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This is a practice exam for the IELTS speaking test. The speaker is asked questions about their name, work and study, study major, preference for studying in a group or alone, and the advantages of studying in a group. In part two, the speaker talks about a problem they had to solve for a group project. They redistributed the workload, asked for an extension, and successfully completed the assignment. In part three, the speaker answers questions about common problems people face, solving problems, involving others in problem solving, the role of technology in problem solving, and necessary skills for effective problem solving. Hello, and welcome to this practice exam conducted by British American Resource Center. My name is Marouf, and I'm your practice examiner. These exam questions are designed to simulate the IELTS speaking test. Let's begin. What is your full name? My full name is Salsa Bilhaq. At the beginning of the IELTS test, you need to provide a passport or an ID. But as this is just a practice exam, you don't need to provide any passport or ID. Now in the first part of the test, I'm going to ask you some questions about yourself. Do you work or study? Actually, I'm doing both. I'm working part-time as an instructor in an educational center, and I'm pursuing my bachelor's degree. What is your study major? Although I'm from a science background, but I felt like I'm better suited for business, so I'm pursuing my bachelor's degree in business, my major being finance. Do you prefer studying in a group or alone? I prefer studying alone because I feel like it affects my concentration whenever I'm studying in a group. And it's always easier for me to get the job done on my own other than explaining the methods to every team member every second. What do you think are the advantages of studying in a group? Even though I prefer studying alone, but I definitely believe there are numerous advantages of studying in a group. For instance, peer learning, this has proven to be an effective method of learning, communicating with your peers, gaining knowledge from them, and learning from them. Okay, thank you. Now let's move on to part two. So in this part, I'm going to give you a topic, and I'd like you to talk about it for one or two minutes, okay? Before you talk, you will have one minute to think about it. You can take notes if you wish. Here's the cue card, and here's the paper, and the pencil, okay? You have to describe a time when you have to solve a problem, okay? Remember, you have one or two minutes for this, so don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up. Would you please start now? Okay, so today I would like to talk about a problem that I faced and had to solve under pressure. It was a year ago when I first started my university. We were given a group project in our marketing course. We were tasked to design a comprehensive marketing strategy for a local startup. Suddenly, we faced a significant problem when one of the team members abruptly decided to leave the course, leaving us shorthanded. Every individual was assigned a specific part of the task, so it was very difficult for us to cope up with that since we were already behind schedule. So we immediately decided to arrange a meeting and brainstorm ideas on how to mitigate the impact of losing a team member. We redistributed the workload amongst the remaining members and decided to ask for an extension of deadline from our faculty. We redistributed the workload according to the special skills and strength of every individual on the team. After asking our faculty, he was kind enough to analyze our situation and give us an extension of one week to submit our assignment. After that, we worked relentlessly and diligently, and we opened communication channels, worked effectively, helped each other throughout the entire process, communicated with each other in every part of the step. And finally, our hard work paid off. We were able to complete the assignment on time. And after that, we were also asked to present our ideas in front of the university faculties due to our report being extraordinary. So what I learned from this experience was the importance of adaptability, good communication skills, and teamwork. And I also learned the fact that having an obstacle doesn't necessarily always mean an issue. It could also be a way for people to show how resourceful they can be. Okay. Thank you. May I have the pencil and the paper, please? Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Now I'm going to ask you some follow-up questions. Do you think the problem could have been prevented? Not really. I don't think the problem could have been prevented because the faculty decided the team member for each group, and it was not possible for us to understand the intention of an individual just by getting to know them. Okay. And how would you handle a similar problem if it happens again in the future? Well, first of all, I would start by analyzing the group members and making sure every individual is equally involved in the project as me. And after that, if the problem still arises, then I would solve it the way I did a year ago. Now move on to part three, and I'm going to ask you several questions. What are some common problems that people face in their daily lives? Well, some common problems would be financial issues, which is common in every part of the world. Then there are relationship issues, conflicts amongst partners, and disagreements between parents and children, health issues, and time management issues. It can be overwhelming for some people to balance between work and social life. And how do people usually go about solving these problems? Well, the relationship issues could be solved by communicating properly with each other and being more vocal about their problems. The health issues can be prevented by being more conscious about one's health. And about the time management issues, people can always create a schedule that they can tightly follow. Is it important to involve others in problem solving? I believe it is required to involve others in problem solving in certain situations. For instance, if you're too involved emotionally with a certain project, and you need a practical overview, that's when you can involve someone else. And you can also involve others in problem solving when you have too much workload and too much stress, and you need to reduce some of it. Can technology help people solve problems more effectively, and how? Definitely, technology can help people solve problems more effectively. Technology facilitates communication. The communication gaps are reduced in our generation due to the help of technologies. And they always provide us information whenever and wherever we need it. And they also do proper data analysis, which help individuals to carry out their projects forward. What are some potential downsides of relying too heavily on technology to solve problems? Well, no one should be dependent on anything or anyone entirely at all. So, the same goes for technology as well. Technologies are not able to do some things on their own, such as they cannot solve situations that are related to emotions. So, a person can face a problem that they are emotionally involved with, and technology won't be able to give a proper answer for that. Okay. Okay. So, in your opinion, what skills are necessary for effective problem solving? I believe it depends on the type of problem that we are solving. However, in general, there are certain skills that an individual should have for every problem solving. For instance, critical and creative thinking, the ability to analyze a situation before solving it, and thinking outside the box. After that, good communication skills are very important nowadays. So, it is very important to have it. Adaptability and flexibility, to be able to adapt to any situation and be flexible about solving them. And lastly, time management skills. It is very important to manage the time when it comes to solving a problem. Thank you, Sarbhabet. This is the end of the speaking test. Thank you very much for joining us.