FCE SPEAKING TEST 1

PART 1
1. What are you studying?
I'm studying at English Faculty, Danang University of Foreign Language
Studies. I am going to be an English interpreter in the future.

2. Do you like to send postcards?

No, not really. I think I sent one once when I was studying for a year in
the USA, but apart from that, I never send them.

3. When did you receive your first postcard?

I remember I received a postcard when I was a child, it was from an uncle
of mine who lived abroad. He was living in France at the time and it had a
picture of the Eiffel Tower on the front.

4. Would you send a postcard instead of an email? 

No, I'd prefer to send an email or a photo with a short message. Postcards
are very old fashioned and email is so much easier and quicker.

5. Do you have your own health tips? [What are they?]

Health tips? I think they're probably the same as anyone else - try to eat a
healthy diet and do some kind of regular exercise. Don't eat too much of
one particular kind of food and don't eat too much. 

6. What tips do you follow to keep yourself fit?

As I just said, I try to have a healthy diet. I don't really like much junk food
so that's probably a good thing. I also do some exercise every day, either
walking or cycling. I'm not very sporty, but I do like to do some exercise -
it makes me feel good and I know that it's a healthy activity.

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 PART 2

Candidate B
 Where do you usually meet your friends?

Part 2:
Why do you think the photographs are being taken?

Part 3

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Your friends are going on a holiday. Please discuss:
- What problems might your friend have?
- What could be he or she do to avoid these problems?

Part 4

1. Why do you think people go to restaurants when they want to

celebrate something?

I guess everyone has their own reasons, but probably because it’s not
something they do every day, so it seems more special, especially if it’s an
important occasion. The other big benefit is that nobody has to do the
cooking or clearing up afterwards so everyone can simply enjoy the
celebration or event whichever it is. Nobody has to do anything. It’s always
nice to be waited on, so I think that’s why most people prefer it.

2. Which are more popular in your country: fast food restaurants

or traditional restaurants?
They’re both popular, but in different ways and for different reasons. I
think fast food restaurants are popular for grabbing a quick bite or snack,
as they are ‘fast’ and you can usually find one nearby. Traditional
restaurants are more popular for special occasions or going out for lunch or
dinner at the weekend when people have more time to sit and enjoy the
food and the ambience or atmosphere of the place. They usually cost more
too, so maybe people don’t go as often, but they’re still popular. I don’t
think anyone would consider going to a fast food place for a special
occasion – unless it was a kids birthday party or something similar, in

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which case it makes a lot of sense, as some of these places cater specially
for such events. 

3. Why do you think that is?

Why are they both popular? I think it’s because they both have good and
bad things about them – they both cater for different needs and situations,
and they both do what they do well, I suppose it depends what you are
looking for when you want to eat.

4. Some people say that food in an expensive restaurant is always

better than food in a cheap restaurant – would you agree?
In my experience it’s not that simple. I’ve has some amazingly good food
in cheap restaurants and some disgustingly bad food in a supposedly classy
and expensive place. I think that’s why 'word of mouth' advertising is so
important in the restaurant business. You simply can’t guarantee that a
place that looks expensive and charges a lot of money will indeed offer a
better dining experience than a cheaper restaurant with fewer frills. The
service can be just the same and the quality of food the same too – it
might only be the surroundings that are more upmarket in reality.

Producing food

5. Do you think there will be a greater choice of food available in

shops in the future, or will there be less choice?
That’s hard to say, but I think that due to the fact that most industries are
becoming more and more consolidated and there are less and less
independent producers of anything, you could safely say that the choice
will probably be less, as it will be dictated by only one or two giant global
conglomerates in the food industry.

6. What effects has modern technology had on the way food is

produced?
Well, apart from mechanization and the implementation of technology at
the cultivation level, such as in agriculture, I think the biggest impact on
food production, as it is already, is the genetic modification of food for
human consumption. We’ve already seen it become commonplace and
more and more of our everyday food is being ‘tampered’ (changed) with

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our knowledge. Food is now less natural than before and is full of things
which we know nothing about. This obviously makes more money for the
food production companies but we still don’t know what the long term
effects are for us – the final consumers. 

7. How important is it for a country to be able to grow all the food

it needs, without importing any from other countries?
In recent times it hasn’t been that important as it’s been easy enough to
import anything that was required. Maybe in the future there will be more
emphasis on being independent in terms of food production, as well as
other essential resources such as energy and fuel. The way things are
going in the world at the moment it looks like there are going to be some
major changes which could affect everyone in terms of how we look at our
ability to survive in the event of another world conflict where food and
possibly water become scarce certain areas of the world where it has never
been the case before.