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IELTS Speaking part 2 & 3 | A sharing person

sharing with a horse

Part 2

Talk about someone who always shares things with others

You should say:

  • Who this person is
  • How you know them
  • What things they share

And explain why they share things with others

Closing questions:

  1. Do you often share things with other people?
  2. Is it important to share things in your culture?

Part 3

Discussion topics (Example questions)

 

Learning to share

  • What things might children share with one another?
  • Is it important for children to share things with other people?
  • How do children learn to share things  in your country?
  • Do you think children are more likely to share with other children or with adults?

Sharing feelings

  • Do people in your country often share their feelings?
  • Do you think children share their feelings more easily than adults?
  • What problems does it cause when people are not good at sharing their feelings?
  • Are there any times when it is best for people not to share their feelings?

Intellectual property

  • Do you think it is important for scientists and companies to share their research?
  • Do you think there is any research that should be openly available to everyone?
  • Why do some individuals or companies spend a lot of money protecting their work from being copied?
  • Do you think it’s important to prevent creative works such as art or music from being openly shared?

Sample answers

What things might children share with one another?

Thinking about it, there are so many things that they should share. Toys are probably the first thing I can think of, because I remember at my kindergarten, everyone wanted to play with the same few things, especially a big red car, and we all took it in turns to ride on it. I guess they may share other things too, like games, crayons and pencils or even food. I don’t think many children like sharing their chocolate, though!

Is it important for children to share other people?

In my culture, we’re taught to share at a very early age. I think there are some good reasons why children should learn to share. When they’re adults, if they haven’t learned to share, others may think that they’re selfish and that can be quite harmful for them socially as most people don’t like spending time with someone who’s selfish. I think it’s also better to cooperate with others rather than compete, and to collaborate or work together effectively, you need to be good at sharing.

How do children learn to share things in your country?

I think it’s actively encouraged from a very young age, especially at nurseries and pre-schools. I think it can be difficult for lots of children when they first go to a creche and find lots of unrelated people who want to play with their toys, but the teachers are pretty good at organising communal activities which encourage sharing. Parents may also teach their children to share, especially if they have multiple children, but obviously learning to share at home is more difficult if you’re an only-child and you’re always the centre of attention. In these cases, I think when they grow up, such people may never get used to sharing and that can create conflict, especially when they have families of their own and they have to share everything with their spouse!

Do people in your country often share their feelings?

I think in my culture, people are taught to be very reserved from an early age. We actually joke about it quite a lot, because we’ll accept something that makes us unhappy and then complain in private to our friends or family. I think it can be really difficult for people from other cultures where they wear their hearts on their sleeves and are a bit more assertive. They’re often not very good at picking up on the more subtle cues and body language that indicate that there’s a problem, and they can come across as brash or even rude and offensive when they visit my country and complain very openly about a problem.

Do you think children share their feelings more easily than adults?

Yes, definitely. Children don’t have the self-control to mask their feelings properly and everything seems very dramatic when you’re a child. I think children often have to deal with powerful new emotions, though, so they may not share their feelings very accurately. For example, if a child feels overwhelmed when they’re learning something new or disappointed that they’re not getting their own way, it may manifest as a less complex emotion, like anger. When they have tantrums, I think adults are often not very understanding of the fact that the child may be having difficulty expressing a complex new emotion, and they don’t have the self-control to govern their temper properly. We should be very careful about how and when we punish children for behaviour we view as unacceptable. I think we should treat them with a bit more respect and help them to understand and control their emotions, or they may develop psychological issues by relating certain emotions with guilt or fear.

What problems does it cause when people aren’t very good at sharing their feelings?

It can actually be a real problem, and as I said, people in my country are often not very open with their feelings. The most obvious issue with not communicating your feelings very clearly is that people can often misunderstand one another’s motives or intentions. We’re not telepathic, and we may start to feel negatively about someone who’s trying to help us because we don’t understand their reasoning. That can quickly escalate, and you may seem ungrateful, or the person trying to help may seem interfering and that can cause real problems in a relationship. I think everyone needs to learn to be a bit more open. The other issue with bottling up feelings is that it can all come out in a explosion of rage, and people may end up saying or doing something they regret because they don’t manage their feelings properly. After all, emotions are powerful things, and powerful emotions are difficult to control.

 

Do you think it is important for scientists and companies to share their research?

I’d say it depends on what it is that they’re sharing. I tend to believe that open data initiatives are a positive trend and it would massively spur on progress if people shared research more openly. That kind of cooperation requires a lot of trust though, and knowledge is often jealously guarded. I also think scientist in academia do share their research openly through publications, while companies sit on their intellectual property because they want to turn it to their advantage.

Do you think there is any research that should be openly available to everyone?

Yes, especially medical and pharmaceutical research. To be honest, I think we need to seriously overhaul intellectual property laws, because life-saving medications shouldn’t be restricted by patents which grant a monopoly to a company which can then turn an enormous profit. In my opinion, the current intellectual property laws hamstring societal progress and only work to benefit a rich, powerful few. They would argue that their ability to make huge amounts of money is what drives investment in research, but I have a more optimistic view of human nature: I don’t believe most people are intrinsically greedy, and I think most scientists involved in medical research do it to help people, not to become fabulously wealthy. The private sector also has no problem with taking publicly-funded research and using it to their advantage, so they take a common resource and twist it to their own benefit. If it were up to me, I’d nationalise the pharmaceutical industry for it to serve the common good.

Do you think it’s important to prevent creative works such as art or music from being openly shared?

Yes, it’s important to protect the creativity of the artist, but I don’t think it should be a lifelong protection as is currently the case. I think after a decade or two, copyrighted works should be released into the public domain, again, because they can then be adapted and other artists can build on the creative talent in an earlier work without worrying about whether they will actually own their music or other piece. I think a case that really highlights this argument is a 1997 song by a British band called the Verve named Bittersweet Symphony. An American music mogul named Allen Klein owned the rights to an earlier work that inspired the Verve’s hit and took all of the royalties for what I view as their very original song. It took over 20 years for justice to finally be served: in 2019, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger gave permission to the Verve’s frontman, Richard Ashcroft to profit from his innovation on the original track.

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