雅思口語八大魔鬼話題之一：藝術

Recently, art is a very popular and hot topic in IELTS Oral English. And most of the students are having a hard time to answer questions related to it because most of them do not have any knowledge or idea about it. Actually, art is a creative way of expressing oneself and it is also the highest expression of every culture. There are many kinds of arts such as literature, visual arts, music, dance, and drama.

All of these kinds had become part of the IELTS Oral English questions today.

For example:
1 Is beautiful handwriting important nowadays?
2 What kind of music do you like?
3 Should children learn to draw or paint?

To be able to deal with these topics and questions, students should know variety of information about art such as:
Art helps people to understand and empathize with the living conditions people have endured at various times and places
Art provides an opportunity to create and do, which can be a refreshing break from studying or working.
Art teaches how to interpret different forms of communication. It teaches how to understand figurative things and the meanings of color.
Art provide opportunities for self-expression
Art can improve academic achievement -- enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.

After knowing different meanings and knowledge about art, students now have adequate information to use in answering the question in IELTS Oral test. Below are the examples of question and answer of the test with the topic of ART.

Part I
1 Do you like arts? Why?
Absolutely, this is because art is a link to the past. It provides an enjoyable perspective from which people can examine the history. And also, art encourages imagination. It shows people how they might express their own feelings and experiences through different kinds of arts such as painting and drawing.

此問題主要是讓考生回答自己是否喜歡藝術并且告知原因，范例提到的是因為藝術是與歷史鏈接的紐帶，朗閣海外考試研究中心建議考生也可從它能激發人們的想象力入手，同時通過不同的藝術如油畫等有助于讓人們表達自己的感覺與體驗。

2 What kind of art do you like?
I don’t have any particular favorite when it comes to art because I am appreciative of each work of art that I see. I like looking at abstract and colorful paintings as much as I like looking at portrait paintings. I also enjoy looking at clay sculptures the same way that I enjoy looking at ice sculptures. Each work of art has its own reason, background and history.

這個問題主要考察的是考生對藝術的認識，即自己喜歡哪一種類型的藝術。考生若無非常特別喜歡的類型，則可以從廣泛的方面出發去表達，如范例中作者因為對于每一項的藝術作品都是從欣賞的角度出發，因此并沒有特別喜歡的，如其對抽象畫和肖像畫是一樣的喜歡，對泥塑和冰雕也是一樣的欣賞。原因是每項藝術的都有它的背景以及歷史文化。

Part II
Describe a sculpture you have seen.
What kind of sculpture it is?
Where did you see it?
Did you like it?
Explain why you think this sculpture is special

I could never forget the ice sculptures of the different Disney characters that I saw way back the early nineties. I saw the beautifully done sculptures inside a newly opened amusement park. We were entering a snow zone area in the park that was why we wore winter coats at the entrance area, but I never expected to see the Disney characters in there. I was surprised and in awe of everything that I saw in that area that my mouth swung open without me noticing it. The charming gentleman beside me had to embarrassingly tell me to close my mouth. We entered the snow zone area in batches of 10 so I ended up going in with strangers as my friends were all counted in the next batch. I was expecting snowman, snowballs, hollow block style ice and the like but I never expected to see such creative sculptures. I not only like it, but I really love it. Perhaps I would not have appreciated it that much if it were not an ice sculpture. The fact that I am a big fan of Disney characters is another factor why I appreciated it more. Also, it was really my first time to be able to see such beautiful masterpieces. I could just imagine how meticulously those figures were done. I kept on thinking how it would look like if the whole thing melted. I was wondering how many degrees Celsius it took to preserve the whole thing. That was the first and the last time that I was able to see ice sculpture. But just last month, as I passed through the open area of our school campus, I saw some students from one of the school organizations conducting ice sculpture seminar. I could not believe my eyes and my luck as I saw it. I stared in disbelief, but this time, I was mindful not to let my mouth left opened wide again. I almost volunteered myself to join the organization so that I would be able to try making my own ice sculpture. As I was approaching the organization head, I realized that I may love art, but apparently, art does not like me so I headed to the opposite direction instead.

Part 2要求描述的是曾經見過的一尊雕塑，考生應從雕塑的類型，在哪里見過它的，是否喜歡以及解釋你認為此雕塑很特別的原因等方面出發講述。如范例中作者闡述另她印象最深刻的是不同角色的迪斯尼冰雕，地點是在一個開放性的展覽館里，接著講述她們進去的過程以及當時的心情，在描述過程的時候作者提到她看到了雪人，雪球等，以及另她更加欣賞其的原因是她是迪斯尼的超級粉絲，此次冰雕也是其見過的最杰出的作品，并且另作者感嘆與激動的是學校里巧好有一個冰雕研討會的機構，作者也加入了此機構并且嘗試著制作自己的冰雕，這讓她感受到自己是多么熱愛藝術以及藝術的重要性。

Part III
1 Why do you think art is beneficial to children?
Art is definitely beneficial to children because it is where they can subconsciously express their hidden thoughts and emotions. It not only allows them to express themselves, but it also enhances their creativity. If a child uses his left brain more, doing art and music allows him to use his right brain. It is definitely a lot better if children utilize their time by doing art than by watching too much TV or playing too much video games. Art is healthy for both the mind and the emotion of any child or adult.

該題要求考生回答認為藝術對小孩有益的原因。朗閣海外考試研究中心建議考生可從藝術可以潛意識地讓孩子表達他們的想法和情感，還能促進他們的創造性等方面出發描述，再進行擴展，如開發孩子的左右腦等，再進行總結它是對于人的大腦開發是有益處的。

2 Do you think the government should invest more funds in building art museums?
Government should encourage their country’s citizens towards arts appreciation. Investing more funds in building art museums would mean attracting more and more tourists which would be helpful to the country’s reputation and economy. Through art museums, the country’s culture is introduced thus they educate not only the local citizens but the foreigners as well. Art museums must be well preserved and kept clean at all times. If there is a need to, it would be good if the government can upgrade or improve existing art museums for their betterment.

該題屬于社會現象題，問的是政府是否應該投入更多的資金在建筑博物館上。朗閣海外考試研究中心建議考生可從客觀的角度進行分析，如投入資金在建筑博物館上就意味著會吸引更多地旅行者來觀光，也有助于促進國家經濟的發展和文化的傳播，假如有這個需要的話，國家可改善現有的博物館，使其更好。

朗閣海外考試研究中心http://www.ielts.org.cn/