Cue Card Sample
IELTS Cue Card Sample 12 - A happy event of your life
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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.
Describe a happy event of your life.
You should say:
- what it was
- when it happened
- where it happened
and explain why it was a happy event.
Follow-up Questions:
• What do you think is important for achieving happiness?
• How do you celebrate some happy events?
• What role do the camera and video recorder play in celebrating?
Model Answer 1:
I am thankful to the Almighty because of the many happy events, which I am blessed with, in my life from the day I started to understand the world around me. But, such happy events become even more meaningful when we are able to share them with other people so that they are also elated. So, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share one such happy event with you here.
The event took place about a few years ago in my hometown when I was really busy looking for a new job, after quitting my previous job, and I just didn’t have enough time or interest in helping anybody else except myself. But, that was not to happen because, incidentally, I also happened to be a “founding member” of a local “charity” club in my hometown which used to help the local residents in time of their needs, especially, if they were seriously ill. So, when some of the members from my charity club came to me with a news that one of the residents in our neighbourhood was suffering from “blood cancer” and that he needed a huge amount of money (which the patient didn’t have because of his rather poor financial situation) to get proper treatment, me and my charity club members were left with no choice but to act swiftly to collect enough funds for him. But, collecting such a huge sum of money within such a short period of time, as we literally had to knock on every door in my hometown for help, was not an easy task at all. Anyway, we finally succeeded, but the happiest moment came when the doctor had informed me that the patient would carry on to live some more years.
It was indeed a very happy moment of my life because I could help a terminally-ill person save his life and be together with his family again, especially at a time when he lost all his hopes. Besides, the event also made me realize that we can solve “mountain” of problems if we work together.
Sample Answer 2:
I can remember many happy events of my life and out of those, I would like to talk about the event that I can still remember vividly. It was indeed an exhilarating event and that was regarding my success in the board final exam. The moment I heard that I had been awarded a scholarship for my performance in the board exam, I became the happiest man in the world. This was truly a felicitous moment for me as it is something I was looking forward to very eagerly and the news made my parents quite happy and proud. I would like to thank you for letting me talk about this event.
I waited almost a month with great anxiety for my result. I started speculating so many things and many of them were negative. I could hardly stop thinking about my upcoming result during this period. The result was highly important and my college admission was dependent on it. I could not sleep well the night before the result publishing day. I think it is common for students to worry about their results, especially for important exams, and I was familiar with this type of concern. However, I have to admit that I had been more worried about it than other exam results I can remember.
The result was published at around 11.00 am and I found that I did exceptionally well. I was so relieved and happy that I was on cloud nine. Then I hurriedly returned home and gave the news to my parents. They were very happy. My father, who barely expresses his emotions was also very pleased, and my mother called a few of our relatives to share the good news. I felt excited, happy and relieved. At that time I was about 15 years old. It happened in our hometown called (... say the name of your hometown...). It was so pleasant an event that I still remember every bit of it.
Tips for answering this cue card topic:
"Describe a happy event of your life" is an example of a cue card topic that gives a candidate a wide range of options to pick from. You are virtually free to talk about any event that you think you would be flexible to talk about. On the contrary, the topic like "Describe a famous writer in your country" narrows down your options. You can't just pick any writer and start talking about him. For the latter topic, you need to think about such a popular writer and give some factual information about him.
The cue card topic that gives you a wide variety of options is usually easier to talk about since you won't have to brainstorm a lot to pick what you would talk about. For this cue card i.e. "Describe a happy event of your life" think about an event in your life that made you happy. If you take it from your life rather than making it up, you would be able to give more details and extend the discussion.
1. Your father got promoted and your family celebrated it.
2. You got admitted to a school/ college/ university where you always wanted to study.
3. The birth of your younger sister/ brother/ nephew/ niece or even your own child if you are a father or a mother.
4. One of your family members was severely ill but got healed miraculously.
5. You won a competition.
6. You did something for others and people acclaimed that.
7. You got a scholarship.
8. You overcame one of your obstacles.
9. You went to visit a foreign country
10. You achieved something noteworthy.
11. You saved someone from a disaster.
12. You got your first salary.
13. Your favourite sports team won a major competition.
14. Your writing (short story, article or poem) was published in a popular newspaper.
Cue Card Answer 3:
My face shines with joy whenever I remember the day I went to the International Trade Fair with some of my friends. That was my first visit to that type of fair and this was such a happy experience that I still feel a great joy reciting the memory of this event. It was January 2010 and that time I was in my first year of college.
Until I finished my college, I was literally a newborn lady, who had never been to a different country or had never visited a large International fair. After I got admitted to my college, I started exploring the world and gradually witnessed amazing things that were waiting just for me to explore! One day I planned with my friends that we would visit the International Trade Fair. This might seem like a very usual and banal event for others, but to me, that was a really exciting thing to do. Later on that day, we did as we planned and finalised our visit to the fair. After the break period at college, we escaped by the back door (as a side note, I would like to mention that I had no previous record of escaping school or college before) and started our monumental journey to the trade fair. We were five in members and we hired a taxi to reach the trade fair. There wasn’t enough space to sit on the back of the taxi and the taxi driver gave us a suspicious look! That’s why with a rough smile we decided that one of us would sit at the front. It was a funny decision but there was no alternative to us and we enjoyed it. I still feel lucky that we decided to take the adventure as it turned out to be one of the most memorable events in my life.
After an hour or so, we reached the venue and then collected tickets for five of us. We were thoroughly enjoying everything we did that time. We entered the venue and took a deep breath to ease ourselves. We were kind of overwhelmed to observe the vast area with hundreds of shops and stalls. People were all around us and we felt like somehow we had come to a fairyland. Wherever we went, I was feeling so excited, everything was totally new to me even though I was a grown-up lady. We took lots of photos from different views, purchased a few interesting things within our limited budget and roamed in the whole area. I forgot my usual boundaries and that was an experience that I missed for a long. We spent almost 4-5 hours there and at last returned home in the evening. We returned home by bus and I was so happy that I felt as if I had discovered a new continent.
Part 3: Details Discussion:
Q. What do you think is important for achieving happiness?
Answer: I strongly believe that ordinary yet priceless things such as health, family solidarity and closeness, important people like friends who will always be there for you no matter what, and job satisfaction can definitely lead to happiness. I am opposed to the belief that money makes everyone happy and contented. Although money and wealth are essential elements for human life as they help people cover their expenses, do things they want and purchase materials people want, I don't think that they are the determinant factors. Furthermore, self-contentment could be another important ingredient for us to be happy. We can be happy with whatever little we have only if we have the self-satisfaction and self-contentment.
Q. How do you celebrate some happy events?
Answer: As I can remember when I was in my teenage, I used to hold parties at my home solely with my family and relatives to celebrate happy events. Especially on my birthdays, my mom cooked my favourite food and made my favourite birthday cake with chocolate. Now that I am not a teenager anymore, I go out with my friends, and in some special circumstances, with my family as well. For example, on my graduation day, I went to a Greek restaurant with my parents, brother and my five best friends and we had a really great time. Generally speaking, I would say that I am more of an introvert person, so I totally prefer to spend substantial time with few friends rather than having many people and typical big parties. My happy moments and celebrations are also related to my friends and family members.
Q. What role do the camera and video recorder play in celebrating?
Answer: I would say that these two tools, camera and video recorder, play an integral part in different types of celebrations. First of all, most people have moments of their childhood and memories from childhood are captured in cameras. To illustrate, some of the most important events such as birthday parties, weddings, graduations and so on are included in these jigs and in this way the moment is captured and saved for a long period of time. Furthermore, as some essential and happy events are recorded, they could be watched years later in order for some people to remember some significant events. A good illustration in my case is that on my 22nd birthday, my friends made me a really emotional video from all the years that we have been friends. Without the usage of the camera and video-recorder, this could never have happened.
1. Describe a memorable event of your life.
2. Talk about an event that made you happy.
3. Describe a happy memory you have.
4. Describe a success you achieved in your life.
5. Describe an event when you did something unusual.
6. Describe the happiest event in your life.
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