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Cue Card # A small business you would like to start

April 24, 2020 IELTS Research

Cue Card A small business you would like to start

Talk about A small business you would like to start

You should say:

What the business is

Where you would like to start it

And explain how you got the idea about this business

Cue Card A small business you would like to start

Sample Answer

Today I will detail a business I would like to open in central Munich. The idea is to open a high-end Indian snacks parlour. I found Munich to be the most suitable location for such a business as eating Indian food is considered to be quite a common indulgence there. I believe this stems from the fact that much of the European cuisine lacks the spice and intrinsic flavour of Asian cooking.

This concept has been with me for quite some time. The special “hook” of this parlour is that you customize your own snacks. Sort of like Subway, but with a far fresher and a wider variety of choices. There will, of course, be suggestions of certain combinations for those with less experimental inclinations.

I am thinking of dividing the customization process into 3 parts: the base, filling and topping. Different types of traditional Indian snacks would be used for the base. The filling would consist of a choice of flavoured curds, boiled potato, chickpeas, lentils, peas, beans and other common ingredients. Last but not the least, would be the most extensive selection of different toppings. The selections would comprise topping fruit, flavouring sauces, and extra decorative pieces. The sprinkling spices would be found on the tables. One thing I would take care of would be to label each and every product on a scale of 1 to 10 on spice factor, as many people could unwittingly use unknown ingredients and regret it later.

The layout would be a rustic-bohemian hybrid style, with rich tapestries, low golden lighting and contrasting high chairs, all of which would be done up in a deep chocolate woodwork.

As you can see, this plan is very well thought out. The reason for the same is that during my time in Munich and India, I realized how much Indian cuisine has to give for the much lacking market in Europe. The detailing for this hypothetical business was finalized during our family eat out dinner when we happened to be discussing the variety of the menu. I believe it was an evening well spent, discussing a wonderful small business idea about something we were all passionate about.

High-level words and their meanings:
indulgence	Allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of.
intrinsic	Belonging naturally; essential.
unwittingly	Without being aware; unintentionally.
tapestries	A piece of thick textile fabric with pictures or designs
hypothetical	Involving or being based on a suggested idea or theory

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

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IELTS BAND 7 Home page

Cue Card Talk about something you lost and then found

April 15, 2020 IELTS Research

IELTS Cue Card Talk about something you lost and then found

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 my relevant documents in my laptop bag. Among them were original passing certificates, my passport, Aadhar and birth certificate. Needless to say, the bag held some very precious cargo.

Now, on 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 relax with my friends in the cafeteria. We had previously agreed to meet up in the afternoon, there we discussed our various interviews. My Funny friends imitated the stringent interviewers, it was a right riot, and we 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 this point I was filled with dread, my mind was whirling with everything that could go wrong, but nevertheless I bid my friend fair well and resolved to check the cafeteria first thing in the morning.

The Next day my friend met me by the cafeteria entrance, he was talking to the manager. The manager led us to the staff on duty yesterday afternoon so we could describe the bag. One of the newer employees had been cleaning yesterday and had found my bag. 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

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

IELTS online simulator

IELTS BAND 7 Home page

Cue Card A singer or band you like

April 15, 2020 IELTS Research

IELTS Cue Card A singer or band you like

A singer or band you like.

You should say:

Who the singer/band is

How did you get to know about this singer/band?

What is special about their music?

And explain why you like the singer/ band.

Cue Card A singer or band you like

Sample Answer:

I am a music lover, for me music is not just a melody, but emotion in its purest form. I like to be very experimental with what I listen to on a day-to-day basis. I enjoy Pop, Rap, Country, Classic, Spanish, and yes even Korean songs. In fact, today I will talk about one of my favourite KPOP idols, his full name is Kim Woosung, but he goes by the stage name of Sammy or Woosung.

I found his music when I was idly surfing YouTube, I had no particular goal in mind and was just casually listening to music. That’s when I spotted a Music Video named “FACE” by Woosung, I clicked on it as one does.

I can truthfully say, music has never been the same since. I truly grasped the concept of voice, inflection and pitch, for Woosung’s voice was heavenly. He had a particularly unique quiver in his voice, I had never heard anything like it. The beat, the rhythm and style of music just reverberated with me on an entirely new level. What’s more, the music video had models of different ethnicities, something which is rarely found in KPOP. I was intrigued.

I found a couple of his other songs, however it was only a week later that I found out that he is in fact a part of a band named ‘The Rose’. The reason I specified ‘band’ and not ‘group’, is because both have different connotations in KPOP. A group, is generally of four or more members, trained in dance and singing, music production and lyrical content is taken care of by the parent company. A band, however, consists of four members who compose their own music, lyrics, and play everything live instrumentally with vocals.

As soon as I found ‘The Rose’, I knew I had finally found my favourite band, their music goes above and beyond everything else. The emotion, the camaraderie of the members, the love in the fandom, all of it; the whole nine yards. Whenever I listen to their music, I am in awe of Sammy’s angelic voice, the same voice that got me into Black Rose fandom.

Useful words and their meanings
Inflection	the way in which the sound of your voice changes during speech, for example when you emphasize particular words
Quiver	a slight shake, often because of strong emotion
Reverberate	(of sound) to continue to be heard; to echo repeatedly
Camaraderie	a feeling of friendliness towards people that you work or share an experience with
Fandom	a group of fans of someone or something, especially very enthusiastic ones

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

IELTS online simulator

IELTS BAND 7 Home page

Cue Card : A time the weather made you change your plans.

April 14, 2020 IELTS Research

IELTS Cue Card A time the weather made you change your plans.

You should say:

What the plan was

How the weather was

Why you had to change the plan

And explain on how you felt about the overall situation.

Cue Card A time the weather made you change your plans

Sample Answer:

Unpredictable weather can be a nuisance. I will now recount one such instance when the weather played spoilsport to my plans.

This happened a fortnight ago. It had been a long and tedious month of finals in college. As I gave my last exam, all I could think about was how much I was looking forward to relaxing during the oncoming weekend.

Now this might come off as a bit shallow to some, but shopping is my idea of time well spent, in fact it is my main hobby. I find it to be therapeutic in a sense; even buying a little cute teddy keychain can change my mood dramatically. I had asked my bestie, Natasha, to join me on Saturday afternoon. The plan was to visit a newly opened shopping centre in our neighbourhood. I kept seeing adverts about this establishment in the papers, they only served to hype me up even more. Little did I know that my big break was never going to arrive.

That same Friday afternoon it was unexpectedly cloudy and had started drizzling. I thought that the weather would be fine tomorrow. However, it became worse overnight; thunder and lightning continued for hours. When I woke up, it was raining heavily without any signs of stopping soon.

Just to see if there was any possibility of a clear sky in the afternoon, I checked the weather forecast. A severe cyclonic storm with heavy rains and gusts was predicted during the next 24 hours. Now, there was no choice except cancelling our afternoon outing.

I felt crushed. After having studied so hard for the last three months, all I asked for was one measly outing and god had denied even that. To make matters worse, the electricity cut soon after, and it did not come back the entire day. That was one day I remember vividly for being so miserable, lonely and cold. (350 Words)

High-level words and their meanings:
nuisance	something or someone that annoys you or causes trouble for you
fortnight	a period of two weeks. (14 days)
tedious	Feel boring
hype	advertised, discussed in newspapers & TV to attract everyone’s interest.
drizzling	rain in very small, light drops