear words…you know, bad language that people shouldn’t use. I’m not sure
exactly who in the government has the final say on what is or isn’t appropriate, I’m
not sure about who decides the standard. I think there is a diversity of opinion on this
topic…I guess, overall they do a pretty good job.
Q5 Can you suggest how advertising should be regulated or controlled?
A5 Um…that’s a tough question…I’m not exactly sure about the regulations for
advertising in my country. As I said, I believe the government is responsible for

controlling the standards. But if the standards were up to me…if I was responsible
for regulating and controlling the advertising standards, I would begin by drafting a…
um…a list, yea, a list for example, that would clearly state what is ok and what is not
ok. For example, certain language such as foul language or content that’s termed
‘adult’ I think should be eliminated altogether from TV…in fact all print media, as far
as I’m concerned. I guess that this would have to be enforced by the government
because if somebody broke the rules, it would be up to the government to enforce the
law.
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Q6 Ok. One last question. Do you think there are any dangers associated with
advertising?
Yes, I believe there are numerous dangers associated with advertising. There’s an
A6 attitude that can occur amongst people who want to ‘keep up with others’ and they
can become obsessed with each new thing that comes out. The problem is that they’ll
never be satisfied because there are always new products coming out…so it’s an
impossible dream!
Another danger with advertising, in my opinion, is that advertising can in a way,
influence the standards of society – sometimes for bad. People see certain
advertisements and they – either overtly or subliminally – can feel compelled to buy
the products. Sometimes, these products can be harmful to society. For example,
cigarettes…in the early days, ads for cigarettes were popular on TV and they’re still
advertised in print media. This kind of advertising had…and continues to have…a
real negative effect on the health of millions of people around the world!

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