Cue Card Sample
An important social change in your country - Cue Card # 628
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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.
Describe an important social change in your country.
You should say:
- what it was
- how it happened
- how long it took
explain the effect it has had on people in your country.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
I would like to take the chance to thank you first for this excellent topic. It is indeed a great subject to talk about.
Our society evolves and changes over time. Some changes are so prolific that they ensure a better life for all, and sometimes small changes impact our society beyond our expectations. Such an important change in our country is women's participation in higher education.
Looking back to the past century, women were confined at home, and it was beyond our imagination that they could be equally adept as men and participate in building our society. It was a curse not only for the females but also for the whole society to consider that women should only take care of household tasks and produce babies each year -what a shame. Some education, mostly primary schooling, was allowed for females, but parents considered higher education for females to be a waste of time and money. As a result, our universities had a very limited number of female students.
The change did not happen overnight and thanks to some fearless female social activists who fought for their rights to education. Their lifelong struggle and motivational activities inspired a thousand others - both females and progressive males. Besides, the government helped a lot to fight the social dogma and old beliefs, and a collaborative effort from the government, female social activists, writers, scientists, politicians and most importantly ordinary people have changed the very social norm of not sending females to universities.
The whole process took more than six decades or so in my country. But it is obvious that the human history of restricting women from education and other basic rights goes more than a few centuries.
We now have an almost equal number of female and male pupils and scholars in our universities. In some majors, females even exceed the number of their male counterparts. As a result, our society has a great number of female doctors, researchers, executives, politicians, artists, advocates, teachers, security personnel and so on. This is a great sign of social equality and parity. It ensures better social and economic developments and the GDP in recent years only denote how important a change it was for us. Women's empowerment has raised awareness, has given women a "strong voice" and eliminated many discriminations we have had in our society.
Model Answer 2:
Our societies around us are always changing, and we tend to welcome some of these changes while, with some other changes, we become really worried as they tend to affect all of us very negatively. Drug addiction, YABA addiction more precisely, is such a “dreadful change”, which we could certainly do away with, that has poisoned my country for the last 2 decades or so.
The “menace of Yaba” began when the “separatist groups” in Myanmar (formerly called “Burma”) started to produce this “dreadful drug” called Yaba, a combination of methamphetamine (a powerful and addictive stimulant) and caffeine, in order to raise their funds. Bangladesh, being a bordering country with Myanmar, with its huge unemployed youth and “newly-introduced” affluent societies, naturally became a magnet for this “poisonous stimulant”. Being manufactured at more than 37 factories inside Myanmar, this deadly “anti-depressant” drug has affected more than 7 million people in my country. This “Yaba” drug menace was under control, of some sort, up until 2006, but in 2019, the situation has spiralled out of control since then, as the government has finally decided to crack down on drug offences, involving Yaba, by declaring “death penalty”.
The Implications of this Yaba drug abuse are just too many to count, having created havoc in the lives of millions and their families in terms of serious degradation in health and moral values over the last two decades. In fact, many families in my country are suffering from a terrible “social paranoia” whereby they are constantly worried about their kids being involved in using “yaba”. In many cases, because of the extreme dependence on “yaba”, the drug addicts have indulged in many immoral and criminal activities, creating some serious “social unrest and despair” in my country.
If we don’t become really serious about this “Yaba menace”, the chances are that a large portion of our generation of “youth” in my country would get completely lost and wasted very much in detriment to our societies and country as a whole.
Model Answer 3:
An important social change in my country, Vietnam, has been the increasing recognition and promotion of gender equality. Over the past few decades, there has been a gradual but significant shift towards acknowledging and addressing gender disparities in various aspects of society. As a female, I am so glad to be able to talk about this important positive change that my country has witnessed recently. For the opportunity to be able to talk about it, I would like to thank you profoundly.
This change has largely been driven by a combination of government policies, advocacy efforts by civil society organizations, and changing societal attitudes. The Vietnamese government has implemented various legal frameworks and initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality and empowering women, including laws protecting women's rights, increasing access to education and healthcare for women and girls, and promoting women's participation in decision-making roles.
Additionally, grassroots movements and advocacy campaigns led by NGOs and women's rights organizations have played a crucial role in raising awareness about gender issues and advocating for policy changes. These efforts have helped challenge traditional gender norms and stereotypes, leading to greater acceptance of women's rights and opportunities for women to participate in various spheres of public life.
While the journey towards gender equality is ongoing and there are still challenges to overcome, the impact of these social changes in Vietnam has been significant. Women now have greater access to education and economic opportunities, leading to improved livelihoods and overall well-being. There has also been a notable increase in women's participation in leadership roles across sectors such as politics, business, and academia. Moreover, there is a growing recognition of the importance of gender equality in promoting social cohesion, economic development, and sustainable growth in Vietnam. Overall, the social change towards gender equality in Vietnam has been transformative, paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable society where everyone, regardless of gender, can fully participate and contribute to the country's development and prosperity.
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