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Describe a time when your computer broke down.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When & how did it happen?
  • What did you about it?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 27 answers

Cue 1:When & how did it happen?

  • Begin by describing the situation when your computer broke down, including the date and time.
  • Mention any specific tasks you were doing at that moment that made the breakdown particularly inconvenient.

Example

It was a busy Monday morning, around 10 AM, when my computer suddenly froze while I was working on an important presentation for a client meeting. I had been typing away when the screen went blank, and I couldn't do anything to revive it.

Cue 2:What did you do about it?

  • Explain the immediate steps you took to try to fix the issue, such as restarting the computer or checking connections.
  • Mention if you sought help from someone else, like a technician or a friend.

Example

Initially, I tried to restart my computer, hoping it was just a temporary glitch. After several attempts, I realized it wasn’t working, so I called my friend who is good with computers. He suggested I take it to a nearby repair shop.

Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your emotions during the incident, focusing on feelings like frustration or anxiety.
  • Reflect on how the breakdown impacted your day and your work.

Example

I felt extremely frustrated and anxious because I had a deadline to meet. The thought of losing my work made me panic, and I was worried about how I would explain this to my boss. It was a stressful situation.

Conclusion

  • Summarize the overall experience and what you learned from it.
  • Mention how you ensured it wouldn't happen again, like backing up your data.

Example

In conclusion, that experience taught me the importance of regularly backing up my work. Since then, I’ve made it a habit to save my files on cloud storage to avoid such stressful situations in the future.

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 incident to engage the listener and demonstrate your language skills.

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Tip

Include specific details such as the date, the type of computer, and what exactly happened to make your story more vivid.

2: Neglecting Emotions

Failing to express your feelings can make your response less relatable. Sharing your emotions helps to connect with the examiner and adds depth to your answer.

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Tip

Describe how you felt during the breakdown, whether it was frustration, anxiety, or relief, to make your answer more personal.

Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can confuse the listener. It's essential to structure your answer clearly to ensure it flows logically and covers all the cues.

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Tip

Follow the cue card prompts in order: start with when it happened, then explain what you did, and finish with how you felt.

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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.
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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.
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Anonymous student Band 6.5

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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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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

In this contemporary era, everyone depends on machines, it relapses our lives, but sometimes creates big problems to us. And I would like to talk about a situation in which I was humbled when my laptop was broken. It was the time when my final exams were going and I had an exam of computer science and it was all computer based exam and when I entered the exam I just fell down from the steps and my laptop was broken and at that time I felt very upset and I was about to cry because I don't have any option to purchase any other laptop and don't have enough time, haven't enough time to take care of, to take someone's laptop because already half of my exam time was gone. So that situation was not a cup of tea for me to handle. So at that time I was very sad and that situation was a blue moon situation for me. But from this, with the help of my friend, I just called my friend, he took his laptop and installed my ID in his laptop and with the help of that I then I request to the professor to increase my time limit for exam. So in this way I tackled that situation and after that two days later I got some good marks and which make me very proud because I got 80% in that exam after getting two fortunate ones after that exam. Thank you.

Band 6-7

I remember my computer broke down when I was in my 7th standard and I used to play PC games regularly. So, one day when I was downloading a game from a third party website, a malware attacked my personal computer and I remember the windows being completely crashed, so the next thing that I know was my parents completely blaming on me. So then we went to the computer showroom and then we gave him the PC, obviously he installed the windows again and then he installed antivirus, that was the first instance that my computer broke down severely and I was the one solely responsible for that mishap.

Band 6-7

When I was a child, I used to get a surprise from my parents, which was a computer. And at that time, it was one of my favourite gadgets. I used to play games, do search my homeworks, and I always used to spend my fun times in front of the computer. It was my comfort place for me. Whenever I get free, I used to spend it in front of the computer. I used to gather more information about different topics. I am sorry because my cousins have thrown a ball to the display of the computer. I was really shocked because the computer was my favourite thing. And my heart got broken when I saw the computer was broken. It really made me sad. I was standing like I have nothing to do. I don't know how to explain this matter to my parents as they have given me this as a surprise. I was really sad. I don't know what to do. That made me feel down.

Band 6-7

For my 16th birthday, my dad had gifted me an HP Inkjet Touch laptop. What I love the most about the laptop, firstly, it was a gift from my parents, which had a sentimental value to it. Secondly, it was the latest laptop launched that year, which included the feature of using the screen just by touching it, similar to a mobile phone or a tablet. Around 2-3 years after purchasing it, I was watching Netflix on it and drinking a cup of hot chocolate. I don't remember the exact details of what happened, but the hot chocolate spilled onto the laptop. It was spread all over the keyboard and the screens. Within a millisecond, the display shut off. It was just completely black and I knew that there was something wrong. I immediately jumped out of the sofa and tried shaking off the liquid, but it was of no use. By then, the water had already seeped through the keypad and into the motherboard. None of the keys were working either. I even googled how to do a forceful shutdown of the laptop, but that was of no help. The laptop had a lot of my important documents, such as my resume, my Aadhaar, and several other things. But more than that, I felt quite horrible and upset about this unfortunate incident because it was a present from my parents. Till date, I have never told my dad about it. Additionally, I also hope that he never finds out.

Band 6

This happened during a trip when I was out with my friends traveling from Chennai to Mysore. I took my laptop with me because I had some work to be completed. I was in the train and I opened my laptop. I noticed that there was a scratch on my screen and when I tried to turn on my laptop and it wasn't working, there was this glitch lines on the screen. That's when I realized my laptop screen was broken and also I couldn't do anything about it and because the laptop was pretty expensive, it was a touchscreen laptop. I felt very sad that I bought the laptop probably 2-3 months before that even happened and I was mad as well because I was carrying the laptop the whole trip even though it wasn't working. It was an extra burden for me.

Band 6

Actually, in my school days, I really wanted a computer to do some basic games and WordPad and MS Office typing. Once upon a time, I still remember, it's my brother's computer. He keeps on working and keeps on playing on his computer, as well as I also need the same. And that time, he won't leave me to do, even to touch, he won't leave me. So I thought one day I need to buy a computer with at least my father's money, I need to buy a computer. In that stage, one day my brother's computer was broke down by a cat sitting on the top of the loft. It suddenly fell down on the computer and computer fell down and broke down. It's really a sad thing to my brother, but in knock and croak of my heart, it's something terrible feeling to me because the computer was not available for both, even for my brother and myself, it's not available. So I feel, I felt so sad and feel so feel at the top of top notch and also I convinced my brother, don't worry, I have some money in my hand, I'll share with you, we can buy a new computer. I don't know in that age, in that penny of savings will help his, help him to buy a new computer, even though my sadness.

Band 6

So basically my computer is a very efficient computer, a really expensive computer which I have bought of all these years. I made the computer with my hands so I know how close it is to my heart. So when I used to travel from Hyderabad to Bombay to Hyderabad very frequently, that time my PC was not being used that much, my laptop was used more. So my PC is mostly up for gaming or you know a high-end work for video editing skills and all. So after all this, it's an expensive setup so you need to take care of it, you need to have maintenance of it timely, you have to go to the shop, do its maintenance and all. Once I came from Hyderabad to Bombay after around 15 to 20 days, I don't know, the CPU got stuck, like my monitor was getting on but my CPU was also running but the display wasn't coming to the screen which was really worrying for me. So I first thought that my cable would be a problem, cable was from a very long time so I thought the cable will be having some problem but there was no problem for the cable. So when I checked, the display was not going just because the capture card which is there inside the CPU was not working. So I was tensed that doing things by yourself is the best way to learn. So I removed the CPU, I removed its plate, I checked inside, I saw that the capture card wasn't working so I talked to my dad about this, my dad gave a really good check, he has helped me doing this, he has taught me all this, so yeah, he knows much better than me, so he also checked, it's the same problem, so we need to go to the shop, so there is around a kilometre far from my house, there is this shop where we went and then we tried to fix it.

Band 6

Well, my computer broke down exactly a week ago from now and it was really a very frustrating feeling because I was working on a very serious and important presentation. I was already very short on time and I had to complete that presentation within a couple of hours or so but unfortunately this mishap happened which led to, you know, my time being wasted because of this technical issue. I then had to reach out to an IT person from my company. He helped me with the issue. He looked into the system at what possibly could be the reason and he found that probably the main reason for the breakdown of the computer is because of a random malware issue. He told me to submit the laptop at the office and to get a new laptop in exchange which I did and eventually I had to tell my boss about this issue and get the presentation extended and eventually, although it went fine, everything went well then.

Band 6

This is really a most important phase in my life. When I was in my B.Tech, I just got my new laptop and I was preparing for my 3rd sem exams and when I was just one week away from my exams my laptop got broke down and I was literally too worried because I spent more than 1 lakh on my laptop and it was really a big thing for my family so when I realized that my laptop got broke down only two questions ran in my mind one thing is I am just one week away from my 3rd sem exams another thing is I don't know even what's the issue and how much would it cost to repair it and it's already one year and it is out of warranty so I couldn't even do that thing of using warranty then I went to my friend Sumantra who is expert in checking laptops so after he checked my laptop he said that due to overheat my laptop got shut down and I need to put it aside for some time and even I too thought the same and I put my laptop aside then I used my friend's laptop to study for a while and I saw a complete whole date to see will it work but my laptop didn't open then I understood there must be some bigger issues so I took my laptop to Amipet where most of the laptops get repaired at low prices then they said that there is issue in motherboard and it would cost around 15,000 and even I couldn't ask that money in home because I spent more than 1 lakh to buy that laptop I felt guilty to ask so myself I arranged 15,000 with the help of my friends and then I made my laptop repaired but later I said to my father this happened after I got a good result in my exams my father gave me the money so I repaired my friend's

Band 6

When I was young, around the age of 10 or 12, I used to play on my computer a lot, doing stuff like games and exploring the internet. And then I was introduced with piracy. I had a habit of downloading movies from pirated websites such as Torrent and other websites. So, it was just another day, I was trying to download a few songs from a pirated website and that virus was a Trojan horse due to which it crashed my computer completely. So initially, I tried to fix it on my own. I did some troubleshooting. I did some research on my own and tried to resolve that issue, but my every attempt was a failure. So finally, I decided to give it to experts like the technicians which repair the computers and laptops. So it costed me a little, but that was fine, they were able to repair my computer completely. But the only drawback it had that I lost my complete data, I lost everything except few files and few videos. Other than that, I lost everything. So after this incident, I always made sure that this won't happen ever again. I stopped going on pirated websites. I only downloaded the genuine content from a genuine website, not from any pirated website.
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