Sách luôn là người bạn tâm hồn, nơi nuôi dưỡng thế giới quan của trẻ nhỏ, nơi vun đắp của con người. Thế nhưng, trong xã hội hiện nay, càng ít bạn trẻ đọc sách hơn. Vậy khi tham gia IELTS SPEAKING với TOPIC: BOOK hay READING, bạn phải làm sao??? Làm thế nào để mô tả cuốn sách mà trong khi bạn chưa bao giờ là big fan of book. Để làm tốt phần nói này, các mem hãy cùng học một số VOCAB và IDIOM cho bài nói dưới đây nhé:

 

I/ VOCABULARY

• an avid reader: người say mê đọc sách
• to pigeonhole: phân loại
• to relieve stress: giải tỏa căng thẳng
• sophisticated: thạo đời
• a big fan: người hâm mộ cuồng nhiệt
• self-educated: tự học
• science fiction: khoa học viễn tưởng 
• learning tool: công cụ học tập
• current affairs: những vấn đề thời sự
• to conjure sth up: tưởng tượng cái gì
• to tend to: có chiều hướng (= have a tendency to, be prone to..)
• to open up: mở ra
• to be/get into: thích
• to foster: nuôi dưỡng
• historical fiction: sử giả tưởng
• imagination: trí tưởng tượng
• adventure: truyện phiêu lưu mạo hiểm
• writing skill: kỹ năng viết
• mushy: ủy mị
• communicate skill: kỹ năng giao tiếp
• autobiography: tự truyện 
• a lot of fun: rất vui
• convivial atmosphere: bầu không khí thoải mái

 

II/ IDIOMS ABOUT READING AND BOOKS

 

Idiom	Example
A closed book: 1.     something that you accept has completely ended 2.     something or someone that is very difficult to understand	1.     As far as she is concerned, her marriage is a closed book. 2.     I’m afraid accountancy is a closed book to me.
An open book: something or someone that is easy to know about because nothing is kept secret	Her life is an open book.
Read someone like a book:to be able to understand easily what someone is thinking or feeling	I know what you’re thinking – I can read you like a book.
Don’t judge a book by its cover: used for saying that you should not form an opinion about someone or something only from their appearance
In someone’s good books: used for saying that someone is pleased with you	I’m trying to get back in her good books
Bring someone to book: to punish someone, or to make them explain their behavior publicly when they have done something wrong	We will ensure that people who commit fraud are brought to book through the courts.
The oldest trick in the book: a dishonest method of doing something that you know about because it has been used many times before	Flattery is the oldest trick in the book, so don’t fall for it!
By the book: correctly, following all the rules or systems for doing something in a strict way	He always tried to do everything by the book.
Take a leaf out of someone’s book: to copy what someone else does because they are successful at doing it	They should take a leaf out of industry’s book and pay both management and staff on results.
Cook the books: to change accounts and figures dishonestly, usually in order to get money	His accountant had been cooking the books for years.

 

 

III/ COMMON SPEAKING QUESTIONS

Part 1: Frequent questions and answers

 

1. Do you like reading?

• I don’t just like reading, I adore it. I’ve been an avid reader since I was old enough to hold a book in my hands.
• Well besides listening to music, I think reading is also popular with everybody. To be quite honest, I would say that I always glue my eyes into a book.

 

2. What kinds of books do you usually read?

• I used to be a big fan of science fiction books, especially ones that involved space or futuristic technology. These days I’m more into non-fiction books about current affairs or history.
• I like to read things according to the mood I am in, sometimes it’s all mushystuff, other time history and autobiography.

 

3. Do you usually read for leisure or for work purposes?

• Well, I have to do a certain amount of reading as part of my job, but I probably read more for enjoyment. I pick up a newspaper most days, and I usually have a book on the go.

 

4. Where do you usually read?

• The best place to read is at home in a comfortable chair, with a cup of tea or some other snack. It’s best to read when you can feel peaceful and at home. Cafes are also nice places to read because they have a convivial atmosphere.

 

5. Do you think children like reading nowadays?

• I think that children do like reading and always have, but nowadays there are many other attractions competing for children’s attention, like TV and video games. The success of book series like Harry Potter proves that reading is alive and well amongst young people.

 

6. What sorts of books do children like to read?

• You can’t pigeonhole preferences based on age. Some children read books aimed at mature and sophisticated adults whilst a lot of adults like to read trashyromance novels of dubious literary merit.

whilst = while: trong khi mà                                trashy (adj): vô giá trị                                merit (n): giá trị

 

7. Why do you love reading books?

• Books are learning tools. They not only teach you things, they take you to places you could never otherwise go. They open your imagination and you are free to view the characters in them any way you can conjure them up. On television or in a play, you pretty much view the characters as the writer scripted them.
• Reading opens up a whole new world for anybody and is the basis for a good education. If one can’t read, one can’t learn. Reading also fosters imagination, writing skills, vocabulary growth, deeper understanding of life around you and better communicative skills. It is a quiet activity that can be a lot of fun, and you learn a lot from it.
• I’m really into reading because I believe that reading can be both entertaining and educational. Reading broadens my knowledge by opening up the whole world to me. While I’m reading, I can be visiting another country or a different time period, or traveling through space. I can find out how people solve problems or think up new ideas.

 

8. For children, what do you think are the benefits of reading?

• I believe if you want your children to be smart, they have to acquire a love for reading, which has numerous benefits. Reading opens the door to child’s early academic success, imparts a love of learning and leads to higher grades in every subject. Besides, reading can help children improve linguistic skills in the form of a richer vocabulary, correct grammar, and more articulate oral communication. On top of that, books teach child about relationships, situations, personalities, and what is good and what is bad in the world he lives in.

 

9. What is the importance of books in your life?

• Books are like oxygen to me. I love reading books on different topic, they help me grow intellectually. Even more often there are problems in life, which I believe could be easily solved by reading good books.

 

10. Do you think there is a way out of making children read more?

• I believe children these days are more creative and have a different approach towards learning. If we want our children to read more, we need to add graphics and animations in the text books. Rather than putting simple text, we need to add text such that it is combined with certain experiments.

 

11. How do book preference have changed as compared to the past?

• I believe that a book is always an individual choice. However, on a general level, earlier people loved reading religious book or the books related to philosophy. However, at present people often read either fiction books or autobiographies.

 

12. In your opinion, will paper books disappear completely in future?

• I believe that the revolution has already started. Most of the schools these days have smart classes and the black board pedagogy has been replaced by online education. It is quite possible that paper books will be replaced at a large extent in future. However, I believe that people will still be interested in reading books because the experience that reading a paper books gives is nowhere to be found.

 

 

Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

1. Describe a kind of book you like.

     You should say:

• What kind of books you like
• What these book are about
• What effect have books brought on you

and explain why you like this kind of book the most.

Sample Answer:

The history books that express the past world in front of us are kinds of books I really like. I have not read a great number of history books but I enjoyed all of the History books that I have read so far.

The history books are fact based books that describe the events, history and significant characters from the past of human timeline. This can be simply a book that depicts the earlier civilisation of the world, can give details of the life a legendary character like Alexander or can simply explain the reasons for a great catastrophic event like the war in the past. Those events and characters come from our past history and are of great importance. Somewhere I heard that to build a good future, someone needs to learn the past. I totally agree with this statement as we have plenty of opportunities to learn from the past history of the world, our civilisations and ancestors.  

The History books that I read had helped me understanding a distant past and people of that time. History books always play an important role to educate the people about the past and I greatly enjoyed reading about our history, how the world was in the past, how different events of history had shaped the world and its geographical and political conditions. A simple event in the past had a great influence in the future and those history books bear the evidence of the past world that we have never seen.

I like those kinds of books mostly because of the enthrallment I feel while learning about the history. I purely enjoy learning about our world and significant events of the world. Those books are great sources of knowledge as well.

 

Similar Cue Card Topics

1. Describe a book you enjoyed reading. 
2. Describe your favourite book. 
3. Describe a book or movie set in the future. 
4. Describe a famous book in your country. 
5. Describe a book you would like to read in the future. 

 

2. Describe a newspaper or a magazine.

  You should say:

• What it is and why you read it
• What are the benefits of reading a newspaper or a magazine
• How often you read it and what are the contents of it

and explain why do you like reading this newspaper or magazine.

Sample Answer:
Today I’m going to talk about one of my favourite magazines. It’s quite fun to think about it, first I’ll tell you what it is and why I read it. Then I’ll try and persuade you of the benefits of doing so, and a bit about how often I read it and what the contents are. Finally, I’ll explain why I like to read it so much.

The magazine is called ‘Women’s Running’. It’s a monthly publication, dedicated to helping female runners, at every level to improve their running and learn more about the sport.  

For me the benefits of reading this periodical are huge. It has great information about running techniques and nutrition; advertising features on new running related products; helpful articles on topics like ‘how to choose new trainers’ and advice on running events and how to prepare for them. That is great in itself, but even more importantly for me, it contains lots of human interest stories. Real women talking about their experiences of running, why they do it and how they stay motivated, keep positive and enjoy the sport.  

Even though I do like the magazine, it is really expensive, it’s £4 a time, so I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t buy my own copy. Instead, I have a friend who subscribes to it regularly. Every few months she has a big clear out, and she drops off a great big bag of magazines for me to read. I then have a binge of reading about running – which is a bit ironic really, I should be out doing it rather than reading about it! So I don’t read it each month, but every few months I’ll have a whole weekend curled up on the sofa avidly soaking up every article. I read each copy from cover to cover. I like the personal accounts best. Women talking about perhaps overcoming injuries and illness to keep on running; forming friendships and achieving goals they never thought possible. It can be really inspirational! It makes me believe that I too can do more than I think. Once I’ve read all the magazines I keep them for a while to refer back to, but eventually I too need to de-clutter, so I’ll pass them on to another running friend, and so the cycle continues!

Through reading the magazine I’ve started to think of myself more as part of the ‘running community’ whatever that means! I’ve started to realise that not everyone who takes part in running is choosing to do ultra-marathons, we can all run at our own level and still get the fitness and social benefits at whatever level you are at. The main competition is not with other people but with yourself, other runners can support and help you whether that’s with advice on how to up your speed or distances to get a new Personal Best or agreeing to go out with you on a wet and windy night when really the sofa looks a great deal more appealing than a rain soaked pavement in winter!

[ Written by - Lucy Marris | Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher ]

 

Similar Cue Card Topics

1. Describe a magazine that you read often.
   2. Describe the newspaper that you read daily.
   3. Describe yourfavourite magazine.

 

Part 3: Details Discussion

1. How does the literature help you understand the culture of a particular place?
2. Why is it important for parents and adults to read books to their children?
3. With the popularity of Internet, do you think newspapers and magazines will disappear?
4. What's the main difference between a newspaper and a magazine?

 

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