Cue Card Sample

An important piece of news you received via text message - Cue Card # 720

IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe an important piece of news that you received via text message.

You should say:

  • who shared the message with you
  • what the news was about
  • how it was written

and explain why the news was important to you.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]


 

Model Answer 1:
I have never really been much of a fan of reading any text message on my mobile phone, mainly because more than 80% of the text messages seem to be delivered, on my mobile, at least, for advertising purposes. But, today, I would like to talk about an important text message, which I received about a couple of years ago when I was away from my home.

As I have just mentioned above, when I received the message, I was away from my home, enjoying my vacation in a different city. So, I wasn’t expecting any message from my work, at least. In fact, I wasn’t expecting any kind of messages from anybody whether they were important or not. But, when I got the message from my boss – I mean my Managing Director – I wasn’t exactly very thrilled about it, to say the least. But, after all, that was a message from my boss, and I just couldn’t ignore it, no matter how much I disliked it.

So, I decided to read the message. But, after reading it, I couldn’t really make much of the message since all it said was “a surprise is waiting for you”. So, I decided to call my boss and sought some clarification about the text message. In response, my boss sounded very happy on the other end and told me that I was getting transferred to another department after getting a promotion.

Initially, after hearing the news, I thought that my boss was joking with me since he had a habit of cracking jokes at his subordinates from time to time, but that time, he made it clear that he wasn’t making any jokes.

Anyway, the message was really important for me because the promotion was long overdue. In fact, I was even thinking about quitting the company if I didn’t get the promotion after working at the same company really hard for more than 6 years. Besides, the message was important to me also because it showed that my boss indeed cared for my career future by transferring me to a department where I had always wanted to be.


 

Model Answer 2:
I would like to share a moment when a significant piece of news reached me through a text message, forever altering the course of my day. The sender, in this case, was my sister's husband, and the news pertaining to the arrival of a new member into our family.

My brother-in-law, the husband of my younger sister, sent me a text message. His name flashed on my phone screen as I stepped out of a crucial meeting at my workplace. His repeated attempts to contact me had been unsuccessful as my phone was inadvertently set to silent during the meeting.

The text conveyed the joyous news that my younger sister, who had tied the knot a couple of years ago, had given birth to a healthy baby boy. The text was succinct but brimming with excitement, encapsulating the joyous essence of a new life entering our family.

Despite the brevity imposed by the constraints of a text message, the words exuded happiness and conveyed the sense of a new beginning. The text was a delightful blend of formality and familial warmth, with a simple "Hello, I hope you're doing well. We have wonderful news to share. Your sister and the baby are healthy and doing great. It's a boy!"

This news held immense significance for me as it not only announced the birth of my nephew but also symbolized the expansion and continuity of our family. The arrival of a new member is always a momentous occasion, and receiving this news via text message added a modern touch to the age-old tradition of sharing the joy of a newborn.

As I read and re-read the message, I couldn't help but smile at the thought of becoming an uncle. It was a moment that underscored the beauty of family bonds and the capacity of technology to bridge distances and promptly deliver moments of profound joy. The news not only made my day but created a lasting memory, reminding me of the power of simple messages to convey the most extraordinary events in life.

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