Speaking lab test 8

Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 8

Speaking Lab 8
Part 1:
Q1 Can we talk about your hometown? What kinds of activities do most people do
in their free time in your hometown?
A1 Well, my hometown is a small town located in a place called Palmer which in Alaska,
in the USA. In the summer time, people often go to the tennis courts and play tennis.
Baseball is also very popular in my hometown - a lot of students play it. Younger
grade or primary school children join little league baseball and the bigger kids play
for the junior baseball team - sometimes, we’d go and cheer them on. A lot of people
like to go for a bike ride to the corner shop for an ice cream or go fishing, but the
most popular summer activity is going swimming at Lake Wasilla. In winter, well
that’s another story. There’s much more to do in the winter! Skiing - cross country
or downhill; sledding – in your back yard or down a mountain; ice-skating; riding on
a snow machine – as younger kids, we would take adventures in the woods just riding
around for hours. Um, ice hockey, ice-fishing that’s about it for the winter!
Q2 What do you like doing best in your free time and why?
A2 I love to go swimming at the lake because it’s just my favourite activity. Um, my
friends are there, it’s good exercise, you get suntanned…um, and I like to look at all
the interesting creatures in the water – crayfish, leeches and minnows...um, I like
going fishing because I love catching fish and seeing the different kinds of fish I can
catch, it’s a real challenge! I really enjoy eating the fish after I’ve caught it. I have to
gut it and then I can cook it for dinner. Sometimes we’d find gold specks in
Montanna River which was my favourite fishing spot. We go there with Dad in the
summer and I’m really looking forward to our next fishing trip!
Q3 How important is free time to people in your country?
A3 Well, in the summer, it’s very important because we only have 3 months of summer,
to spend outdoors. If people are busy working, then they don’t get much time to

enjoy the great outdoors. You see, for seven months out of the year, we have extreme
cold and darkness so a lot of people work hard during the winter. People only have
the weekends to do activities. In the summer the sun doesn’t set until around 11pm
so people make the most of the extra daylight hours and enjoy their free time.
Q4 Ok. Can we talk a little about your childhood? Tell me about the place where
you grew up.
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Speaking Lab 8

A4 The place where I grew up was a small town with a population of about um…5,000
people. I lived in a small valley with lots of mountains and snow. It is situated in the
Matanuska-Susitna valley. The name of the town is Palmer. The valley has its own
glacier…it is about a 1-hour drive from Palmer. Ok, what else…um, the first colony
arrived in 1930 so it’s a very historical town – they have the original train depot from
the 1940s, in fact, my uncle was a child of one of the first colonists. Um, my house.
My house was at the foot of a mountain called Lazy Mountain and my Dad built our
house – it was made of timber, because timber keeps the house warmer than brick or
concrete.
Q5 When you were a child, where did you usually play?
A5 I played on the gravel road just outside my house…’cause our roads weren’t paved…
we played in the puddles, across from our house. There was a big mountain of dirt
that my sister and I always played on with the neighbourhood kids. We’d play ‘king
of the mountain’. Sometimes we’d try and climb Lazy Mountain… actually it was a
stream at the base of the mountain that we used to play in. There was a huge field
across from my house and in the winter we used to go cross-country skiing across it,
it was great fun. My skis were red and about half a metre long!

Q6 Was your hometown a good place for children?
A6 Oh yes, definitely. There was lots of space, lots of wooded areas…the forest. My
house was in the forest and we always used to go exploring there. We’d look for wild
berries. We’d walk to the Matanuska River and sink our toes into the glacial silt.
There was lots of glacial silt which is very, very fine dirt, almost like mud. It was
like quicksand, you’d sink in it. Actually it could be quite dangerous. Some people
actually died visiting the Matanuska River. They’d get stuck in the mud when the
tide was out and then the tide would come in and they couldn’t get free from the mud,
they’d end up drowning. This happens almost every year to this day. It’s very sad
when you hear of it on the news. So it was good but also dangerous for children in
my hometown.
Q7 Is childhood today different from when you were a child?
A7 Yes. When I was a child we didn’t have computers or mobile phones, the Internet,
Playstation, Nintendo…far less TV. We did more outdoor activities. We’d be gone
for a couple of hours away from home playing in the woods and Mom didn’t even
care! The environment I grew up in was much safer than it is in the world today. I
think it was much healthier the way I grew up…safer and healthier. I want the same
for my own children.
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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 8

Speaking Lab 8
Part 2: Transcript

Q1

I’m now going to give you a topic that you will need to speak about 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 describe the best present you ever
received.
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?

A1.

The best present I received - which is one I remember distinctly - was when I
was girl of 5. Of course, I’ve received more expensive presents over the years
but I remember this one most clearly! In fact, I’ll never forget it. It was a BIG
surprise…our family was celebrating a festival and it was the custom to give
gifts to each other. I remember we were feasting in a 6-bed R.V…um that’s
Recreational Vehicle…at the famous Alaska State Fairgrounds. We had just
come home from a session during the festival and I remember the gift was sitting
on the kitchen table in the R.V. all wrapped up with a bow on top. My present
was larger than my sister’s and I wondered what it could be! I was so excited!
My sister opened her small gift and it was a Mickey Mouse watch with a red
watch band. I began to open mine and to my surprise, it was a brand new, shiny,
little red cash register. I was so happy! You see, I loved cash registers. I’m not
really sure why. Maybe it was because I loved money! Anyway, it was made of
red metal, with all the neat little buttons on it. It actually opened when you
pushed a particular button and all the fake money was sitting in the little
compartments inside the register. I used to play ‘cash register’ all the time.
I’ve done a lot of jobs with cash registers over the years - which is probably as a
result of my love for cash registers as a little child. As a child, that little red cash
register was certainly the best present I ever got!
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Speaking Lab 8

Speaking Lab 8
Part 3: Transcript
Q1 We’ve been talking about the best present you have ever received and I’d like to
discuss one or two more questions that are related to this. Firstly, let’s consider
giving presents and gift-giving. When do people typically give gifts in your
country?
A1 Well, the most popular time to give gifts is when a person has a birthday. There are
other times such as weddings, anniversaries…a lot of people in my country give
presents at Christmas time too. Other less popular times are for bridal showers, baby
showers and bar-mitzvahs. Of course, the gifts vary depending upon the budget…me,
I usually give less-expensive gifts. For example CDs or chocolates…those kinds of
things.
Q2 OK. Can you comment on popular gifts children receive these days?
A2 Children’s gifts…um…well…these days, children often receive more expensive gifts
such as video games - either Playstation or Ninetendo or Xbox. Also, they tend to
receive a bike or computer games or expensive toys. Smaller children often receive
popular action figures (superman, batman, those kinds of things) or stuffed animals
that are popular TV characters — Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie The Pooh,
Mickey Mouse. Actually, my little niece recently had a birthday and she got all kinds
of gifts…I bought her a small doll and some clothes for her to dress the doll…it
wasn’t expensive but she was so happy to get this gift!
Q3 How have gifts given to children changed since you were a child?
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Speaking Lab 8

A3 When I was a child, I didn’t have video games or computers. I remember receiving
gifts that were more practical and that made me physically active or think and use my
imagination. Gifts such as a kite, baseball glove, or ice skates, and then crafty things
like a children’s sewing machine, crocheting, artist sketch book with markers…a kind
of gift where you learned to draw and paint. I suppose you’d find these gifts given
nowadays but back when I was a girl, there were definitely not computer or video
games given.
Q4 Let’s talk about charitable gift-giving organisations. Describe some of the
charitable organisations that give gifts in your country?
I can really only think of a few gift-giving organisations…the ‘Make-a-Wish’
A4 foundation, for one. This organisation, I believe, grants seriously ill children their
greatest wish…for instance, the Foundation will send children to Disneyland if they
have never been, and are desperately wanting to go…you know, if that’s their greatest
wish.
The other one I can think of is the Ronald McDonald House…which is a place where
parents can stay to be near the hospital when their children are hospitalised for a
serious illness. I’m not sure if this is totally correct or not but I’ve heard that the
McDonald’s hospital or Ronald McDonald house…it subsidises the cost of medical
expenses, it saves people money so that they don’t have to spend a fortune on
accommodation if a child is hospitalised for a few weeks or more…I might be wrong
on some of the details but I know it’s a good service for people who don’t have much
money.
Q5 Can you comment on how effective charitable organisations are?
A5 Oh that’s a difficult question…I don’t have much of an idea really…umm… well, I’m
not so sure. I guess it depends on those that are receiving the charity and I would ask
their opinion if they were effective or not. I have concerns that giving money to a

specific organisation would actually reach the needy person at the end. I often
wonder just how much of that money goes to the organisation or the people they are
supporting. This worries me. Yes, to be honest, I worry about - when I give my
money to charities - I worry about whether or not they actually end up receiving the
money I donate to them. There are some crooks around and they like to take money
that doesn’t belong to them…it is concerning.
Q6 Ok. Lastly, can you suggest some new ways that money might be able to be
raised for charities in the future?

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Speaking Lab 8

A6 Sorry do mean new ways to raise money for charity…in the future? [Examiner:
yes]. Um, well…I think if I came up with a new and better way to raise money for
charities, I would be a millionaire by now! I think the ways to raise money for
charities have been exhausted and there really isn’t anything new under the sun. I’m
afraid I’m not really full of ideas, here. Perhaps donating money from online
auctions…but that’s probably already been done…um…sorry I’m really out of ideas.

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