Always read the instructions carefully and make sure you know if it is a TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN or YES/NO/NOT GIVEN question.

Read all the statements carefully, trying to understand what the whole sentence means rather than simply highlighting keywords. Watch out for qualifying words such as some or always. 

Try to think of what synonyms might be in the text. This will help you identify the matching part of the text.

Match the statement with the correct part of the text.

Focus on the statement again and then carefully read the matching part of the text to establish if it is true or false. Remember the meaning should exactly match that of the statement if it is true.

Underline the words that give you the answer, this will help you focus and you can check back later. Again, be careful there are no qualifying words in the text.

If you can’t find the answer, mark it as ‘not given’ and move on to the next question.

If you are really unsure or can’t find the answer, mark it as ‘not given’.

1. Listen carefully at the start of the recording because it will give you the context of the recording. The talk will then proceed in a logical way from this starting point.

2. Listen for the key words you have identified in the pre-listening stage and stay alert for synonyms of the words you are expecting.

3. Homonyms, or words that sound similar, are often used for this question type such as “quotient” and “quotation” and only one of these words will lead to the correct answer.

4. If you miss an answer or were not sure, then take a guess…you might answer correctly!

5. Skip missed answers and move on. Looking at your keywords and listening for signpost words will help you do this. Do not stay frozen on one question because the answers come in sequential order. If you get out of sequence you may miss many answers and so you may have to “sacrifice” one question at times

6. You may hear the speaker talking about all of the different options you have to choose from. This means that you might hear something mentioned that seems to relate to one of the options mentioned but it might not be You must select the correct answer, not the first one you hear. You can often hear pronouns such as – it, this, they – to link back to words that have already been said. Try to keep track of what these pronouns are referring back to in order to answer questions more effectively.

Talk about a time when you got lost in a town/city. Please say

 I am going to talk about an incident that happened to me, which I never forget. It occurred in 2015 about five years ago. In summer vacations my uncle planned a trip for children because we got bored at home. We decided to go to Jaipur.

We all (me, my brother, uncle and two cousins) were thrilled and excited. We packed some necessary things like food, water money and cloths. We started our journey the next day early in the morning because the destination place was far away, so if we began in the morning, then we reached in the evening.

While driving our car was stopped near a jungle, and there was no shop available.

My cousin and I told that we tried to find out someone in the jungle who helped us. When we entered the jungle, we lost our path after walking a few kilometres, and we got tensed how we went back to the car. We tried the phone, but unfortunately, the network was not available.

We also heard some horrible sounds in the jungle, and we got afraid. Suddenly we saw two people walking toward us. We requested them. They helped us, and we reached back to our car. So that was the time when I lost in a place.

General Writing Task -1 

Dear Jems,

I am writing in regard to the animals that you own. I have to share some concerns that my family is facing due to your pets.

I am Sahaj, and I recently moved to the next door to your house. Here, I live with my family and my parents.

My family have a few issues with your pets. Firstly, your dog barks a lot. As my daughter is preparing for a government examination, she is facing difficulty to concentrate on her studies. Also, your cat usually enters in my garden where this creature creates a nuisance.

Therefore, I request you to kindly take your dog to the backyard for the next few weeks. Moreover, it is a humble request to keep your cat in a cage so that it should not create a problem in other people’s parks. I hope you would take the necessary actions for the convenience of my family.

I am looking forward to your reply.

Best wishes,

Sahaj.

Pollution in almost all parts of the world has become a menace to humans and various solutions have been proposed to overcome it. While some people suggest taxing the corporates since they generate pollution while producing goods, others think that measures such as public awareness and regulation are more effective. I agree with the latter view.

Imposing heavy taxes on companies is an efficient way to reduce as well as control air, water and ground pollution. Governments can use these taxes to create a fund that helps implement pollution control measures such as effluent treatment plants. Moreover, taxes will increase the price of goods in the market which will reduce the consumption and hence pollution. For example, the government of Singapore has imposed heavy taxes on all manufacturing facilities and used these funds to clean rivers, install machines to absorb harmful gases in Singapore’s air. Thus a heavy tax on companies has played an important role in making Singapore a clean place to live.

On the other hand, some people suggest that taxes are not an effective way to reduce pollution and stringent pollution regulation and public awareness are more important. Strong oversight of environmentally hazardous industries such as paper and plastic by regulators will be an effective step in controlling pollution. Moreover, if people are aware of environmental impacts of products through measurements such as ecological footprint, they will purchase products that are less polluting.

In conclusion, I believe that heavy tax on companies is not an effective way to reduce pollution since it translates to increase in prices of goods which eventually harm the consumers. Governments should strictly regulate the polluting industries and make public aware of pollution emitted by any product. This will not only make people more aware of their duty to protect their environment, but also make Earth a sustainable place to live.