IELTS Speaking – September 2022 – Puzzles
Questions
Did you do puzzles in your childhood?
When do you do puzzles? During your trip or when you feel bored?
Do you prefer doing word puzzles or number puzzles? Which is more difficult for you?
Do you think it is good for old people to do puzzles?
Advice
- Remember that there are many different kinds of puzzles out there besides jigsaw puzzles – number puzzles, crosswords, riddles, paradoxes etc.
- In Q2, if you don’t do enjoy puzzles, you could explain why not and what you do instead, like reading books or listening to podcasts. Alternatively, you could explain when you would do puzzles if you did do puzzles, in a hypothetical situation.
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Vocabulary and Sentences
- Ubiquitous
- To pass the time / To kill the time
- If memory serves
- Spatial awareness
- Head start
- Therapeutic
- To die of boredom
- Voracious
- A cold sweat
- Any day of the week
- Perplexing
- A win-win situation
- In my books
- Cognitive decline
- To die of boredom
Answers:
Q: Did you do puzzles in your childhood?
A: Well, I grew up before TVs and smartphones were ubiquitous, so I did loads of puzzles to pass the time. If memory serves, my first puzzle was a crossword. Then I moved onto sudoku and jigsaw puzzles, before starting to do geometrical puzzles where you have to build certain shapes. These really helped me develop my hand-eye coordination and my spatial awareness as a child, and I’m convinced they gave me a head start in mathematics during primary school.
Q: When do you do puzzles? During a trip or when you feel bored?
A: Nowadays I do them to kill time while waiting for something. One often comes across unfinished crossword puzzles in aeroplanes or waiting rooms, and that’s usually when I do them. These days we have access to so many puzzles on our cell phones that it’s easy to find something to keep your mind occupied. Come to think of it, I also do puzzles on my phone when I’m feeling stressed. Solving an unrelated puzzle on my phone is actually quite therapeutic and stops me from getting flustered during stressful times. They’re a bit like a baby’s pacifier, I guess. But otherwise, I mostly do them so that I don’t die of boredom.
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Q: Do you prefer doing word puzzles or number puzzles? Which is more difficult for you?
A: Being a voracious reader, I would choose word puzzles over number puzzles any day of the week. I find great satisfaction in finding the word that embodies the exact meaning I want to convey, or triumphantly solving a perplexing riddle. I sometimes enjoy doing number puzzles, but most of them bring me out in a cold sweat because I find them so much harder. And trust me, that’s something you do not want to see! So, no number puzzles for me, thank you very much!
Q: Do you think it is good for old people to do puzzles?
A: I’ve heard that some of the best ways for old people to delay memory loss and cognitive decline are doing puzzles and learning a new language. I guess, of the two, doing puzzles would be more accessible to most people, and also provide better opportunities for practice because they require a shorter time commitment. It’s a sign of the times that many old people are relegated to the side-lines. They’re no longer part of an extended family and are often sent to care centres or old age homes. So doing puzzles provides an activity which not only gives the person something to do, but also helps improve short term memory, which is a win-win in my books.
