Describe a time you had to finish something quickly: IELTS test Cue Card

Bhargavee Sisodia

03 Jul 2024

The speaking test, which assesses a non-native English speaker's proficiency in the language, is one of the most significant parts of the IELTS exam. In order to apply to the institution or workplace of their choice overseas and receive a respectable score on the IELTS test, a candidate needs to be able to understand the subtleties of the speaking subjects and questions.

The ability to communicate in English is assessed by an examiner during each of the three main components of the IELTS speaking test. During the first part of the IELTS speaking test, the candidate is asked a series of general questions about their personal and professional interests during a general chat with the examiner.  

This part of the IELTS exam is comparable to the warmup section. It's a good idea to practice a brief introduction of yourself as part of your IELTS preparation so that you can confidently answer these questions during the speaking portion of the test.

The second part of the speaking test of the IELTS exam is called the Cue Card portion. You will be given a Cue Card in this part with a topic printed on it. You'll have a minute to organize your thoughts and answer a two-minute monologue about the topic. The examiner may interrupt you in the middle of an answer to the IELTS speaking topic if you take more than two minutes to complete it, which may negatively impact your test result.

Therefore, in order to prepare for the IELTS exam and score well on the speaking test, you need to practice your monologues using the frequently asked IELTS speaking questions. To prepare for the IELTS exam, you should practice speaking on the test's topics extensively, role-play typical speaking questions, and take the IELTS sample test frequently to become familiar with its structure and format.

Part three of the IELTS speaking test consists of the portion with follow-up questions. The examiner discusses the response provided in the cue card phase, which is the second portion of the speaking examination, in great depth in this section. Applicants are expected to explain their opinions, back up their statements, and show that they are confident in their responses to IELTS speaking topics.

You should take an IELTS practice test every day at the absolute least if you want to do well on this portion of the speaking test. Just as important to your IELTS exam preparation are extensive IELTS speaking practice and quickly reviewing answers to the IELTS exam sample on commonly asked IELTS speaking topics.

Understanding the goal of each section and devising a suitable approach for it is essential when studying for the IELTS exam. 

IELTS speaking question sample topic: Describe a time you had to finish something quickly

Answering subjects such as these requires you to be honest. These kinds of IELTS speaking topics call for realistic responses based on real-world encounters. To respond to the topic, you must delve into your memory bank and find a relevant example. The reaction can be shaped in the way that follows:

• Introduction.
• When and with whom did you do the activity?
• Why did you have to finish it quickly?
• How did you manage to finish it quickly?
• Was it successful or unsuccessful?
• Conclusion.

IELTS exam sample Answer 1: Describe a time you had to finish something quickly

Introduction:

It was a normal afternoon morning and everything was calm at home when the phone rang, and my father after taking the call informed me that his colleagues would be coming home for an informal get-together that evening. My mother was not at home since she had gone to my grandparent's house in another city, and I had to quickly make a three-course meal to serve the guests.

When and with whom did you do the activity?

It was wintertime, and my father quickly helped me buy all the raw materials from an online grocery delivery app, and both of us started to prepare the meal. Although most of the things were done by me, my father tried his best to help me out with the chopping and other preparations.

Why did you have to finish it quickly?

We had received the call around 4 in the afternoon and the guests were about to arrive at 8 at night. Although they just wanted to spend some time, we would always welcome them and offer them the best meal in our capabilities since that is rooted in our country's culture. I had 4 hours to prepare everything, from buying the materials to cooking the meal.

How did you manage to finish it quickly?

After the items were delivered home, I quickly took my father's help to complete the chopping and made arrangements for the starters. After that, I completed the main course and made the desserts to set it in the refrigerator. Once everything was done, I made the starters so that I could serve those to the guests hot.

Was it successful or unsuccessful?

I was glad that I could pull off everything quickly and the guests enjoyed the food. The look of satisfaction on their faces and their kind words made my effort worth it.

Conclusion:

That was the first time I cooked without the supervision of my mother and I am happy that despite doing it in a rush, everything turned out to be well.

IELTS exam sample Answer 2: Describe a time you had to finish something quickly

Introduction:

It was during my undergraduate studies and 2 days before the submission of our major project, our code crashed. The submission date was due in 2 days, we completed it by working 24*7 to meet the deadlines.

When and with whom did you do the activity?

This happened during the final year and we had to submit our final project on a Library Management System. We were a group of six and re-did the project within 2 days.

Why did you have to finish it quickly?

We almost completed the project until there were 2 days left for the submission and the backend crashed which forced us to change the code. We tried to fix the code at first to see if it worked or not but soon realized that we had more time and the back end needed to be rewritten. Initially, we had divided the tasks amongst the 6 of us, where each of us had a separate responsibility and the backend PHP part was done by my friend Kaushik. However, when this mishap happened, all 6 of us together started preparing the backend code.

How did you manage to finish it quickly?

We gathered at my place and decided to stay for 2 days together as it would be easier to coordinate. We literally didn't sleep for those 2 days and worked day and night to complete the code. Once it was ready, about 8 hours before submission, we tested every feature with various test cases so that our final presentation was pulled out well.

Was it successful or unsuccessful?

Although we were super nervous to present our project to the professors as we were still not confident about all the test cases and if they would work or not, fortunately everything went smoothly. Whatever test cases the professors wanted to see worked perfectly with all the features.

Conclusion:

Although those 2 days were extremely scary, I think they really taught me the value of time management and teamwork.

IELTS test next step: Follow up questions

This comprises a portion of the IELTS speaking segment's follow-up questions. Your conversational abilities in this area will be evaluated by the examiner by asking you a few follow-up questions after your monologue from the IELTS speaking section. It is necessary to repeatedly go over various IELTS speaking topics in order to fully understand the differences between the often asked IELTS speaking questions and their follow-up questions in the IELTS speaking follow-up questions portion.    

IELTS test: Follow up questions

Question 1: Do you work well under pressure?

Answer: Yes. In fact, I like it when there is a little pressure. I have realized one thing: if a task needs to be completed in 5 hours we will utilize the 5 hours time completely and if the same task needs to be completed in 2 hours, we will still manage it in 2. This stands true at least a lot of time and thus pressure and deadline work as a mental stimulation to not waste time and get the work done quickly. Thus, my productivity increases.

Question 2: Do you think children need to be taught the basics of time management?

Answer: Absolutely. It is one of the most important cognitive skills that is needed at every phase of life, be it as a student, working professional, or while doing household chores. It is important that from a young age, children are taught how to manage their time well so that once they grow up and are thrown the challenges of deadlines and pressure, they are well-equipped to handle the stress.

Question 3: Do you think working on something quickly will decrease the quality of work?

Answer: No. Working quickly doesn't mean we will compromise the quality of our work. It means we will not procrastinate, manage our time well, divide the work well in a team if that is applicable, and be goal-oriented. If we follow these thumb rules, our quality of work will never be impacted. We just need proper planning and a blueprint ready to finish the task.

Question 4: How important for you is to stick to a deadline or a time commitment?

Answer: I take deadlines and time commitment very seriously. On the academic and professional front, nobody has a choice but to stick to deadlines, but even in my personal life, I always stick to time commitments. Punctuality is one of my good virtues, and I realize that it is important that we value not only our time but other people's time as well. I find it disrespectful to keep someone waiting and not sticking to the time commitment. 

Conclusion

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