The government has announced that it plans to build a new university. Some people think that your community would be a good place to locate the university. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a new university in your community. Use specific details in your discussion.

I think it is a great idea to build a new university in my community. However, I think it is a controversial question whether the building of a new university will bring only benefits to our community. In this essay I will analyze advantages and disadvantages of this issue and present my view in favor of establishing a new university in my community.
From the one side, establishing a new university in my community brings many benefits. First of all, a new construction means more job opportunities. I think it would be good for my community because many people have to spend much time driving to their work day in and day out because they could not find a job in our neighborhood. Second of all, a new university is a good chance to meet new people and I like this opportunity. Many students will live in our community. Finally, if a new university is built in my community there is a big chance that I will be willing to enroll in it. I think it is great because it is not far from my place and I do not have to move to another part of the city. Another important aspect of this is that people from my community will have a chance to use new libraries and facilities of a new university. For example some people can take courses and classes there.
From the other side, building a new university can bring some disadvantages. A new construction means noise, traffic jams and different kinds of pollution. In addition to these disadvantages, many young people in our community can cause more noise especially in the evenings.
To sum up, I think that I would support the decision of the government of establishing a new university in my community despite a few disadvantages that could follow this construction. I believe that a new university will increase a chance of many young people to get a higher education, gain more knowledge and experience, which will help them to succeed in today’s world.

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What are some important qualities of a good supervisor (boss)? Use specific details and examples to explain why these qualities are important.

Many people have to work under somebody's supervision. In most cases an employee does not choose his or her boss, unless a supervisor is elected. In the following paragraphs I will list the most important qualities of my "ideal boss".
First of all, he must be impartial. I believe that it is very important to make a technical decision, think about somebody's promotion, etc. impartially. For instance, my friend is a supervisor on a dairy mill. It is his family's business so a lot of his relatives work there. But he never promotes someone because he or she is his family. I think it is a good quality for a boss.
Second of all, my "ideal boss" must be honest, patient and attentive. He should pay attention to people's feelings, encourage them by increasing their salary, listen to their suggestions about improving labor conditions and productivity. For instance, if he does not satisfied with the result he should understand the origin of the problem and explain people how to fix it. In addition, he must know how to solve conflicts that can arise between employees.
Another important quality of a boss is the ability to choose the right decisions and to learn on somebody's mistakes.
Finally, I think a good boss must value his or her employees because the profit directly depends on the people who work there.
In conclusion, I think a good boss should be able to make his people enjoy the work they are doing and encourage their diligence.

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It is sometimes said that borrowing money from a friend can harm or damage the friendship. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your answer.

I think that borrowing money from a friend has some negative aspects and can harm or damage the friendship in some cases. For example, a person borrowed some money from his or her friend and did not return it. However, I believe that borrowing money from a friend and returning it on time can not harm friendship. Moreover, it even can strengthen the relationships between them. For several reasons, which I will mention bellow, I think borrowing money from a friend and returning it do not damage the friendship.
I think that borrowing money from a person who is close to one is normal. Imagine that someone needs help and no doubt that his or her friends will offer it. For example, when my friend asks me to baby-sit her child while she is taking her classes I agree because I know that she desperately needs my help in order to finish her degree and save some money. Furthermore, I am sure that she will be there for me if I need help. The same thing is with the money, sometimes we borrow money from each other but we always return it to each other. I think it is very important to return money borrowed from a friend. I am glad that I can lend her some money when she needs it because I am sure that she will return it as soon as possible.
In addition, I believe that when friends lend and borrow money from each other it means that they trust each other. However, I cannot disagree with the fact that money often can cause the end of the friendship. For example, a person, who borrowed money from his or her friend and did not return it, will try to avoid any contacts with the second person. At the same time, a person who lent the money to his or her friend and did not get it back will have more likely an unpleasant feeling about the situation too. As a result friends will fall apart.
In conclusion, I think that borrowing money and returning it will help to keep friends together.

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It has been said, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

People are learning and practicing through their entire life. I believe that life experience and practice are the basic reasons of the humankind's evolution. However, in my opinion, knowledge gained from books plays a very important role in the modern life.
The most obviously important advantage of books is that they hold all knowledge gained by previous generations. People write books about their discoveries and inventions, which are gained through practice and experience. This knowledge is accumulated in books that are passed from generation to generation. So, basically, people get all knowledge about the previous achievements from books, analyze it and than, according to their experience and new data, write new books. In this case, books are the holders of humankind's experience.
For example, at old times people thought that the Earth was flat. It was concluded from observations and studdying. However, the next generations, using the experience of their ancestors, proved that the Earth was round.
Personally, I think that books are very important because they are able to give people the basic and fundamental knowledge. Books store history, the important events and discoveries. Without them it is difficult and sometimes impossible to move forward, make new discoveries and inventions.
To summarize, I think a person should take basic knowledge from books because it will help him to make his own inventions, conclusions and discoveries. Only using both books and one’s experience one can move forward.

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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should read only those books that are about real events, real people, and established facts. Use specific reasons and details to support your opinion.

Some people think that fiction books have no use at all. They claim that people should read about real events that took place, real people, and established facts. I have to totally disagree with this statement. From my everyday experience and observation I can stand that fiction, miracles and fairy tails are required in our life. For several reasons, which I will mention below, I believe that fiction books play an essential role in our life.
First of all, it is kind of difficult to imagine a six year old child reading about politics or history with the real facts that are not always pleasant. I think that children need miracles and Santa Claus because the real world is too complicated for them. They are too innocent and inexperienced to know the real facts and understand what is a real life about. In addition, I am sure that making a child read only non-fiction books can result in shock. In addition to these benefits,
Second of all, following this statement about refusing from reading books about fiction events we also should refuse from festivals, parades, and celebration such holidays as Halloween because most of the characters there are fictional. Moreover, comic books will disappear as well as animated films and fiction movies. The disadvantage of non-fiction lies in the facts that nothing happens to excite the mind and spirit. From the other side, fiction provides a great slope for a mind to think creatively.
In conclusion, I think that people need miracles. We can not be satisfied with only naked truth. Human kind must believe in something and this believe helps people break limits and make new inventions

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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Attending a live performance (for example, a play, concert, or sporting event) is more enjoyable than watching the same event on television. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

The issue whether to attend a live performance or enjoy watching the same event on TV is a controversial one. However, in my opinion an intermediate position can be taken. I base my suggestion on the following points. But before I begin I think I need to clarify what kind of live performances I like. I mostly attend concerts and prefer to see sport events on TV.
First of all, watching an event on TV can bring many advantages. One can relax and settle in his favorite chair, eating a cake or having a drink. One does not have to spend time driving to the place where an event takes place. Also, he does not spend money on a ticket. Moreover, sometimes sitting in front of a TV set one is likely to see more interesting parts of a show more clearly with the help of an operator. Second of all, the weather is no longer of that importance. He does not care that it is rainy or chilly outside.
From the other side, attending a live performance has many advantages too. Firstly, people can enjoy the songs as they are in a real time. Personally, I like to attend a live performance because they give much positive energy and many beautiful moments. Frankly, watching a show at home does not give me that. One can enjoy loud music, the closeness of his favorite stars and shout the songs he likes.
In summary, I prefer to attend live performances in the case of a concert and show. However, in contrast, I prefer to watch sport events on television at home.

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If you could study a subject that you have never had the opportunity to study, what would you choose? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details.

If I would have the opportunity to study a subject I do not know yet I would choose to study the outer space. I have a Bachelor degree in Management and I like to have the possibilities to work in this field. However, I was always interested in the space exploration.
I think, it is a very interesting and challenging job to work on a space ship, gathering different kinds of information, probes and specimens. Many people think that these kinds of experiments are a waste of money and time. Nevertheless, I believe that humankind is making steps forward by domesticating space. We need to know what is beyond our solar system. We need to know what is beyond our universe.
Another important aspect of studding the space is that scientists are always about to make new discoveries there and they do them. I think it is a great feeling to give people new knowledge, opportunities and experience. Scientists often find and study new constellations, they launch satellites and monitor them from land.
When I was a child I collected stamps and cards with a space subject and I dreamed that someday I would be able to make a flight into an outer space. However, my plans changed but my dream has not vanished. I believe that in a few years people will be able to visit the space just like they go to a museum now.
To sum up, I think that studding a space would give me self-realization, more opportunities to grow and more goals to achieve.

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Would you prefer to live in a traditional house or in a modern apartment building? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice.

If I was asked where I would I prefer to live in a traditional house or in a modern apartment building, I think, I would hesitate to answer. This question, from my point of view, is a controversial one. In the following paragraphs I will analyze both these options and present my view.
From the one side, living in a modern apartment building brings many benefits. First of all, it is cheaper then living in a traditional house and paying different kinds of fees I am not familiar with. For instance, my friend, who recently bought a new house for his family, said me that it is much easier to live in an apartment and I tend to believe him when I see his bills. So, living in an apartment will definitely help me to save some money. Second of all, since I live alone I do not need a big house with many rooms. I just need a bedroom and a living room where I can take my guests and have my work place. Another important benefit of living in an apartment is that I will not have to buy much cumbersome furniture in order to furnish all rooms.
However, living in a modern apartment building can have a few disadvantages too. Firstly, it can be noisy and, secondly, I will not have any privacy outside my apartment, for example, in a pool or gym.
From the other side, living in a traditional house have some advantages too. For example, I can have my own pool, gym and a garden where I can relax and be alone. However, living in a house is usually more expensive and requires more time to maintain a house. For instance, I will most likely have to hire someone to mow my lawn and clean my pool not to mention all household tasks inside the house.
In conclusion, I think at this moment I would prefer to live in an apartment. It can help me save some money and allows me to spend more time studying because I will not have to do many household tasks

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A gift (such as a camera, a soccer ball, or an animal) can contribute to a child’s development. What gift would you give to help a child develop? Why? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice.

People learn and develop throughout their entire lives. I think that in our modern world it is very essential to be familiar with computer technology. So, if I had a chance to give a child a gift it would be a computer. I think that computers play an essential role in our lives and they bring many benefits to our society. Moreover, children can learn by use of computers. In the following paragraphs I will give my reasons to support my answer.
First of all, by use of computers children can play many games, which help to improve children's ability to think logically, think about their next step, etc. Moreover, playing games develop many important qualities such as attention, patience, persistent, etc. Second of all, computers help children to learn more about anything by use of Internet. They can find new friends even from another country. Children will improve their communication skills, gain more knowledge and experience. Also, children have a great opportunity to learn more about other countries, their history, traditions and customs. Finally, computer skills can help a child to find his or her first job. A child can find an ad in the Internet about a job offer or he or she can make a resume and place it in the Internet. Personally, I think it is a great experience and big step forward towards a future career.
In addition to those practical benefits, computer technology helps children to do their homework faster. They can type their data into the computer, easily check the grammar, correct mistakes and then print it out. Moreover, there are plenty different kinds of educational programs that can help children learn how to read, write, draw and even how to behave and speak a foreign language.
To sum up, I believe that children should learn how to use computer because this knowledge will help them in the future to be more self-confident and enterprising. Furthermore, computers can greatly improve and simplify their lives if children know how to use them

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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Advertising can tell you a lot about a country. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Every country has its own culture and traditions. There is no doubt that an advertising campaign conducted in Russia will not have the same affect here in the United States. Let us take for example advertisement of food and restaurants.
A huge amount of fast food stands suggest their services for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper here in Houston. The competition is very strong. Every week you get in your mail-box an envelope with different types of discounts in exchange for visiting them or ordering pizza. Watching TV you are also from time to time invited to visit a restaurant in order to taste some delicious food. It is not because it is easy to make money cooking but because the demand for such service is high. First of all, people like to go out sometimes to have dinner with friends. Second of all, it is often impossible to drive home for lunch. It can be time consuming.
As for Russia, it is a great tradition to have dinner at home with the family and go to the restaurant for big holidays. Additionally fast food is not popular in Russia. So you will see advertisements of yogurts, coffee, dairy products and juice instead of restaurants and fast food stands.
In conclusion I would like to add that in order to succeed in advertising campaign especially on the international market company must know traditions, language and history of the country

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Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things we really do not need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. Which viewpoint do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

I think that everyone can divide all advertising products and services into useless ones and useful ones. It is like looking through an information desk when you pay attention to those messages that interest you. Take me for example.
I do not like jewelry. It does not mean I do not have it at all, I have a couple of inexpensive rings as gifts from my parents. I just think, people pay too much attention to this stuff. I believe it is the result of mass advertising. Every day when I am watching TV, listening to the radio or reading the paper I notice many ads about getting an expensive ring, chain, necklace or ear-rings. From my point of view these kinds of advertising contaminate people's minds. In this case you are encouraged to buy things you do not really need. They make you believe you need such products in order to succeed or be happy.
From the other side, I think that advertisements of the new detergents with up-to-date formulas to help you maintain your cloth in perfect conditions, the new cars with some extra futures that make your traveling more comfortable and sports goods that make your life healthier may help you to improve your life.
Recently my husband and I saw an ad on the Internet about a very interesting and inexpensive vocation to Japan for a week. Is not it awesome? We like traveling. So now we are planning to find out more about it and, may be, make reservations. I belief that without advertisements we would be unaware about plenty of oppotunities that may make your life happier, easier and less stressful.
My point is that every person has his own scale of values. So if he is vegetarian he will consider an ad about meat products useless for him.

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Some people say that the Internet is making the world smaller by bringing people together. To what extent do you agree that the internet is making it easier for people to communicate with one another?

In today's world , due to the advancement of technology new inventions are coming into existence. It is a certainty that ?necessity is a mother of invention?. _ Internet is just like a wonder box, which contains every type of information. Besides it has also proved as a very important tool to connect people with each other.

In today's modernized era nobody has sufficient time to write letters to their loved ones. Moreover it also takes longer to send or receive any information. But through an internet it is an easiest way to send massages to our loved ones. Either it can be in the form of an e- mail or by text messages from internet to cell phones. We can send and receive messages straight way.

In other hand today's youth generation mostly prefer to do chatting on () internet. Through this chatting we can write messages and straight way can get their reply. Moreover voice chatting is going to be very popular day-by-day.

As it is a reality that advantages and disadvantages are like both sides of a coin, which usually runs parallel. So like other things internet also have some downsides, like people are facing some health problems for example, poor eye-sight, back ache, migrane. Today's teenagers usually prefer to spend their time on internet rather than to participating in other physical activities, so that's why they are going to be weaker in their physical health.

To conclude, I would like to say that internet is one of the most modernized and most successful tools, not only for communication, even to get most relevant information regarding every field in a very short period of time.




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Popular events like the football world cup and other international sporting occasions are essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

The World Cup football match and the Olympics are held worldwide with great national support and expectations. As a fan of those competitions, I agree with the idea that sporting events can be necessary for international relations and national unity. In this essay, I will think about the effects of these popular sporting events.

First of all, the World Cup, Olympics and other international games work for easing tensions among different nations. For example, South and North Korea have football games regularly which give two nations a chance to understand each other deeply. In the mid 1990s, a hundreds of North Korean supporters came to South Korea with the footballers and they were very excited during the sporting events. Even if it sounds ridiculous, many South Koreans were quite surprised at that moment when North Koreans shouted and cried during the match. We all realized that they were very normal sports fans even though they were occasionally very secretive. Through the sports, two divided nations could reduce their political and ideological tensions and could feel the patriotic unity.

On the other hand, some sports matches can make international relations worse. For instance, football or baseball games between Korea and Japan are always big matches in two countries where full of tensions overflow. Sometimes, after the matches, the two rivals blame each other and their patriotic emotions explode in an aggressive way. Even much worse scenario is that the troubles caused by losing games affect the players directly. As far as I know, a couple of Korean players in Japan are suffered from invisible discrimination after the match between two countries.

In conclusion, I think that international sporting occasions can be one of the good ways to ease tensions or to release patriotism safely. However, I believe that games can not be the fundamental ways for the sound patriotism or peaceful international relations.

Before the Test
The most important suggestion I can give is to practice speaking. You can do this by yourself, with an audio, with a friend or with a teacher but you must actually make yourself speak. Speaking is like golf, you can’t master it by watching videos, you must actually practice it. Before you go into the test, make sure that you have practiced saying some sample answers to yourself or someone else – don’t try and go into the test “cold” – you need to warm up. You also need to practice as if you were actually doing the full test. This means that you should be able to practice speaking on a range of different topics for at least 10 minutes. In fact, practicing every day for a week speaking continuously for 10 minutes at a time will be very helpful for your speaking preparation especially if you do this with a wide range of topics.

During the Test
It’s a good idea to make eye contact with the examiner, relax and smile. Try and enjoy yourself and be friendly and open as this makes a good impression. We all like talking to people who are like this! It’s OK to be nervous but if you don’t say much, frown a lot and speak quietly, then you will give a very different impression. Your examiner will do their best to make you feel more relaxed.

Don’t worry about making the occasional mistake – native speakers make mistakes when they speak but they sound natural and friendly. The examiner will expect some mistakes and is not expecting you to speak absolutely perfect English. The examiner doesn’t note down every mistake you make so the most important thing is to communicate clearly.

You must talk in the test – even if you don’t know much about the topic. You can still speak about something by imagining, or speculating and giving your opinion. Keep to the question asked and answer it as fully as possible. If you have nothing more to say, stop – don’t keep rambling on making things up! You will know more about some topics than others so the length of your answers will vary. When you have finished, the examiner will give you another question.

If the question asks for a yes/no answer – always follow up with Yes, because…. or No, because …. as this will help you to keep speaking on the topic. You will be asked a “why” question anyway so it is a good idea to get into the habit of answering with a reason and then to give examples from your own experience.

After the Test
Thank the examiner and thank yourself for the effort you have put in! Keep practicing your speaking whenever you can as you will lose your ability to speak after time if you do not maintain it.

1: Loose for lose

No: I always loose the product key.

Yes: I always lose the product key.
2: It's for its (or god forbid, its')

No: Download the HTA, along with it's readme file.

Yes: Download the HTA, along with its readme file.

No: The laptop is overheating and its making that funny noise again.

Yes: The laptop is overheating and it's making that funny noise again.
3: They're for their for there

No: The managers are in they're weekly planning meeting.

Yes: The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.

No: The techs have to check there cell phones at the door, and their not happy about it.

Yes: The techs have to check their cell phones at the door, and they're not happy about it.
4: i.e. for e.g.

No: Use an anti-spyware program (i.e., Ad-Aware).

Yes: Use an anti-spyware program (e.g., Ad-Aware).

Note: The term i.e. means "that is"; e.g. means "for example." And a comma follows both of them.
5: Effect for affect

No: The outage shouldn't effect any users during work hours.

Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.

Yes: The outage shouldn't have any effect on users.

Yes: We will effect several changes during the downtime.

Note: Impact is not a verb. Purists, at least, beg you to use affect instead:

No: The outage shouldn't impact any users during work hours.

Yes: The outage shouldn't affect any users during work hours.

Yes: The outage should have no impact on users during work hours.
6: You're for your

No: Remember to defrag you're machine on a regular basis.

Yes: Remember to defrag your machine on a regular basis.

No: Your right about the changes.

Yes: You're right about the changes.
7: Different than for different from

No: This setup is different than the one at the main office.

Yes: This setup is different from the one at the main office.

Yes: This setup is better than the one at the main office.
8 Lay for lie

No: I got dizzy and had to lay down.

Yes: I got dizzy and had to lie down.

Yes: Just lay those books over there.
9: Then for than

No: The accounting department had more problems then we did.

Yes: The accounting department had more problems than we did.

Note: Here's a sub-peeve. When a sentence construction begins with If, you don't need a then. Then is implicit, so it's superfluous and wordy:

No: If you can't get Windows to boot, then you'll need to call Ted.

Yes: If you can't get Windows to boot, you'll need to call Ted.
10: Could of, would of for could have, would have

No: I could of installed that app by mistake.

Yes: I could have installed that app by mistake.

No: I would of sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.

Yes: I would have sent you a meeting notice, but you were out of town.

1. Express yourself in positive language. Say what is, not what is not.

2. Use transitions between paragraphs. Transitions tie one paragraph to the next.

* A transition can be a word, like later, furthermore, additionally, or moreover; a phrase like After this incident...; or an entire sentence.
* If you are writing about Topic A and now want to discuss Topic B, you can begin the new paragraph with a transition such as "Like (or unlike) Topic A, Topic B..."

3. Vary your sentence structure. It's boring to see subject, verb, object all the time. Mix simple, complex, and compound sentences.

4. Understand the words you write. You write to communicate, not to impress the admissions staff with your vocabulary. When you choose a word that means something other than what you intend, you neither communicate nor impress. You do convey the wrong message or convince the admissions officer that you are inarticulate.

5. Look up synonyms in a thesaurus when you use the same word repeatedly. After the DELETE key, the thesaurus is your best friend. As long as you follow Tip 4, using one will make your writing more interesting.

6. Be succinct. Compare:

* . During tenth and eleventh grades, there was significant development of my maturity and markedly improved self-discipline towards homework.
* During my sophomore and junior years, I matured and my self-discipline improved tremendously.

The first example takes many more words to give the same information. The admissions officers are swamped; they do not want to spend more time than necessary reading your essay. Say what you have to say in as few words as possible. Tips 7, 8, and 9 will help you to implement this suggestion.

7. Make every word count. Do not repeat yourself. Each sentence and every word should state something new.

8. Avoid qualifiers such as rather, quite, somewhat, probably, possibly, etc.

* You might improve your writing somewhat if you sometimes try to follow this suggestion.

The example contains nonsense. Deleting unnecessary qualifiers will strengthen your writing 1000%. Equivocating reveals a lack of confidence. If you do not believe what you write, why should the admissions officer?

9. Use the active voice. Compare:

* The application was sent by the student. (Passive voice)
* The student sent the application. (Active voice)

They both communicate the same information. The active voice, however, is more concise; it specifies who is performing the action and what is the object. The passive voice is wordier and frequently less clear.

Speaking tips

Speaking is a weakness of analytic learners (who learn English from books and tapes). Moreover, in countries where English is not a first language, improving your speaking in English is really difficult. Therefore, I don’t have much experience in practicing speaking. Here are some tips that I got from my teachers and some suggestions that I think they might be helpful for you.

Pronunciation is the most important feature in speaking. If you speak correctly, academically and interestingly, but no one understands what you are talking about, you certainly lose your points.

One of my teachers, who is fluent in 5 languages, shares his experience that pronunciation is the key of learning a language. It might be true since native English speakers can pronounce a unfamiliar word correctly but don’t know how to spell it. Because English is a combination of many languages, there are no totally general rules for pronunciation. As a result, you must remember everything.

So how to pronounce the words correctly?


- Firstly, listen and learn what native English speaker said. As I mentioned, listening can help you in speaking. You can correct yourself in basic words if you listen a lot. Moreover, listening can also help you to learn how to stress important words, how to speak naturally and even how to organize your speech.

- Secondly, if you learn a new word, you must know how to pronounce it first. Typically, when people want to learn new words, they revise these words again and again, and write it down so many times. But now, to improve your speaking and listening, you must hear electronic dictionary pronouncing and repeat after it again and again.

- Thirdly, make sentences with new vocabulary. Everybody might know how to pronounce words correctly, but when they combine them all together, they cannot pronounce correctly anymore, or even if they do, their sentence may sound unnatural. The reason is they lack of intonation. Listening might solve this problem.

- Fourthly, practice pronunciation every week (3-4 times a week) by reading out loud a short passage. At first, you practice to pronounce all the words in that passage correctly. Then read the whole passage slowly and correctly (pay attention to ending sound).

Afterward, increase reading speed in each sentence (’read’ here means you must speak out the words, not read in your mind). If you speak quickly but start to pronounce wrongly, that means you reach your limit, don’t speak faster than that. And finally, you read the whole passage again at normal speed, or may be a bit faster than normal a little bit, but you MUST include intonation.

To find material for practicing this exercise, you can visit this website: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com. There are hundreds of short news and audio files spoken by a native speaker. I guarantee if you practice this kind of exercise gradually, you pronunciation will improve a lot. (Note: this is the exercise of my teacher, who speaks 5 languages, as I mentioned before)

Now, to prepare for IELTS Speaking test, you should practice some more exercises:

- Pick a topic and stand in front of mirror to practice speaking test. You should go through all three parts of the real speaking test. Standing in front of mirror will help you improve your body language and also your pronunciation. You might find it strange that mirror can correct your pronunciation. In fact, there are some vowels and consonants that you can’t pronounce correctly if you don’t know how to do that (not just simply remember the pronunciation).

- Try to speak naturally. You are advised to speak fast with intonation (the previous reading exercise will certainly help you). You should learn and apply some verb phrases, idioms and slang expressions. This is not the key part of speaking test, but it is better if you know, not only for your test but also for you speaking skill. If you want to get 7.0, you must master pronunciation, accuracy and intonation.

Important tip #1
When you practice in speaking, you must pay attention to the ending sound. But when you take the real test, don’t do that, because it will affect your fluency. In the real test, it is the time you show examiner what you got, not the time you can show them how good you can correct yourself. Using experience you gained from practicing to prove your speaking skill.

Important tip #2
Another wonderful way to practice speaking is to speak English in your dream. If you never do that, you do it now. I have already spoken English in my dreams even before my teacher advice me to do so. I just watch cartoons in English, films in English and listen to songs in English. As a result, I naturally dream in English. Actually, I can control my dreams, lol, it is very interesting, try to do that. By doing that, I can think quickly in my mind, but I still have problems when speaking my ideas out. So, you must do 2 previous exercises in order to improve speaking

What things do you do for the environment?

If your exam is tomorrow and they ask you: “How are you helping the environment?” – what do you say?

Well, here is an idea. It’s not my idea, nonetheless it’s an excellent one. Everybody, meet Wayne Kirk and he will teach you how to save the world.

Wayne Kirk lives in Chengdu, China and he is a man on a mission. He started a project that will help us all to stop the Global Warming by growing a plant that absorbs CO2 in unbelievable amounts.

The plant is Algae and it can convert 30 times more CO2 than any other plant. Growing it is easy and Wayne has a very simple explanation how to start on his website.

Why should you care? Well, if you decided to grow the plant, that’s wonderful and you will be doing a favor to the environment, your kids and your grand-kids, but even if you didn’t – this is something you can tell your examiner if they ask you “What have you done for the environment so far?”

So go ahead, check project’s website and enrich your IELTS “things to say” list!

Every IELTS Reading test, no matter Academic or General has tasks of this kind. Lots of students tell me (and I agree) that this is a very confusing task.

For those who has no idea what I am talking about, I’ll explain – this task has a statement, and your job is to say is it True, False or Not Given in the reading passage.

How do you “attack” it? First learn the rule:

•If the statement clearly appears in text – it is True
•If the text clearly says the opposite of statement – it is False
•If you didn’t find the statement to be True or False – it is Not Given
For example:
“Smoking is dangerous and can lead to cancer” – T, F, NG

1) If the text clearly says that “smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is T.

2) If the text says that “No research showed evidence that smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is F.

3) If the text says “The research included smoking people of both genders of ages 30 to 45″ and nothing else about smoking – your answer is NG.

Don’t make these mistakes:

•Don’t assume anything based on your knowledge and experience, read the text! It is the oldest trick in the book and they use it a lot in IELTS.
•Don’t “over think” your answer – you could start building long logical sequences that will take you to the wrong answer.


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9 free resources to help you get a better score
What do you do to get a higher score in the IELTS Reading test? Increase your speed by reading more texts, that’s right. But not just any texts – there is a certain kind of reading passages you will find in IELTS more often.

Many of you were asking me: “What should I read?” and here’s the answer: reading passages in the previous IELTS tests came from the following sources:

1. The Economist – a weekly newspaper focusing on international politics and business news and opinion.

2. The Economist Technology quarterly

3. New Scientist – a weekly science and technology news magazine, considered by some to be the world’s best, with diverse subject matter.

4. American Scientist – an illustrated bimonthly magazine of science and technology.

5. The Geographical Journal – publishers of original research and scholarship in physical and human geography.

6. Interscience – online editions of scientific, technical, medical and professional journals


7. Australian geographic – an entertaining and fact-filled reference for anyone who loves and is fascinated by Australia and things Australian.

8. The British museum – online publications

9. Illustrated London News – a pictorial example of a historic social record of British and world events up to the present day.

In all of these websites there are articles you can read online (no need to subscribe, they are free) . This way you will get familiar with the style and level of articles you are likely to see in a real IELTS exam. Practice in reading using these resources and you will kill two birds with one stone, improve your speed and expand your vocabulary.

Five common Grammatical Errors


When you are writing an essay or a report ,In both cases people generally do very common mistakes because of the timelimit .But these errors looks very dumb to the examiners so be careful about these errors.
Here are five mistakes to avoid when Writing an essay for your IELTS Writing task 2 and task 1.

1. Your vs. You’re
This one drives me insane, and it’s become extremely common among IELTS test takers. All it takes to avoid this error is to take a second and think about what you’re trying to say.

“Your” is a possessive pronoun, as in “your car” or “your ball.” “You’re” is a contraction for “you are,” as in “you’re screwing up your writing by using your when you really mean you are.”

2. It’s vs. Its
This is another common mistake. It’s also easily avoided by thinking through what you’re trying to say.

“It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this blog has lost its mojo.” Here’s an easy rule of thumb—repeat your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds goofy, “its” is likely the correct choice.

3. There vs. Their
This one seems to trip up everyone occasionally, often as a pure typo. Make sure to watch for it when you proofread.

“There” is used many ways, including as a reference to a place (“let’s go there”) or as a pronoun (“there is no hope”). “Their” is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their bags” or “their opinions.” Always do the “that’s ours!” test—are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “their” will get you there.

4. Affect vs. Effect
To this day I have to pause and mentally sort this one out in order to get it right. As with any of the other common mistakes people make when writing, it’s taking that moment to get it right that makes the difference.

“Affect” is a verb, as in “Your ability to communicate clearly will affect your income immensely.” “Effect” is a noun, as in “The effect of a parent’s low income on a child’s future is well documented.” By thinking in terms of “the effect,” you can usually sort out which is which, because you can’t stick a “the” in front of a verb. While some people do use “effect” as a verb (“a strategy to effect a settlement”), they are usually lawyers, and you should therefore ignore them if you want to write like a human.

5. The Dangling Participle
The dangling participle may be the most egregious of the most common writing mistakes. Not only will this error damage the flow of your writing, it can also make it impossible for someone to understand what you’re trying to say.

Check out these two examples from Tom Sant’s book Persuasive Business Proposals:

After rotting in the cellar for weeks, my brother brought up some oranges.

Uhh… keep your decomposing brother away from me!

Featuring plug-in circuit boards, we can strongly endorse this server’s flexibility and growth potential.

Hmmm… robotic copy written by people embedded with circuit boards. Makes sense.

The problem with both of the above is that the participial phrase that begins the sentence is not intended to modify what follows next in the sentence. However, readers mentally expect it to work that way, so your opening phrase should always modify what immediately follows. If it doesn’t, you’ve left the participle dangling, as well as your readers.



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For ielts test takers...

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

■the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
■the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
■the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)



















Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level: intermediate
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.







As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Even though globalization affects the world�s economies in a positive way, its negative side should not be forgotten. Discuss.
In the present age, globalization is playing increasingly important role in our lives. But in the meantime whether it is a blessing or a curse has sparked much debate. Some people argue the globalization has fundamentally beneficial influence on our lives while many others contend that it has detrimental effect as well.
Convincing argument can be made that globalization not only plays a pivotal role in the development of technology and economy, but also promotes the exchange of cultures between different countries. To start with, it is the globalization that impelled many corporate to become an international group, thereby making contribution to local technology and employment. Specifically, when a multinational group establish a factory in a developing country, the new equipment, the new management skill and the job vacancies are all in the best interest of local society. Moreover, people worldwide can know each other better through globalization. It is easy to see that more and more Hollywood blockbusters shows the cultures different from American, some recent examples are Kungfu Panda and Mummy.

Admittedly, profit driven globalization severely affected the young people. Today, in the metropolises in different countries, it is very common sight that teenagers are wearing NIKE T-shirt and Adidas footwear, playing Hi-pop music with Apple ipod and having KFC. The culture that took thousand years to form is just seems similar in these cities; it is looks like you can only distinguish them by their language. Meanwhile, in some developing countries, sweat workshop is always the issue that concerned by WHO. For instance, some report shows that some teenagers who employed by NIKE�s contractor always stay in the factory that is fulfilled by smell over 14 hours a day, but they only work for fifty cents per hour.
In summary, I would concede that globalization do come with some adverse effects. Despite that the benefits created by it far outweigh the disadvantages. Overall, I convinced that we should further promote globalization and meanwhile the local government should take some measures to combat culture assimilation and sweat workshop.

In some countries children have very strict rules of behavior, in other countries they are allowed to do almost anything they want. To what extent should children have to follow rules?
The extent to which children have to follow rules is in itself a very complex issue, since children across the world grow up in very different cultures. In India for example, the level of morality is very high and children are to be very submissive to their parents as well as other adults around them. This, however, is not the case for the Western countries of the world where children follow the motto �Thou shalt do what thou wilt� as promoted by celebrities and rock stars. I believe that following strict rules has both advantages as well as serious drawbacks as discussed below.
Firstly, strict rules of behavior create responsible and respectful children who in turn mature into respectful adults. This forms a stable society which is virtually free from vices such as prostitution and drug abuse. Secondly, if children do not follow strict rules of behavior, they will get out of hand and become work- shy and indolent. This will then create a burden on society since the government has to find ways to cater for these social ills.

However, forcing children to follow strict rules of behavior doesn�t always yield positive results as discussed above, most of the time it backfires and works against society. For example, teenagers are more likely to do the opposite of what they�re told to do simply because they want to be independent. Children should also have rights to exercise their free will and develop their own pattern of behaviors. Strict rules simply destroy the individuality of children if they�re imposed on them.
At the end of the day, it is clear that children should be guided by rules, but these rules should not be imposed on them because as human beings, they need to have room to develop their own traits of character and adopt a behavioral pattern of their own.

Even though globalization affects the world�s economies in a very positive way, its negative side should not be forgotten. Discuss.
Globalization is such a commonly used term in the twentieth century. It simply means that the world has become integrated economically, socially, politically and culturally through the advances of technology, transportation and communication. It is undeniable to say that globalization has resulted in both positive and negative effects which must be addressed accordingly.
To begin with, globalization has contributed to the world�s economies in many beneficial ways. The advances in science and technology have allowed businesses to easily cross over territorial boundary lines. Consequently, companies tend to become more productive, competitive thereby raising quality of goods, services and the world�s living standard.

Secondly, several companies from the more developed countries have already ventured to establish foreign operations or branches to take advantage of the low cost of labor in the poorer countries. This kind of business activity will provide more influx of cash or investment funds into the less developed countries.
However, one cannot deny the negative effects which have derived from globalization. One crucial social aspect is the risk and danger of epidemic diseases which can easily be spread as the mode transportation is easier and faster in today�s advance society. This is evidenced in the recent bird�s flu disease which has infected most Asian countries over a short time frame.
As large corporations invest or take over many off shore businesses, a modern form of colonization will also evolve which may pose certain power pressure on the local governments of the less developed countries. Unemployment rates in the more developed regions like Europe may also escalate as corporations choose to outsource cheaper work force from Asian countries.
In conclusion. I like to reiterate that globalization is inevitable and we must urge individuals, companies and governments to use a more balanced approach by taking appropriate steps to deal with matters relating to the financial or economical gains verses the social, political or ecological concerns of the world.

Financial education should be mandatory component of the school program. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
It is an obvious fact that financial aspects are a major part of daily life, as an adult and even as a young individual. Each and every one of us has to make financial decisions concerning recreation, health, education and more. The question is whether to start with financial education as part of school program or postpone it for a later stage in life.
To being with, being able to understand the value of money, the way the economic system works and interpret financial news and its implications is a virtue. Without this virtue, an individual, and even a young one, might suffer, to some extent. For an example, a child who doesn’t understand the concept of money might find it more difficult to except choosing only one present out of more possible ones.
In addition, many adults are lacking financial analysis capabilities. Quite often, the reason can be a shaky basis or insecurity when it comes to financial terms and concepts. Starting from an early age, building a strong background, can very likely prevent such a situation.

However, financial education necessarily involves quantifying and setting prices and value for services and goods. It can be easily turn young people into cynical and cold-hearted human beings. Furthermore, a tendency to self-concentration and egoism might rise when one start measuring everything from a profit making perspective.
In conclusion, financial education has both pros and cons. In my opinion, the advantages are stronger than the disadvantages, making financial education an advisable component of school program. The disadvantages should be thought of as a certain price that young people have to pay due to the characteristics of the world that we live in.

As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.
There have been immense advances in technology in most aspects of people?s lives, especially in the field of education. Nowadays, an increasing number of students rely on computers for research and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. Others have decided to leave the original way of learning and to get knowledge through online schools. These changes in the learning process have brought a special concern regarding the possible decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom.

Some people believe the role of teachers started to fade because computers have been helping some students to progress in their studies quicker than when compared with an original classroom. For example, in the same classroom, students have different intellectual capacities, thus some would be tied to a slow advance in their studies because of others? incapacity of understanding. In this way, pupils could progress in their acquisition of knowledge at their own pace using computers instead of learning from teachers.
However, the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact influences them in positive ways. Firstly, students realize that they are not dealing with a machine but with a human being who deserves attention and respect. They also learn the importance of studying in group and respect other students, which helps them to improve their social skills.
Moreover, teachers are required in the learning process because they acknowledge some student?s deficiencies and help them to solve their problems by repeating the same explanation, giving extra exercises or even suggesting a private tutor. Hence, students can have a bigger chance not to fail in a subject.
In conclusion, the role for teachers in the learning process is still very important and it will continue to be in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its consequences.

Improvements in health, education and trade are essential for the development of poorer nations. However, the governments of richer nations should take more responsibility for helping the poorer nations in such areas.
Today’s world has been divided into developing and industrialised countrieswhich the main difference between them is the amount of money that governments apply in important sectors such as education, health and commerce. Most of the poorer nations are buried in debts as a result of their unbalanced finances which are reflect in a failed health care, an unstructured education system and a weak international trade. This vicious cycle will continue indefinitely unless wealthier nations show interest in minimizing the worldwide economic differences, as well as taking more responsibility for assisting unfortunate countries.

Most of the African countries live in sub-human conditions because of the extreme poverty, upheaval, hunger, disease, unemployment, lack of education and both inexperienced and corrupt administrations. The devastating consequences of the AIDS epidemic in those countries could improve if the infected populations receive free drugs to control the disease, have access to health professionals and get information on how to prevent its spread. But this can only be achieved through international help programs in which leaders of the world?s richest countries donate medicine and also send doctors and nurses to treat and educate those in need.
Moreover, most of the poor countries rely on selling agricultural products and raw material to rich nations and buying industrialized products from them resulting in a huge financial deficit. Consequently,
they borrow a significant amount of money from the World Bank to try to improve their broken economies, but sometimes the money disappears with no significant changes and they cannot even pay the interest to the bank. Regarding this issue, last year the G8, which is comprised of leaders of the eight richest nations, decided to forgive billions of dollars worth of debt owed by the world?s poorest nations. In addition, they developed adequate loan programs to financially assist those countries.
In conclusion, leaders of the industrialised countries play an indispensable role in assisting developing nations deal with essential areas such as health, education and trade. Also, their aid is the key to breaking the vicious cycle, which results in poverty and death.

Popular events like the football World Cup and other international sporting occasions are essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way.
Every four years, the whole world stops to watch international sporting events such as the Olympics and the Football World Cup in which athletes show their best performance to make their country proud of them. These sporting occasions have proved to be helpful in easing international tensions in difficult times when powerful leaders were trying to control the world?s economy and other governments were fighting over land.

The Olympic Games are one of the best examples which prove how sporting events can bring nations together, at least temporarily. From ancient History, when Greeks and Romans would interrupt battles to participate in the games, to the more recent international disputes, when athletes from Palestine and Israel would forget their differences, compete pacifically and even embrace each other after an event. Moreover, these popular events have called the world?s attention to the terrible consequences of wars; thus some leaders have tried to accept agreements to end their dispute and live peacefully.
Similarly, international sporting events show benefits in some developing countries which live in a daily internal civil war. For example, Brazil has a high rate of unemployment, lack of education, hunger, crime, poverty and corruption which leads to an immense embarrassment of being Brazilian and a low self-esteem. However, when the Football World Cup starts, the Brazilian squad, which is considered the best team in the world, provokes an amazing feeling of pride in their country. Most people seem to forget all their problems and even the criminal activity decreases. They paint roads with the national colors, use wear the Brazilian team shirt and buy national flags. Moreover, the competition brings families and neighbors together and even rival gangs watch the games and celebrate peacefully.
In conclusion, popular sporting events play an important role in decreasing international tensions and liberating patriotic feelings as History has shown.

As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.
There is no doubt that education and the learning process has changed since the introduction of computers: The search for information has become easier and amusing, and connectivity has expedited the data availability. Though experts systems have made computers more intelligent, they have not yet become a substitute of the human interaction in the learning process. In my opinion; what can be expected, is a change of the teachers? role but not their disappearance from the classroom.

Nobody can argue that the acquisition of knowledge is more fun and easier with computers. The mere activity of touching and exploring this device constitutes an enjoyable task for a kid. This, accompanied with the relaxing attitude and software interactivity, usually conduce to a better grasping of new knowledge. At a higher educational level; the availability of digital books, simulator and other academic materials, provide the student with an ever accessible source of information, that otherwise would not be at hand.
But, besides the increasing complexity and behavior of intelligent software, which is usually embedded in the academic digital material, the need of human interaction in the learning process will always be present, at least in the foreseeable future. There is the necessity for a human being to be able to determine what the specifics needs of each individual are. The expertise of a teacher in how to explain and adapt complex concepts to different individuals can hardly be mimicked by a computer, no matter how sophisticated its software is.
As computers are becoming a common tool for teaching, teachers should be more aware of their role as guides in the acquisition of knowledge rather than transmitters of facts. They have to be open minded to the changes that are taking places, keep updated and serve as a problem solvers in the learning process, thus allowing students to discover the fact for themselves.
To summarize, in my personal view, teachers play and will() play an important role in the classroom, especially at the primary level. No matter how complex computers become, there will be no replacement for the human interaction, but in the way haw this interaction takes place.

Addition• in addition
• and similarly
• likewise as well as
• besides further more
• also moreover
• and then too
• not only … but even
• besides
Sequence• first(ly) initially
• second(ly) etc.to begin with then
• next earlier/later
• after this/that
• following this/that
Consequence

• as a result
• thus
• so
• therefore
• consequently
• it follows that
• thereby
• eventually
• then in that case
• admittedly
Contrast
• however
• on the other hand
• despite
• in spite of
• though
• although
• but
• on the contrary
• otherwise
• yet instead of
• rather
• whereas
• nonetheless
• even though
• compared with
• in contrast
• alternatively

Addition• in addition
In addition, I would like to point out that my neighbor is disturbing me late at night.
• and similarly
Your life will change forever and similarly, your whole family will feel the change.
• likewise
Some people have little time for a hobby, and have likewise little will to get one.
• as well as
Beauty, as well as smarts, is a remarkable quality

• besides
We aren’t friends. Besides, I don’t feel it’s my place to set him straight.
• furthermore
Computers are getting faster and faster these days; furthermore, their cost is getting lower and lower.
• also
• moreover
I’ve wanting a change for a long time, moreover, I feel I deserve one.
• and then too
• not only … but also
Not only this product is good for your hair, but also for the whole body.
Sequence
• first(ly) initially
Initially, you would start putting a plan together.
• second(ly)
• to begin with
To begin with, you will need to commit a portion of your time to studying.
• then
• next
• earlier/later
Later on there comes a stage when your skills are put to a test.
• after this/that
• following this/that
Consequence
• as a result
I studied well and as a result, I got a high score.
• thus
• so
• therefore
I was younger and therefore, less experienced.
• consequently
• it follows that
• thereby
I upset my friend, thereby causing her pain.
• eventually
• then in that case
• admittedly
Admittedly, he is the smartest person I know.
Contrast• however
The book is expensive, however it’s worth it.
• on the other hand
She says she feels fine, on the other hand, her face is pale and she doesn’t look healthy.
• despite
• in spite of
In spite of the difficulties, the task was completed.
• though
He still insists, though he knows that won’t do any good.
• although
• but
• on the contrary
The music didn’t lift her spirit, on contrary, it made her feel weak and vulnerable again.
• otherwise
• yet instead of
He felt unwelcome, yet instead of leaving, he stayed.
• rather
Eggs for breakfast is not a good idea, I would rather have some toast.
• whereas
He was her true love, whereas for him she was just another girlfriend.
• nonetheless
While they didn’t trust each other, nonetheless they worked together for many years.
• even though
• compared with
• in contrast
• alternatively

Not everyone knows that there is British and American ways of spelling words, and they are different. The question about the acceptable spelling came up a lot lately and I found out that many students are unsure how to spell words in the IELTS Listening, Reading and Writing tests – the British or the American way.
First, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain: if you ask someone from USA and someone from the UK to spell a word such as color, the American will spell “color” and the person from UK will spell “colour”. There are many other examples:
favorite (USA) – favourite (UK)
honor (USA) – honour (UK)
memorize (USA) – memorise (UK)
check (USA) – cheque (UK)

There is no point in listing all of the differences here, you can see the whole list on this page.
As to the question, what is the right way to spell words in IELTS, American or British, the answer is both. You can use either form and it will be accepted, no penalties.

This post is basically a common mistake alert. As you know I’m receiving a lot of emails from IELTS test takers and they tell me about their exams, what went right, what went wrong, and we analyze the situation and what should have been done differently.
And here is a point regarding the latest exam. As you know it was identical in many countries and apparently many people had the same problems, because they weren’t mentally prepared.
Assumption # 1
People assumed that task 1 in Academic IELTS will be a chart or a graph – and when they were given a diagram, it came as a complete shock. As a result, it took them longer to get their head around the task and they spent over 30 minutes only thinking what they are going to write in their report. Then it’s a chain accident – if the first task takes you longer, you don’t have enough time for your essay and you are stressed, so the performance goes down the drain.
This could be easily solved by practicing beforehand. Guys, when you practice – don’t choose just graphs, prepare for diagrams as well, it;s important to be prepared for whatever they throw at you and not things you think are likely to appear. If you’re under time pressure and have only a week to study – fine, do just one or two diagrams, but at least try yourself at it.

Assumption # 2
I don’t know why, but people assume that IELTS questions never repeat – when this blog is a proof that they do, and quite often. I’ve got an email from a student that said: “You know what is really ironic? I saw my speaking question the night before my exam in IELTS-Blog, but thought I will never get the same and didn’t practice for it.”
Do yourself a favor – go through the list of recent exams and familiarize yourself with the latest questions. The best chances to get the same questions as before are, of course, in the Speaking test, however in the Writing test we too have seen that the questions were repeated over time.
And above everything else – good luck with your preparation and I wish you an easy exam!

Transitions
Transitional words and phrases are what gives your essays coherence, we need them to join sentences and thoughts together. Look at the lists below. These are transitional phrases that you can memorize and keep in your arsenal for the IELTS writing module.
AGREEMENT: also, plus, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover, additionally, to add to that, next, in accordance with, accordingly, in agreement, finally, for instance, for example, in exemplification, exemplifying that, in fact, factually speaking, in terms of, and so forth, looking at the nexus between, in coordination with, along those lines, collectively speaking, generally speaking, indeed, undoubtedly, obviously, to be sure.
CONTRAST:
however, contrastingly, in contrast, on the contrary, on the other hand, To put it into perspective, from a different angle, nonetheless, nevertheless, but, yet, a catch to this is, sadly enough, as a hindrance, looking at the holdups, oddly enough, instead, in direct opposition, still, and rather.

RESULT:
as a result, as a consequence, consequently, thus, therefore, hence, thereby, resulting in, ultimately, in the end, finally, in the overall analysis, in hindsight, in retrospect, retrospectively, vicariously, the long term effect, as a short term result, significantly, as a major effect, effectively, heretofore, hereafter, thereafter, in short, generally, over all, concluding.
If you have an IELTS exam this weekend, this post can literally save your score. Many people get in trouble with their IELTS Writing for no reason, just because they don’t realize some things are not acceptable in IELTS letters, essays or reports.
Here is a number of ways you can get in trouble with your IELTS writing tasks:
1. Using informal English in the IELTS Writing tasks.
Informal English is OK for your Speaking test – it is not OK for your Writing test. Even though not every informal word gets penalized, the more formal your style is, the better your score will be. To demonstrate the difference, informal expression “loads of / tons of” should be replaced with “many” or “much”; “fed up with” should be replaced with “lost his patience”, etc.
2. Using contractions.
Contractions are “it’s” instead of “it is”, “I’ve” instead of “I have”, “we’re” instead of “we are” (these are only a few examples). Contractions are a bad, bad thing to use in your essay, they don’t save you much time and can cost you marks. Do me a favor and forget about contractions in your IELTS writing. Write “should not” instead of “shouldn’t”, “could not” instead of “couldn’t”, “would not” instead of “wouldn’t”. You get the idea.

3. Using slang.
You can use slang any time talking to your friends, but this is the only place where it belongs, in a conversation between friends. Keep it out of your IELTS essays, letters or reports. You can’t write “dunno” instead of “don’t know”, “wanna” instead of “want to” or “gonna” instead of “going to”.
4. SMS-like spelling.
We all are typing SMS messages, chatting on Skype and the like, and there is a bunch of shorter ways to write longer words. We type “u” instead of “you”, “c” instead of “see”, “IMHO” instead of “in my humble opinion”. None of these can appear in your IELTS work, unless you are specifically trying to mess up and get a lower score than you deserve. You need to write the full word and spell it correctly, period.
I hope this post has caught you in time to prevent any of the above mistakes. Good luck with your exam!