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Describe a risk you took that you thought would lead to a terrible result but ended up with a positive result: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When you took the risk
  • Why you took the risk
  • How it went
  • And explain how you felt about it
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15 unique answers with expert feedback

Show all 15 answers

Cue 1:When you took the risk

  • Begin by mentioning the specific time and situation when you took the risk.
  • Make it relatable by sharing a brief background about your life at that time.

Example

I took this risk about two years ago when I was working in a stable job in a multinational company. I had been there for three years, but I felt unfulfilled and wanted to pursue my passion for photography.

Cue 2:Why you took the risk

  • Explain your motivations for taking the risk, focusing on your passion or desire for change.
  • Mention any fears or doubts you had before making the decision.

Example

I decided to leave my job because I wanted to follow my dream of becoming a professional photographer. Although I was scared of the financial instability and the possibility of failure, I felt that if I didn’t try, I would always regret it.

Cue 3:How it went

  • Describe the process of taking the risk and the challenges you faced.
  • Share the positive outcomes that resulted from your decision.

Example

Initially, it was tough. I struggled to find clients and often doubted my skills. However, after a few months of hard work, I started getting recognition for my work. I even had my first exhibition, which was a huge success.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about it

  • Reflect on your emotions during the journey, both the highs and lows.
  • Conclude with how this experience changed your perspective on taking risks.

Example

Looking back, I felt a mix of anxiety and excitement throughout the journey. The fear of failure was always present, but the joy of pursuing my passion outweighed it. This experience taught me that taking risks can lead to unexpected and rewarding outcomes.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, taking that risk to follow my passion for photography turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. It not only brought me happiness but also taught me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone to achieve my dreams.

    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: Avoid Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your story less engaging and unclear. Specific details help the examiner understand your experience better and make your answer more memorable.

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    Tip

    Include specific dates, places, and emotions to paint a clearer picture of your experience.

    2: Don't Focus Solely on Negatives

    Focusing too much on the potential negative outcomes can make your answer sound pessimistic. It's important to balance the risks with the positive results.

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    Tip

    Start by acknowledging the risk, then shift to the positive outcome and what you learned from the experience.

    Neglecting Personal Feelings

    Failing to express your feelings about the experience can make your answer less relatable. Personal emotions add depth to your story and engage the listener.

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    Tip

    Share how you felt before, during, and after taking the risk to create a more compelling narrative.

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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

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    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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    Anonymous student Band 7

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    Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

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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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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    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 7

    Well, this was the risk taken by me back then in 2014 when I was about to decide my major subject for my bachelor's degree. I was interested both in physics as well as biology and most of my family members and my parents were of the opinion that they required me to select engineering as my career choice. But I was more interested into biology and I was also good in physics. I made a decision that I will select biology and go for a career in medical sciences and that was a risk which I took. I thought it would be a terrible decision to take biology as the major subject as I had never dreamed of becoming a doctor and it was highly unexpected. In the initial years of my bachelorate or my degree course, it was a bit hard for me to go through all the biological concepts and the medical terminologies but as the first year went, it was something which I had already, I already pursued an inner quality for the same and after so many years, I think I have a successful career in the medical field and I am much satisfied with the position in which and who I am today.

    Band 7

    One of the most incredible risk that I have ever taken in my life was during my 12th grade. I have actually completed my schooling and it was my time to apply for college. So I was basically a biology student and maths was never my cup of tea. So I need to crack my NEET exam but the thing is I haven't applied for any colleges other than the medicine ones. NEET was my last ray of hope and I was solely relying on this one exam with high confidence on myself that I will clear this exam. I prepared for a period of about two years for this exam and I was awaiting the results on one fine day and when the results came and when I attended the counselling, I was able to feel elation because I cleared NEET and I have got a seat in medical college in Thiruvarur. Furthermore, my family supported me during all phases of this period and they always provided me with a tranquil environment so that I can study in peace. They supported all my decisions. Furthermore, they were always standing by my side as good well-wishers and taking me through all these hurdles like they were nothing. So I striked the iron when it was hot and yes, I was able to crack my NEET exam and I am a fully flourished doctor now.

    Band 6-7

    Okay, so I would like to tell you about one of the most not so terrible but yes the risky experience about my life. I am learning German since 7 to 8 years now. So at the starting phase of learning, I have booked the test date for even exam and I am not yet prepared for the exam at all but still I took the risk and I have booked the date for that exam. So I have booked the exam, it's 10 days before the actual exam date. So I only had 10 days for the preparation. So I went to the library, I read, I have read a lot of books over there. And I studied a lot. I tried to find how I can study in just 10 days. So I take my time, I read a lot of grammar books that helps me a lot. And it's not about the study but it's about the risk that you have to be, that you have to take in your life because the risk will tell you how to do the things without, without risk.

    Band 6-7

    I chose to lose weight last year because I want to improve my overall health by reducing the potential risks associated with being overweight such as increasing risk of heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer. I might have also been motivated by asymptotic reasons like wanting to fit better into clutch or feel more confident in body. Losing 6 kgs considering a significant amount of weight that I could positively impact on my health. However, it's important to consult your doctor before starting to the weight loss plan to ensure it's safe and appropriate for my individual needs.

    Band 6-7

    I had been given the chair holder for the literary club of my college and I took over the responsibility of making a huge model representing the theme of the fest my club was conducting, Legacy. That was a risk that I took. Many people doubted me for it, most of them disagreed with me going ahead with this plan given that I had a lot of other work that needed to be done in order to successfully conduct the fest but I had a team of 40 students and all of them worked hard, we collaborated really well and that result ended up being so good and it had a very positive impact on the overall performance of my team. I honestly believe that trusting yourself and trusting your gut could lead to very good results only and only if you believe in yourself.

    Band 6

    There are so many risks which I have taken in my life till now, but today I would like to talk about a risk which I had to choose, which was taken by me when I first planned to do a bachelor's degree in BCA, which was one of the biggest risks I have ever taken because at that time I was not that much sure about, and also I am not that much good in computer, I was not having any kind of computer skills as well, but after that I planned, and after that when I started studying BCA, it felt really good, like I was even having difficulties while learning as well, but I never gave up on that thing, and my teachers and my friends always, and my also family members always praised me by whatever I achieved in that thing, when I took that decision, because the main reason behind it was that the rising opportunities which employers are getting in the computer section, like in the IT, in the big IT companies, and also it is very much important and necessary in this generation as well, like technologies are getting, coming more and more in the upcoming days, and it is very much necessary to have that kind of knowledge in our life. When I was slowly learning, as much as I passed any semesters, I used to have a basic level of knowledge, and after that I also got a bigger knowledge as well, anyone in the fifth semester, when there was a project, I had to make a website, at that time I made a website on chocolate selling, and that website was, comes out really nice, and my teacher was so much good, was so much happy from me, and

    Band 6

    There are several incidents in my life, but... Life is all about overcoming the problems and solving and leading a happy life. As far as I am concerned, in my life there are many incidents that I face and come upon. But one incident that I would like to share, would like to talk about is... When I was in intermediate, my father and my relatives forced me to take course which is famous and was relevant for them. But I didn't like mathematics and chemistry. They were very annoying for me. I loved the arts and commerce background. So, I had to take the decision of taking the commerce. Then I went to my father and said, I want to pursue only commerce. So, it was very hard to take that decision. Then I went on. It was so very hard for me to lead a happy life. I went through various... for a certain amount of time... For some months, I couldn't ask anything for me to my parents. So, I was very much engaged in reading my own text books and all this stuff. Then I started... I was depressed for some months and then I started motivating myself and rising like a phoenix bird. Then I came across very challenging aspects in my life. So, how to be confident and use my skills potentially to produce a productive work.

    Band 6

    So a risk that I took which led to a positive result is choosing up my girlfriend. Initially when I thought I need a girlfriend and I had a lot of friends around me and I wanted an emotional attachment with a person I thought to choose a girlfriend for myself and a life partner technically. So first I thought it would be a terrible decision because I'm risking my life on my own because I have seen a lot of movies and I've seen a lot of friends in relationship but at last it ended to be a positive response. So there was a girl named Himanetri. She was my junior in college. She is from 22nd batch and we initially started talking in the month of November 2023. The initial conversation between us was for her course registration in our college and about a medical certificate for her attendance. Then it gradually developed and we started chatting every day and we chatted for hours and hours. Then later one fine day on 24th January 2024 I proposed her with whole of my heart and she also accepted at the very right moment and it was a very major decision that I took in my life. So initially in first time in relationship it was very tough for me to manage my studies, my projects and my relationship but she was very kind of person who used to help me in all the steps, who used to have good motive thoughts and motivate me all over and we had good times all over. We went for a few dates, we had time to go to beach, we had time to spend ourselves and later taking a six months time we told in our houses and even in our house at last they accepted. However I am from Tamil Nadu basically Tamilian and she being a Telugu person it was little hard time to make them accept but at last we accepted ourselves and our families accepted us as a whole and now we are having a good relationship and we will be flying to US together from the upcoming months and this is what the most best decision I took in my life where it was positive at the end.

    Band 6

    The risk I took that would lead to a terrible result but ended up a positive result. When I was in my 12th and I was giving my boy exam, it was our geography boy exam and I had to, I was very sick at that time that I couldn't prepare for it. I couldn't prepare for the geography exam before I got sick but at that time I also had my other papers like pole science and history so I couldn't prepare for the geography because I thought there's plenty of gap between history and geography so I thought I'll prepare between them. But then I got sick due to which I couldn't prepare for the geography exam and at last minute I thought I wouldn't give the exam because I was very unconfident about my knowledge about geography but my parents they told me like just give it a try. If it doesn't go well it's fine but you should at least give it a try so I did and at that time I went with zero knowledge and when I sat in the exam hall I was so nervous but looking at the question paper I felt like I knew something, it's not that I don't know anything. And then I started attempting the questions and I felt great like I thought it went way better than I expected. After that when the result was out it was I got out of 100 I got 73 or something so I felt really good and yeah.

    Band 6

    The day I decided to prepare for NEET so that I could become a doctor, that was the day I realized that I had chosen a very tough option. This is a highly competitive exam. I remember when I gave it, I had competed with 17 lakh students. That gives a very small percentage of students becoming a doctor by getting into a medical school. I remember I was fairly confident before taking the exam because I had prepared well and I had done everything that I could, however, it was only dawned on me after the exam that if I am unable to ace this exam, I had no other options.
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