Post by G@mgirL on Sept 23, 2006 23:32:29 GMT 7
[glow=red,2,300]Now let us take a simple picture story as frame by frame:[/glow]1.Wife and Husband reading a news paper and an advertisement of Base ball game at stadium
2.They go towards the stadium and huge line
3.they stand at counter and board saying tickets sold
4.they see a sports bar cafe with big screen
5.They sit and eat
6.Rain delay on the TV screen well
Points to remember before we start the story
1) When you look at the picture try to tell the story in your language.
2) Now you would be comfortable with what is there.
3) Now close your eyes and say step by step...Now why I say this because when you start explaining picture by picture you are more focused on the content rather than your delivery and pronunciation and that may put you down.
This is what happens in my mind when I look into these pictures which
I can say in few sentences (In my language)... like Couple read the news paper and went to stadium to see the match. Did not get tickets and went to sports bar and watched the game and they match stopped because of rain
Now these people need an elaborate and beautiful way of saying that with lots of punches and melody. These can be obtained when you put some additional sentences in between the above lines....and remember they would like to hear in their style...I mean with Names and weather conditions and words...so let us start now
Mr. and Mrs. Smith were going through New York times News paper and they Have come across an Advertisement(watch out the pronunciation of this word) which says Baseball at Thomson Stadium. Being Baseball lovers, they decided to go and watch the Game at the stadium. The Moment they reached there they found a Big queue for the tickets nevertheless they stood there hoping that they will get the tickets. Unfortunately, when their turn came for buying the tickets... they were all sold out. The Couple were disappointed and were walking towards their home and to their surprise they found a sports bar cafe which is displaying the same game on Big screen TV. Their Joy knew no bounds. The immediately went into the Cafe ordered couple of Burgers and were thoroughly enjoying the game. While this was going on the most unexpected thing, happened (Pause) the rain started pouring and the game was been abandoned due to from this Mr. and Mrs. Smith learnt that next time when they go for any game they should not only book their Tickets in advance but also check the weather for the day on Television
Now when you read the whole thing fluently with proper pronunciation and punch.. (.By proper punch I mean too say that. for example when u use the word UNFORTUNATE use it with a punch ... because they did not expect that) it gives a painted image and at the same time the connectors used were good enough for them to give a better score....
Opinion questions
According to me in opinion questions they see some basic hidden things
1) Confidence in your opinion
2)Belief
3)Connectors
4) relevancy
Always remember when ever you express your opinion ...you have to say it very confidently because that is your opinion and you don’t care what others think about it. Therefore, your voice should have great confidence level. For this set your mind or tunes your mind that.... In life that you are very confident person and your make wonderful decisions because of your opinions on that matter.
Secondly, you should believe in your opinion. You believe in your opinion based on certain facts...that is the reason why you believe in it.
Thirdly, you are not only have the confidence and belief but also you should express it in a good way so that people will accept your opinion. For this, we need to use good connectors and relevant matter, which they like to hear.So let us try to do the second opinion question, which is on the ETS website.
"The man in the pictures is reading a newspaper. Both newspapers and television news programs can be good sources of information about current events what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these sources? (60 seconds)"
Keeping the above things in mind let us draw a format for answering the question. I guess time is very short to think here. So first thing is u need time which not available there. So the simple way of getting time to think about is rephrasing the question and while rephrasing the question you can think of a point, which you can develop it and compare it.
So lets us do that...
Newspapers and Television news programs are good source of information and each one has its own advantages and disadvantages.
I think one of the main advantages of the newspaper is that they give detailed information of particular news. They start form the beginning and end the news in such a way that we get complete picture of it. They give all the minute details On the other hand the Television gives only the main points of the news.
The main disadvantage of Newspapers according to me is that you cannot see them happening Live where as on Television you can see them happening which is more interesting.
Therefore, what we did here is
1) we rephrased the question
2) we confidently said that the main advantages of the newspaper is that they give detailed information.
3) We have shown our belief in that by stating, "They start form the beginning and end the news in such a way that we get complete picture of it. They give all the minute details "
4) we used the connectors ...On the other hand... where as
5) Relevancy. We were talking some sense, which everyone accepts it. On Television u can see it live but not in the newspaper... (Because we think, seeing believes.)
One very interesting thing to note is that
1)The Advantage of one becomes the disadvantage of the other(i.e. opposites)
2)The disadvantage of one becomes the advantage of other
In the same example above u can see that
the Detailed news is an advantage and short news is a disadvantage( Because people want complete information)
In the second line disadvantage is you cannot see live happenings on news paper but the advantage is you can see them live on TV)
All we used is a connector between the advantage and disadvantage.
Advise
The best way to practice about these questions (Which I did) is constantly thinking about it during your free time or while traveling or while having you coffee or while u smoke...whatever. When you are free, for example just think what are the advantages and disadvantages of particular thing you are looking at that moment. For example, you are standing in a bus stop...Think what are the advantages of Bus over Car. when u drink coffee think what are the advantages of coffee over energy drinks...so constant thinking will help u remind to tune to these questions and answer them immediately. When you are walking towards the university. Think what is the difference in university student and other students...This will train your mind and I guess u can hit the goal!
“If you could visit any place in the world for a month, where would you go and what would you do there? (60 seconds)”
If I could visit any country for a month, I would definitely choose Toronto. It is a great place to see. I heard that CNN tower is the tallest one in the world where I can see the world from there. I also know that there is fantastic African Lion Safari where my kids would also enjoy it and in addition to that, the Marine land is amazing to see especially the dolphin show and the Skyscrapers.
Toronto is really my dream place and given a chance I would definitely visit that place and even recommend to others.
[If you carefully analyze the above answer you can see that the person is confident (definitely choose Toronto) about the place.[
In addition, he justifies that by saying some good places (CNN Tower, African lion safari and Sky screamers), which he can see and which is why he likes the place to visit
He shows his excitement through out by using the words like the tallest one, Fantastic and Amazing and dream place.
Therefore, the rater can judge your fluency and you real interest in the subject and would definitely like your recommendation.
Advise: Keep your mind well informed with this type of question.
Like if you are from India prepare for a place (Preferably abroad) where u would like to visit and remember a couple of good things in that place to visit. Alternatively, think about your favorite dish…when you say your favorite dish try to explain if you can an American dish rather than your native dish in that way the rater will have an easy understanding what you are talking. Try to ask your self some open-ended questions. What rather dress you like and why? What kind of car you like and why? What kind of Novels you like and why? So keep thinking in those lines and make your mind confident to speak on any subject.
Greeting a colleague. Why we great colleague? The possible answers could be as follows
We greet a colleague because he has got a promotion in the company
We greet a colleague because he has got a better offer in some other company.
We greet a colleague because he retires and plans to do something else.
Weather it a promotion with in a company or new job in another company or an employee being retired we need to greet him for what he or she has done.
What are the usual components of greeting?
1) You greet the colleague by name always.
2) You say that you heard about his achievement (could be promotion or a new job or retirement)
3) Congratulate him with a friendly and raised voice.
4) Tell him/her that he/she deserves that because of his past achievements…. in the company (May be he got a promotion because he achieved more sales or because of strong work ethic etc)
5) Finally wish him the best and tell him that you’re confident of his success in his new venture (we say this line with strong conviction because his success was related in the past to the effort he has put in)
Let us see an example in the same format above
First Scenario[/color]
Suppose a person(Smith) got a promotion from Manager to general Manager and you met him in the office.
Good Morning Smith
I just heard that you have been promoted form Manager to General Manager Position of this company.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Well … you really deserve this position because you have done a fantastic job by raising the productivity of the company and getting a profit of about 10 million dollars.
I am sure in your new position you would achieve much more success with this kind of experience… anyway let me wish you all the best in your future positions in this organization.
Second scenario
For Example Smith got a new job in another company called Wall blue Inc.
Good Morning Smith
I just heard that you got a new assignment with WALLBLUE as a General Manager
CONGRATULATIONS!
I am glad that you are moving up in your Life. You really deserve this because you have great skills and qualifications matching that position. Your achievements in this company are commendable.
I am sure in your new position you would achieve much more success with this kind of experience… anyway let me wish you all the best in your future positions in this organization.
Third scenario
Mr. Smith is retiring and leaving the company and you are his colleague and wishing him about that.
Good Morning Smith
I just heard that you are being retired form the services this 25th of September.
Smith you have been an excellent role model for the work you have done in a company for which I would like to Congratulate. We would be definitely missing you and your great contribution you made to this company. You were one of the strong pillars of the company, which will be ever remembered.
I know you have great plans to settle in your farmhouse after your retirement, which you built with all the interest all these years. Let me take this opportunity to wish you and your family agreed time at this Farmhouse.
Good luck Smith!
So you have greeted him… you did congratulate and you explained him why he deserve that and then you wished him alike a good person that he achieve more success.
What is important here is the expression power. You express with excitement. Let your tone give a feeling that you are really wishing him. Imagine when you wish happy birthday to your best friend…. exactly the same way…. you are excited about it[/color].[/b]
Regarding the Legends in the graph, should you have time to explain... then go ahead? Most of the time concentrates on the introduction and first trend and second trend. If you want to explain or say something about legends it should be before the first trend scentence.You could say “The striped bar column talks about the residents living in apartments and the outstripped bar column or the blank barcolum talks about the people residing in the own houses during the year 1990 and 2005.”
Flow chart…Flow chart need not be memorized since all the time it is in front of you. All u have to do in that 30 seconds is to understand the procedure of that particular system I mean the office procedure.
Training Manual revision process
Management team decision->committee makes draft revisions->Management approval->Final form ready->printing->distribution->Training workshop
When you look at this flow chart the whole meaning of the flow chart is given in one simple sentence and that you can find on the Heading of the flow chart. In this example it is “Training Manual revision process”. Therefore, we know that it is something to do with making new training manuals from old ones with some additions.
Secondly, to do this Training Manual revision the company adopted a procedure that is in the form of the flow chart. Therefore, flow chart is nothing but a procedure that a company is supposed to follow it. In this you need not remember the flow chart only you should understand the path…from this flow chart we can understand that “ first management decides and forms a committee and the committee will makes draft revisions and again they send it to the management and they decide about the changes and after the changes a new form is ready which then goes for printing and then ready for distribution normally in a training work shop.”
After you have understood this one has to care fully hear the conversation.
Conversation may be between two people mostly man and women. You have to listen with a mind set that they will be talking only on those lines of the flow chart and nothing beyond it.
These two people now talk about the actual work that is taking place along the same lines but in the form of conversation. Our objective is to gather that additional information from the talk.
For example they may say management have chosen 6 people on the revision committee …place 6 opposite to the Committee makes draft revisions in the flow chart. So that this will be helpful in making the report. So now add all information you can against this flowchart
After you add all the information make sure say about
what the situation is
what has been accomplished
what has to be done.
What the situation is: The situation here is nothing but management has decided to revise the training manuals. So the first one can be answered if you look at the heading of flow chart.
What has been accomplished: Management approved the final form after the 6-member committee made many draft revisions. The final form has been sent to printing.
What has to be done; The printed copies to be distributed after they receive on Tuesday and a training workshop to be set up on Friday
so in your message make sure you include these answers to the above questions.
”Good Morning Mr. Jacobson this is Mr. Smith Calling from the personal department. Here is the updated report regarding the new revised training manual. As you are aware that the Management team has been working on to get a new training manual for the Employees for the upcoming Training workshop. (This is the situation)
I understand from Mr. Bill who is one of the six-revision committee members that they have met several times and made many draft revisions and forwarded it to the management team for their opinion. According to him, the Management has approved and sent them the Final form of the Manual. (This is accomplished)
Currently Mr. Bill has sent the final form for printing and he is expecting to receive copies by next Tuesday. Based on these facts I am planning to set up the meeting on Friday where all the employees would receive the new revised manuals.(These are to be done)
Should you need more clarification on the progress of the situation please do not hesitate to call me at my Number 999222333 ext234”
Advantages and disadvantages
“The man in the pictures is reading a newspaper. Both newspapers and television news programs can be good sources of information about current events. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these sources?”
Let us see how best we can deal with these types of questions?
The good thing about these types of questions is that they are simple ones and which you encounter them daily in your life. Mostly they may be related to general things. Like may be about technology or transportation , newspapers, etc.. The reason they give these simple ones is that you will get to talk immediately without a second thought…
But the big problem most of the students face is that they may not get the ideas…One of the principal reason is that its not that they do not know about it but it’s mostly that Fear and the stress they undergo at that time. That is my observation.
So before attempting to answer any of these questions …lets take out this fear from our minds that we do not get any ideas or we are running out of time…Let us feel that this question is very easy and I can answer them with confidence. When you answer this question answer as if you are talking to your close friend…for example …You may remember in college or at work place, you have series of discussions about various things. For which you never prepared…because you have that feeling that your are talking to your friend and you are confident about it. So let us get rolled with that kind of mindset!
When you look at the question above, we all know that both newspapers and Television are good sources of current events. So the question is … What you think are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these sources?
The bottom line say one advantage and disadvantage of News paper and one advantage and disadvantage of television in terms of current news.
Let us see how easily we can answer this question…
Let us take newspaper…
Advantage
1. (Back o the mind we know newspapers are nearly 30 pages)
a) the advantage is we get elaborate news.
Disadvantage
2.We know back of the mind that the news we are reading is yesterday’s news
b) The disadvantage of newspaper is it’s not the current news
Lets take television news…
Advantage of television news
The Advantage of Television is it gives the most current news (Every hour you get news live)
Disadvantage of television news.
It does not give elaborate news (they are normally concise news)
Now care full observe the above advantage and disadvantage…you will find that
The Advantage of the newspaper becomes a disadvantage of the television (If you reverse the idea) Similarly the disadvantage of the Newspaper becomes advantage of television
That is to say
“The advantage o f newspaper is we get elaborate news whereas the disadvantage of Tele vision is we do not get elaborate news.
The advantage of television is we get the most current news but the disadvantage of news paper is not the current news.”
So just, get one idea and say that it is an advantage and it automatically becomes a disadvantage of the second compaThis trick holds good when two things were given like television and newspaper. Car or Bicycle etc.
However, if just one was given for example what are the advantages and disadvantages of Car?
Then you may use the common things like time and money
For example
The advantage of having a car is that we can save time and the disadvanatge is that its mainataince costs are high.
So on these lines you can develop immediate ideas….well this just the first part..
Now once you get a thought you need to develop it.What that means. Let us look back the newspaper again... and let us develop it further
There are many advantages and disadvantages of both Newspaper and Television in terms of Current news. One of the Main advantages of newspaper is that we get elaborate news. For example, the news about Katrina hurricane .The gives one full detailed page as to what damage it caused. How many people suffered? What actions the government has taken so far but the news about Katrina hurricane is still yesterday is news and not the current one. On the other hand, if we watch Katrina hurricane news on CNN channel we can see live as it happens for few minutes but it may not give the full details of the news.
In the second example what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Car
There are many advantages and disadvantages of having a car. One of the biggest advantages of the car is that we can save lot of time. For example if I have to travel from Toronto to Ottawa, it takes five hrs only and I can stop wherever I want to. In addition to that it is quite luxorious. On the other hand the main disadvanatge is that its mainatainace. For example, if I have to change the break pads they are very expensive. It nearly costs me hundreds of dollars[/size]