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Cambridge IELTS 17: Detailed Review, Effective Cambridge Practice Tips!

The Cambridge practice test series is an indispensable material for IELTS candidates grinding away in preparation. This test series is updated annually, and in 2022 the Cambridge IELTS 17 has been released and is predicted to "cause a storm" among students currently studying and practicing for IELTS in the crucial final stages.

Cambridge IELTS 17: Detailed Review, Effective Cambridge Practice Tips!
Cambridge IELTS 17: Detailed Review, Effective Cambridge Practice Tips!

I. Introduction to Cambridge IELTS 17 PDF

Let's take a look at the overview of Cambridge IELTS 17 before we begin. Regarding the quality of the Cambridge IELTS series, there is no argument - it is essential study material for many IELTS candidates. The series provides test papers that are 99% similar to the actual exam. Here are some basic details about Cambridge IELTS 17:

  • Title: Cambridge IELTS 17
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • Language: English
  • Page Count: 146 pages (including covers)
  • Format: Paperback
  • Audio: Scan the QR code in the top right corner to access the audio files
Introduction to Cambridge IELTS 17
Introduction to Cambridge IELTS 17

II. What is included in Cambridge IELTS 17?

Next, let's explore this book together with prepedu.com to discover its new and special points that will make you want to "get it right away" to start practicing at home immediately:

What is included in Cambridge IELTS 17?
What is included in Cambridge IELTS 17?

1. Content

Cambridge IELTS Book 17 is the newest version in the series, so it will provide test papers following the latest trends. This Cambridge book contains 4 test sets, covering the 4 skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The difficulty level of the tests is similar to the real exam.

The book comes with audio files and answers to help students self-check after completing the practice tests online. 

The Speaking and Writing sections discuss current social issues. It also provides full answers for each test and section, making it easy to find and evaluate your answers.

This book is considered the best material for IELTS exam preparation, with a comprehensive system of practice tests. When practicing the test papers, students can master IELTS test structures and skills.

Tip: You should practice all the tests from the most recent books (Books 10-17) in the Cambridge IELTS series.

2. What makes Cambridge IELTS 17 outstanding?

Compared to older books in the series, Cambridge IELTS 17 does not have many changes. However, its special point is that the topics are more diverse and broad in content. The book helps students practice all 4 IELTS skills - Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing - through corresponding test papers. It also comes with audio files and detailed answers to facilitate self-study practice at home.

III. Targeted learners of Cambridge IELTS 17 PDF

Anyone preparing for IELTS can use Cambridge IELTS 17. However, to maximize its benefits, Prep recommends it for those needing to practice tests in preparation for the real exam or accelerated IELTS review in the final 1-3 months. Owning this book will allow targeted practice and improvement of all IELTS skills.

You should not use Cambridge IELTS 17 too early - first practice Cambridge Books 10-16 before using this one.

IV. How to use Cambridge IELTS 17 book PDF effectively

How to use Cambridge IELTS 17 book PDF effectively
How to use Cambridge IELTS 17 book PDF effectively

1. Reading & Listening

“Do not focus too much on scores and numbers of tests, but on gaining new knowledge from each test paper." Apply the Test-Teach-Test method to understand question types, and common traps, and learn more academic vocabulary and grammar. Carefully review explanations for incorrect answers to strengthen weaknesses.

  • Taking the test
  • Reviewing the answers and explanations, paying attention to looking up new vocabulary and structures
  • Retaking the test once again

When learning new words, make sure to explore different topics a bit so you won't be completely lost when reading, which can mess with your understanding and performance.

1.1. Reading

  • Allocate 15, 20, or 25 minutes for passages, balancing between easy and difficult ones. If one passage is taking too long, switch to the next one promptly.
  • Practicing time management in reading prevents wasting time on simple questions due to errors or running out of time.

1.2. Listening

  • Train the ability to concentrate while listening by taking notes while listening, and following the keywords with your pen as you listen... This method helps avoid passive listening which causes losing focus and missing answers.
  • When reviewing explanations, study to understand the transcript. In addition to identifying the correct answers, see how the questions paraphrase these answers and distractors to avoid similar mistakes on other tests.
  • It's best to cross out answers that are clearly wrong to narrow choices down more easily (even when guessing).

2. Speaking & Writing

"Do not be complacent by neglecting to study and practice basic topics" - Study, practice, and master the basic topics in Cambridge IELTS 17 before moving on to practice unfamiliar questions, because the proportion of questions falling into familiar topics is still very high. Ensuring you have learned all the basic topics will help you develop the ability to do all types of questions while avoiding being "stumped by questions" during the exam.

2.1. Speaking

Instead of just learning from the sample answers in Cambridge IELTS 17, take a more proactive approach to engaging with English in a more natural way, such as through films, and social media, to help develop reflexes and increase scores in Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy criteria.

For example, when you want to describe a film or book, you can search "Review + film name" on Google in English to find reviews of that book. You can see descriptions or comments about that book from native speakers, even detailed video reviews in English. By reading these, your use of language and sentence structure will be more natural and accurate.

Practicing with a partner is extremely necessary if you want to improve your Speaking skills. A partner - someone who will go through it with you, point out mistakes, and suggest corrections - is important. To achieve a high Speaking band score, "equip" yourself with a partner starting today.

However, if you don't have anyone to practice speaking with, don't hesitate to try the virtual Speaking room on prepedu.com. This is the AI partner that supports you by closely monitoring you 24/7, quickly finding mistakes, and helping correct them most accurately.

2.2. Writing

Pay attention to practicing even question types considered rare to grasp vocabulary and ideas, avoiding getting stuck without ideas when writing. Especially avoid being complacent or learning by rote, which makes unfamiliar questions even more difficult.

In addition to sample answers in Cambridge IELTS 17, you should also learn from other quality sources such as books, newspapers, or official websites to learn academic writing, covering a diverse range of topics from economics, culture, and society to science such as:

  • The New York Times
  • National Geographic
  • The Guardian

V. Practicing Cambridge IELTS 17 audio and PDF files with Prepedu.com

If you want to practice Cambridge IELTS 17 IELTS exams anytime, anywhere on any device, you can refer to Prepedu.com's online question practicing page. What will you get from practicing Cambridge IELTS 17 IELTS questions?

  • Practicing Speaking: Practice Speaking for 30 minutes/day in a virtual Speaking room, with AI scoring and error correction. Some students have improved their Speaking from 100 pronunciation errors to only 10 errors after 60 days of continuous practice.
  • Practicing Listening: After completing the questions, you will be provided with detailed answer explanations along with the script (a recording of the full listening passage). Practicing questions daily helps you get used to listening to English. In addition, learning new vocabulary from the script and learning how to identify keywords from the answer explanations along with knowledge from Prep's courses can also effectively help improve your Listening band score.
  • Practicing Reading: Practicing Reading helps you better control the time spent on questions over time so you don't worry about lacking time during the real test. After completing the questions, Prep will provide detailed answer explanations for you to note down any mistakes you made and learn more vocabulary from the explanations.
  • Practicing Writing: By reading sample answers, you can learn more useful ideas and build your idea bank to avoid getting stuck without ideas when writing. Prep is developing additional virtual Writing rooms in the future to allow you to practice writing and receive scoring and feedback right after submission.

PRACTICE MORE IELTS WITH PREPEDU.COM!

In summary, Cambridge IELTS 17 is an extremely useful resource for IELTS exam candidates during their preparation period, providing comprehensive knowledge and useful skills to feel more confident during the actual test. Therefore, Prepedu.com believes the book is truly suitable for those wanting to achieve high band scores on the IELTS exam.

Master Tu Pham
Master Tu Pham
Founder/CEO at Prep
Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.
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