描述一件在你家里传了很久的物品
一张卡里有两个故事——物品的和家庭的——这就是这张卡很少讲不满时间的原因。
话题卡
Describe an object that has been in your family for a long time.
You should say
- what it is
- who it belonged to
- how it came to you
- and explain why the family has kept it
准备1分钟 · 最多说2分钟
如何说满两分钟
是四个节拍，不是四个答案。卡片上的提示只是脚手架——一段自然流过这些提示的讲述，比四个互不相连的回答得分更高。
- 它是什么，有多老，尽你实际所知说得精确。
- 它最初是谁的，又是怎样一路传到现在的。
- 它的保存状况，是还在使用还是只是收着。
- 保存它意味着什么，下一个会传给谁。
这张卡适合用的词汇
词汇丰富度占你分数的四分之一，而7分的标准明确允许偶尔用错词——一味求稳、只用简单词汇，正是很多人卡在6分的原因。
hand down
表示代代相传的准确动词
an heirloom
精确的名词，很少有考生会用
it's seen better days
形容磨损状况的地道说法
it's been in the family for
表示持续时间的自然结构
of no great value
有用的对比：既不值钱，又无价
a link to
用于与你从未见过的人之间的联系
这张卡的陷阱
纠结于这件东西值不值钱。
钱是它最无趣的一面。话题卡想知道的是家人为什么留着它——答案关乎人。
一个8分回答，以及它为什么有效
读它是为了看清其中的技巧，而不是背下这些话。考官每个工作日都会听到背诵的答案，这会体现在你的流利度分数上——背诵者的停顿方式和真正在思考的人完全不同。下面的细节都是虚构的，你的回答应该讲你自己的故事。
The object I'd describe is my grandfather's watch, which my father has and which will presumably come to me at some point, though we've never discussed it and I'd rather not. It's a mechanical watch from the fifties, gold-plated with most of the plating worn off the back where it sat against his wrist for forty years. It doesn't keep good time. It loses about four minutes a day, which makes it useless as a watch and is somehow the detail I find most affecting — the wear is the record of the wearing. My grandfather was a railway clerk and the watch was bought with his first proper salary, which in that job and that decade would have been a very deliberate purchase. I met him only a few times before he died. What the object does is give me something specific to attach to a person I mostly know through other people's stories, and that turns out to matter more than I'd have predicted.拿到这个分数的关键
- “The wear is the record of the wearing”凝练而令人难忘地概括了这件物品的全部意义。
- 开头拒绝讨论遗产，立刻确立了情感基调，而且不煽情。
- 对过去的推测——“would have been a very deliberate purchase”——是一个真正有难度的结构，用得正确且恰到好处。
第三部分接下来会问什么
第三部分和你的长篇独白有松散的联系，但问题会变得抽象——问的是一般人，而不是你自己。这张卡之后通常会谈到：
- why people keep objects with sentimental value
- how families pass on their history
- whether traditions are harder to maintain now
其他“物品”话题卡
Describe a piece of technology you find useful.
人们很容易说出手机就停下。这张卡奖励的是更具体的东西。
Describe a gift you received that you liked.
物件本身不如它背后的关系重要，最好的回答很早就明白这一点。
Describe something you bought recently that you are happy with.
“最近”意味着你手头有真实的细节——用上它们，因为在这里含糊其辞一听就能听出来。
Describe an item of clothing you like to wear.
这张卡需要外观描述，而这恰恰是大多数考生没有练过的词汇。
Describe a photograph you like.
这里你要描述两样东西——画面本身，以及它定格的那一刻。大多数考生只做到一样。
Describe something you made yourself.
一张过程卡。制作的顺序就是结构，这让它成为比较容易讲满的话题卡之一。
把这张卡说出来
Oliver会给你读一张卡，等你准备满一分钟，然后整整两分钟一句话也不说——这正是你一个人没法练的部分。之后的报告会分别给流利度、词汇、语法和发音打分。第一次测试免费。
本指南依据公开发布的IELTS口语评分标准，用我们自己的话写成。官方原文请参阅 British Council的评分标准。MockLive AI是独立的练习工具，与IELTS、British Council、IDP及Cambridge University Press & Assessment均无关联。