arrow back icon Top Answers

Describe a time when you lost your pet.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What animal was it?
  • What happened to it & when?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 41 answers

Cue 1:What animal was it?

  • Begin by clearly identifying the type of pet you lost, including its name and breed.
  • Share a brief description of your pet's personality or any special traits that made it unique.

Example

I had a lovely golden retriever named Max. He was not just a pet but a part of my family. Max was playful, friendly, and always eager to please, which made him a joy to be around.

Cue 2:What happened to it & when?

  • Describe the circumstances surrounding the loss of your pet, including specific details about the event.
  • Mention when this incident occurred and any actions you took to find your pet.

Example

One evening, about six months ago, I took Max for his usual walk in the park. He was chasing a squirrel when he suddenly ran off. I called out to him, but he didn’t return. I searched the park for hours, calling his name, but he was nowhere to be found.

Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Express your emotions during and after the incident, highlighting the impact of losing your pet.
  • Reflect on how this experience affected you personally and emotionally.

Example

I felt an overwhelming sense of panic and sadness when I realized Max was missing. It was heartbreaking to think that he might be lost or scared. I spent the next few days feeling anxious and worried, constantly hoping to hear news about him.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your experience and the lessons learned from losing your pet.
  • Mention any steps you took afterward to cope with the loss or to prevent it from happening again.

Example

Losing Max taught me the importance of being more vigilant during walks. I also learned to cherish every moment with pets, as they bring so much joy into our lives. Although I never found him, I still remember him fondly and keep his memory alive.

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 answer less engaging. It's important to provide specific details about your pet and the situation to create a clearer picture for the examiner.

bulb icon

Tip

Include specific details about the type of pet, its name, and the exact circumstances of its loss to make your story more vivid.

2: Don't Rush Your Story

Rushing through your answer can lead to missing important details. This may make your response sound unstructured and less impactful.

bulb icon

Tip

Take your time to organize your thoughts. Start with what happened, then explain your feelings, and finish with any lessons learned.

Avoid Overly Emotional Responses

While it's natural to feel emotional about losing a pet, overly dramatic responses can distract from the main points of your answer.

bulb icon

Tip

Express your feelings in a balanced way. Share your emotions but also focus on the facts and what you learned from the experience.

calendar icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

location icon

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
anonymous person icon

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
anonymous person icon

Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

location icon

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

I had a Pomeranian named Roxy. I was seven years old when I lost the pet. So I took it for walking and it got off from the leash and started running. So I guess it was a puppy at that time. So it was very playful. So it ran away, but I feel like it forgot its route back home and we searched for it for one week, two weeks, but we didn't find the dog. And then it was a very hard time for me because it was one of the first disappointments that I felt when I was a child because I was seven years old. I was a happy child, but after this incident, it changed me a lot. It taught me the value of things. It taught me how to be careful. And from that day, I missed Roxy very much. I'll always remember it. Due to losing a Roxy, I lost belief in myself to take care of new dogs. So I haven't had any other pets till now. And even if I remember that, I'll feel very sad. So from that incident, I've learned that being careful is a very important aspect in your life because just a fraction of a second of you being careless can have a very big dent on your life.

Band 6-7

So, this is about last year when my pet dog, his name is Pogo, he was, means we were unable to find him and I was very much worried about that. The children in my neighborhood, they told me that he was caught by the dog catchers and he was taken away because there was no collar on him, so they assumed that he was a stray dog and they took him with themselves. So, then I just, we were searching for the dog catchers van and we searched for him around the area in the next lane, the previous lane, but we were unable to find. I was so much worried, also the kids in the neighborhood who used to play with him, they were also seemed to be unhappy, but suddenly in the evening around 5 to 5.30, one of my neighbor who spotted him, who spotted the van in the neighboring area of our house, he brought him up with him and that was really shocking and it was surprising, so that was one of my experience when I lost my pet. It hasn't happened, we took care about it, that it doesn't happen next time. So that's it.

Band 6-7

I owned a Labrador since my childhood. His name was Rocky, he was a black Labrador. So, he had terminal cancer and passed away two years ago. Jolly was a crucial part in my childhood. I used to hang out with him, I used to play with him. So, what happened to him was, in 2021, he fell ill. We took him to a lot of doctors but they could not diagnose the situation. But later we found out it to be cancer. We got surgeries done and treatments done and that expanded his life for a year and it also eased his pain. But seeing him lie around the house helpless and in pain, that disturbed me a lot. I was very sad about Rocky. But yes, I enjoyed my last one year with him. I took him around, we travelled a lot, I showed him a lot of new places. The excitement in his eyes never died and I still remember that. So, whenever you lose a loved one, of course you live in denial but then slowly you come to accept it. Same in the case of Rocky, he was a family member. So, from his passing, all my family members were disturbed and it was a hard time to accept that he passed away. But slowly we came to terms with it and now we hope that Rocky will come back into our lives in some other form.

Band 6-7

I am fond of pets from my childhood. I love dogs, cats and other animals. I remember when I was around 5 years old, we had a pet at our home. He was a dog and his name was Jimmy. He was about 6-7 years of age and my sister and I used to play with him all day. He was very cute. We also put a name tag on his collar. I remember one day he was very sick and when we checked with the veterinarian, he told us he had a high fever. We were so worried about him. We took some medications and we also hospitalized him for one whole day. We were so sad and we felt bad we didn't even eat for whole day. Next day we went to the doctor and he told me that he couldn't make it. We were kids, obviously we were sad and we were crying. Our eyes were filled with tears. We take him back with us and we buried him in the backyard of our house because it's a tradition in our country. When someone passes away, we have to bury him in the ground and put some flowers onto it. I remember that incident now and I felt very sad about it but I think he was in a good place.

Band 6-7

So, when I was a young girl, when I was a child, my father had a pet dog named Ruby. It was a great den and she looked very dangerous to me because she was almost twice as big as me, but although I was scared of her size, she was very loving to me. Whenever I would come back home, she would lick my knees and show love to me. Slowly I started getting familiar with her and I would go on walks with her. One day, I went on a walk with her, with my father. We went down from the elevator to our garden. He realized that he forgot his phone at home, so he told me to keep the leash of Ruby in my hand and he went home to get his phone quickly, as quickly as possible. I was told to just stay wherever I am, but I don't know, something happened and I found a pretty flower lying on the road, so I went to pick it up. As soon as I came back, I saw that Ruby was nowhere seen. I could not find her.

Band 6-7

I used to have a parrot as pet and one day I opened the case and it was just walking around on the roof and my sister took a stick and flew the stick across the parrot and that parrot just flew away and it just never come it happened about 10 years ago and it was quite traumatizing that I lost my parrot like that I used to love the parrot so much it took my name quite well that I when I came home from school it took my name and like shout my name many times whenever it feel hungry it take my name took my name and says like simpy simpy

Band 6-7

So actually it was in puppy which I had rescued and I was taking care of it for some time later when the her condition was serious you had to give it to the fosters who would you know take care with the required medications and stuff later I came to know here she couldn't withstand the suffering that she has gone through so she had to be amputated then post amputation she was taking rest in the foster home itself where she was struggling to walk since it's she's a puppy she was taking time to learn and on furthermore due to the environment and stuff she couldn't withstand more than around a month or something because post that she passed away succumbing to the pain and suffering

Band 6-7

all right so this is one of the most depressing sort of memories that I have in my mind and it is so etched in my memory that I cannot take it out as well but unfortunately every time I think of this time that I lost my pet it sort of brings me to tears especially because it was one of the pets I have actually in fact I have always had a pet ever since childhood we had a couple of dogs because I stay in a farmhouse we also had some farm animals chickens and goats around however there was this particular dog that we brought I remember distinctly that I was in sixth grade and we got this dog pet it was a dashhound breed it was a really tiny breed of dog so it would always be inside the house and it was very close to my heart we also named it Nemo after we watched the movie Finding Nemo so it was quite very special for us and it was just like another family member in our household so it wasn't like we treated it like a dog or anything but unfortunately as we already understand that canines come with certain lifespan of their own so we had him with us for around 13 years and during this time of course he went through a lot of different health issues and ailments due to which he crumbled at the end so somewhere we lost him a couple of years ago and so that is definitely

Band 6-7

The instance which I would like to tell when I lost my dog which was very close to my heart and I brought him for the first time in 2017 when my sister gifted it to me on my birthday but we had to leave him in 2020 when he was just 3 years old and the primary reason behind that was that he became very aggressive and there were many instances when he started biting us so it was very dangerous for us because we had a small child in our house so it might be dangerous for her therefore we decided to take him to an NGO in Delhi which is about 50 kilometers away from our home furthermore we decided to give him at the cost of 30,000 rupees which we have to pay in at one installment and then we took him to the NGO and gave them all his cards of the vaccination but it was very hard for me to give him to the to other people because he was very close to my heart and I was very sad while passing on my pet to others and I also cried for weeks but after all we had to leave him and that was the last option for us therefore we were very sad but we visit him every four to six months and

Band 6-7

So, a few years back, I owned a, we owned a cute little dog, her name was Naila. She was around 4 years old when she was sick, pretty sick, and she had a lot of issues. She was, she got congestion in her heart. So it was very difficult for her to survive the disease. She went through a lot of pain, and it was really hard for her to withstand all those things. So we, we actually, we got her from a friend of us a few years back, and we had a really good memory with her, and yeah, the time, the moment we got to know that she's sick and everything, it really broke us down, because she was really a princess of her house. So it was, it was very good for a while, but the moment we got to know, it really saddened everybody's heart. So yeah, after a while, the moment we got to know that there's nothing we could do, there's no cure, there's no solution, we didn't have an option, so we had to accept the fact. It was pretty difficult in the beginning, but soon we thought, okay, at least she's not in pain anymore, this is what is meant to happen, and we just accepted the fact that she's no longer gonna be with us. But still, we do have a quite beautiful memory about her, how we used to play with her, and all those things. We look at the pictures, we have a discussion about how we used to spend time with her. It was really a beautiful memory.
1 2 3 4 5
ielts logo

Get the IELTS Prep App

Star rating icon

4.2

1M+ Installs

 app download banner image

Get the app link on your phone

+91

Or download app from

google play storeapp store
master ielts speaking ad