IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 215 with Model Answer:
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
Indoor games are always exciting if you have the right partner with you. If the partner is unable to play the game, often the games appear boring. I used to play cards with my cousins in my childhood and all of them were skilled at the game. So, I enjoyed the games much.
Playing card is a kind of fascination for me. I like to play cards and also skilled in different types of games with the cards. When I was a child, I used to live with my parents and the family was a joint family living in Mysore in India. So, I had some cousins who also lived with their parents in the large family. Since the number of small children was more and all of them were causing troubles to the older people, my father invented the idea to teach us to play cards. This idea from my father was one of the effective ones in his entire life. In association with my paternal uncles and grandpas, my father taught us to play cards. Initially, he introduced all the cards to us, explained the functions and importance of the card numbers and characters and finally coached how to play them.
Usually, I played the cards with my cousins and at times my father asked me to accompany him occasionally. But I have played most of the time with the cousins and we formed three groups. Each of the groups had four members and we used to play different local and international types. We used to play rummy, blackjack, spades, twenty-nine, poker (without any money), contract bridge etc. My father was strict about one issue that he did not allow anyone to play the cards with money. He was strict against gambling and wanted us to remain away from that. All of us followed his orders and never tried to go beyond the directives. Sometimes I have played cards with my local friends when they arrived at my home to pass their leisure. Then I used to form another group to play cards outside of my family members.
Playing card was a form of entertainment. Since I was born and brought up in an extended family in India, we had a large house to share, made by great grandpa. There was a recreation room in the house on the third floor, in fact on the roof of the house. A couple of tables, chairs and other unused furniture were kept in the room. The room was spacious enough to accommodate all of my cousins including me (we were 16 in number). We got divided us into four groups and distributed the card packets accordingly. As my father and uncles also used to play cards, there were enough packets for us to share during the play. After the card packet distribution, we start paying for our preference. I used to play blackjack with the cousins but all of our sisters preferred playing spades only. We could not pursue them to play the other types. In fact, they might have found the type easier for them.
A saying goes that habit causes love. Playing card turned into a habit for all of us and at last, we fell in love with the game. Initially, my father did not want to teach us playing cards as it may lead us to ashtray but considering the urges from the other family members, he agreed to teach us. So, whenever we managed time, we used to deal with the cards. The eldest uncle of mine had shown us few amazing tricks and sometimes we tried to perform those tricks but failed. Gradually, love for the cards appeared on our mind. Some of my cousins were obsessed with cards and even they started keeping a packet with their pockets always. Moreover, playing cards became our preferable pastime as we did not have any outdoor space to move on. We had a large garden before the house which was well maintained and thus we were not allowed to enter into the garden premise. So, to prevent our mischievous activities inside the home, the seniors arranged for the cards. Now almost all of my cousins, including me, are skilled card players.
Sample Answer 2:
I used to play table tennis at my home when I was a kid. In fact, table tennis is one of the most popular indoor sports of all time. The memories are still vivid in my mind. Thank you for the topic. I will describe the memories now and hope they would be enjoyable.
My father loved playing table tennis. So, he arranged for a table and other necessary tools for playing the game at home. In line with his addiction to the game, I also developed a sense of attraction for table tennis. So, it was a common matter for me to spend around two to three hours in playing the game at the garage where the table was placed.
Mostly, I played the game with my father. Sometimes, I was accompanied by some of my cousins when they came to our home. It was really nice to play with them. But interestingly, I gained skills in playing the game and won almost all the matches. The events turned really enjoyable when my dad used to play with us. But it was tougher for him to manage time to play with us during the daytime. He remained busy round the day. Usually, in the working days, he used to play it in the evening after returning from his work.
Playing table tennis requires some special set of skills. In fact, if you do not have prior experiences with the game. Physical fitness is the most important thing here. You will need to move speedily to deal with the tiny tennis ball. When I played the game, I had to follow all the necessary rules. My father taught me the rules. He also taught me to serve the ball smartly. After lots of practices, I have made my own way of serving the tennis ball to the opponent. Interestingly, my opponent becomes puzzled in the beginning of the game which helps me to be the winner. But moving in the corner of the table was a bit troublesome for me as I was a child.
I used to like playing table tennis in my childhood for various reasons. The most important reason was that to play table tennis, I do not need to go outside. And I could play it whenever I wanted. Gradually, I learned the skill for this game which also made it preferable to me. Besides, there were some other health benefits of playing table tennis as well. It helped me to keep fit and remove laziness. Moreover, I enjoyed the moments when I won the matches. In fact, I won the matches for my skills and rapid movements. The sudden attacks on the opponent were the key to success and it helped me enjoy the game to the last minute.
Idea generation for this Cue Card topic:
"Describe an indoor game that you played in your childhood."
Indoor games are often fun and people love to play them for numerous reasons. They get immense pleasure with indoor games and the risks of getting injured are lower. Hence, indoor games have become a good source of entertainment for people. The cue card wants to know about an indoor game that the candidate played in childhood. Here are some other answering hints for them to deal with this cue card smoothly.
1. In my childhood, I used to play bowling. In fact, it was improvised. I used some empty cans and painted a ball of mine as the ball. Unluckily, I never succeeded in winning any of the matches with my brothers and cousins. Though the innovation was mine, others enjoyed it more than me.
2. The treasure hunt was my favourite indoor game. I was born in Ohio, USA, and have spent my childhood in the localities. The treasure hunt was the most popular form of indoor games for children. It was extremely adventurous for me. And finding the treasure was thrilling. In fact, I miss those days badly.
3. In India, hide and seek is a popular indoor game among children at present days. Even it was popular too in my time. I used to play hide and seek with my cousins and when there was a load shedding, the game reached its peak. Actually, it was impossible to seek out the hidden children in the dark of night. So, everyone present there enjoyed it much.
4. Not everyone can dance. But when it was about dance party – an indoor game for children, all the children tried to dance their best. I also took part in the game often. Someone from us sang aloud or played music and the others had to dance in rhythm. The best dancer became the winner of this game.
5. I loved to play tic tac toe in my childhood. This was an important game for me. In fact, if someone is less intelligent, s/he will lose the game easily. In the beginning, I also lost numerous matches with my school friends but gradually became an expert in this game. Even, I love playing the game in this adult age.
Describe an indoor game that you played in your childhood.
You should say:- what it was
- who you played it with
- how you played it
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
Playing card is a kind of fascination for me. I like to play cards and also skilled in different types of games with the cards. When I was a child, I used to live with my parents and the family was a joint family living in Mysore in India. So, I had some cousins who also lived with their parents in the large family. Since the number of small children was more and all of them were causing troubles to the older people, my father invented the idea to teach us to play cards. This idea from my father was one of the effective ones in his entire life. In association with my paternal uncles and grandpas, my father taught us to play cards. Initially, he introduced all the cards to us, explained the functions and importance of the card numbers and characters and finally coached how to play them.
Usually, I played the cards with my cousins and at times my father asked me to accompany him occasionally. But I have played most of the time with the cousins and we formed three groups. Each of the groups had four members and we used to play different local and international types. We used to play rummy, blackjack, spades, twenty-nine, poker (without any money), contract bridge etc. My father was strict about one issue that he did not allow anyone to play the cards with money. He was strict against gambling and wanted us to remain away from that. All of us followed his orders and never tried to go beyond the directives. Sometimes I have played cards with my local friends when they arrived at my home to pass their leisure. Then I used to form another group to play cards outside of my family members.
Playing card was a form of entertainment. Since I was born and brought up in an extended family in India, we had a large house to share, made by great grandpa. There was a recreation room in the house on the third floor, in fact on the roof of the house. A couple of tables, chairs and other unused furniture were kept in the room. The room was spacious enough to accommodate all of my cousins including me (we were 16 in number). We got divided us into four groups and distributed the card packets accordingly. As my father and uncles also used to play cards, there were enough packets for us to share during the play. After the card packet distribution, we start paying for our preference. I used to play blackjack with the cousins but all of our sisters preferred playing spades only. We could not pursue them to play the other types. In fact, they might have found the type easier for them.
A saying goes that habit causes love. Playing card turned into a habit for all of us and at last, we fell in love with the game. Initially, my father did not want to teach us playing cards as it may lead us to ashtray but considering the urges from the other family members, he agreed to teach us. So, whenever we managed time, we used to deal with the cards. The eldest uncle of mine had shown us few amazing tricks and sometimes we tried to perform those tricks but failed. Gradually, love for the cards appeared on our mind. Some of my cousins were obsessed with cards and even they started keeping a packet with their pockets always. Moreover, playing cards became our preferable pastime as we did not have any outdoor space to move on. We had a large garden before the house which was well maintained and thus we were not allowed to enter into the garden premise. So, to prevent our mischievous activities inside the home, the seniors arranged for the cards. Now almost all of my cousins, including me, are skilled card players.
Sample Answer 2:
I used to play table tennis at my home when I was a kid. In fact, table tennis is one of the most popular indoor sports of all time. The memories are still vivid in my mind. Thank you for the topic. I will describe the memories now and hope they would be enjoyable.
My father loved playing table tennis. So, he arranged for a table and other necessary tools for playing the game at home. In line with his addiction to the game, I also developed a sense of attraction for table tennis. So, it was a common matter for me to spend around two to three hours in playing the game at the garage where the table was placed.
Mostly, I played the game with my father. Sometimes, I was accompanied by some of my cousins when they came to our home. It was really nice to play with them. But interestingly, I gained skills in playing the game and won almost all the matches. The events turned really enjoyable when my dad used to play with us. But it was tougher for him to manage time to play with us during the daytime. He remained busy round the day. Usually, in the working days, he used to play it in the evening after returning from his work.
Playing table tennis requires some special set of skills. In fact, if you do not have prior experiences with the game. Physical fitness is the most important thing here. You will need to move speedily to deal with the tiny tennis ball. When I played the game, I had to follow all the necessary rules. My father taught me the rules. He also taught me to serve the ball smartly. After lots of practices, I have made my own way of serving the tennis ball to the opponent. Interestingly, my opponent becomes puzzled in the beginning of the game which helps me to be the winner. But moving in the corner of the table was a bit troublesome for me as I was a child.
I used to like playing table tennis in my childhood for various reasons. The most important reason was that to play table tennis, I do not need to go outside. And I could play it whenever I wanted. Gradually, I learned the skill for this game which also made it preferable to me. Besides, there were some other health benefits of playing table tennis as well. It helped me to keep fit and remove laziness. Moreover, I enjoyed the moments when I won the matches. In fact, I won the matches for my skills and rapid movements. The sudden attacks on the opponent were the key to success and it helped me enjoy the game to the last minute.
Idea generation for this Cue Card topic:
"Describe an indoor game that you played in your childhood." Indoor games are often fun and people love to play them for numerous reasons. They get immense pleasure with indoor games and the risks of getting injured are lower. Hence, indoor games have become a good source of entertainment for people. The cue card wants to know about an indoor game that the candidate played in childhood. Here are some other answering hints for them to deal with this cue card smoothly.
1. In my childhood, I used to play bowling. In fact, it was improvised. I used some empty cans and painted a ball of mine as the ball. Unluckily, I never succeeded in winning any of the matches with my brothers and cousins. Though the innovation was mine, others enjoyed it more than me.
2. The treasure hunt was my favourite indoor game. I was born in Ohio, USA, and have spent my childhood in the localities. The treasure hunt was the most popular form of indoor games for children. It was extremely adventurous for me. And finding the treasure was thrilling. In fact, I miss those days badly.
3. In India, hide and seek is a popular indoor game among children at present days. Even it was popular too in my time. I used to play hide and seek with my cousins and when there was a load shedding, the game reached its peak. Actually, it was impossible to seek out the hidden children in the dark of night. So, everyone present there enjoyed it much.
4. Not everyone can dance. But when it was about dance party – an indoor game for children, all the children tried to dance their best. I also took part in the game often. Someone from us sang aloud or played music and the others had to dance in rhythm. The best dancer became the winner of this game.
5. I loved to play tic tac toe in my childhood. This was an important game for me. In fact, if someone is less intelligent, s/he will lose the game easily. In the beginning, I also lost numerous matches with my school friends but gradually became an expert in this game. Even, I love playing the game in this adult age.