In the “Take an Interview” task the interviewer will ask you four questions about the same topic. You’ll have 45 seconds to answer each one. You must answer as soon as the question is finished. You won’t be given any time to prepare your answers. Note that on the real test you won’t be able to read the questions. You will only hear them.
Introduction:
You have agreed to take part in a research study about your reading habits. You will have a short online interview with a researcher. The researcher will ask you some questions.
Question One:
Thank you for speaking with me today. Now, some people enjoy reading fiction books because they think it’s a good way to relax. Others prefer to read non-fiction because they want to learn something new. Which do you prefer? Why?
Sample Answer, Question One:
Personally I mostly prefer to read fiction books. Ah… that’s because, like you said, it’s a good way to relax after a long and busy day. I have a lot of, like, hard work to do because of my job. And when I get home I want some way to get away from it for a time. And a perfect way to get away from that is to escape into some fictional world. So not only am I reading a lot of fiction books, but I’m especially going for genre fiction like science fiction and fantasy because it can transport me to a place that’s totally different from my stressful everyday life. That’s why I generally read fiction instead of non-fiction.
Question Two:
That’s really interesting. My next question is about how you like to shop for books that you want to read. Some people prefer online shopping because it is fast and convenient. Others really enjoy the experience of going to a bookstore in person. Which do you think is a better way to buy books?
Sample Answer, Question Two:
You know, even though I sometimes buy books online I think going to an actual bookstore is the best way to get new books. That’s because you get a chance to browse around and find titles that you might not have thought about buying in the first place but you just get them because you see them by chance and they happen to look interesting. It’s also a pretty good way to connect to, like, a community of people who read books. That’s because the bookstores will make displays featuring the most popular titles. So, by visiting in person you just get to see what other people are interested in in your own community. I think that’s really valuable because it helps us escape our own little bubble of personal interests.
Question Three:
Okay, now I want you to think back to a time you read something that really captured your attention. Maybe it was a book that surprised you, or an article about a topic you care a lot about. What did you read? Why did it capture your attention so much?
Sample Answer, Question Three:
Well, a few weeks ago I read an article about a person who traveled in Egypt for five weeks. That really caught my attention because Egypt is a region that I’ve just been fascinated by for most of my life and I’ve always wanted to take a trip there, but I’ve never had the time or, basically, the money to make that happen. So reading the article and hearing about the author’s experiences visiting these amazing sites like the pyramids and the Great Library of Alexandria just totally captured my attention. I hung on every detail of his article and I actually read it twice because I was so fascinated by it and actually it really inspired me to plan a trip there.
Question Four:
I have one last question. A lot of people think that heavy social media use has lowered our attention spans and made it harder to focus on reading books and long articles. Do you think this is true? Why or why not?
Sample Answer, Question Four:
Oh yeah, I definitely agree that heavy use of social media has made it harder for us to focus on something like reading a really long book or even just a really long article. I have some experience with this myself. I’ll often sit down in my chair, you know, before going to bed in the evening and I’ll try to read a… a book. Now, it goes okay at first and I’ll read five or ten pages but then I’ll get, like, a strong desire to go check one of my social media feeds. So I’ll do that very quickly and then I’ll go back to the book. And what do you know, I’ll get ten pages further in and I’ll have the same desire. Um, this is something that wasn’t the case when I was younger and social media didn’t exist.