IELTS Life Skills B1 practice test 3
Talk about your weekends and someone who helped you, listen to two messages about a delivery and a repair, and plan a day out.
How to use this test. The real test is taken with an examiner and one other candidate, and it lasts up to 22 minutes. Practise with a friend if you can: one of you is the partner. If you are alone, speak your answers out loud and use the buttons to hear the examiner and your partner. The listening task is marked for you. The speaking tasks are not marked, so compare yourself with the example answers.
Questions with your partner
3 minutesThe examiner first asks each of you your name, where you come from and how long you have lived here. Then you and your partner ask each other questions for two minutes.
The examiner says
Find out from each other about what you usually do at the weekend.
If you stop talking, the examiner may ask
- Who do you spend your weekends with?
- What did you do last weekend?
- Are your weekends different in summer and in winter?
- What would you like to do next weekend?
See an example conversation
- YouWhat do you usually do at the weekend?
- PartnerOn Saturday I do the shopping and clean the flat, so Sunday is my free day. I usually visit my sister. How about you?
- YouI work on Saturday mornings, so I am often tired. In the afternoon I watch football with my son.
- PartnerDid you do anything special last weekend?
- YouYes, we went to the seaside for the first time this year. It was cold, but we enjoyed it.
Talk for one and a half minutes
7 minutesYou get a topic and one minute to prepare. You then talk for about a minute and a half while your partner listens, and your partner asks you three questions. After that you swap: you listen to your partner and ask three questions.
Your topic
Tell your partner about a person who helped you and what they did.
You could talk about: who the person is, when it happened, what the problem was, how you felt afterwards.
Then your partner asks you three questions
A real partner asks about what you said. These are the kind of questions to expect. Answer each one out loud.
- How did you thank her at the time?
- What was the most useful thing she told you?
- Have you helped a new neighbour in the same way?
See an example answer for your topic
I'm going to tell you about my neighbour, Mrs Clarke, who helped me a lot when I first arrived here. It was four years ago, and I had only been in the country for two weeks. I received a letter from the council about my flat, but I could not understand it, and I was worried that I had done something wrong. Mrs Clarke lived next door. I did not know her well, but I knocked on her door and asked her to read it. She explained that it was only about the rubbish collection days. After that, she invited me in for tea, and she told me about the doctor, the bus routes and the cheapest shops. I felt much calmer, because I knew there was someone I could ask. We are still good friends, and now I help her with her shopping because she cannot walk very far.
Now you listen and ask three questions
Your partner tells you about a film or television programme they enjoyed. Listen without reading, then ask three questions about what you heard.
See what your partner said and three example questions
I'm going to tell you about a television programme I enjoy. It is a cooking competition, and it is on every Wednesday evening. Twelve people who are not professional cooks have to make cakes and bread, and each week one person leaves. I started watching it to improve my English, because the people speak quite slowly and clearly. Now I watch it with my daughter. We try to guess who will win, and sometimes we make one of the cakes at the weekend. I like it because the people are friendly to each other, even though it is a competition.
- Which cake have you tried to make at home?
- Did the programme help your English?
- Would you like to take part in a competition like that?
Listen to two messages
5 minutesYou hear two short recordings. First you say what each one is about, choosing from three options. Then you hear both again and answer two questions about one of them. Here you answer the questions on both.
You hear two messages for customers.
Listen to both recordings. What is each message about? A delivery, a repair or a holiday booking?
Plan together, then discuss
7 minutesFirst you and your partner plan something together for two minutes. Then you talk together about a related topic for about four minutes. The examiner only joins in if the conversation stops.
The planning task
A relative from another country is coming to stay with you for a few days, and you want to take them out for a day.
Where to go?
- to a museum
- to the seaside
- to a street market
Plan and decide
- how to get there
- what to take with you
- where to have lunch
See an example conversation
- YouWhere shall we take them? I think the seaside would be lovely if the weather is good.
- PartnerYes, but it might rain. A museum is safer, and it's free. On the other hand, a market shows them real local life.
- YouThat's a good point. Let's choose the market. We can go by bus, because parking is difficult there.
- PartnerOK. We should take an umbrella and some cash, because some stalls don't take cards. And lunch?
- YouWe could eat at one of the food stalls. So: the market, by bus, with an umbrella and cash, and lunch there.
Then talk together
Talk to each other about the places you like to visit near where you live.
If you stop talking, the examiner may ask
- Which place near your home would you show to a visitor?
- Do you prefer visiting places indoors or outdoors? Why?
- How do you usually travel when you go out for the day?
- Is there a place in this country you would like to visit in the future?
Check yourself
You get a pass or a fail, not a band. Ask yourself whether you did these things:
- I asked my partner questions, and did not only answer.
- I kept talking for the full minute and a half on my topic.
- I gave reasons for my opinions, with words like because and so.
- I talked about the past and the future, not only the present.
- I listened to my partner and replied to what they said.
- I understood the main point and the details of both messages.