Exhibition or Museums : IELTS Speaking Practice Test 23

Speaking Part 1

1Are there many museums in your hometown?

Yes. There are many museums in my hometown. I don’t know all the names but I can name a few. They are Indian museum, Victoria Memorial, Kolkata Museum etc.

2Do you think museums are useful for visitors to your hometown?

Yes. Museums are useful for visitors because it tells a lot about the history of the town . It might not be important for everyone but there is nothing wrong in knowing how a city evolved to the present age.

3Do you often visit a museum?

No. I don’t visit museums often. I am not a history buff, but I have been to places I mentioned earlier, on the occasion of school educational tours.

4Did you go to any museum when you were a child?

Yes. When I was a kid, I used to be very curious about everything and anything. Thus I used to visit a lot of museums and historical monuments holding my parents’ hands. I used to get awestruck by the huge monuments and wonder how big they are.

Speaking Part 2

Sample Answer

When I was a little girl, I went to a museum near my home that was exhibiting life-size wax sculptures.

It was in a large room in the museum. The wax figures showed people from different occupations and different poses. Each looked so real that it almost seemed as if a real person was actually standing there and staying perfectly still. For the first half-hour when I was in the room, I was sure that one of the figures would begin to move, and that I would finally prove that they were really just people. The skill of the sculptor was amazing in how each one was perfectly made to exhibit the human body’s texture, posture and size.

I was especially amazed at the wax figure of the cowboy, it seemed that he came right out of an old western movie with his cowboy pants, gun and spurred boots. There was also the figure of a woman at a beach, with a swimsuit, towel, sunglasses and surfboard. There was a policeman, his hand held out to stop traffic with a whistle in his mouth. There was a mechanic, with his hand resting on the hood of a car that he had just fixed and the illusion of grease smudges all over his hands, face and clothes.

As a young girl, I was amazed at how someone could make a statue look so real.

Vocabulary for Cue card

• Museum: an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance.
  Eg: I visited the Museum with my parents.
• Cowboy:  an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches
  Eg: He painted himself as a cowboy.
• Spurred: (of a rider or their boots) having a spiked device on the heels for urging a horse forward
  Eg: He is wearing spurred boots.
• Illusion: an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience.
  Eg: She is in an illusion.
• Smudges: cause (something) to become messily smeared by rubbing it.
  Eg: She smudged the two colours from the palette 

Speaking Part 3

1Does China have many museums? What kind?

Yes, there are many. In the places that I’ve been most of the museums are about dinosaurs or stars. There are also some marine, bird and insect museums. Often there’s a little bit of all of them mixed into one museum.

2Are museums popular in China?

Not so popular. They are mostly for children or students. Sometimes you will see a whole family go to a museum or perhaps a young couple, but it is quite rare. Sometimes grandparents would take their grandchildren there.

3How could museums attract more visitors?

I think if the museums had more interactive exhibits, then they would be more interesting for most people. It would also help people to learn more from actually being able to see first-hand what is happening and how different things work. Having exhibits that change each week or so would make people who have already been there want to go again to see something new. Also, people who have not gone yet would want to go as soon as they can so they don’t miss something, whereas if it’s always the same then they would put it off, thinking they catch it later.

4Do you think people should have to pay to visit museums?

I think it’s not a good idea for people to have to pay all the time. I think it’s a good idea for part or most of the museum to be free, but if people want to see certain parts or participate in special things, then they have to pay. If people have to pay each time they go, and especially if it’s expensive, then many won’t go or won’t go very often. The reason why I think this is bad is that I think it’s very educational to be able to look at and learn from all the things in museums.

5How will museums change in the future?

I think that museums will become more modernized and more accurate. I think that they will have better and more interesting exhibits. The way they are set up and advertised I think will also improve so that they are more appealing to the general public. I think they will also have more interesting themes displayed and exhibited.

6Do schools in China have art classes?

No, not really. Sometimes they do, but most of the time if the students or their parents want children to study art, they must go to special art classes. Or the schools do have art classes, but they aren’t part of the curriculum, and parents must pay extra to have their children attend these classes. More often than not, children in China don’t take art classes, and few children ever develop an interest in it.

7Should arts education be part of the school curriculum?

Yes, it should. I think art is a very important subject because it not only encourages self- expression but also is a creative art and helps to develop artistic creativity’ in many areas of life, not just art. Also, children who feel they are accomplished and are able to do something more than study do better in other classes and subjects because they have higher self-esteem. Children who don’t know how to do anything other than their basic subjects will feel inferior to their peers, and will not perform as well in class as they could.

8How do you think art classes affect child development?

They help to develop a child’s creativity and curiosity. They help a child to express himself through the things he draws, notice the things around him and learn from them. Art also encourages an admiration for nature and living things, so children who have been taught to appreciate art are less likely to do things that are harmful to the environment, to others, or to themselves.

9What kind of paintings do Chinese people like?

Hmmm, that’s a little hard to answer. I think that Chinese paintings are very popular in China. Most people here in China like paintings in the Chinese style of paintings of familiar scenes here. There are also quite a few abstract and realistic paintings and styles that are popular with certain groups of people.

10Some paintings are very expensive, but people still want to buy them. Why do you think they do so?

I think that most of the time they want to have a very expensive painting so that they can show it off to their friends. Or maybe they feel it makes them look more in style or more fashionable to have expensive paintings by famous people. Some people collect paintings or works of art, so they will get anything they think will look nice with their collections.

11What benefits can you get from painting as a hobby?

I think there are many benefits. For one, it can be very relaxing to paint, especially if you are outside in nature. Also, it can help to take your mind off of any problem or stress that you might have from your work. It will also improve your creativity and help you to think better.

Vocabulary for Speaking Part 3

• Interactive: allowing a two-way flow of information between a computer and a computer-user; responding to a user’s input.
  Eg: It was an interactive session.
• Exhibits: publicly display (a work of art or item of interest) in an art gallery or museum or at a trade fair.
  Eg: The exhibit was appreciated by the judges.
• Self-expression: the expression of one’s feelings, thoughts, or ideas, especially in writing, art, music, or dance.
  Eg: Painting is a form of self-expression.
• Self-esteem: confidence in one’s own worth or abilities; self-respect.
  Eg: She is too careful about her self-esteem.