IELTS Speaking Task Cue Card: A time when you changed your mind about something you had planned to do.
IELTS Speaking Task Cue Card:
A time when you had to change your mind about something you had planned to do.
- What was it?
- Why did you have to change the plan?
- How did you feel about it?
Sample answer
Plans are a very promising phenomenon that occurs regularly in our lives. But they change due to different factors. Many a time I have intended a lot of things with a lot of ambitions but had to cancel or change due to various reasons.
One such incident took place when I had planned a motorcycling trip to a hill station nestled deep in the crevices of the Himalayan Mountains, along with a few friends. On a warm summer day we were sitting at a cafe near my place, and while we enjoyed our drinks, when I suddenly came up with an idea to go to a beautiful location in the hills near Himachal Pradesh on our motorcycles. We all discussed the plan and after a lot of brainstorming, we finalized our visit in the upcoming month of May, during our vacations. I was very excited and took permission from my family as well. After their agreement, I started preparing for the expedition and confirming the trip to the last detail. Sadly, sometimes such things happen due to which our pre-planning goes for a toss. Two days before we had to leave, my friend came to me and told me about a devastating earthquake that happened in the area we had decided to visit.
As a result, I was despaired and had almost reached the point of tears. With a heavy heart, I then called up all my friends and told them about the last minute change and the cancellation of the trip. Even after the change of plan, I had decided to visit the place during the autumn and promised myself that I will propose this trip again.
(278 words)
| word | meaning |
| Intended | planned or meant. Example – Julia had intended to gift David a book. |
| Crevice | A narrow opening. Example – Robert filled the crevice in the wall with cement. |
| Brainstorming | A productive group discussion. Example – The agents did some brainstorming to produce new ideas. |
Another Similar Cue Card
Describe a plan in your life that is not related to the work or study.
You should say:
- What is the plan?
- How did you make it?
- How will you approach in the plan?
And how would you feel if plan is successful?
(Download CUE Card)
SAMPLE ANSWER TWO:
Plan, not related to study or work is a plan that stems out of your interests and passions. That kind of plan is very interesting to be made. Other plans of study and work are merely the derivatives of the compulsions imposed on us by life. Many times, people are so busy in their lives, that it is only at the retirement, when they think that they didn’t plan or do anything to fan out their interests, but rather remained bugged in their work only. I have this plan of learning, how to play a harmonica. I have been very fond of listening to good music. In my childhood, I was gifted a mouth organ by my relative. I used to enjoy playing it for hours together and it is still my best companion. The kind of serenity and calmness that I feel, while I play my random tunes on it, is just out of this world. I feel so immersed and dissolved within myself. Therefore, I have this plan of learning harmonica from a skilled music teacher.
To execute this plan, I am planning to get enrolled in a music class with some good teacher. Because of my job schedules, I happen to travel to different places frequently. This is the reason due to which I am not able to join the class, which will prolong for at least 6 months, for me to be a non-amateur player. This time, due to the company’s assent, I might get the opportunity of staying longer in the present city of Dehradun. I have already started looking for a good music instructor for me. Few of them that I have found hitherto, are masters of hand operated instruments, so I am looking for someone who is better at air driven ones and very soon, I will be starting with it.
If I am able to learn play the harmonica well, I shall be feeling very delighted and cheerful. After proper classes, I shall be having grips on the tones and notes of music, which will enable me to play different kinds of music. I shall be enjoying it fully and will keep on practicing to become better and better.
STRONG WORDS
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Prolong | continue for a period: Prolonged illness can bring severe weakness. |
| Amateur | one who is not very skilful: I am still an amateur in singing techniques. |
Follow-up Questions
Q. 1 Why do we make plans?
Sample Answer: We generally make plans to execute a purposeful event in life that can be of good significance to us. For instance, if I plan to take up a course that can enhance my software skills, then it is done so as to have better, higher paying jobs in my offing. Similarly, if I plan to learn how to play a music instrument, then it is done to blossom my hobby which I enjoy pursuing.
Q. 2 Do children also make plans? What kind of plans?
Sample Answer: Yes, even a child of 3 to 4 years makes his plans. The only difference is that they involve very simple reasoning in their plain plans. They do not make complex elaborate plans rather simple ones. For instance, a small child may plan how should I convince my father to go to market so that I can have my favourite toy and so on.
Q. 3 Why do the plans fail sometimes?
Sample Answer: A person’s interests keep on shifting with the passage of time. For instance, I liked reading history till the time I was unaware of the past events. But once I knew most of those, I started reading psychology books. To know the what and how of brain and various processes and disorders related with it turned out to be an interesting read for me. Therefore, I think, based on the mind-set and changing interests, I keep on hopping on the subjects of different kind of books.
Q. 4 Do you like reading a story or watching that? Why?
Sample Answer: Most of the times, plans fail due to the lack of proper reasoning and concerted efforts in the right direction. Right mix of all the needed variables along with the right execution will not let a plan fail so easily. But still, some plans fail either due to lack of requisite resources or sometimes, due to reasons uncontrolled by us, can be called as environmental reasons. For instance, I plan to go for boating on the next day and it starts raining heavily then so I would have cancel my plan.
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