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Describe a book you read that you found useful: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What it is
  • When you read it
  • Why you think it is useful
  • And explain how you felt about it
Show all 100 answers

Cue 1:What it is

  • Begin by naming the book and its author clearly.
  • Provide a brief summary of the book's main theme or subject.

Example

The book I found particularly useful is 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle. It focuses on mindfulness and living in the present moment, which I believe is essential in today’s fast-paced world.

Cue 2:When you read it

  • Mention the time period when you read the book, such as during a specific year or season.
  • Share any relevant context about your life at that time that influenced your reading.

Example

I read this book last year during the summer while I was on a break from college. I was feeling quite stressed about my future and needed some guidance on how to manage my thoughts.

Cue 3:Why you think it is useful

  • Explain the key lessons or insights you gained from the book.
  • Discuss how these lessons have impacted your daily life or mindset.

Example

I found it useful because it taught me the importance of being present and not getting lost in worries about the past or future. This perspective has helped me reduce my anxiety and focus more on my studies and relationships.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about it

  • Share your emotional response to the book, such as whether it inspired or motivated you.
  • Mention any changes in your behavior or attitude after reading it.

Example

After reading 'The Power of Now', I felt a sense of relief and clarity. It inspired me to practice mindfulness daily, and I noticed a positive change in my overall well-being and happiness.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, 'The Power of Now' has been a transformative read for me. It not only provided practical advice but also changed my outlook on life, making me more present and appreciative of each moment.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear and unengaging. It's important to provide specific details about the book to make your response more interesting.

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    Tip

    Include specific examples from the book, such as key themes or memorable quotes, to illustrate your points clearly.

    2: Ignoring Personal Feelings

    Failing to express your personal feelings about the book can make your answer less relatable. Sharing your emotions helps the examiner connect with your response.

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    Tip

    Discuss how the book impacted you personally, mentioning any changes in your perspective or feelings after reading it.

    Rushing Through Points

    Rushing through your points can lead to a lack of clarity and depth in your answer. It's important to take your time to explain each cue thoroughly.

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    Tip

    Practice pacing your speech by elaborating on each cue, ensuring you cover all aspects without feeling rushed.

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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

    Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

    Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

    Answer

    I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.
    Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

    Answer

    The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.
    Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

    location icon

    Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

    Answer

    As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.
    Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

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    Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

    Answer

    When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
    Describe a book you recently read
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

    Answer

    It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band 6-7

    It is a fascinating question. I love reading books because books gives us entertainment, meaningful and a time pass. While just I had any thing to be bored, I just picked something books which had been from library to give myself joyful and happiness, not to think of living single or I am alone. I just read a book about democracy of America because at the last night which had not been followed with me, so I had taken something better to think for furtherness. I read it at last night. It is useful for important of technology and how the America is democratic and how their leaders are treated them to become something special compared with other countries. I felt it about very surprisingly because how a country can make GDP growth by keeping its place number one and how they leave the country very fascinating and fantastic things.

    Band 6-7

    The book I always find useful and it's kind of a bible to me is The Old Man and the Sea written by Mr. Ernest Hemingway. The book I always suggest for people to read and it's kind of a refreshing experience whenever I read the book. I always feel motivated and it gives me so much of confidence to move ahead with my life which is not something which a normal conversation can't give you. The book, actually I read the book during my college time while I was studying my English Literature and Language Masters and the book had a really good impact over my consciousness and how to perceive and how to analyze the world livings and how the world influences someone during their struggles and their low times. Additionally, the book has so much of simple writing, it's not some complex writing which is done by Mr. Hemingway. It gives a really beautiful life example with so much of simpler scenarios which the character goes through. It's basically in the old sea a man is getting trapped and how he survives, so that's the main synopsis of the whole story is. And how it gets the details of such the journey of that protagonist is what gives us so much of hope which is a greater thing for leading your life. It's something which I personally feel that everyone should look upon. And that's what the book is all about and what it gives.

    Band 6-7

    The book I found really useful is Stop Overthinking by Harvard Wordsmith. It was a wonderful book and it has many psychological facts that how people overthink about themselves, also about the situation they face, but rather it is not that crucial to think and waste our energy. So, that book made me don't think too much about any situation or any obstacles that I face in my life. Moreover, the book was really simple and even the layman can understand the language or comment the author used in the book. Also, I had a very good story how I bought the book. I was really overthinking about my exam like whether I'll crack the exam or what is gonna happen. So, I was just depressed myself and also stressed by thinking about the exam. And I went to the exam, but I couldn't clear the exam because of stress and overthinking. Then I realized something wrong is happening with me. So, later my teacher has suggested me this book that you are really overthinking about your exam. That is the reason you failed. Just read the book and you'll get an idea. Then after I finished the book, it made me really wonderful about me and how I was thinking about the situation when it is a waste of time and energy. So, I think everybody should read this book and I felt really useful about this book.

    Band 6-7

    The book I have found useful recently is Sherlock Holmes that is written by Conan Doyle. I have read this book last month and found it was very engaging. I was able to complete this book within a month and I would like to buy books from store. So I bought this book from store rather than online shopping. This book is very handy and great. Moreover it was really thought provoking and it really improved my cognitive thinking. I think when we read this book our creative thinking will improve. In addition to that we will get a lot of innovative ideas in our mind. In addition to that this book had a great or a wide range of vocabulary which would be useful for us while writing articles. Moreover I had a vicarious experience while reading this book.

    Band 6-7

    So, the book called Swami Vivekananda Karma, this book actually focus on the very basic things which we never thought, which we never talk about. It is the Karma actions. Our future tense is largely depended on how we perform today, it's not about what we think, it's more about what we do. To change your life, to change your character or personality, you must need to work on the action of your todays. Do not think about the past, what happened has nothing to do with your future. You must need that much of clarity that your todays action will become your past in your future. This is what I am talking about, that book was really inspirational and surprising at the same time because it was too philosophical.

    Band 6-7

    The book which I read was Transportation Engineering by Kanna and Jasto. I read it two weeks ago. I read it because I wanted my basics about transportation and highway engineering to be clear. And I read it because my courses right now in my BE are going on. So I had really doubts on it. So our professor Mr. Shivraj Harial insisted me to read this book and which really cleared my doubts. And there are various numericals and also various topics that I didn't understand because due to some circumstances I couldn't attend the classes. And so I read this book which cleared my doubts and there are various projects which are going on and my senior design project is related to transportation engineering. So most of the data collection or anything regarding my project is easily that how I should do it, how I should perceive it is clearly given in this book. So it is really helpful for me to read this book. I am pursuing my master's degree. I am planning to pursue my master's degree next year in abroad in any good university. So my plan is that I should pursue transportation engineering because I love this course and course a lot.

    Band 6-7

    The book I read is very useful. It's A Rich Dad, A Poor Dad by Robert Yosef. This is one of my favorite book I had ever read. Because this book tells about how individuals manage their finance. So I read this book when I was in second year of my higher studies. I found this book through social media. One financial advisor suggested me to read this book. It is very useful. After reading this book, I felt like the way of seeing finance has totally changed. So I read every word of this book. And now, the book have a quote. This book tells about the happiness of individuals who looked into financial management at the very first time. There are a lot of books that tell us about happiness after reading this book. The book that is very useful to me is Rishad Bhuttad by Robert Yosehi. Actually, this book tells us how individuals need to manage their finance. What is the actual difference between the assets and liabilities. How we spend the money on those things. It is one of my favorite books also. I started reading this book when I was in the second year of my higher studies. I found this book through social media. One of the financial advisor advised me to read this book to improve my financial literacy. After reading this book, I felt totally different. In fact, I changed the way of looking the money. So I gained more and more knowledge about what is really an investment. How does it work and how is it going to help me in my future also. After that, the way of spending money on those things also changed. So this book is very useful to me to improve my financial wealth. Thank you.

    Band 6-7

    I am usually fond of books and I like the books which are related to my educational sector, especially which are related to my strength. One of the major books I would like to discuss here is The Species of Nature. This book consists of varieties of chapters that includes species, its subtypes and its relation in the nature. I read this book during my trip to a zoological park. This is a plus point that I can relate the book with the ongoing trip. Right now the main aspects of the book I must say is its keywords in the glossary which contains a vast information and also this book gives us the details about species related kingdoms. As I am a zoologist and there are numerous species which we study on a daily basis, so this book helps me to go through these species in a very subtle way. Books are usually friends of humans and no book is better than an acquaintance. These are the bundle of joy. Books are not only a human's best friend, but they are the information givers to the human. And lastly, I would like to say that books are human's friends.

    Band 6-7

    There is a book namely Python which I read during my bachelors in VIT Vellore. The main feature about the book is you get to learn Python language. That is Python's object oriented programming language as well and it helps me to program in data structures and algorithms and understand objects object oriented programming language properly and clearly and one of the major use of Python is it can be used widely whereas I used it for fast API which is a web application where we can use to build backend web development Using this I built a website and I have implemented couple of projects and I cracked Siemens which is an MNC using Python and the book actually helped me to crack all of this and the book is having around 400 pages which takes a human to read for 4-5 weeks but I read it in 5 days and now I am applying that book's knowledge into AI and trying to get AI masters application in Melbourne University of Australia and this Python book not only helped me to understand Python and it also moreover it also helped me to understand why Python holds a significant role against CPAP or C sharp language.

    Band 6-7

    One book that I found extremely useful is Atomic Habits by James Clare. I read it about a year ago when I was struggling to stay consistent with my daily routine, especially exercise and study. The book focuses on how small incremental changes can lead to remarkable results over time. Instead of trying to completely transform your life overnight, the author emphasizes the importance of building tiny habits that are easy to stick to. For example, if you want to start running regularly, you don't need to run 5 km on the first day. Just putting on your running shoes can be the first step. I found this book useful because it completely changed the way I look at self-improvement. Before reading it, I used to set unrealistic goals and then feel disappointed when I couldn't achieve them. It was like a new year resolution at those times. But after applying the strategies in the book like habits stacking and tracking progress, I became much more disciplined and consistent not only with fitness but also with studying English. Overall, I felt inspired and motivated after finishing the book. It gave me a sense of control over my routines and made me realize that success doesn't come from one huge effort but continuous small improvements. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to make lasting changes in their life.
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