Recent IELTS exam questions 5 January 2019

Model Answer:

Shopping is fun when it is done in a street market. I am happy that I had the chance to shop some special stuff from the Temple Street in Hong Kong, China last year.

I am an Italian businessman and love to travel. Annually I take a tour in different parts of the world. Last year, I went China and travelled different parts of the country. Hong Kong appeared as one of the most prominent cities of the country with a special sort of appeal. The nightlife and the street markets are the keys to the appeal, I think. The market is near to the Jordan Subway station and easily accessible from any parts of the city. This is an enjoyable place to browse a large number of goods and have them after a beautiful haggling with the sellers.

Temple Street is a large street in Hong Kong and mostly famous for the street shops. The entire location is covered with crowds – mostly sellers and buyers. The market allows the people to pass their time by checking the right goods for them. It sells a large number of goods and products and at lower prices. If you want to buy the products from a shopping mall, you are to pay more than the usual price. So, the locals and tourists from home and abroad come here to get their shopping done. The market is filled with plenty of clothes, foods, toys, dresses for men, women and children, crockeries, wrist watches, CDs, footwear, cookware, handicrafts, tea sets, glasses, antiques, electronic goods, pieces of jewelry, jackets and much more. Besides, the food stalls also sell the traditional Chinese foods to fill the hunger of the tired shoppers.

This was a moderately large market covering around 600 meters. In fact, this was a night market that began in the evening. The shops are settled in rows and there are ample spaces before the shops to move and walk. There were large lights hung in almost every shops to exhibit the products. Almost all the sellers want to trick with the foreign customers. They claim more price than the usual whenever any foreign tourist visits their shops. Besides, the car parking of the market is also filled with some other people playing music around the hours. The food stalls are located in a corner and some of the food vendors had set their stalls wherever they have got an empty space. Despite being a large market, it always crowded as a good number of people come to visit the stalls.

I have never experienced such a street market. As an Italian, it was kind of new experience for me. But I had the idea that I need to bargain, and finally, I was right about the assumption that the sellers are trying to cheat with the customers about the price of the goods and services. So, if the buyers are not serious in bargaining, they are to incur a huge loss. Even sometimes, the sellers try to sell some fake products logoed with renowned brands. This issue also needs consideration of the buyers. I bought some clothes and ornaments with a reasonable price after lots of arguments with the sellers. But I really enjoyed the snacks and traditional foods of the market. It was a pleasant experience for me indeed.

Special thanks to Karima for providing us with these questions after the exam.