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Describe something that surprised you and made you happy: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What it was?
  • Who did this?
  • How you found out about it and what you did?
  • And explain why it surprised you and made you happy.
Show all 44 answers

Cue 1:What it was?

  • Begin by clearly stating what the surprising event was.
  • Provide some context about the event to engage the listener.

Example

The surprise that made me incredibly happy was when I received a scholarship for my master's degree. I had applied for it months ago and had almost forgotten about it.


Cue 2:Who did this?

  • Mention the organization or person responsible for the surprise.
  • Explain their significance in your life or studies.

Example

The scholarship was awarded by a well-known educational foundation in India that supports students pursuing higher education. This foundation has helped many students like me, and being chosen felt like a huge honor.


Cue 3:How you found out about it and what you did?

  • Describe how you learned about the scholarship award.
  • Share your immediate reaction and any actions you took afterward.

Example

I found out about the scholarship through an email notification while I was studying at home. When I read the subject line, my heart raced, and I quickly opened it. I was overjoyed and immediately called my family to share the good news.


Cue 4:And explain why it surprised you and made you happy.

  • Reflect on your feelings of surprise and happiness.
  • Connect the event to your future aspirations or goals.

Example

It surprised me because I didn’t expect to receive such a prestigious scholarship, given the number of applicants. It made me happy because it not only eased my financial burden but also motivated me to work harder in my studies, knowing that someone believed in my potential.


Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, receiving the scholarship was a life-changing moment for me. It reminded me of the importance of perseverance and the joy that comes from unexpected good news.


    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: Being Vague About the Surprise

    Candidates often give unclear descriptions of what surprised them. This can make it hard for the examiner to understand the significance of the event.

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    Tip

    Be specific about the event. Use clear details to explain what happened and why it was surprising.


    2: Neglecting Emotional Impact

    Some candidates forget to express their feelings about the surprise. This can make their response less engaging and personal.

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    Tip

    Share your emotions. Explain how the surprise made you feel happy and why it was meaningful to you.


    Rushing Through the Explanation

    Candidates often rush their answers, skipping important details. This can lead to a disorganized response that lacks depth.

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    Tip

    Take your time. Structure your answer by addressing each cue clearly and thoroughly to create a complete picture.


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    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
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    Reported by

    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
    anonymous person icon

    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

    A very enriching experience which I experienced was when my friends from my college days they gave a surprise visit on my 32nd birthday which was last year and since my birthday it has always been like a very regular day for me but my 32nd birthday it was something which made me very happy. My friend they travelled from different parts of the country just to give a visit to me and one of my friends he travelled from Spain in order to make it to my birthday. So it was planned by one of my best friends he is Sean again he is currently working as an assistant professor in a university and it was he who planned everything from making this surprise birthday visit to bringing cakes and gifts for me. So as I was about to sleep and suddenly the bell of my door rang and I found that my friends were outside my house and they entered with lot of balloons and gifts and surprises and I was actually terrified at first but overall I enjoyed my birthday we celebrated till 4 in the morning we sang some songs then we shared a very delicious food which they brought with them and this is something which I am never going to forget all my life as this is one of a kind thing which I have experienced overall.

    Band 7

    The thing that surprised me and made me happy is to get a gift from my close ones, especially my supervisor Dr. Ranjana Sharma. I found it when she gifted me a watch when I defended my thesis. That watch was very close to my heart and I felt very happy and amazed to get a gift from my moral teacher.

    Band 7

    It was my trip to South Korea that surprised me and made me happy. It was my first international trip that was on business side and it was the first Asian country that I visited. South Korea is very different in language, culture and food when compared to India. I started the journey in July and the total duration of business trip was 40 days. At first, there was a very less number of people to whom I could talk since it was a different country and the language was a big barrier. But during my stay, I built a rapport with my colleagues and the local people and I felt the warmth and pleasure the South Koreans people show to foreigners. I got many opportunities to visit the capital of South Korea which is Seoul. I interacted with many locals and travelers from countries like Japan, China, Mongolia, America and Europe. So overall, I can say that it was a very welcoming experience for me in South Korea.

    Band 7

    I had a very funny and exciting personal experience. It was on my birthday at around 12 a.m. My favorite hero Mahesh Babu came to my house just to wish me. It was a fan moment for someone like me. I was a die-hard fan of him. I love him so much that I never missed a movie, single movie of him. I watched his each and every movie going to theaters on Thursday for a show. It was all planned by my parents. Thanks to them and I got to know about this through my brother. He never keeps surprises surprised. He always leaks them off. It was a very happy moment and fan moment for me, cute little moment. I guess everyone in their life should have a moment like this.

    Band 7

    This incident happened three months back. My mother called me up and asked where I was at that moment. I told her that I am returning from office and will be back home in 10 minutes. Currently, I am staying in Bangalore and my mother stays in Kolkata. So she said, okay that's fine. When I returned home, I saw that my mother is standing just near my door. I was completely surprised. She gave me a surprise visit to Bangalore and that made me very happy. Then as soon as I returned, as soon as we entered home, I just clicked few pictures of that moment and captured that moment forever.

    Band 6-7

    Once, some years ago, when it was the time for my birthday, I had completely forgotten about it and I received a surprise from my family. It was one of the best surprises that I had ever received and they prepared so much for it in advance without my letting anything know that they have prepared for me. They woke me up at 12 at night and wished me happy birthday very loudly. I was surprised but was also very happy. Moreover, they got me a cake and I cut that cake and it was my first birthday in which I had cut a cake as we do not celebrate birthdays yet. It was the first time that we were celebrating because they wanted me to be happy. And I received so many different kinds of gifts. My father and mother gifted me many things and the best thing that I received was a bicycle which I still use till today and it is one of the best bicycles that I have ever had. Furthermore, they cooked various delicacies that day and I was given complete holiday. I did not have to go to school and I did not study at all because my father said that this was the only day in a year that I could be happy on and that's why I should celebrate instead of studying. I played all day long with my siblings and we had a lot of fun that day. It was all because of my family that I was so happy and I still remember that as the best day of my life till today. I would never forget about it.

    Band 6-7

    Yeah, that is traveling. My friends were surprised to meet me. They came to my house, they picked me up and we went together to travel. They celebrated my birthday on the ground scale, on the city side. It was a surprise for me. We enjoyed a lot. We went to Hyderabad near Charminar and Golconda court. We visited a lot of cultural and traditional temples. We traveled to Jambu Kashmir and Kerala. On my birthday trip, we went together. We enjoyed a lot. It was a surprise because they didn't plan it for me. They gathered and we went together. Actually, it was a great trip. I was surprised a lot. I am a friend who is given the biggest surprise. I never forget these things because in my life it is a precious time. I spent memorable days with my friends. It expressed a lot of things. We learned new things while traveling. We met new people and we communicated in their native language. It was fun. Sometimes we went to parks and pubs. We drank a lot of drinks and alcohol. It was a memorable day for us.

    Band 6-7

    As a child I always watched movies as well as other programs which included adventure programs. I was a fan of people riding bicycles in hilly areas as a part of adventure. So when my parents got me my birthday gift as a cycle on my 13th birthday I was very happy because it was a dream come true moment for me. On my birthday morning they folded my eyes to see the view and I was really very happy that I jumped of joy. I really went and looked it all over it was a very beautiful and from my viewpoint a very adventurous one. The thing which I didn't know was how to ride a bicycle. That was something I needed to learn because bicycle is already with me I need to know how to ride it. So I tried on my own to ride the bicycle the very first day I got them but unfortunately I wasn't able to do it myself and my cousins when they came over taught me how to ride the bicycle and I rode it for the first time with so much proudness in me.

    Band 6-7

    Something that surprised me and made me happy was at one time when my parents flew from Haryana to Bangalore to surprise me for my graduation party. So the graduation was planned ahead of one month or something but my parents had some other work and they were busy with the preparations so I thought they could not make it to the party and I also assumed that because they will be busy with work and family business they will not make it and my mom had also sent me a gift through courier already congratulating me and wishing me all the best for my future. And the day of my graduation as I was waiting for the auto to arrive, the auto that was going to take me to the venue I saw my parents coming and hugging me from behind and I was shook and I didn't know what to do I was just standing there and it was raining and what surprised me even more was that my grandfather who was actually a veteran at that time had made a small video clip of congratulating me and he had also sent me a gift card that I could use later on and my parents because I like sweets from a certain shop near my hometown so they got me the sweet parcel all the way from Haryana to Bangalore. It was heartwarming actually to see them put so much effort. It was not exactly the surprise it was also the thought that went beyond it. They thought about it and they booked the tickets prior. They planned to get sweets from my favorite shop. All those that brought tears to my eyes. So yeah that was the situation.

    Band 6-7

    One of the important situations of my life that was very surprising and that made me happy was the first time when I saw my cute little dog with four little paws and a cute little wiggly tail, that is Zimba. It was I think around 7-8 years back, that's when I first saw Zimba at my house. So she was the best surprise that I have ever received in my life. I finished my classes, I think I was in 10th at that time. I finished my classes and I just returned home and that's when I saw her. And when I asked about whose dog was it, like was it staying with us, that's when I got to know that my brother had got it from Kunu Manali when he had been for trucking. And that's when he found out about her as she was walking behind and before him. So that's when she found out about Zimba and got it home. She is not just the loyal animal like they describe in words. She was more than that to us. She was the most honorable member of our family and it was very difficult for us gradually to survive without her. And that's how important she was. And we had to change our extracurricular activities since her arrival. Like everyday my father had to wake up early to take her out for a walk and my mother had to cook at the exact time that when she feels hungry. And my brother was responsible for her economy like he was the one who was responsible for getting her the matching clothes.
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