hdddy

I took the IELTS test on September, 2007 in Sydney and I have to say that I found a very good coherence between what I practised on my book and the actual test, which is something I appreciated as I previously took the other english test and prepared it on needlessly complicated materials.

1) Listening was not difficult, in one task they gave us a diagram and I had to understand directions on it. The easiest part was about archeological excavations of some sort of bones. New SECTION + 66S2 + 07102S3+ 30078S4

2) Reading was much easier, I even had 7 minutes in the end to check myself. I remember 2 passages. There was a really long passage (2.5 pages) divided into 3 sub-sections and I had to be careful not to mix questions of different sub-sections. Its topic was distant learning, its advantages and disadvantages. The last passage was about traveling in Australia, how much money it brings to Australian government, how much different kinds of travelers (single men, couples, etc) spend on vacations of different types.I wrote my answers on the Answer Sheet and in the booklet - it really saved me time when I had to check myself in the end of Reading section.

3) Writing:
Letter topic - I finished it in 17 minutes and managed to check myself in the remaining 3.
Essay topic - I wrote essay with 5 paragraphs - Introduction, 1 paragraph against and 2 paragraphs in favor of grandparents raising the children and, of course, the conclusion paragraph with my own opinion. I managed to finish it in 35 minutes and 5 left to correct spelling errors.

4) Speaking:
I messed up and gave my passport to the examiner before he asked for it. he returned it to me, switched the tape on, asked for it so tape would record the question and then I gave it to her again, saying: “Here is my passport, please”. The whole process has to be recorded on tape. Interview questions: Name, job, current place of living, describe apartment.

I got Listening 8.0, Reading 7.0, Writing 6.0, Speaking 8.0 and applied for a recheck as I need 7.0 in every band.
However It took them exactly 20 days to let me have the result and remarked it positively. I got 7.0 in writing.

So if you guys want to do a recheck ask yourself first and if you are confident then go ahead.

To help you decide whether to ask for a re-mark there are a number of things to consider.

First, the cost. The fee for a re-mark will be approximately 2/3 the cost of the test but, if your score is increased, the fee will be refunded. Remember to factor in the cost of travel and accommodation should you decide to re-sit the test rather than ask for a re-mark.

Note that you must request a re-mark, officially referred to as an "Enquiry on Results", within 6 weeks of receiving your result.

When asking for an Enquiry on Results you say which modules you want re-marked - you don't have to have everything re-marked. In my case, I should only have my Writing re-marked; there is always a danger that your score for other modules is marked down.

You should also take into consideration the fact that an Enquiry on Results can take several weeks. You might be able to re-sit IELTS very quickly - depending on your Test Centre. Remember that if you re-sit, your other scores could go down - I note that if your Writing score was reduced you would be in the same position as you are now.
Now let's consider factors that will influence whether your Writing score will be increased by re-marking. It is very unusual to have such a wide range of scores over the 4 modules. IELTS has a procedure for remarking these 'jagged' profiles. As long as the Test Centre has been following the procedures correctly your Writing scripts will already have been re-marked so it is unlikely that a further re-mark will increase your score by the 2 bands you require. Indeed, an increase of 2 bands in your Writing score would indicate serious problems with the marking of Writing scripts at your Test Centre.

There are some ways you can easily lose marks in the Writing module, quite apart from poor grammar, limited vocabulary etc., etc. If your scripts are under length you will lose marks. Also, if you fail to respond correctly to the rubric, i.e. if your answer is incomplete, tangential or off topic, you can lose a lot of marks. Think carefully about this, did you write enough? Remember that examiners may count words differently to you. Also, it is easy to think you responded to the topic correctly but, in fact, did not.

If money is a problem you need to carefully consider whether a re-mark is likely to increase your Writing band score. If it increases by just 1 band your fee will be refunded. If money is no problem I would suggest asking for an Enquiry on Results anyway.

I am reliably informed that about 25% of re-marks result in an increased band score.

There is more information about what to do if you don't get the score you need at http://www.your-ielts-guide.com/What-to-do.shtml - and check with your Test Centre in case anything has changed recently.

Best of luck!
hdddy @ Sydney

[ 本帖最后由 hdddy 于 2008-3-24 21:50 编辑 ]