IELTS Cue Card Sample 535 - Describe a competition you took part in
- Details
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 09:24
- Written by IELTS Mentor
- Hits: 69824
IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.
Describe a competition (e.g. TV, study/work or sports competition) that you took part in.
You should say:
- what kind of competition it was and how you found out about it
- what you had to do
- what the prizes were
and explain why you chose to take part in this competition.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
After leaving university about 7 years ago, I didn’t really feel interested in taking part in any kind of sport competition. But all that changed when my current office decided to organize an inter-departmental annual indoor sports competition a year ago and kind of “pushed” me to take part in this competition because there were not enough people to compete in my accounting department, where I work a senior accountant.
Anyway, my office organizes this kind of competition pretty much every year, but I always somehow had managed to stay away from this annual interdepartmental competition on the ground that I was and is never a competitive minded person. But, last year, when I was convinced that my participation would mean a lot for my fellow employees, I decided to take part in it. After all, I also told to myself that this was really tough to work round the year without any meaningful break from the monotonous work schedule.
So, anyway, different competitions, like volleyball, sprint, music completion and table tennis, were held marking the event. Needless to say, I took part in table tennis because that I thought was easiest sport which required minimum physical effort. Of course, I could have taken part in the music competition, but I was pretty sure that I would scare a lot more people with my musical voice than actually drawing them close!
By the way, the prizes were attractive, as the company arranged for some attractive looking electronic home appliances for the winners, including a large screen TV set for the first prize winner, an expensive microwave oven for the runners-up and a nice looking toaster for the third position.
Well, I took part in the competition for a couple of reasons. The prime motivation, of course, was to make my fellow employees happy since they couldn’t make a full team without me. I took part in this annual tournament also because I wanted to check if I was still as energetic as my college years.
Sample Answer 2:
It was an inter-department annual indoor sports competition at my office and a circular was issued for all notifying the issue. I am an accountant and work for a locally reputed manufacturing company in Argentina. The company manufactures plastic materials for daily use. I feel lucky to have this cue card topic and I will explain the matter briefly.
I took part in an indoor game. My office organizes the competition annually to make the employees feel relaxed. In fact, this is really tough to work round the year without any reliable break. So, different competitions were held marking the event. I took part in chess and cards. There were some other competitions like passing the pillow for the female employees. Table tennis was the other important competition that I did not dare to take part in. However, the prizes were attractive. The company arranged for home appliances for the winners - a large screen television set for the first prize winner, a washing machine for the second and a microwave oven for the third position. But all the participants received some other awards for their participation. Actually, the authority did not disappoint anyone of the participants. I won the third prize and another small prize for my participation. It was an enjoyable event indeed.
I took part in the competition for some reasons. The prime motivation behind participating was to check my skills in indoor games. I was skilled in chess when I was a student but had not been in practice for a long time. The notice for the annual competition brought the chance for me to repair my skills. Moreover, I enjoy playing chess and cards. And participating in the competition was enjoyable too. Considering the reasons, I took part in this competition and won two prizes.
More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card topic:
Topic: Describe a competition (e.g. TV, college/work or sports competition) that you took part in.
1. Participation in a badminton championship was tough for me. But luckily I have obtained a prize for participation. The competition held by several other competitors and I had to defeat them in matches. I got a smart amount of money as the prize. I participated in competitions because I love to play badminton. But this time I had some difficulties as I did not have enough time to get prepared for the matches.
2. In my school days, I took part in a storytelling competition. I had to submit a story and unluckily, I did not get a prize for my participation. The winners got books of different local Russian writers. I decided to take part there to judge my skills. In fact, I used to tell stories in classes after listening from my grandma. But I did not have ideas that those were not unique and everyone had familiarity with these stories.
3. Playing chess is difficult and the complexity level rises when the player is a newbie. A similar thing happened to me. I took part in an inter-class chess competition at my college in Melbourne. It was very hard for me to get a prize. The winners were awarded trophies and medals. I took part in the competition because of my friends' encouragement. They actually instigated me and however, it was a tough experience.
4. If you have skills, you can be a winner in table tennis. But if you are a newbie, chances are little to win the game. And it was a failure for me. I was the later one. I lost in the game that took place in my college in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The winners were awarded different types of prizes like certificates and small gifts. Just to check my skills and how my physical fitness is, I enrolled in the competition.
5. I was never fond of basketball and got an altering view about the game after I took part in. In fact, I did not have the slightest idea how to play it and I just enjoyed the matches. But last month, I had to take part in a basketball match as part of my college team. Luckily, my team became the best one in Hokkaido, Japan, for outstanding performance. Just to meet the curiosity and with direct inspiration from my surrounding students and teachers, I took part in the competition.
Report