Describe a time when you picked up an item that someone else lost: IELTS Cue Card
Bhargavee Sisodia15 Nov 2024

The four main components of the International English Language Testing System, or IELTS test as it is commonly called, are the Writing, Reading, Listening, and Speaking tests. Since each test has a unique format, it is vital to comprehend it before attempting it. To do this, you need to follow a thorough IELTS exam preparation program.
You must prepare for the most common IELTS exam sample topics, practice answering them, and take an official IELTS practice test. It is not sufficient to simply go over the often-asked IELTS speaking questions.
We'll talk about the IELTS speaking topics and several approaches to addressing them in this blog. This will enable you to make efficient use of the cue card's instructions, comprehend the underlying meanings of every IELTS speaking test question, and successfully express your ideas.
To acquire a good score on the IELTS exam, you have to prepare for the speaking component. Prepare a succinct introduction of yourself in advance of the first speaking section of the IELTS exam.
While you are getting ready for the IELTS speaking test, quickly go over the various responses for the IELTS speaking topics. This increases the volume of concepts in your head, gives you momentum, and explains the process of coming up with original answers.
Give a mentor a copy of your monologue covering the IELTS speaking topics so they can comment on your areas of difficulty. Practice speaking on related IELTS speaking topics and answering IELTS speaking questions while timed. That would allow you to assess the speed at which you deliver your message.
Engage in a minimum of one IELTS practice test per day. You would be more proficient in time management and efficient communication, and you would also have a better understanding of the structure of IELTS speaking questions if you regularly attempt at least one IELTS sample test. Watching videos might help you get ready for the IELTS speaking test because sometimes reading books and IELTS test materials can be too much to bear.
To assist you in better grasping the strategies for approaching the topic on a personal level, we'll go over one of the speaking test example questions from the IELTS exam in this blog. You will be given a minute to think over your response before you have two minutes to talk about the given IELTS speaking topics. The examiner will ask you a few follow-up questions after your two-minute speech in the IELTS speaking questions section of the test. After that, your IELTS speaking test will conclude.
IELTS sample test topic: Describe a time when you picked up an item that someone else lost
While attempting IELTS speaking topics like these, you should draw references from your own experience. In that way, you will be able to make your answer relatable. To construct a great speech on the spot, you should be habituated with the common IELTS speaking topics and practice IELTS exams sample questions. This will help you to become comfortable with the format and remove your hesitation in front of the examiner. There are some key pointers that you should mention for speaking test topics like these. So let us have a look at the points that should be mentioned in your response to the above topic:
- When did you find the item
- Where did you find it
- What was the item
- What did you do with it
- A good ending
When did you find the item?
One day, when I was in class five, as I was returning from school with my mother, I got the sensation that something was stuck on the bottom of my school shoe. I lifted my feet to check and looked at my mother in surprise.
Where did you find it?
I was standing right in the middle of the road so I could not dig further and pull it out, but my mother said it was something golden stuck on the bottom of my shoe. We found a place to sit on the bus stand and my mother told me to remove the shoe, after which she pulled out the object from the bottom of my shoe.
What was the item?
After she pulled it out, we sat there in shock for a few moments. We were shocked because the item was a gold earring with several pieces of diamond on it. My mother was in a great deal of dilemma as to what to do with the earring. It was an expensive item so we couldn’t just throw it away, but we couldn’t just keep such an item with us as well.
What did you do with it?
After thinking about it for quite some time, my mother took me by her hand and we walked towards the nearest police station. She narrated the whole incident to the officer in charge, they did some formalities took the ornament, and gave us a leaflet as a symbol of proof of the complaint. They assured us that they would do their best to find the owner of the jewelry and hand it over to them.
Conclusion
That day my mother taught me several lessons. She taught me to never be enticed by greed or money, and she taught me how to handle a difficult situation in the smoothest way. After coming out of the police station, my mother let out a sigh of relief and I smiled at her. We then chatted all the way home discussing my day and hers, like we always did on our way back from school.
IELTS sample test topic: Describe a time when you picked up an item that someone else lost
Begin with a story
A few days ago, I was at a party at a friend’s place when I happened to find a wallet under my chair. I asked my friend about its whereabouts, but he had no idea who it belonged to. We opened the wallet to check if it had an ID or any cards to identify its owner, but it had none. But it had a lot of cash in it which meant whoever lost it would be in grave dismay when he or she realised it.
Some more details
We went to each and every person at the party and asked them if they were missing their wallets, but failed to find the owner of the wallet. My friend called those friends who had returned home from the party to check if the wallet belonged to them, but that was not the case. We were all pondering over the options that could be done with the wallet when a friend suggested we should take it to the police station. After scanning her guest list one last time and confirming with everyone that the wallet didn’t belong to them, my friend decided to take it to the police station. The moment we were about to leave her house, we heard her doorbell. She rushed to open the door only to find a food delivery agent standing almost out of breath. He paced himself a bit and then asked my friend if he had left his wallet at her home when he came in to deliver the food. Every one of us breathed a sigh of relief, and so did the delivery agent. We gave him his wallet back after we gave him some water and food to calm him down.
Ending thoughts
It was a happy ending to a stressful story. As the agent got ready to leave with a huge smile on his face and relief in his eyes, I suggested to him that he should keep any ID proof in his wallet for cases like these. To this, he completely agreed and thanked us again and again before he left. We all went back to enjoying the party with a happy face and peaceful mind.
IELTS speaking test: Follow-up questions
A set of follow-up questions based on the responses in the Cue Card segment comes after the IELTS speaking topics. This is one of the hardest parts of the exam for non-native English speakers because it requires a lot of quick thinking, conversational proficiency, and articulation abilities. You should practice responding to typical IELTS speaking questions and take the IELTS practice test if you want to master this portion of the speaking test. In order to assist you in properly analyzing and framing your responses for the IELTS speaking exam’s follow-up question portion, we have included some advice below.
IELTS speaking exam - Follow-up question
What are the reasons for losing one’s belongings?
Answer: People can lose their belongings anytime due to various reasons. Some people have an inherent forgetful mind, so they tend to lose their belongings their entire lives. While some people, despite being careful about their belonging lose things in desperate situations when their mind is occupied elsewhere. It is important to understand, that none of us would deliberately lose our belongings, it is our situation, our forgetful mind, or the urgency of a task that ends with our dismay of losing our precious items.
Do you think people always think ethically when they find an item that someone else lost?
Answer: No. I don’t think everyone thinks the way I do, and like that, we cannot force people to do the ethical thing. When someone finds a precious belonging of anyone else, the first thing that clouds their judgment is greed. If the person who found the object is in desperate need of money, for them taking the ethical path might not be the first priority. Thus people take different approaches when they find out someone else’ belongings. In situations like that, what we need to do is empathize. We should keep ourselves in the position of the person who lost their belonging and make a wise decision based on our emotions and best judgments.
How do you prevent losing your belongings or forgetting things?
Answer: An alert mind can help us recover from the habit of losing things at different places. I generally prefer to plan my important tasks early to prevent myself from forgetting my belongings while leaving a place. I also tend to jot down a list of my belongings when I go on a holiday, to ensure that while packing my things, I don’t lose any of them. Apart from that I refrain from taking very precious items outside to avoid losing them because I cannot lose something which I didn’t bring with me.
Conclusion
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