Trong bài giải mẫu lần này, cô Khánh Huyền của The IELTS Workshop sẽ hướng dẫn bạn trả lời topic Describe a time that you needed to use imagination trong IELTS Speaking Part 2. Cùng tham khảo sample, từ vựng và một vài cách diễn đạt ghi điểm trong phần thi IELTS Speaking nhé.
Part 2: Describe a time that you needed to use imagination
Đề bài: Describe a time that you needed to use imagination
You should say:
- when it was
- why you needed to use imagination
- what you imagined
- and explain how you felt about it.
1. Bài mẫu (Sample)
To be frank with a slight risk of TMI, I must tell you that I am, unfortunately, a chronic over-thinker. In other words, nary a day goes by without my mind running wild with each and every possibility. That being said, I found myself stumped the other day, reading this novel, called Martyr!
This book has been on my To-be-read list for so long, I’ve completely forgotten why it’s there in the first place. All I know is that it has been all the rage, as in every content recreator I follow has given glowing reviews. So anyway, in this book, out protagonist is an Iranian man who grew up in American Midwest. He has such a vivid imagination that permeates his dreams when he finds it troublesome to fall into slumbers. He would often imagine conversations between the most random pairs ever, as in it could be his belated mother and a cartoon character, or his belated father and a dead poet, or a famous artist and an infamous politician.
During the first two acts of the book, it was quite a standard fictional world, which means I did not have to flex my brain to visualize the story. But nothing could have prepared me for the final chapter. Without revealing too much details and risking spoiling the book for you, I would stop at saying that the last two pages were where the barrier between reality and surrealism truly broke down. I have to admit that I caught on to this embarrassingly late. I should have picked up some foreshadowing three paragraphs ago, but it wasn’t until I found myself rereading the same two sentences over and over again that I finally understood what was going on. At the point I’d raised my eyebrows in bewilderment so many times that my forehead hurt. And to be perfectly candid, I’m still uncertain of what any of that meant. I guess I’ll just have to sit with it for another while. A long while, in fact.
Sample by Nguyen Khanh Huyen – IELTS Teacher at The IELTS Workshop
2. Từ vựng (Vocabulary)
- TMI – thông tin quá riêng tư/quá nhiều
- nary a day goes by – không ngày nào trôi qua mà không…
- running wild – suy nghĩ lan man, mất kiểm soát
- stumped – bối rối, bí ý
- all the rage – rất thịnh hành, nổi như cồn
- glowing reviews – những đánh giá rất tích cực
- belated – đã qua đời
- acts – hồi/phần của tác phẩm
- flex my brain – vận dụng trí óc, suy nghĩ nhiều
- caught on – hiểu ra
- foreshadowing – chi tiết gợi trước, điềm báo
- raised my eyebrows – tỏ ra ngạc nhiên, khó hiểu
- bewilderment – sự bối rối, hoang mang
- sit with it – dành thời gian suy ngẫm, chấp nhận sự mơ hồ
Part 3:
1. Is imagination important to children?
Of course it is, for the same reason that forethought is fundamental to humanity as a whole. It would have been impossible for us to collectively evolve into such a force of nature if we hadn’t used our brain to envisage a better future, from which stems a problem-solving mindset? But anyway, for children specifically, imagination is like a playground where their minds could practice social skills. You could see it in how playing house allows kids to act out and subconsciously reflect on what they have observed at home, or any other kind of pretense let them practice being in different roles along their peers. Without the innate ability to imagine, how could children grow up to be functioning members of society?
- envisage – hình dung, tưởng tượng ra
- playing house – chơi trò đóng vai gia đình
2. What subjects are helpful for children’s imagination?
I guess most people would contend that literature, specifically reading fictions and fantasies, is the most efficient in this task. I would argue that every aspect in life is, if the teachers know what questions to ask. Say, what do you think could happen if we put water in the freezer? Or what could happen if we mix yellow and blue? Sure, it’s rather challenging for young children to foresee the results when they have little to none experience in the matter, but I would argue that with enough encouragement, they could develop and maintain that curiosity.
3. What kinds of jobs require imagination?
All of them. Again, and I cannot stress this enough, imagination is synonymous to, or at least an uninhibited version of foresight. Anyone managing a project should be able to anticipate contingencies and have a plan B ready to go.
But now that I’ve sat with this for a while, I would like to propose another reason why imagination is of utmost importance in modern day workplace. It is a prerequisite to empathy, or in other words, the ability to put yourself into another’s shoes and walk in it for a mile. There have been so many cases of indifferences in the current landscape, which I’m sure you’re no stranger to. A suit could not care less about the staff’s welfare and throw a pizza party instead of giving out bonuses, for example. Or nine-to-fivers slaving away at their desks till their last breath and getting replaced in a day or two. Those incidents could have been avoided and morale saved with a simple act of asking oneself “What would you do?”
- anticipate contingencies – lường trước những tình huống bất ngờ
- put yourself into another’s shoes – đặt mình vào hoàn cảnh người khác
- could not care less – hoàn toàn không quan tâm
- nine-to-fivers – nhân viên làm việc giờ hành chính
- slaving away – làm việc quần quật, cực nhọc
4. Do you think imagination is essential for scientists?
I mean, sure, as I’ve extensively rationalized. Still, I’d like to warrant you that I’m not the sharpest tool in the box – I’ve never been able to wrap my head around Schrödinger’s cat, only my cats – so I could not go into details in this field.
That said, I’d like to imagine that academics need imagination to sustain them. Say, astrophysicists must have been devising all kinds of theories on what a black hole could actually look like before the technology finally became equipped for the task. In the same sense, they should be open to the idea that there is indeed an extraterrestrial life that is sentient. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have bothered to create things like the Opportunity, or the Voyager Golden Record, you know, just in case aliens exist and they have auditory too.
- sharpest tool in the box – không phải người thông minh nhất
- wrap my head around – hiểu được điều gì đó khó
- academics – giới học thuật, học giả
- astrophysicists – nhà vật lý thiên văn
- extraterrestrial – ngoài Trái Đất
5. Which requires more imagination: reading or watching cartoons?
I guess the safe bet is the former. Don’t get me wrong, I love them both – can’t imagine a life without either – but personally I’ve found myself putting much more effort into a book and an anime. This could be a case of solipsism, but I would say most people, when reading something along the line of “the sky turns orange with a splash of pink”, would form a hazy skyline in their minds with the shades of their liking. But if we’re able to see the events unfolding on a screen, well that’s half of the job done. If there is still imagining to do them that would be to emphasize or to put oneself into the story, you know?
- safe bet – lựa chọn an toàn, dễ đúng
- solipsism – quan điểm cho rằng chỉ nhận thức cá nhân là chắc chắn tồn tại
Tạm kết
Hy vọng bài mẫu trên đã giúp bạn hình dung rõ cách triển khai ý tưởng và sử dụng ngôn ngữ phù hợp khi gặp chủ đề Describe a time that you needed to use imagination trong IELTS Speaking Part 2 & 3. Tham khảo các nguồn tài liệu hữu ích như KHO BÀI MẪU IELTS SPEAKING và Bộ đề dự đoán IELTS Speaking cập nhật mới nhất.
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