Đề thi thử IELTS General Training số 3: IELTS General Training Mock Test 3

Listening (30 phút)

Part 1: Changing a gym membership

Questions 1-10. Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Phần nghe phát trong phòng thi.

1. Member's surname: ____
2. Membership number: AG ____
3. Reason for change: new job at a ____
4. New plan: ____
5. Weekday hours: 9.30 am to ____ pm
6. Monthly fee: £____
7. Change starts on: 1st ____
8. Classes included: yoga and ____
9. Extra charge of £2 per visit for the ____
10. Must return the locker ____ at reception

Part 2: A weekend language exchange

Questions 11-15: choose the correct answer. Questions 16-20: label the plan of the building. Where are the following? Choose the correct letter, A-F.

Phần nghe phát trong phòng thi.

1. Why was the language exchange started?
   • A local college wanted a place for its students to practise.
   • Its founder wanted more opportunities to speak English.
   • The council was looking for ways to welcome new residents.
2. How long does each conversation round last now?
   • ten minutes
   • fifteen minutes
   • twenty minutes
3. What are participants asked to do when they arrive?
   • fill in a form about their level
   • bring a textbook or worksheet
   • wear a sticker with their name and languages
4. What is the money in the jar used for?
   • renting the building
   • tea and biscuits
   • new books for the swap shelf
5. What should people do if a partnership is not working well?
   • explain the problem politely to their partner
   • wait until the end of the morning
   • speak to one of the volunteers
6. the tables for complete beginners
   • A. next to the main entrance
   • B. at the top of the stairs
   • C. behind the café counter
   • D. in the basement
   • E. beside the garden door
   • F. opposite the lift
7. the place for coats and bags
   • A. next to the main entrance
   • B. at the top of the stairs
   • C. behind the café counter
   • D. in the basement
   • E. beside the garden door
   • F. opposite the lift
8. the quiet room for listening practice
   • A. next to the main entrance
   • B. at the top of the stairs
   • C. behind the café counter
   • D. in the basement
   • E. beside the garden door
   • F. opposite the lift
9. the book swap shelf
   • A. next to the main entrance
   • B. at the top of the stairs
   • C. behind the café counter
   • D. in the basement
   • E. beside the garden door
   • F. opposite the lift
10. the noticeboard
    • A. next to the main entrance
    • B. at the top of the stairs
    • C. behind the café counter
    • D. in the basement
    • E. beside the garden door
    • F. opposite the lift

Part 3: Planning a public speaking club

Questions 21-25: choose the correct answer. Questions 26-30: what do Leila and Marcus decide about each session? Choose the correct letter, A-F.

Phần nghe phát trong phòng thi.

1. What was the main reason for choosing a public speaking club?
   • the result of a student survey
   • a request from the college
   • Marcus's experience at school
2. How many members will the club have?
   • about twenty
   • as many as want to join
   • no more than twelve
3. How will the students advertise the club?
   • by putting up posters
   • by giving short talks to tutor groups
   • by posting on social media
4. What do they decide about feedback?
   • The club leaders will give all of it.
   • It will be written down without names.
   • Each speaker will hear one strength and one suggestion.
5. What problem do they expect?
   • finding a suitable room
   • members gradually losing interest
   • members not having time to prepare
6. one-minute talks on a surprise topic
   • A. It will open the first meeting.
   • B. A guest will be invited to lead it.
   • C. It will be made shorter.
   • D. It will be left out this year.
   • E. It will be filmed.
   • F. It will be held outside the college.
7. a formal debate
   • A. It will open the first meeting.
   • B. A guest will be invited to lead it.
   • C. It will be made shorter.
   • D. It will be left out this year.
   • E. It will be filmed.
   • F. It will be held outside the college.
8. a storytelling session
   • A. It will open the first meeting.
   • B. A guest will be invited to lead it.
   • C. It will be made shorter.
   • D. It will be left out this year.
   • E. It will be filmed.
   • F. It will be held outside the college.
9. job interview practice
   • A. It will open the first meeting.
   • B. A guest will be invited to lead it.
   • C. It will be made shorter.
   • D. It will be left out this year.
   • E. It will be filmed.
   • F. It will be held outside the college.
10. a speech about a favourite object
    • A. It will open the first meeting.
    • B. A guest will be invited to lead it.
    • C. It will be made shorter.
    • D. It will be left out this year.
    • E. It will be filmed.
    • F. It will be held outside the college.

Part 4: A lecture on the history of the umbrella

Questions 31-40. Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Phần nghe phát trong phòng thi.

1. The earliest umbrellas gave protection from the ____.
2. In royal courts, being shaded showed a person's ____.
3. Chinese makers made paper waterproof by coating it with ____.
4. Early European frames were made of ____.
5. Jonas Hanway carried an umbrella in London for about ____ years.
6. Drivers of hired ____ disliked umbrellas because they lost customers.
7. Samuel Fox used steel that was first made for ____.
8. Steel frames were lighter than whalebone and ____ to produce.
9. The 1920s telescopic umbrella could fit into a ____.
10. Umbrellas are hard to ____ because their materials are difficult to separate.

Reading (60 phút)

Section 1: Youth hostel information

Read the information for guests. Questions 1-7: do the statements agree with the information in the text? Choose TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

Seabrook Youth Hostel: information for guests

Welcome to Seabrook Youth Hostel. We want everyone to enjoy their stay, so please take a few minutes to read the following information.

Arriving and leaving. Reception is open from 7 am to 11 pm. Rooms are available from 3 pm on the day you arrive. If you get here earlier, you are welcome to leave your luggage in the store room next to reception at no extra cost. On your last day, please leave your room by 10 am. Guests who would like a late departure should ask at reception the evening before. This is only possible when your bed has not been booked for the following night, and there is a charge of £5.

Rooms and bedding. Every dormitory has a locker for each bed. Padlocks are on sale at reception, or you may bring your own. Sheets and pillowcases are provided and included in the price, but towels are not: you can hire one for £2 for your whole stay. Sleeping bags may not be used anywhere in the hostel, as they are difficult to check for insects that could spread to other beds.

Kitchen. The guest kitchen is open from 6 am until 10.30 pm. Each guest has a space on a shelf in the fridge, and all food must be labelled with your name and the date you are leaving. Any food without a label is removed at 9 am every day and placed on the free shelf, where other guests may help themselves. Please wash, dry and put away everything you use.

Quiet hours. Between 11 pm and 7 am, please keep noise to a minimum in the corridors and dormitories. The lounge stays open all night for guests who want to read or chat quietly, but music and films must be switched off at 11 pm.

Visitors and walks. Friends who are not staying at the hostel are welcome in the lounge and café until 9 pm, but may not go into the bedrooms. Every Wednesday and Saturday, a member of staff leads a free guided walk along the cliffs. The walk leaves from reception at 10 am. Places are limited to fifteen, so please add your name to the list on the noticeboard beforehand.

1. Guests who arrive before their room is ready can store their bags without paying.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
2. Any guest who asks the evening before can have a late departure.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
3. Padlocks sold at reception are cheaper than those in local shops.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
4. The price of a bed includes the use of a towel.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
5. Guests are not allowed to use sleeping bags in the hostel.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
6. Food without a label is thrown away every morning.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
7. The cliff walk does not take place when the weather is bad.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN

Section 1: Flats to rent

Read the four advertisements, A-D. Questions 8-14: which flat does each statement refer to? Each letter may be used more than once.

Dunmore Lettings: flats available this winter

A. Harbour View, one bedroom. A bright second-floor flat above a bookshop, five minutes' walk from the railway station. Fully furnished, including a washing machine and dishwasher. £850 per month; bills are not included. Minimum let of twelve months. Sorry, no pets. Available from 1 February.

B. Mill Street, studio. A compact studio in a converted factory, suitable for one person. £690 per month, which includes water, heating and internet. Tenants share a roof terrace with five other flats. Available immediately. Short lets of three or six months will be considered.

C. Orchard Close, two bedrooms. A ground-floor flat with its own garden, ideal for a small family. Unfurnished. £1,050 per month; bills are not included. Pets are welcome by arrangement, and a one-off cleaning fee of £150 is charged when you leave. One parking space is included. Available from 15 January. Twenty minutes by bus to the town centre.

D. The Granary, one bedroom. A newly decorated top-floor flat in a building with a lift. Partly furnished: a bed and a sofa are provided. £900 per month including water. Secure bicycle storage in the basement. Available from 1 March. Viewings are on Saturdays only, by appointment.

1. This flat can be rented for less than a year.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary
2. Tenants may keep an animal in this flat.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary
3. The cost of heating is included in the rent.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary
4. This flat comes with a place to leave a car.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary
5. It is only possible to view this flat at the weekend.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary
6. This flat is above a shop.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary
7. Tenants can keep a bicycle safely inside the building.
   • A. Harbour View
   • B. Mill Street
   • C. Orchard Close
   • D. The Granary

Section 2: Supermarket staff training

Read the guide for new staff. Questions 15-20: complete the sentences. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

Fernway Supermarkets: training for new store colleagues

Welcome to Fernway. Every new colleague, whether full-time or part-time, completes the same two-week training programme before working alone. This guide explains what to expect.

Day one: induction. Your first day is spent mostly away from the shop floor. You will meet your store manager, collect your uniform and name badge, and be shown around the store, including the warehouse and the staff room. In the afternoon you will complete our online health and safety course, which takes about two hours. You must pass the short test at the end before you can begin any practical training. If you do not pass first time, you can take the test again the next day.

Week one: working with a buddy. For the rest of your first week, you will be paired with an experienced colleague, known as your buddy, who will show you each part of the job. Most new colleagues spend time on the tills, on the fresh food counters and filling shelves. Your buddy will sign off each task in your training booklet once you can do it confidently. Please keep this booklet with you at all times while at work, and bring it to your review meeting.

Food safety. Anyone who works on the bakery, deli or fish counters must also hold a food hygiene certificate. If you do not already have one, Fernway will pay for you to take the course, which is run at our regional training centre on the first Monday of each month. Until you have the certificate, you may help on these counters, for example by cleaning or restocking packaging, but you must not handle unwrapped food.

Week two: working more independently. In your second week, you will begin to work on your own for short periods while your buddy stays nearby. At the end of the week you will have a review meeting with your line manager. This is a chance to discuss how training has gone, ask questions and agree which department you will join. If more time is needed for any task, your training can be extended by up to one week.

Pay and breaks. You are paid your normal hourly rate throughout training. Breaks follow the usual pattern: a paid 15-minute break for every four hours worked, and an unpaid 30-minute lunch break on shifts longer than six hours. The staff discount of 10% on most products starts from your first day, once your name badge has been activated at the customer service desk.

1. On their first day, new colleagues are given a uniform and a ____.
2. Anyone who fails the online test can retake it on the ____.
3. In week one, each task that a new colleague can do confidently is signed off in their ____.
4. The food hygiene course is held at Fernway's regional ____.
5. Colleagues without a food hygiene certificate must not handle ____.
6. At the review meeting, the colleague and line manager agree which ____ the colleague will join.

Section 2: Shift swaps and annual leave

Read the staff guide. Questions 21-23: choose the correct answer. Questions 24-27: complete the sentences. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Kestrel Hotel Group: a staff guide to rotas, shift swaps and annual leave

Rotas. Rotas for all departments are published on the staff app every Thursday and cover the two weeks beginning the following Monday. Once a rota has been published, it will only be changed by your manager in an emergency, and if this happens you will always be contacted directly by phone. Please check the app regularly rather than relying on the printed copy in the staff room, which is updated less often.

Swapping a shift. If you cannot work a shift, you may arrange to swap it with a colleague from your own department who has the same level of training as you. Swaps between departments are not allowed, because staff in different roles hold different qualifications. Both colleagues must agree to the swap using the 'swap request' button on the app at least 48 hours before the earlier of the two shifts. The swap is not confirmed until your manager has approved it, which normally happens within one working day. Until you receive approval, you are still responsible for working your original shift.

You may not swap a shift if it would mean either colleague working more than six days in a row or having less than eleven hours of rest between two shifts.

Annual leave. Full-time staff receive 28 days of paid leave per year, which includes public holidays. Part-time staff receive the same amount in proportion to the hours they work. The leave year runs from April to March. Up to five unused days may be carried over into the next leave year, but these must be taken by the end of June.

Requests for leave should be made through the app at least four weeks in advance. Requests for a period of more than ten working days need at least eight weeks' notice and must be approved by the general manager rather than your department manager. Leave is generally given on a first come, first served basis. However, in July and August, and during the two weeks around New Year, requests are decided using a rotation system, so that the same people do not get the most popular dates every year.

Sickness. If you are unwell and cannot come to work, phone your manager at least two hours before your shift is due to start. A text message or a message on the app is not acceptable. If you are off sick for more than seven days, you will need a note from a doctor.

1. What does the guide say about rotas?
   • A printed copy is the most up-to-date version.
   • Each rota covers a period of two weeks.
   • Managers often change them after they are published.
   • They are published two weeks before they begin.
2. Who may a member of staff swap a shift with?
   • any colleague working in the same hotel
   • a colleague from another department who works similar hours
   • a colleague in the same department with the same training
   • any colleague approved by the general manager
3. How are leave requests for dates in August decided?
   • The staff who ask first are given the dates.
   • The general manager chooses who gets the dates.
   • Staff who have worked longest are given priority.
   • A rotation system is used to share out the dates.
4. Both colleagues must request a swap at least ____ before the earlier shift.
5. A swap is not allowed if it leaves either colleague with less than ____ of rest between shifts.
6. Leave carried over into a new leave year must be used by the end of ____.
7. Requests for more than ten working days of leave must be approved by the ____.

Section 3: The humble pencil

Read the passage, then answer Questions 28-40. Questions 28-31: choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E from the list of headings. Questions 32-36: choose TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN. Questions 37-40: complete the summary. Write ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The humble pencil

A. Few objects are as ordinary as the pencil. It is cheap, it needs no power, and it works upside down, underwater and in freezing temperatures, conditions in which many pens fail. Yet the pencil has a surprisingly eventful history, involving a lucky discovery, a wartime shortage and a long argument about colour.

B. The story usually begins in the sixteenth century in Borrowdale, a valley in the north-west of England, where local people came across a deposit of an unusually pure black mineral. It left a dark, shiny mark, and shepherds were soon using lumps of it to mark their sheep. Nobody knew exactly what the material was. Because it looked rather like lead, it became known as 'black lead', and the name stuck: even today, people talk about the 'lead' in a pencil, although pencils have never contained the metal. The mineral was in fact graphite, a form of carbon, and the name graphite, taken from a Greek word meaning 'to write', was only given to it in the late eighteenth century.

C. Borrowdale graphite was so pure that it could simply be sawn into thin sticks and used for writing with no further treatment. This made it extremely valuable. It was also used for lining the moulds in which cannonballs were made, so the government took a close interest in it. To keep the price high, the mine was opened for only a few weeks each year, armed guards watched the entrance, and miners were searched at the end of every shift. In 1752, stealing graphite was made a serious crime. Even so, a lively black market developed, and stolen lumps were quietly sold in local inns. Some of it was carried over the hills at night to buyers in towns many miles away.

D. At first, users simply wrapped the sticks in string or sheepskin to keep their fingers clean. The idea of enclosing the graphite in wood is generally credited to craftsmen in Italy and later in Germany, where the city of Nuremberg became a centre of pencil making. A common method was to cut a groove along one strip of wood, lay the graphite in it and glue a second strip on top, and pencils are still assembled in much the same way. German makers, however, had no access to pure English graphite and had to make do with poorer material, which they crushed and mixed with sulphur and other substances. The results were often scratchy, crumbly and unreliable.

E. The decisive change came from France. In the 1790s, France was at war with Britain and could no longer import English graphite. The government asked Nicolas-Jacques Conté, an engineer and painter, to find an alternative. In 1795 he patented a method of mixing powdered graphite with clay, shaping the mixture into rods and baking them in a kiln. Conté's process had a great advantage: by changing the proportion of clay to graphite, makers could control how hard or soft the pencil was. More clay produced a harder pencil and a paler line, while more graphite gave a softer, darker one. The grading letters still printed on pencils today, such as HB, grew out of this discovery, and the same basic method is used by manufacturers all over the world.

F. Later improvements were mainly about convenience. In the nineteenth century, machines that could cut wood into identical grooved strips made pencils much cheaper to produce. Many pencils were given six sides rather than being round, partly because a six-sided pencil does not roll off a sloping desk, and partly because more pencils can be cut from a single board. In 1858 an American, Hymen Lipman, was granted a patent for a pencil with a rubber eraser fixed to one end. This idea was not welcomed everywhere: in parts of Europe, pencils with erasers are still less common, and some teachers have argued that having an eraser close at hand encourages careless work.

G. Then there is the question of colour. In the 1890s, the company Koh-i-Noor, based in what is now the Czech Republic, launched an expensive pencil painted bright yellow. It is often said that the colour was chosen to suggest a link with China, which was then thought to supply the finest graphite and which Europeans associated with yellow. The pencil sold well, and other manufacturers soon painted their own products yellow so that customers would assume they were of the same quality. In North America, most pencils are still yellow, while in countries such as Germany green, red or black pencils are more usual. Whatever their colour, billions of pencils are still produced every year, a reminder that a simple, well-designed tool can survive centuries of technological change.

1. Paragraph B
   • i. Protecting a precious resource
   • ii. A tool that works where others cannot
   • iii. Wooden cases and second-rate substitutes
   • iv. How a mineral got the wrong name
   • v. Small changes that made life easier
   • vi. A wartime solution with lasting effects
2. Paragraph C
   • i. Protecting a precious resource
   • ii. A tool that works where others cannot
   • iii. Wooden cases and second-rate substitutes
   • iv. How a mineral got the wrong name
   • v. Small changes that made life easier
   • vi. A wartime solution with lasting effects
3. Paragraph D
   • i. Protecting a precious resource
   • ii. A tool that works where others cannot
   • iii. Wooden cases and second-rate substitutes
   • iv. How a mineral got the wrong name
   • v. Small changes that made life easier
   • vi. A wartime solution with lasting effects
4. Paragraph E
   • i. Protecting a precious resource
   • ii. A tool that works where others cannot
   • iii. Wooden cases and second-rate substitutes
   • iv. How a mineral got the wrong name
   • v. Small changes that made life easier
   • vi. A wartime solution with lasting effects
5. Pencils can be used in some conditions in which many pens do not work.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
6. Borrowdale was the first place in the world where graphite was found.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
7. Borrowdale graphite had to be treated before it could be used for writing.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
8. Conté's method allowed pencils of different hardness to be produced.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
9. Pencils with an eraser attached are now standard across Europe.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN
10. In the nineteenth century, pencils became cheaper when ____ began cutting wood into identical grooved strips.
11. A six-sided shape stopped pencils rolling and meant more pencils could be cut from one ____.
12. Koh-i-Noor's yellow paint may have been meant to suggest a connection with ____.
13. Rival makers used yellow so that buyers would think their pencils had the same ____.

Writing (60 phút)

Task 1: A letter to a restaurant manager

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam,

1. Your manager has asked you to organise a farewell meal for a colleague who is leaving your company after many years. You would like to hold it in a private room at a local restaurant. Write a letter to the restaurant manager. In your letter: explain the occasion and when you would like to hold the meal; describe what your group will need; ask about the cost and any other arrangements.

   Tối thiểu 150 từ.

Task 2: An essay on teaching money skills at school

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write at least 250 words.

1. Some people believe that schools should teach children how to manage money, for example how to plan a budget and save. Others think this is the responsibility of parents. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

   Tối thiểu 250 từ.