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Describe A Poisonous Plant You Know About: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What plant is it?
  • Where is it found?
  • What are the benefits and side effects of this plant?
  • How do you know about it?
Show all 24 answers

Cue 1:What plant is it?

  • Begin by naming the poisonous plant clearly and confidently.
  • Provide a brief description of its appearance and characteristics.

Example

The plant I want to talk about is called 'Aconitum', commonly known as Monkshood. It has beautiful blue flowers and is often found in the mountainous regions of India. However, it is important to note that all parts of this plant are highly toxic.


Cue 2:Where is it found?

  • Mention specific regions or habitats where the plant grows.
  • You can include details about its natural environment or any specific locations in India.

Example

Aconitum is primarily found in the Himalayan regions, particularly in states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It thrives in moist, shady areas and is often seen growing in the wild, near streams and in meadows.


Cue 3:What are the benefits and side effects of this plant?

  • Discuss any medicinal uses the plant may have, while emphasizing its dangers.
  • Explain the side effects and potential risks of handling or consuming the plant.

Example

While Aconitum has been used in traditional medicine for its analgesic properties, it is extremely dangerous. Even a small amount can cause severe poisoning, leading to symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and even heart failure. Therefore, it is crucial to handle this plant with care.


Cue 4:How do you know about it?

  • Share a personal experience or story related to the plant.
  • Explain how you learned about its properties and dangers.

Example

I first learned about Aconitum during a nature walk in the Himalayas with my friends. A local guide pointed it out and warned us about its toxicity. Since then, I have researched more about it, and I always remind others to be cautious around such plants.


Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, Aconitum is a fascinating yet dangerous plant that highlights the importance of respecting nature. While it has some medicinal uses, its toxicity makes it essential to approach it with caution. I believe that awareness about such plants can help prevent accidents and promote safety in nature.


    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. It's important to provide specific details about the plant to engage the listener and demonstrate your knowledge.

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    Tip

    Use descriptive adjectives and specific examples when talking about the plant's characteristics and effects.


    2: Ignoring Side Effects

    Failing to mention the side effects of the plant can lead to an incomplete answer. It's crucial to discuss both benefits and risks to show a balanced understanding.

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    Tip

    Always include both the benefits and potential dangers of the plant to provide a comprehensive response.


    Lack of Personal Connection

    Not sharing how you know about the plant can make your answer less engaging. Personal experiences can add depth and interest to your response.

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    Tip

    Include a personal story or experience related to the plant to make your answer more relatable and memorable.


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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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    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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    Anonymous student Band 8

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    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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    Anonymous student Band 6.5

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    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.

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    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
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    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

    Plants are extremely influential in this burgeoning world because plants provide a lot of things like as fruits, vegetables, oxygen and so on. Today I am going to describe a poisonous plant which I know. The plant name is a pitcher plant. I know about this plant when I was in 6th standard. In my journal knowledge book, I got to know that it's a poisonous plant which is good for environment actually just because it eats insect and close its mouth as soon as possible. First I found this plant when I came to Canada. I went to trail with my friends for a trekking and during the way to the hills I found this plant. This plant looks so beautiful and attractive. The color is red. I still remember that and I was observing this plant for really long when I found that. Then I saw that one insect came on this plant and sat on it and after that this plant closed its mouth. Moreover, I found that interesting because it always kills most harmful insect which is not good for the environment. On the another hand, I can say this plant everyone have their pros and cons in its own way. It is good for the environment but it is also dangerous for the insects as well as for human beings because we are not able to touch this plant just because having a chemical on the upper layer which can harmful humans easily.

    Band 5-6

    In my village, poisonous plants are known as cactus. It is found anywhere in my fields. I am not aware in my childhood. At that time, the more dangerous plant is called cactus. It is so called mollachettu in Telugu. It is also known as cactus plant. It is more dangerous due to the poison it releases to the environment, which causes harm to birds and animals, also humans as well. It is naturally found in farms and fields. It is more dangerous than any other plants in our area. It is a much famous poison. It contains lots of thorns. It is more dangerous to touch. Not only for humans, but also for the environment. It is too dangerous.

    Band 5-6

    A poisonous plant that I would like to describe about is castor plant. It is commonly found in dry areas of India. The castor oil is extracted from this plant and it is used for variety of purposes but the castor bean in the plant.

    Band 5-6

    The most poisonous plant I have come across or heard about is the mushroom plant. This plant, mushroom plants are found in the forest.

    Band 5-6

    India is a diverse country so that's why there are also diverse type of plants in India country and I am also belong to the India country. There are various types of poison plants in my country such as Alexandra, Deadly Nightshade and Rosary Peas. Today we will talk about Deadly Shade, it is that kind of plant which is very helpful for the people and it also affect each coin as a two side that's why they have also benefit as well as demerits. Today here I will like to talk to you about that poison plant that I will see in my life. In the summer vacation I visited to the rural area where my aunt and aunt is lives. They have their own farmland which they were doing their farming with organic farming method and I also visited their farmland and I also see lots of plant in there. There are various types of plant which were there and I also gain and I also acquire lots of knowledge regarding to the plants because I am live in urban area so that's why I cannot acquire lot of knowledge regarding to the farming. When I visited in the rural area I acquired lot of knowledge and I also observed how we do the farming in the agriculture. It is a very nice experience to I visited in the rural area because I acquired lot of knowledge regarding to the farming as well as agriculture. It is a very good experience and I learn lot of knowledge regarding to the plants. It is very helpful for me how regarding in the little plants it is very helpful for me. I think it is a very very good trip for me and I cannot forget it.

    Band 5-6

    Well, to be very honest, I do not have any idea about a poisonous plant because I never came across to anyone. Apart from this, I can guess it like where these plants can be found is majorly into the wild or the jungles, but there is one fruit item named as apple which I have seen in a movie that if we collect the seeds of apple and crash it down into a powder, it can be really harmful and it can be used as a poisonous product. If someone takes a very small amount of that powder, then it can be very harmful, it can lead to death of a particular person as well. The side effects of that are or the side effects of any poisonous plant may include, I believe, nausea, vomiting, delusion, these are the things. Apart from that, I would like to add or moreover, there are few benefits as well, that is, it helps us in sleeping if we are not able to sleep and taking a small amount of that particular poisonous plant can help us sleep. I came across with a movie named as Into the Wild through Amazon Prime and this movie is based on a personality of a person who started to live in the wild and do not have any money, just eat the herbs and one day he ate the wrong herbs.

    Band 5-6

    So, to describe poisonous plant I know about, basically I would say we have it as a plant, but it is actually a fungi, mushroom, and there are both poisonous fungi as well as edible fungi, and there are some medicinal fungi as well. So, if I talk about the benefits of fungi or mushroom, mushroom is proteinaceous, and there are different varieties of mushrooms, and they can be used in salads, pastas, or even a sort of curry could be made of it, or even something like pulao, so there are varieties of mushrooms, and another positive thing is that there are some indigenous mushrooms, wild mushrooms as well. Now, if I come to the negative aspect of mushrooms, one has to know what mushroom is edible and which one is not, so there are poisonous mushrooms, wild mushrooms, which are, which basically the locals living in that forest, for example, the tribes, they basically know or have the knowledge of which mushroom is poisonous and which mushroom is edible, so this is how I know about the mushrooms is that basically I have done PhD, and during PhD I wanted to start a mushroom business, and that's how I studied about mushrooms, so I know about the positives and the negatives of growing mushrooms basically, and I also read about some mushrooms which are hallucinating as well, so that comes under the positive.

    Band 5-6

    Well, one of the poisonous plant I know is lily plant which is located in desert areas like they are very dry, they won't grow in a proper way without a water, it grows in a certain way, one of the benefits that I know is it gives a good fragrance and gives a wonderful smell and in it comes to knowing. I know this plant from the past 10 years, 10 years ago I went to Sahara desert to visit the place, however when I visit the place there are many such plants and also including oleander, additionally a poisonous plant, it was really looking awesome, but if we touch that or if we smell that, we will see the health obviously, because it is such a dangerous plant, this will kill a person by smell, by smelling that or by touching the plant, this is the only default in that plant. When coming to the lily, lily is a beautiful looking flower.

    Band 5-6

    the most poisonous and dangerous plant which i know is cactus it is commonly found in rajasthan because it grow where where the land is desert and it consists of sharp sticks and give a lot of pain if touched with bare hands so it the thing i know is it is also consist with it also have water in it if cut from the middle of and that's enough this is most commonly found in the desert areas and it is very poisonous on the my point of

    Band 5-6

    Actually, I didn't hear of any of the poisonous plants as far as my life. But I think there are few poisonous plants that are really very dangerous to the people. I think one of that can be like cactus which has thorns in it and also I think it also has the poison in it. So I don't exactly feel. I think all the poisonous plants grows in the forest. Wherever it is like huge humid of rain, sunlight and air also. So I think we can find lots of poisonous plants in forest as well. Thank you for watching.
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