💻Technology
3 tasks
Technology appears across all parts of the test, and it is the theme where candidates most often lose marks for vagueness. Naming a specific device, app, or effect will nearly always score better than talking about "technology" in the abstract.
IELTS practice tasks
Describe a piece of technology you find useful in everyday life.
You should say:
- what it is
- how often you use it
- what you use it for
and explain why you find it so useful.
Follow-up discussion on technology.
- Do you think older people find new technology harder to use than young people do?
- Should schools teach children how to use technology responsibly?
- How might technology change the way we work in the next twenty years?
An increasing number of people now work from home rather than travelling to an office. Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?
Useful vocabulary
automationnoun
the use of machines to do work people did
Automation has removed tasks rather than whole jobs.
digital dividenoun
the gap between those with and without access
The digital divide became impossible to ignore during school closures.
screen timenoun
the time spent looking at a device
Excessive screen time is linked to poorer sleep.
user-friendlyadjective
easy to use
The app succeeded because it was genuinely user-friendly.
obsoleteadjective
no longer used or useful
Skills can become obsolete within a single decade.
surveillancenoun
close watching of people
Public surveillance raises obvious privacy concerns.
cutting-edgeadjective
the most advanced
Cutting-edge treatment is rarely available everywhere at once.
rely onphrasal verb
to depend on
We now rely on navigation apps to an extent that worries some researchers.
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