描述一个你解决过的问题
这张卡奖励过程。你尝试过又放弃的方法，比最终奏效的方法更有价值。
话题卡
Describe a problem you solved.
You should say
- what the problem was
- when it happened
- how you dealt with it
- and explain what you learned from 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。
- 把问题说得足够准确，让它的难度一目了然。
- 你第一次尝试了什么，为什么失败了。
- 接下来你尝试了什么，是怎么想到的。
- 问题如何解决，再次面对时你会有什么不同做法。
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。
get to the bottom of
用于诊断原因
a stumbling block
用于阻碍进展的那个具体因素
work around
用于问题解决了、但并没有真正修好的情况
it dawned on me
用于逐渐形成的领悟
trial and error
用于反复迭代地解决问题
nip it in the bud
用于及早发现问题
这张卡的陷阱
直接跳到解决方案。
失败的尝试是这张卡上最好的素材。把它讲进去——带挫折的叙述更容易讲得长。
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 problem I'd describe is a fairly mundane one at work: our team's weekly report took someone an entire day to produce and nobody could remember why. I'd been there about four months, which is the useful window where you can still ask stupid questions. So I asked who read it. It turned out the answer was essentially nobody — it had been created for a manager who'd left eighteen months earlier, and it was still being produced every week because it always had been. Solving it wasn't technical at all. I spent two afternoons tracing who actually used which section, found that three people wanted three specific numbers, and replaced the whole thing with an email that takes about ten minutes. What I took from it is that a lot of problems aren't hard, they're just unexamined, and the thing that stops people examining them is the assumption that somebody must have already had a reason. Often nobody has.拿到这个分数的关键
- “A lot of problems aren't hard, they're just unexamined”这种可迁移的洞见，听起来就是真正的职业判断力。
- 刚入职、还能问傻问题的那段短暂窗口期，是一个原创而精确的观察。
- 通篇都是具体的数量——四个月、十八个月、三个人、十分钟——让叙述具体且容易理解。
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：
- whether problem-solving can be taught
- how people react differently under pressure
- the value of learning from failure
其他“事件与经历”话题卡
Describe a journey or trip that you remember well.
关键词是journey（旅程），不是目的地——这个区别值一分。
Describe an important decision you have made.
这张卡建立在一个人生岔路口上。如果当时并没有真正的另一个选择，就换一个决定来讲。
Describe a celebration you enjoyed.
文化细节在这里是白送的分——考官可能真的不知道这个节日是怎么过的。
Describe a time when you were late for something.
一个自带张力的叙事——只要按顺序讲，这是最容易讲得流利的话题卡之一。
Describe a time when you helped someone.
与“帮助过你的人”那张卡互为镜像，同样的规则适用：先把问题铺垫好。
Describe a mistake you made that you learned from.
需要有转折。一个没有后果、没有教训的错误只是一则趣事。
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。