'M➜D' Transversion: From Mr. to Dr. Debprasad Dutta with Health Minister.

IELTS Academic: An Indian Student’s Preparation Manual

Different students follow different techniques to crack the IELTS test. I am dedicating this article for students in SAARC countries. If my tips found useful, I will be pleasured.

What is IELTS?

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) academic exam is for study- abroad aspirants who pursue studies in any English speaking countries including the USA.

How to prepare for IELTS?

Preparation for IELTS can be made through three basic steps:

STEP1. Understanding Question format

Tests	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking	Total
Divisions	4 sections	3 passages	2 tasks	3 parts	2 hours 40 minutes LRW exam and Speaking interview happens in a different date
No. of questions	40	40	2	Variable
Marks for each question	1	1	Task 2 carries nearly double weight than Task2	No specific marks distribution, Oral interview
Minutes	~30	60	60	11-14

STEP 2. Developing skills to answer in the desired format

I have created a ‘3S Plan’ for qualifying IELTS when you have a short time in hand. ‘3s Plan’  is the technique can be adopted to crack the IELTS with expected band scale. 3 ‘S’ involves Strategies (first S), Suggestions(second S) and Solutions(third S).

‘3S Plan’ to crack IELTS:

Speaking	Reading
Strategy Practice with a friend or in front of the mirror	Strategy Finish each section within 15 minutes, keeping a digital clock on the desk.
Suggestions Do- Confidently speak without hesitation of ‘am I correct’ Remember Spoken English is broken English (as said by Bernard Shaw) Don’t- Try not to repeat the same word multiple times	Suggestions Do- If a question seems to be very difficult, skip it. Don’t- Try not to think too much in ‘choose appropriate heading’ section. It often misleads.
Solutions Frequently encountered issue:  Not getting ideas about the topic. Feeling blank. Trick: Read essays and editorials of English newspapers on Google. Just keep reading.	Solutions Frequently encountered issue: Not being able to read the passage and questions and answer all within 1hour. Trick:  ‘Question first’ rule. Scan question section first, then skim through the passage. Never try to read deeply and understand the meaning of each and every word because it eats up time.
Listening	Writing
Strategy Answer the questions without replaying the podcast during practice.	Strategy Plot your ideas before starting writing on rough paper
Suggestions Do-  Predict the answers while going through the questions Don’t- Never be absent-minded or distracted	Suggestions Do-  Use a pencil so that you can erase mistakes Don’t-  Avoid writing irrelevant or out of context statements
Solutions Frequently encountered issue: Facing difficulty in understanding fast-paced native English accents Trick: Listen to BBC and ABC radio to get habituated with native accents.	Solutions Frequently encountered issue: Under-length write-up Trick:  Verify cutoff length by counting lines and then multiplying with the number of lines you used in a line on average.

STEP 3. Celebrate Pele’s policy: Everything is practice

Just remember and obey this formula religiously!

∑Practice = Progress

Band-scale Evaluation concept

IELTS scores range between 0 and 9. Different universities needed different band scores.

Band Score	Ratings
9	Expert User
8	Very Good User
7	Good User
6	Competent User
5	Modest User
4	Limited User
3	Extremely Limited User
2	Intermittent User
1	Non User
0	Did not Attempt The test

Diagnosis of areas to strengthen

Everybody has different strength and weakness in terms of English language skills.  Areas can be English tense, various sentence structures, collocations, cohesive devices, understanding British, Australian and American pronunciation to name a few.

Recommended books:

Official Cambridge English IELTS Academic practice book series

Couching or Self-preparation?

Self-preparation is enough if:

1. You have enough command in English

2. You have a known English teacher who can evaluate you during practice

3. You have a good-in-English friend with whom you can practice speaking

4. You can practice time-bound mock exam in your hostel or home

But if you think you need more care, choose a reliable coach for guided preparation.

Eating Itself: Autophagy-What it is and what is not?

The word autophagy is formed from two Greek words “auto” meaning self and “phagy” meaning eating. Literally, Autophagy means "self-devouring“.

The term autophagy is like an oxymoron-why cell is so carefully careless? Actually, the term autophagy often misunderstood. It is equally important to know what is not autophagy along with what is autophagy.

What is not Autophagy?

üAutophagy is not a destructive process

ü Autophagy is not a pathological process

ü Autophagy is not a selective process

ü Autophagy is not  an unregulated process

ü Autophagy is not suicidality in cell

  Autophagy is not a term that is well defined.

Now Let's know what is Autophagy?

ü  Normal physiological process

ü Genetically regulated and dynamic process

üUbiquitous catabolic process

ü Generally non-selective process

ü Process that disassembles unnecessary components of the cell

   What is not Autophagy?

  

 What is not Autophagy?