May to August 2019 IELTS Speaking Topic #10 Describe an intelligent person that you know

Describe an intelligent person that you know.
You should say:
Who he/she is;
Where you know him/her;
What he/she does;
And explain why you think him/her intelligent.

I’d like to talk about Mr Li who was my Maths teacher. Mr Li has won lots of prizes for his excellent lectures. In addition, he has published two books. One is about techniques involved in exercises related to geometry and the other is about algebra.

Well I knew him as soon as I entered high school as he was responsible for teaching us Maths. Every week we had about 6 maths lessons and Mr. Li’s lectures were always full of laughter. Usually, at the beginning of the class he would invite a student to talk about what we had learnt last class. Then he would introduce new knowledge and principles before showing us samples and asking us to do exercises. Mr. Li always uses cartoon characters to represent certain Maths concepts, which are really amazing. For example, he used to draw women to stand for sets and little boys to stand for subsets. This is because sets contains subsets and the relationship between these two concepts is similar to that between mum and son——a mum gives birth to children. In this case, concepts and theories which are supposed to be complex and boring turn out to be interesting, which helped us to remember them firmly.

Now let me tell you why I regard Mr. Li as intelligent. First of all, it’s because he really has a sound grasp of Maths. No matter how difficult the exercise is, for Mr. Li, it’s like a piece of cake. He can always find out the most convenient way to solve Maths exercises. In addition, I think it is even more difficult to let others understand the way to solve problems than solving problems by yourself. However, Mr. Li manages to do so. He turned that abstract academic knowledge into something lively. It was because of him that I started to be attracted by Maths. I am so proud that I have such an intelligent teacher.

Part3

It is easy for smart person to make friends? Why or why not?
No, I don’t think so. In my opinion, whether it is easy for a person to make friends with others depends on his or her personality. For people who are outgoing, there is no doubt they can get along with others well and have more friends. On the contrary, people who are introverted may have difficulty in making friends.

People always said intelligent person is selfish, what do you think about that?
I don’t think so. I believe whether a person is selfish has nothing to do with intelligence quotient. In my opinion, selfish is more like a kind of personality which is destined even before birth because of DNA. Also, children who are spoiled by their parents or grandparents tend to be selfish. They would take everything for granted and not be willing to share anything with others. However, there is no scientific evidence which can prove most intelligent people are selfish so I do not agree with such judgement.

Do you prefer make friends with intelligent people? Why or why not?
Yes, I do because intelligent people can always help you. For example, when studying at school friends who are more intelligent to you are people who can teach you academic knowledge and techniques that you fail to understand. With their help, academic performance can be improved. In addition, when you have other problems, you can also turn to them for advice. They can analyze the situation and find out solutions as they have a great brain. Therefore I really like to make friends with smart people.

Do you think children`s wisdom are influenced by their parents?
Yes I do. There is lots of scientific evidence which shows that parents have an influence on children’s intelligence quotient. However the extent of the influence differs from person to person. Children of intelligent parents are not ensured to inherit the intelligence. In this case I think it is more important for everyone to always work hard to improve themselves. Even if a child was born with talent in certain field, he or she will not succeed without efforts.

Do you think children have a good habit nowadays?
Well this is really hard to say. To be honest, I think each child is different. Some children have quite good habits. They show respect to others and try to do everything by themselves. In addition, they have an awareness of saving natural resources so they never waste anything. This is because they are taught to do so by parents and teachers. However, there are also lots of children who stay up late every day play
ing video games and never go to school on time, but I believe all of the children will have good habits in the future as the world now put strong emphasis on children education.

Why do you think some people are really good at something?
Well I think there are two reasons. The first is that those people were born to be talented in a certain field. Gift is inherited from their parents so it is easier for them to succeed. The second is that they are passionate about something and make every effort to improve themselves even though they do not have a gift. I think people whose success can be explained by the second reason are worth respecting.

What kind of skills are helpful for children?
All of the life skills. Children lack common sense so in many cases they are not aware of how to protect themselves from danger. In this case life skills such as how to swim, how to behave when there is a fire are really essential. In addition, it is difficult for children to tell right from wrong. Therefore skills for distinguishing what is right and what is wrong is also helpful so that children will not be misguided.

Do you think parents should send their children to better school?
Yes of course. Education plays a key role in everyone’s life. Teachers in better school are usually more qualified who can help students acquire knowledge in a proper way. In addition, better schools also pay attention to children’s behavior. Teachers teach students how to behave properly in different situations as well so that these students can always be decent and moral when they grow up. Therefore I agree that parents should send children to better school though tuition fee there may be more expensive.

What can schools do for students` intellectual development?
First of all, schools should impart knowledge of various fields to students. In this way, students can know more about the world, which is sure to be helpful to develop intelligence. In addition, many activities which require students to consider about carefully should be organized. For example, teachers can divide students into several groups and ask them to use cartons to make cars and then race on the playground to see whose car runs the farthest with single push.