March 1, 2025 - IELTS BAND7

IELTS Cue Card : Talk about something you lost and then found

March 1, 2025 IELTS Research

IELTS Cue Card : Talk about something you lost and then found

You should say:

What it was?

How you lost it?

When you found it?

And explain how you felt about this incident.

Sample Answer

Today, I’d like to talk about an incident when I lost a valuable item. Fortunately, with some help I managed to find it later.

This happened around the autumn of 2019. The final semester of my Bachelor’s in Computer Science was about to be over and campus interviews for placements were in full swing. All students were instructed to carry their original academic documents with them for verification.

I had kept all the required documents in my laptop bag. Among them were original mark sheets, passing certificates, my passport, national identity card and birth certificate. Needless to say, the bag held some very precious cargo.

That day I had to give several interviews. After they were done, I was glad, for they went very well and now I could go and relax with my friends in the cafeteria. As planned, all my friends reached the cafeteria and there we discussed about our interviews and placement chances. Some of my funny friends imitated strict interviewers. At one point, we all were rolling with laughter.

Later that day when I reached home, I realized something; I had lost my laptop bag in all the commotion. My first reaction was to call up my best buddy, who then calmed me down and asked me where I had last seen my bag. Together we concluded I must have left the bag in the cafeteria itself. At that time, I was filled with dread, my mind was whirling with everything that could go wrong. Finally, we decided to check the cafeteria, the first thing in the morning.

The next day my friend met me at the cafeteria entrance and we described the problem to the manager. He was very responsive and he immediately directed the staff to find the bag. After trying hard, it was found under the sofa. Thank heavens! Getting it back was a big relief. I was grateful for everyone’s cooperation and understanding.

Suffice to say, this incident gave me quite a fright. Moreover, it taught me the meaning of “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone”, a lesson we will perhaps never be taught enough.

Some useful vocabulary words with meaning
commotion	A sudden, short period of noise, confusion, or excited movement
whirling	to (cause something to) turn around in circles
Suffice	to be enough
fright	an experience of fear that happens suddenly