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Describe a time when the electricity suddenly went off: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When/where it happened
  • What happened when it went off
  • How people reacted / what you did
  • And explain how you felt about it
Show all 73 answers

Cue 1:When/where it happened

  • Begin by describing the specific location and time when the electricity went off.
  • Mention any relevant details about the setting, such as whether you were at home, school, or work.

Example

It was a hot summer evening around 7 PM when the electricity suddenly went off at my home. I was in the living room, trying to finish my homework while the ceiling fan was running to keep me cool.

Cue 2:What happened when it went off

  • Explain the immediate effects of the power outage, such as darkness or loss of appliances.
  • Mention any specific activities that were interrupted due to the electricity going off.

Example

As soon as the lights went out, the room was plunged into darkness. The fan stopped spinning, and I could hear the distant sounds of my neighbors reacting to the outage. My laptop screen went black, and I realized I couldn’t continue my studies.

Cue 3:How people reacted / what you did

  • Describe how you and others around you reacted to the sudden power cut.
  • Mention any actions you took to cope with the situation, like using candles or checking on family members.

Example

My family quickly gathered in the living room, and my mother lit some candles to provide light. My younger brother started to feel scared, so I reassured him that it would be okay. We all sat together, sharing stories to pass the time.

Cue 4:And explain how you felt about it

  • Share your feelings about the power outage, whether it was frustration, fear, or something else.
  • Reflect on any positive aspects of the situation, like spending time with family.

Example

Initially, I felt frustrated because I was in the middle of my homework. However, as we sat together in candlelight, I realized it was a nice opportunity to bond with my family. We laughed and talked, which made me appreciate the moment despite the inconvenience.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, the sudden power cut was an unexpected event that disrupted my evening. However, it turned into a memorable experience as it brought my family together, reminding me of the importance of spending quality time with loved ones, even in challenging situations.

    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: Lack of Detail in Description

    Failing to provide specific details about when and where the electricity went off can make your answer less engaging and informative. It may leave the examiner with unanswered questions.

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    Tip

    Include specific details such as the location, time of day, and any relevant context to make your story more vivid and relatable.

    2: Ignoring Emotional Response

    Not expressing how you felt during the power outage can make your response seem flat. Emotions help to connect with the listener and add depth to your answer.

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    Tip

    Share your feelings during the event, whether it was fear, frustration, or humor, to create a more compelling narrative.

    Neglecting Reactions of Others

    Overlooking how others reacted to the situation can limit the scope of your response. Including others' reactions can enrich your story and provide different perspectives.

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    Tip

    Mention how family, friends, or colleagues reacted to the power outage to add variety and depth to your response.

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    All Answers

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

    Band 6-7

    If you talk about a time when light went off, I would like to say our story. There is a time, once upon a time I was in my room, I was celebrating my birthday. That's when a lot of my friends, my family, relatives were invited and we were going to cut the cake. That's when the light went off and everyone started shouting, what happened, what happened, the light went off and we, yeah, we are, you know, it's called triti bhakti, we lighten, lalten, yeah, we call lalten, another kind of light, we set off and we, that's, through that lalten we had celebrated my birthday. I had, we had celebrated my birthday and that thing I never forget, yeah. And after cutting cakes and celebrating, celebrate, you know, my birthday, suddenly light came out, yeah, and then everyone cheering, oh my god, light, suddenly light came out, yeah, that's kind of experience I never felt in my before. Especially in my country, there is a lot of, there is a lot of load shedding due to, due to, you know, due to, you know, corruption.

    Band 6-7

    There was a time when the electricity was totally shut down. When I was in my college days away from home, I used to live in an apartment and my friend used to live on the opposite side of my room. So one day the electricity all went down because there was a current shock over the transformer. So it went off for like three hours and it was a hot summer night. So I personally felt very good because it's so good to see, it's so perfect night to go outside and watch the bright beautiful moonlight and all of the beautiful flowers and the surrounding is fully dark and you can enjoy the light. And me and my friend, we both went outside. All the people came out of their building and just walking around to the colony area. And it was very breathtaking moment to see the moonlight such a bright shining out with no electricity that will bother the moonlight.

    Band 6-7

    Once it so happened that I was alone at home. At that time I was in fifth class and a very young child. It was daytime and I was preparing for my examinations which were to start from the next day. The next, the first test was math test and I had to prepare for it. I was preparing for it when suddenly the lights went off. I tried to find out what the reason was and I came to know that the electricity had went off, had gone off. I was not scared at that time but I was concerned about my studies as I had to prepare for the test. Further, as the day passed on and the Sun set, at that time I grew scared because I was alone at home and there were no lights. Some time passed and I stayed in my room alone and darkness started spreading all over. Then I remembered that I can go to my uncle's house which is very near but still I did not have any means to do so because the doors were locked and my parents were out. So I stayed in my room and thought about what I should do to prepare for my test. I found out that there was an emergency bulb kept on the Almera and I used that to prepare for my test. Eventually the lights came back again.

    Band 6-7

    It was around one month ago when the electricity in our area suddenly went off. It was about a month ago when the electricity in our area suddenly went off at around 7 p.m. and it created a lot of menace. People started shouting and screaming, small kids were afraid of darkness. As soon as the higher authorities of our society got to know about the situation, they tried contacting the electrical engineers. Within 20 minutes, the electrical engineers were...

    Band 6-7

    I would like to share my very recent experience where the electricity suddenly went off for the whole one day. This happened when they announced a tsunami in the recent days of rainy season which was about to come from the side of coastal areas from Vizag hitting the all coastal regions such as West Godavari, East Godavari, Vizag district and the areas which are so close to the beach areas. And I would like to say that we had a very complex situation where we had a trouble in eating or cooking food or sleeping or being in dark for the whole one day. Though maybe it is a difficulty, we also have learned something which is a very important important lesson regarding the electricity we are using regularly.

    Band 6-7

    The first time when I experienced the electricity going off was at my maternal side grandmother's house. She lives in a bungalow and there are a lot of neighbouring bungalows as well. However, it was something unusual for me and my family as we still hadn't experienced one yet. So, I was a bit confused why something like this went off as I was a kid myself so it was confusing for me. Then when it was too hot for everyone, my grandmother gave us a fan to get a breeze but as it was night time, the weather was pleasant outside so everyone from their house came out and were chatting with each other. Then it was a lot of, moreover it went for I would say an hour or two so people got bored and we decided to play a game which was antakshari which is singing songs with the letter that other one said. We played that game, bonded with different people also it was a memorable one as I got to make new memories with people I hadn't talked to ever.

    Band 6-7

    Like many other kids, the first time the power went off, I was really scared. It was suddenly pitch dark and I clung to my brother, trying to find our parents. When we found our parents, they were very calm about it. We started hunting for the candles, made a little game of it, seeing who could find the most candles in the house. Finally, we lit the candles and, to my surprise, they started singing. Singing? Who sings when the light goes off? We all sang a song about how the light comes back, thanking God, asking God for His blessings. And when the power did come back on, I felt much better. I felt that it was only temporary, this loss of electricity. And the next time the power went off, I knew what to do. I knew that we just had to sing. God would bring back the electricity. I knew that we needed to light the candles and they would throw their pretty flames all over the house, lighting it up. It wasn't a scary experience anymore.

    Band 6-7

    So, there was this instance when the power in my home went off when I was taking a semester exam online. This happened during the COVID pandemic when all of my classes were shifted to online and the examination was held in an online portal as well. My first reaction to what happened when the power, I would describe my first reaction as petrified. I was petrified and I panicked a lot since the power went off during my examination. That's because there is a chance that my laptop got logged out of the portal since the internet which was connected to the power went off. Thankfully the power came back after 10 minutes. I was able to log in to the portal again and complete my test. It was really a very dramatic experience that I had but thankfully everything ended up alright.

    Band 6-7

    So, when the electricity went off when I was in the middle of the forest with my co-workers, it was in the time of the evening and we were just sitting and then suddenly it went off and it was dark in every corner of the room. So when everyone is afraid and they don't know, like they had no idea what they're supposed to do right now because in the middle of a forest, you are sitting in a forest rest house and suddenly the electricity goes off and then I tried to stand up and search for a candle there and try to tell the people that, okay, don't worry, we will find something else, some solutions to light up the room and then I'm trying to find out the candles and the matchsticks and in that time, after some time, a help came from the kitchen who was preparing some food for us. So he came up with a matchstick and I found a candle and then we lit up the room and then it was for that moment, for that very moment, when the light went off and everyone is in a shock that what happened, any wild animal can come into the room or anything can happen. We were so clueless. It was a very...

    Band 6-7

    There was a time in my 10th standard, I was preparing for certain examinations, it was called Maharashtra State Board Exam. So I was preparing for it and the light went off suddenly. I got panicked, but my father handled the situation very carefully. He ran into the street market and bought the fresh new light, which was battery powered. That helped me a lot to study. It was a frequent sudden electricity shutdown all over my city, which cost us a lot of time to repair. But then the government did their work and we were not in any electricity shutdown. So that is all. As far as my exam, I did very good in the exam, but the problem with the electricity sudden went off was too bad.
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