{ "version": 2, "note": "Content for /english/ielts/speaking-test/. Every question and cue card is written by hand for Slova in the style of the public test format (three parts, Part 2 with one minute of preparation). Nothing is copied from Cambridge, IELTS or IDP material. keys: words (a trailing * matches any ending) that show an answer is about the topic, used by analyze.js and the shared matcher. branch: a follow-up the examiner asks depending on the answer. The examiner's lines are recorded as static mp3s by english/tools/gen-audio.mjs from english/tools/audio/ielts-speaking.mjs.", "format": { "part1": { "minutes": [ 4, 5 ], "note": "an introduction question, then three everyday topics" }, "part2": { "prepSeconds": 60, "speakSeconds": [ 60, 120 ], "note": "one cue card, notes allowed, one short rounding-off question" }, "part3": { "minutes": [ 4, 5 ], "note": "wider questions linked to the Part 2 topic" } }, "examiner": { "name": "Felix", "lines": { "welcome": "Hello, I'm Felix, your examiner today. This test has three parts and takes about fourteen minutes. Let's begin.", "welcomePart2": "Hello, I'm Felix. Today we'll do Part 2 only: one topic, one minute to prepare, then you speak.", "name": "Can you tell me your full name, please?", "part1Intro": "Thank you. Now I'd like to ask you some questions about yourself.", "part2Intro": "Thank you. Now, Part 2. I'm going to give you a topic. You have one minute to think and make notes, then I'd like you to speak about it for one to two minutes.", "part2Go": "Remember, you have one to two minutes. Please start speaking now.", "thanks": "Thank you.", "timeUp": "Thank you. Let's move on.", "end": "Thank you. That is the end of the speaking test.", "why": "Why?", "whyIsThat": "Why is that?", "tellMore": "Can you tell me a little more about that?", "whyThink": "Why do you think that is?", "example": "Can you give me an example?", "ofCourse": "Of course." } }, "sets": [ { "id": "place-to-return", "theme": "Travel and places", "part1": [ { "topic": "Your neighbourhood", "lead": "Let's talk about your neighbourhood.", "questions": [ "What is the area where you live like?", "Is there a place near your home where you like to spend time?", "Would you prefer to live somewhere quieter or busier than where you live now?" ], "keys": [ "neighbo*", "area", "street*", "flat", "apartment", "house", "home", "quiet*", "busy", "busier", "noisy", "shop*", "park*", "café*", "cafe*", "neighbour*", "city", "town", "village", "suburb*", "centre", "center", "live", "living", "friendly", "safe", "traffic", "green" ] }, { "topic": "Mornings", "lead": "Now let's talk about mornings.", "questions": [ "What do you usually do in the first hour after you wake up?", "Are you a morning person?", "Is there anything that would make your mornings easier?" ], "keys": [ "morning*", "wake", "woke", "get up", "alarm", "breakfast", "coffee", "tea", "shower", "phone", "emails", "news", "early", "late", "sleep*", "bed", "routine", "gym", "run", "commute", "tired", "night" ] }, { "topic": "Sport and exercise", "lead": "Now let's talk about sport and exercise.", "questions": [ "How often do you exercise or play sport?", "Did you do more sport as a child than you do now?", "Do you think sport lessons at school are useful?" ], "keys": [ "sport*", "exercis*", "gym", "run*", "jog*", "walk*", "swim*", "football", "basketball", "tennis", "yoga", "cycl*", "bike", "team", "fit", "fitness", "health*", "school", "pe", "lesson*", "child*", "kid", "games", "train*", "match*" ] } ], "part2": { "title": "Describe a place you have visited and would like to go back to.", "say": [ "where it is", "when you went there", "what you did there" ], "explain": "why you would like to go back", "rounding": "Would you recommend this place to a friend?", "keys": [ "visit*", "trip", "travel*", "holiday*", "vacation", "city", "town", "country", "beach", "mountain*", "island", "hotel", "stay*", "went", "go back", "return", "again", "friend*", "family", "food", "view*", "old town", "museum*", "weather", "summer", "winter", "memor*", "beautiful", "place" ], "cardLine": "Here is your topic. I'd like you to describe a place you have visited and would like to go back to." }, "part3": { "lead": "We've been talking about a place you would like to visit again. Now I'd like to ask you some more general questions about travel.", "questions": [ "Why do some people choose the same holiday place every year?", "How has the internet changed the way people choose where to travel?", "Does tourism help or harm the places people visit?", "Some people say travelling teaches you more than studying. What do you think?", "How do you think holidays will change over the next twenty years?" ], "keys": [ "travel*", "holiday*", "tourism", "tourist*", "trip*", "place*", "destination*", "internet", "online", "review*", "book*", "flight*", "hotel*", "cheap*", "expensive", "money", "culture*", "local*", "learn*", "study*", "experience*", "future", "environment*", "crowd*", "economy", "job*", "visit*", "same", "safe", "familiar", "relax*" ] } }, { "id": "person-who-taught", "theme": "Learning and teaching", "part1": [ { "topic": "Work or study", "lead": "Let's talk about your work or studies.", "questions": [ "Do you work, or are you a student?", "What do you enjoy most about it?", "Is there anything you would change about it?" ], "keys": [ "work*", "job", "office", "company", "student", "study*", "university", "college", "school", "course", "degree", "class*", "teacher", "manager", "engineer", "nurse", "doctor", "colleague*", "boss", "team", "subject*", "major" ], "branch": [ { "id": "work", "any": [ "work*", "job", "office", "company", "employ*", "manager", "engineer", "nurse", "doctor", "teacher", "boss", "colleague*", "business", "shop", "restaurant", "hospital", "freelance*", "developer", "designer" ], "follow": "What do you do?" }, { "id": "study", "any": [ "student", "study*", "university", "college", "school", "course", "degree", "master*", "phd", "class*", "major" ], "follow": "What are you studying?" } ] }, { "topic": "Friends", "lead": "Now let's talk about friends.", "questions": [ "How do you usually keep in touch with your friends?", "Do you prefer a few close friends or a large group of friends?", "What makes someone a good friend?" ], "keys": [ "friend*", "keep in touch", "message*", "text*", "call*", "phone", "whatsapp", "social media", "meet", "close", "group", "trust*", "honest*", "loyal*", "support*", "fun", "talk*", "chat*", "hang out" ] }, { "topic": "Reading", "lead": "Now let's talk about reading.", "questions": [ "How much time do you spend reading in a normal week?", "Do you read more on paper or on a screen?", "Did you read more when you were younger?" ], "keys": [ "read*", "book*", "novel*", "paper", "screen", "phone", "kindle", "tablet", "article*", "news", "magazine*", "hour*", "minute*", "week", "young*", "child*", "school", "library", "story", "stories" ] } ], "part2": { "title": "Describe a person who taught you something useful.", "say": [ "who the person is", "what they taught you", "how they taught you" ], "explain": "why it was useful", "rounding": "Have you taught this skill to anyone else?", "keys": [ "teach*", "taught", "learn*", "show*", "explain*", "teacher", "father", "mother", "dad", "mum", "mom", "grand*", "uncle", "aunt", "friend", "coach", "boss", "colleague", "skill*", "cook*", "drive", "driving", "swim*", "useful", "help*", "patient", "practice", "practise" ], "cardLine": "Here is your topic. I'd like you to describe a person who taught you something useful." }, "part3": { "lead": "We've been talking about someone who taught you something. Now I'd like to ask you some more general questions about learning and teaching.", "questions": [ "What makes a good teacher, in your opinion?", "Do people learn better from a teacher or by teaching themselves?", "How has technology changed the way people learn new skills?", "Should children learn practical skills, such as cooking or repairing things, at school?", "Why do some people find it hard to learn new things as adults?" ], "keys": [ "teach*", "teacher*", "learn*", "school*", "student*", "patient*", "explain*", "skill*", "technology", "online", "internet", "video*", "youtube", "app*", "course*", "practical", "cook*", "repair*", "adult*", "child*", "young", "old*", "time", "busy", "motivat*", "confiden*", "memory", "brain", "experience" ] } }, { "id": "technology-you-need", "theme": "Technology and daily life", "part1": [ { "topic": "Your home", "lead": "Let's talk about your home.", "questions": [ "Do you live in a house or an apartment?", "Which room do you spend the most time in?", "What would you like to change about your home?" ], "keys": [ "house", "apartment", "flat", "home", "room*", "bedroom", "kitchen", "living room", "garden", "balcony", "sofa", "desk", "bed", "window*", "space", "small", "big", "change", "paint*", "furniture", "light", "move" ] }, { "topic": "Shopping", "lead": "Now let's talk about shopping.", "questions": [ "Do you prefer shopping in shops or online?", "How often do you buy things you did not plan to buy?", "Have you ever returned something you bought? What happened?" ], "keys": [ "shop*", "store*", "online", "buy*", "bought", "order*", "deliver*", "price*", "cheap*", "expensive", "money", "clothes", "return*", "refund", "size", "mall", "supermarket", "website", "amazon", "plan*", "impulse" ] }, { "topic": "Music", "lead": "Now let's talk about music.", "questions": [ "What kind of music do you listen to most?", "When do you usually listen to music?", "Do you think you will like the same music in ten years?" ], "keys": [ "music", "song*", "listen*", "band*", "singer*", "pop", "rock", "jazz", "classical", "rap", "hip hop", "spotify", "radio", "concert*", "headphones", "car", "gym", "work*", "study*", "relax*", "mood", "taste", "change" ] } ], "part2": { "title": "Describe a piece of technology you could not live without.", "say": [ "what it is", "how long you have had it", "what you use it for" ], "explain": "why it is so important to you", "rounding": "Do you think you depend on it too much?", "keys": [ "phone", "smartphone", "laptop", "computer", "tablet", "headphones", "watch", "car", "app*", "internet", "use*", "message*", "call*", "work*", "study*", "music", "photo*", "map*", "year*", "month*", "bought", "gift", "important", "without", "need", "every day", "daily", "depend*" ], "cardLine": "Here is your topic. I'd like you to describe a piece of technology you could not live without." }, "part3": { "lead": "We've been talking about technology you use. Now I'd like to ask you some more general questions about technology and society.", "questions": [ "How has technology changed the way people communicate?", "Do older people find it harder to use new technology? Why?", "What are the disadvantages of spending a lot of time online?", "Should schools limit the use of phones in class?", "Which invention do you think will matter most in the next few decades?" ], "keys": [ "technology", "phone*", "internet", "online", "social media", "message*", "call*", "video", "communicat*", "older", "elderly", "young*", "grandparent*", "learn*", "screen*", "time", "health*", "sleep", "eye*", "addict*", "school*", "class*", "teacher*", "student*", "distract*", "invent*", "future", "ai", "artificial", "robot*", "medicine", "energy" ] } }, { "id": "celebration-with-others", "theme": "Celebrations and traditions", "part1": [ { "topic": "Food and cooking", "lead": "Let's talk about food and cooking.", "questions": [ "Do you enjoy cooking?", "What was the last meal you really enjoyed?", "Has the food people eat in your country changed in recent years?" ], "keys": [ "cook*", "food", "meal*", "dish*", "recipe*", "kitchen", "eat*", "ate", "dinner", "lunch", "breakfast", "restaurant", "home", "mother", "mum", "mom", "family", "fast food", "healthy", "vegetable*", "meat", "spicy", "tradition*", "change*", "delicious", "tast*" ] }, { "topic": "Being on time", "lead": "Now let's talk about being on time.", "questions": [ "Are you usually on time?", "What do you do if you are going to be late?", "Why do some people find it hard to arrive on time?" ], "keys": [ "time", "late", "early", "punctual", "on time", "minute*", "traffic", "bus", "train", "alarm", "call*", "message*", "text*", "apolog*", "sorry", "plan*", "meeting*", "class*", "work", "lazy", "busy", "forget*" ] }, { "topic": "Photographs", "lead": "Now let's talk about photographs.", "questions": [ "Do you take many photos?", "Do you prefer taking photos of people or places?", "What do you do with the photos you take?" ], "keys": [ "photo*", "picture*", "camera", "phone", "selfie*", "people", "place*", "landscape*", "friend*", "family", "travel*", "instagram", "social media", "album*", "print*", "share*", "cloud", "delete*", "memor*" ] } ], "part2": { "title": "Describe a celebration you enjoyed with other people.", "say": [ "what the celebration was", "who you celebrated with", "what you did" ], "explain": "why you enjoyed it", "rounding": "Do you celebrate it in the same way every year?", "keys": [ "celebrat*", "birthday", "wedding", "party", "parties", "festival", "new year", "christmas", "eid", "ramadan", "holiday", "graduation", "anniversary", "family", "friend*", "cousin*", "dance*", "danc*", "music", "food", "cake", "present*", "gift*", "dinner", "enjoy*", "fun", "memor*", "together" ], "cardLine": "Here is your topic. I'd like you to describe a celebration you enjoyed with other people." }, "part3": { "lead": "We've been talking about a celebration you enjoyed. Now I'd like to ask you some more general questions about traditions and celebrations.", "questions": [ "Why do people around the world celebrate special days?", "Are traditional celebrations becoming less important? Why?", "Do you think spending a lot of money on celebrations is a good idea?", "How do celebrations bring families or communities together?", "Would you like to see any new public holidays in your country?" ], "keys": [ "celebrat*", "festival*", "tradition*", "holiday*", "special", "day*", "religio*", "culture*", "family", "families", "community", "communities", "together", "money", "expensive", "spend*", "gift*", "young*", "modern", "important", "national", "public", "history", "memor*", "shop*", "business*", "work", "rest" ] } }, { "id": "learn-something-fast", "theme": "Skills and change", "part1": [ { "topic": "Weekends", "lead": "Let's talk about weekends.", "questions": [ "How do you usually spend your weekends?", "Do you prefer to plan your weekend or decide on the day?", "What would be your ideal weekend?" ], "keys": [ "weekend*", "saturday", "sunday", "relax*", "sleep*", "friend*", "family", "plan*", "cinema", "park", "shop*", "clean*", "cook*", "sport*", "trip", "travel*", "beach", "home", "lazy", "ideal", "free time" ] }, { "topic": "Learning English", "lead": "Now let's talk about learning English.", "questions": [ "Why are you learning English?", "What do you find most difficult about speaking English?", "What is the best way to practise English outside class, in your view?" ], "keys": [ "english", "learn*", "study*", "job", "work", "career", "travel*", "university", "abroad", "speak*", "grammar", "vocabulary", "word*", "pronunci*", "listen*", "accent*", "confiden*", "practi*", "film*", "movie*", "series", "podcast*", "music", "friend*", "app*", "class*", "teacher", "nervous", "mistake*" ] }, { "topic": "Plants and gardens", "lead": "Now let's talk about plants and gardens.", "questions": [ "Do you have any plants at home?", "Do many people in your country keep a garden?", "Do you think spending time near plants and trees is good for people?" ], "keys": [ "plant*", "flower*", "garden*", "tree*", "grow*", "water*", "balcony", "window", "green", "nature", "park*", "house", "apartment", "flat", "space", "calm*", "relax*", "air", "health*", "stress*", "vegetable*", "fruit*" ] } ], "part2": { "title": "Describe a time when you had to learn something new quickly.", "say": [ "what you had to learn", "why you had to learn it quickly", "how you went about it" ], "explain": "how you felt about the result", "rounding": "Do you enjoy learning when there is pressure?", "keys": [ "learn*", "learnt", "learned", "quick*", "fast", "new", "job", "work", "exam", "test", "skill*", "software", "program*", "drive", "driving", "language", "cook*", "deadline", "week*", "day*", "practi*", "video*", "help*", "teacher", "colleague*", "nervous", "stress*", "proud", "result", "felt", "feel*", "happy", "pass*" ], "cardLine": "Here is your topic. I'd like you to describe a time when you had to learn something new quickly." }, "part3": { "lead": "We've been talking about learning something quickly. Now I'd like to ask you some more general questions about skills and change.", "questions": [ "Which skills are the most important for young people today?", "Do people learn faster when there is a deadline?", "How can companies help their workers learn new skills?", "Is it better to know a little about many things or a lot about one thing?", "How will the skills people need change in the future?" ], "keys": [ "skill*", "young", "job*", "work*", "career*", "computer*", "technology", "language*", "communicat*", "deadline*", "pressure", "stress*", "time", "fast*", "faster", "company", "companies", "train*", "course*", "employee*", "worker*", "learn*", "expert*", "special*", "general", "future", "change*", "ai", "automat*", "robot*" ] } }, { "id": "story-that-stayed", "theme": "Media and stories", "part1": [ { "topic": "Clothes", "lead": "Let's talk about clothes.", "questions": [ "What kind of clothes do you wear most often?", "Do you like to follow fashion?", "Do you wear different clothes for work and for your free time?" ], "keys": [ "cloth*", "wear*", "wore", "jeans", "shirt*", "t-shirt*", "dress*", "suit*", "shoe*", "trainer*", "sneaker*", "comfortable", "casual", "formal", "fashion*", "style*", "trend*", "brand*", "work", "office", "uniform", "weekend" ] }, { "topic": "Getting around", "lead": "Now let's talk about getting around your city.", "questions": [ "How do you usually get around your city?", "What is the biggest problem with transport where you live?", "Would you like to change how you travel? How?" ], "keys": [ "bus*", "metro", "subway", "train*", "tram", "taxi*", "car*", "drive", "driving", "walk*", "cycl*", "bike", "traffic", "transport*", "public", "parking", "crowd*", "expensive", "cheap", "travel*", "commute*", "city", "road*", "station*" ] }, { "topic": "Seasons", "lead": "Now let's talk about the seasons.", "questions": [ "Which season do you like best?", "How does the weather change what you do?", "Is there a season you do not enjoy?" ], "keys": [ "season*", "spring", "summer", "autumn", "fall", "winter", "weather", "hot", "cold", "warm", "rain*", "snow*", "sun*", "beach", "holiday*", "outside", "inside", "home", "temperature", "wind*", "dark", "light" ] } ], "part2": { "title": "Describe a film, show or book that stayed in your mind.", "say": [ "what it was", "when you first saw or read it", "what it was about" ], "explain": "why it stayed in your mind", "rounding": "Would you watch or read it again?", "keys": [ "film*", "movie*", "show*", "series", "book*", "novel*", "story", "stories", "watch*", "saw", "read*", "cinema", "netflix", "character*", "actor*", "actress", "director", "author", "writer", "plot", "end*", "sad", "funny", "scary", "remember*", "mind", "think*", "feel*", "felt", "message", "lesson" ], "cardLine": "Here is your topic. I'd like you to describe a film, show or book that stayed in your mind." }, "part3": { "lead": "We've been talking about a story that stayed in your mind. Now I'd like to ask you some more general questions about media and stories.", "questions": [ "Why do people enjoy stories so much?", "Do films and books change how people think? In what way?", "Is reading a book better for you than watching a film of the same story?", "How has the way people watch and read changed in recent years?", "Should governments pay to support local films and writers?" ], "keys": [ "story", "stories", "film*", "movie*", "book*", "read*", "watch*", "cinema", "tv", "television", "netflix", "stream*", "phone*", "screen*", "imagin*", "emotion*", "escape", "relax*", "learn*", "think*", "opinion*", "change*", "government*", "money", "support*", "local", "culture*", "artist*", "writer*", "industry", "tax*" ] } } ] }