4.

5 TYPES OF QUESTIONS

The purpose of this section is to help you prepare for the common categories of topics
that get asked in this part of the test. Most of the questions in Part Two of the test are
about: PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS, ACTIVITIES, and EXPERIENCES.

This section includes the following information:

1. sample questions for each category

2. model answers for each category

3. aspects you can consider when dealing with each category

4. structures that can be used to answer questions in each category

5. language related to these common topics

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4.6 PEOPLE

Many of the questions in this part of the test are about people. As well as this you can
often discuss a person when you are answering other types of questions. For instance,
if you are describing a place you might describe the person you go there with.

GRAMMAR

Tenses
If the question asks you to describe someone you know now. e.g. Describe a person
who is interesting, you should describe the person using the present tense. If you are
asked to describe someone you know from the past you should still describe the
person using the present tense, unless the person is now dead. In this case you will use
the past tense. Illustrative examples:

My neighbor Brian is a senior citizen. [present tense is used because he is still alive]

Audrey Hepburn was a petite woman. [past tense is used because she is dead]

For all types of people, describe any actions they have already done using the past
tense. For example, "He learnt how to fly a plane last year."

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Use relative pronouns [who, whose]

Use who to add information about the subject.

My neighbor, who is really old, seldom goes outside.

Use whose as a possessive relative pronoun.

He is a rich man whose house is very large.

VOCABULARY

To make your answer more interesting use lots of descriptive vocabulary, e.g.
extrovert, slender, and so on. You could talk about the following aspects:

1. appearance
2. personality
3. relationship to you
4. their lifestyle

1. APPEARANCE:

Height: petite [short], lofty [tall]

Build: slender [thin], overweight [fat], well-built [muscular]

Age: toddler [young child], adolescent [young adult], senior citizen

Facial features: clean shaven, full beard, goatee beard, moustache

Hair: short cropped hair, long thick hair, ponytail, bald

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Audrey Hepburn was a petite woman with short cropped hair. Hepburn
was boyish, and yet feminine simultaneously. She was famous for
wearing little black dresses that had a way of making her look glamorous.
[past tense is used because she is dead]

Brian is a senior citizen, with a goatee beard, a moustache, and a short

grey ponytail. He always wears sunglasses because he has eyes that are
sensitive to sunlight. [Present tense is used because he is still alive].

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 Sarah, who is in her early forties, is quite tall and has a medium build. She
has thick black hair that is plaited into a waist length ponytail. She
usually wears jeans and a red sweater.

2: PERSONALITY

You can talk about positive and negative features of a person's personality.

Positive: warm, fun loving, intelligent, charming, kind-hearted, extrovert [outgoing]

Emma is quite an extrovert. She is always the life of the party because of her warm-
hearted and fun loving nature.

Negative: mean, selfish, cruel, arrogant, introverted, a pain in the neck [annoying]

Steven is rather introverted, he usually sits quietly in the corner at parties. He is also a
pain in the neck because he always bothers me when he needs help with his computer.

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3. RELATIONSHIP: pal, soul-mate, classmate, colleague, family member, mentor

I have been pals with Peter since high school. I guess you can say that now he is my
soul-mate. As well as this his father has always been somewhat of a mentor to me, as
he is my soccer coach.

4. LIFESTYLE: hobbies, interests, work

My sister is a college student and a part-time assistant in an office, so she has little
time to socialize at the weekend or play badminton.

Some advice about vocabulary:

1. Have short lists; you only need 2 or 3 words for each category

2. Focus on high-level language = language to impress the examiner and increase your
score

3. The truth doesn't matter, use language to describe a person even if that is not true.
For instance you might say your uncle is an extrovert even though he isn't! This is to
increase your score for vocabulary.

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M o d el a n s we r

Describe a famous celebrity from your country who you admire

You should say:

who the person is

what kind of celebrity this person is
describe why this person has become successful

and explain why you admire this person.

Alright then, I’m going to talk about Faye Wang, who’s the most famous female
singer in China.

I’d like to begin by highlighting that Faye is considered as the all-time diva
among the young generation. She was born in Beijing, but became famous in
Hong Kong as a pop singer. Her fame is due to her career as a highly successful
and influential singer, songwriter and actress; and she’s also known as an icon of
fashion due to her amazing and impressive makeup and clothing styles.

Now let’s move on to the point of why I hold Faye in high regards. What I have
to mention here is the admiration I have for her dedication to help others. Her
daughter was born with a cleft lip, and she took her to California for surgery.
Once she realized how much money is required for cleft lip surgeries, she decided
to establish a foundation to help people receive proper treatment.

Apart from this, what I’d like to mention is that Faye is a highly family-oriented
person. She is a traditional Chinese woman and in the mid-1990s she left Hong
Kong at the peak of her career and moved to Beijing to live with her husband,
who was a successful rock star. Although her marriage failed, everyone took pity
on her and respected the career sacrifice she made for her family.

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