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Describe an instance when you received an apology.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Who apologized?
  • When & why did they do it?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 32 answers

Cue 1:Who apologized?

  • Begin by identifying the person who apologized and your relationship with them.
  • Mention any relevant context that makes their apology significant.

Example

The person who apologized was my close friend, Ravi. We had been friends since childhood, and we often shared our thoughts and feelings openly.


Cue 2:When & why did they do it?

  • Describe the situation leading up to the apology, including the time and place.
  • Explain the reason behind the apology, focusing on the specific incident that caused it.

Example

It was during a weekend get-together at my house last month. Ravi accidentally spilled a drink on my laptop, which was a huge concern for me as I had important files saved on it. He felt terrible about the incident and wanted to make things right.


Cue 3:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your initial reaction to the apology and how it affected your feelings towards the person.
  • Discuss any resolution or outcome that followed the apology.

Example

When Ravi apologized, I felt relieved and appreciated his honesty. It showed me that he valued our friendship and was genuinely remorseful. I reassured him that it was just an accident, and we ended up laughing about it later, which strengthened our bond.


Conclusion

  • Summarize the importance of the apology in your relationship.
  • Reflect on what you learned from this experience.

Example

Overall, Ravi's apology was significant as it reinforced our friendship. It taught me that mistakes happen, but sincere apologies can mend relationships and bring people closer together.


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 Responses

Providing vague or unclear answers can make your response less engaging and informative. It may leave the examiner confused about the details of your experience.

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Tip

Be specific about who apologized and the context. Use clear examples to illustrate your feelings and the situation.


2: Ignoring Emotional Impact

Failing to express how the apology affected you emotionally can weaken your response. It’s important to convey your feelings to create a connection with the listener.

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Tip

Describe your feelings in detail. Explain how the apology made you feel at that moment and how it affected your relationship with the person.


Lack of Structure

A disorganized response can make it hard for the examiner to follow your story. It may lead to a lower score in coherence and fluency.

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Tip

Organize your answer by following the cues: start with who apologized, then explain when and why, and finally share your feelings about it.


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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

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Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Anonymous student Band 7.5

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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
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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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
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Reported by

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.

Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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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
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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 6

I would like to share an incident during my postgraduate studies. It was the time when we had just started our research. It was a six-month long research. So everyone was busy collecting equipments and raw materials to start their research work. So was I. So in order to get some tanks for culturing algae, I had to gain entry to a lab which was closed and one of my co-guide was having that key. So I went to her and I got that key. I took my equipments and I returned to her. But at that time when I was returning it, she was very busy with interacting with someone. So I think that she must have not, she must have not, later she forgot about that incident and she was blaming me for not getting the key. I felt so bad because I still remember how I had returned to her but she was not able to recollect it and she was continuously blaming me. And I also even searched and she asked her students to search everywhere in the laboratory. So they searched and searched and they didn't get it. And at last when she called one of her students, one PhD student, he was having it with him. Actually he only took it from her drawer to get something from the lab. And when she came to know about it, she felt bad and she called me into her cabin and apologized for blaming me for something which I haven't done. So this was a good lesson for me because even before I was a little careful about us because she was not very fond of me and this incident was terrible one. So after that I always

Band 5-6

Apologize. When we do something wrong or our action does something wrong, when I say apologize to someone. And why it is important. Because it is so much importance when I do something wrong and when our actions to someone, when our actions to someone getting hurt and her emotions disrespectful, that time we should apologize. And why I feel about it. I feel about it is good when we say apology to someone because it is better to a rule.
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