IELTS Speaking Test | Example Cue Card Topic Questions

Describe a hotel you have stayed in. You should say:

 where it is
 what facilities it has
 when you stayed there

and say whether you would recommend it to a friend.

Model Answer

Okay I’m going to tell you about a hotel I’ve stayed in a couple of times when I’ve been to Paris.
The hotel is called the Hotel Minerve and is on the left bank in Paris – it’s quite near the student
quarter and it’s a lively district to stay in. There’s always plenty going on around there with lots
of interesting little side streets to explore and cafes where you can just sit and enjoy a cup of
coffee. While it is quite noisy, it’s my favourite part of Paris to stay in as I prefer being
somewhere quite central.

The hotel itself is fairly basic and only has the sort of facilities you would expect in a two or
three star hotel. When I travel I’m normally on quite a tight budget and I can’t afford hotels
which have swimming pools and health spas and that sort of thing. In any event I prefer to
spend my time out exploring the place where I’m visiting and not just staying in to eat at the
hotel restaurant. So the Minerve does have the basics like WiFi, a lift and room service and a
little cafe where you can have breakfast and a coffee but it’s nothing special as I was saying.

I’ve actually stayed there three times now. The first occasion was at least 5 years ago and we
just liked the place so much that we kept going back there whenever we went to Paris. I think it
was the friendly service that impressed us so much – the people at reception are really
welcoming and speak good English too – which is a help.

I certainly would recommend the Minerve to a friend if they were going to Paris on a fairly
small budget. But there are of course fancier and more up market hotels that may be better if it
was a special occasion.
Describe a favourite item of clothing. You should say:

 what it is
 when you bought it
 why you bought it

and say why you like it so much.

Model Answer

I’m not really that into clothes. I do try and look fairly smart but I’m not that bothered by my
personal appearance and the clothes I’m wearing. But I will tell about my favourite article of
clothing – my leather jacket. That is by some distance my favourite piece of clothing.

It’s a fairly normal or regular leather jacket. The one unusual feature I suppose is that it has
white stripes down the sleeves. It’s also quite well-worn by now because I’ve had it some time
and I tend to wear throughout the winter months. In fact it’s got quite a few little tears where
it’s caught on sharp objects. I still love it though and I don’t mind at all that it looks rather
second-hand.

I bought it at least 5 years ago now. It came from one of those big department stores and not a
specialist leather shop. My old coat was very shabby and I was told by my girlfriend that I
definitely needed to buy another one – I think she was embarrassed to be seen with me.

So I went out by myself. I think it must have been sometime in January when the New Year
sales were on. My girlfriend wanted to come with me and help me choose something smart but
I said I would do it by myself. We shop in very different ways. She always wants to try
everything on and can spend hours buying nothing. My approach is quite different. If I see
something that I like and it fits I buy it. She might be two hours in a shop while I normally only
take 15 minutes.

Anyway I saw this jacket and I thought that it looked really cool. I had always secretly wanted a
leather jacket and because the sales were on and it was reduced by 50% I just bought it. My
girlfriend was really shocked when she saw what I had bought.

I like it because it’s different – it’s just not like any other clothes I have in my wardrobe.
Describe a film that you did not enjoy. You should say

 what the film was

and explain why you did not enjoy this film.

Model Answer

I’m going to tell you about a movie I saw a few months ago. While I normally do enjoy films, this
one I didn’t like at all – and that’s quite unusual for me.

The film was Mama Mia. I suppose you’ve probably heard of it because it’s become quite a
phenomenon – a cult movie I guess you could say. It’s a form of musical and is based on the
songs of Abba. I think it was adapted from a stage show but I’m not quite sure of that. It’s also a
bit of a rom com (romantic comedy) as the plot revolves around the romantic relationships of a
mother and daughter.

I had first heard about the film quite a long time ago and just had never bothered watching
because I was fairly sure it wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. But as I was saying a few months
back I did sit down and put it on. My girlfriend had given me the DVD and told me I had to see
it.

I didn’t in fact watch it with her but saw it by myself one evening when I had nothing else to do.
I’m quite glad she wasn’t there as I absolutely hated it. While I quite like the original songs the
performances in the film were absolutely terrible and the whole romance part of the movie
didn’t really work either.

I suppose it all ended happily ever after but in truth I couldn’t even watch it to the end. It was
that bad and overall a very disappointing experience.
Describe a country you would like to visit. You should say

 what the country is

and explain why you would like to visit it.

Model Answer

I think the country I would like to visit most is China. It’s somewhere that I’ve always been
fascinated by and would love to go and see one day.

I’m not entirely sure what the climate is like in China. I guess because it is such a vast country
that the weather varies quite a lot depending on where you are. I do know that some areas
such as Hong Kong and Beijing can get uncomfortably hot and humid in the summer and so I
suppose the best time to travel may be in the spring or autumn when it’s slightly cooler. The
one time I wouldn’t want to go would be in the winter because the days are shorter then and
you get less chance to see everything you want to

What would I do there? Well, I’d try and see the sights. Normally I’m quite an adventurous
traveller and I don’t like being part of tour group. But if I did ever go to China I would probably
do it as part of a package tour because that way I would get to visit all the major destinations.
You can’t really go there and not see the Great Wall and the Forbidden Palace. And I think that
if I went by myself there would be all sorts of problems with the language.

It’s hard to explain why China is my dream destination. It’s just a place that I long to visit. It may
be that it’s so exotic – or different – at any rate I’m sure that it would be a real experience.
Describe an important decision that you made. You should say:

 what the decision was

and explain why it was important.

Model Answer

I’m going to tell you about one of the more important decisions I’ve made – it changed my life
almost completely. It was when I asked my girlfriend to marry to me.

It was in some ways a very easy decision to come to. We’d been going out together for quite
some time – very nearly 4 years. In that time we’d got closer and closer and I think we both
knew that we’d tie the knot one day. But strangely enough getting married wasn’t something
we had discussed in any detail. It was something that had been mentioned from time to time
but we didn’t sit down and talk it through.

One day though I came to the conclusion that the time was right and I took her out for an
expensive meal and popped the question. She said yes which was of course amazing and we did
get married around 6 months later.

What I hadn’t considered though was all the planning that went into a wedding. Almost as soon
as we’d told our families everyone was of course very excited. But very quickly both our
mothers became involved in planning the wedding and the next 6 months were extremely
hectic – there was so much to do – make lists of guests, book a church, arrange catering, and
get invitations printed and so on. It became quite stressful.

That said it was not just a really important decision, it was without doubt the best decision I’ve
ever made.