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Describe Something That Surprised You: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What was the surprise?
  • When did it happen?
  • How you found about it?
  • How did you feel about it?
Show all 22 answers

Cue 1:What was the surprise?

  • Begin by clearly stating what surprised you and why it was unexpected.
  • Provide some context to help the listener understand the significance of the surprise.

Example

The surprise that I experienced was when my younger sister, who had been struggling with her studies, topped her class in the recent exams. I never expected her to achieve such a remarkable feat, especially since she had been feeling quite demotivated about her performance.

Cue 2:When did it happen?

  • Mention the specific time frame when this event occurred.
  • You can also include any relevant details about the day or occasion.

Example

This happened just a few weeks ago, right after the results were announced for the semester exams. It was a Saturday morning, and I was having breakfast when I received the news.

Cue 3:How you found out about it?

  • Describe how you received the news about the surprise.
  • You can mention who informed you and the manner in which they conveyed the information.

Example

I found out about it through a phone call from my mother. She was so excited and couldn’t stop praising my sister. I could hear the joy in her voice, which made me curious to know more.

Cue 4:How did you feel about it?

  • Share your emotional reaction to the surprise.
  • Explain why you felt that way and how it affected your relationship with the person involved.

Example

I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and happiness. It was a relief to see my sister succeed after all her hard work. This achievement brought us closer, and I felt motivated to support her even more in her future endeavors.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, this surprise not only filled me with joy but also taught me the importance of perseverance. It reminded me that with dedication and hard work, anyone can achieve their goals, and I am proud to be part of my sister's journey.

    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 and unengaging. Specific details help the examiner understand your experience better and keep their interest.

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    Tip

    Include specific details about the surprise, such as what happened, where it took place, and any relevant context to make your story more vivid.

    2: Lack of Emotion

    Failing to express your feelings can make your response flat. Emotions are key to connecting with the listener and making your story memorable.

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    Tip

    Share your feelings about the surprise, such as excitement or confusion, to convey the impact it had on you and engage the examiner.

    Ignoring the Cues

    Not addressing all the cue prompts can lead to an incomplete answer. Each cue is designed to help structure your response effectively.

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    Tip

    Make sure to answer all the cues provided, such as when it happened and how you found out, to create a well-rounded response.

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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
    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

    The thing that surprised me the most was the Asian monument Taj Mahal. I visited that last year when I was in my third year of engineering. I went there with my family as well as with few of my friends. Taj Mahal is in the eastern part of India which is Agra. It is very old as it is for more than 500 years old. I went during my summer holidays as me, my friends and my family members were free at that time. I visited by the flight. It surprised me a lot as it is a great monument. The sculptures were made of different material that is not easily available all around the world. It was very instant that we were able to go inside that sculpture and view that thing which is inside the Taj Mahal. While many of the people weren't allowed to go in, we enjoyed a lot at that time. The thing that most surprised me was the opening of the gate. I along with my family had the opportunity to open the main gate of Taj Mahal. It was given to only a few people once in a month and we were lucky to have it. I was majorly surprised from this event as it became much more memorable to me.

    Band 6-7

    So, when I first surprised by my friend, one of my friend, he was actually my school friend, childhood friend and he drew a picture of me, a portrait of me and he presented, he gifted this picture on my birthday, last birthday. So yes, I, after seeing that picture, I was over the moon because the picture was drawn so accurately, correctly and it was my, I was so glamorous in this picture and also every detailing he made in the picture that actually very crucial to make and what I felt that he was kind of a great artist because how he made my portrait that actually makes me spellbound. So I got this, after getting this, I was ecstatic, I was feeling ecstatic and

    Band 6-7

    I got a call from one of my old friend it was totally surprise for me I mean not late in the evening around the seven o'clock I was watching IPL match during that time I was just waiting for her call from the past one week but I I didn't expect actually I just I mean I didn't expect from her that she will call me so finally it happened and it happened on last Saturday in the late in the evening at around 7 p.m. I had a I spoke with her very nicely the conversation went on like 30 minutes and we were talking about our college memories and all those kind of things but I found it very happy but after such a long period of time it it takes it or it tooks around one decade to get a call from her and we were maintaining that kind of bond even though we we didn't meet each other so I felt so happy to speak with the old friend and to have a video conversation video call conversation on it and I don't have much to talk with her about work and their family life because the conversation totally went on our college and how did we spend time with the friends and how many vacations and how many restaurants we have covered so we just regathered all the information and it was a funny and very relaxation call that if we could get a call from your old friend and college friend the conversation will go just like that and later on now we thought of connecting with one of my old friend who was having a common friend of us and we started giving a video call on Instagram and luckily he joined on the call and we started the

    Band 6-7

    So the surprising event that had a significant impact on me was back in 2015 when my cousin came to pick me up from my university. So the thing about him was that he used to live in Dublin and I had not seen him for almost five years and he was someone very special to me and there was a time in my life that I could not even be without him. And his sudden shifting to Dublin made me very sad but when he surprised me in my university I was so shocked that I started crying tears of happiness and joy. I think that is one of the most memorable events that has happened in my life and I really really liked how he thought about surprising me and picking me up from my school and he bought me a bunch of things, various kinds of gifts, dresses, other accessories and took me out somewhere to eat good food and even to the park to play after that. So I think that was the most surprising event that happened in my life. That's about it.

    Band 6-7

    During my final year of studying nursing, I faced one of the most challenging exams of my life. The curriculum was notoriously difficult and I often felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material to learn. However, I dedicated myself to a rigorous study schedule, balancing my time between lectures and self-study sessions. The pressure from my teachers was immense, but this pushed me to work harder. When I finally received my result, the sense of accomplishment was incredible and I feel so proud and so happy and I am surprised so much for this result. This was a very huge surprise for me. When the result came, I feel elated and my parents were also happy. Like I said before, this was the first time I got natural goose bumps.

    Band 6-7

    The thing which surprised to me most is when I visited last year Dubai, I found an island in Ras Al Khaimah. So being in a deserted country, I didn't expect to see an island actually. In fact, nobody knows actually in my circle. It's a hidden gem which is far away located from Dubai, almost 350 kilometers it seems. So when I first landed in Dubai in last year December, so one of my friends told me we can visit Burj Khalifa or go to Safari Park, anything like that. But a visitor, one of my friend's uncle told me that there is an island which is far away located from here. He also said this place got an enormous place like we can go out boating over there and we can have some authentic Arab foods and we can enjoy belly dance over there. Desert ride is also available at the particular place and also if we got luck we could spot some animals over there. So I got so much excited into that particular place. So I asked my friends whether we can join them and they said okay let's go there. So we decided to move to that particular place on the third day of our trip. We took a cab actually. So it was a quite long ride, almost it took us around 8 to 9 hours to reach there. Once we reached there, we felt super tired because of the travel and once we reached there, we go to the rooms actually, we have booked the room actually. So once we reached there, we go to our personal room and rest.

    Band 6-7

    well when it comes for me to describe something which surprised me so it was a news it was a news which I got last to last year and it was one of the very happy news that my I and my wife we both have been blessed with the baby twins twin twin babies so this was my wife's second pregnancy we had already blessed with a one daughter the elder one now she is going to turn 10 next year the last year when we came to know that my wife was pregnant second time so in the first ultrasound we were not able to the doctor were not able to identify that she is having twin babies second time when we again went for sonography so I and my daughter we both were sitting outside in a car parking and suddenly my wife called me to come inside in a room sonography room so first I told her like it's the second time we are experiencing a pregnancy she is experiencing a pregnancy so I told her okay fine let you go with it we are fine outside but then she told please come inside we are blessed with the baby twins then suddenly we both got surprised I and my daughter we rushed inside a room and it was such a happy moment and now both my babies they are of different gender one is baby girl another one is baby boy and they both are healthy and it's life is full of fun with them now they started walking they start speaking some words

    Band 6

    So, uh, on my last birthday, I received, uh, I received, uh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Uh, so surprisingly, on my last birthday, my friend, um, who lives nearby my house, has gifted me something very special, which is, which is on my Amazon, uh, wishlist from past, uh, three months, and, um, surprisingly, she gave that to me on my birthday as a birthday present, which was very fascinating for me, and that was a Sony headphones, which I was planning to buy from, like, as I say, past three months, and the surprise was very special to me because I bought, she gave me that as a birthday present, and, and I love that gift a lot.

    Band 6

    I always wish to study abroad but being from a middle-class family none of them none of any of the child has studied abroad or visited abroad so yeah when first I got the offer letter from my university I was very surprised as well as proud of myself simply because I have worked I had worked hard for it and planned it accordingly I somewhere deep down I wasn't expecting the offer for such a course but yeah I got into such a course that requires management experience and such skills. Cracking that interview made me really proud and surprised

    Band 6

    Talking about surprises, I remembered my childhood days, when I was 6th standard, it was my birthday and I said to my father, I am not interested to go, going to school, but he refused and then he sent me to… Talking about surprises, I remembered my childhood days, when I was 6th standard, it was my birthday and I said to my father, I am not interested to go, going to school, but he refused and forcefully sent me to school and the whole day I feel embarrassed, but I loved spending time with my friends and after returning to home, I find bicycle, that was a gift from my father and I am in a huge surprise and I realized that it was all a plan to send me to school, to send me to school and bring a new cycle to surprise me. I feel it is a great surprise I ever received, great surprise I ever had.
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