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Describe a present you have given to someone

IELTS Cue Card Question 87 With Model Answer:

Describe a present you have given to someone.

You should say:
  • who you gave it to
  • what kind of present it was
  • how it compares to other presents you have given
And explain why you decided to give this particular gift.

[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:
Attending birthdays is really awesome. You will have the chances to meet and greet the friends and family members and the occasion is more important for the birthday boy or girl as they receive exciting gifts on the day.

Last week, I was invited on the 13th birthday of my niece, Samantha, who lives in the downtown of New York. She has entered into her teenage which is the most important exciting issue for us all. My present was a pleasant surprise for her. All the other invited guests also brought attractive presents for her on the day. Samantha is the older daughter of my sister and her parents take enough care of her. She is intelligent and smart in her behaviour than the other girls of her age. Besides, she is brilliant in her academic activities and often achieves the first position on her exams.

Since she loves to study, I presented her with a book. The book is not similar to the contemporary books rather it was filled thousands of different known and unknown words. Yes, I gave her a dictionary. It was Oxford-Hachette French to English/English to French Dictionary as she was willing to go to France in the summer next. Thereby, she was trying to learn French. I noticed her determination to learn French and she already admitted her to a French learning centre. The dictionary is bilingual and been continued since 1994. This is the first dictionary that was written with computer assistance and contains over 300,000 words. Though there are several editions are still available, I collected the latest edition published in 2007.

My niece was highly glad having the dictionary. She received many other gifts like storybooks, clothes, ornaments and even a large-sized Barbie doll on the occasion but she liked my present most. She considered the gift as a divine blessing for her as she was struggling with her home tasks assigned from her French class. She thanked me warmly for the gift and said that she would also bring something special for me when she will return after her France trip. Samantha was so excited after unwrapping the present that she became speechless for few moments. It appeared the Oxford-Hachette French to English/English to French Dictionary was a great surprise for her. She hugged me warmly for the present.

During the present selection, I emphasise on the necessity of the individual whom I am offering the gifts. When I am invited, I take the most important things that could be of immediate use to the host. I like to think practical. Taking fancy elements as presents to be hung on the doorsteps is out of my nature. When I learnt that Samantha was learning French, I thought a dictionary would be helpful for her to learn the language. Once I admitted myself to a German language learning school but could not continue as I did not have a dictionary. Thereby, from my own experience, I offered the present to her.



Sample Answer 2:
I love to meet people in a social gathering. But to be there, one needs to take some sort of presents for the host. And in this case, I love to present books to my hosts. In almost all the cases, I have presented books and the receivers were highly glad about the gifts. Thank you for the question. I think this is an interesting way to make people surprised.

Last week, I had to attend a marriage anniversary of my colleague, Jones and Caroline. Both of them are a good person. It was their second marriage anniversary and being an intimate friend of their family, I was invited as a guest. So, I selected a collection of books for them. After receiving the gift, Caroline was too happy and thanked me so much for this nice selection. In fact, she was planning to buy some books and the one I gave her was on the list too.

When I present a book to someone, I try to provide the complete collection of the author or the series. This is a bit expensive issue for me but I do not care much about the expenses when I see the smiling faces of the receivers. This time I planned to present the collection of Sherlock Holmes to the couple and accordingly got the collection. But to get the books, I had to move to places. I could not find the entire collection at a single place. So, I had to move in several bookselling stores here in Paris to make the collection complete. Finally, after moving in several bookstores, I was able to gather the entire collection. Besides, carrying the books to the event was another issue for me. The size of the books was large and I also experienced some troubles while wrapping the books. But at last, I was able to take the books to the intended recipients.

I think presenting books to people is a wise decision. Books are the best friends of human. They provide with the required knowledge to lead a life. They also amuse the readers. So, the value of books cannot be compared to the other objects. Usually, people take some material things as present to attend any ceremony. And the range of such list is wide which cannot be measured. But those are measurable in terms of money. It is only the books which cannot be measured in terms of money or any other material stuff. It contains the knowledge that can change lives and it did so in the past. Books are also known as the storehouse of knowledge. The pages are filled with the knowledge of centuries that anyone cannot buy. So, when someone receives books as gifts, they are lucky.

I decided to give books as gifts for several reasons. First of all, when people will have books, they will read it and gain some knowledge that they did not have before. They will be enriched in terms of intellect and consequently, they will turn wise. They can apply the wisdom to improve their life and living. Moreover, they will have a pleasure that they will not get into anything else. It is a kind of wealth for them. Besides, when the books are showcased, they also look good and brings a sense of beauty for the people who showcase them. So, based on all the grounds, I have decided to give this gift in particular.

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