IELTS Cue Card Question 159 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:
t was simply a set of tablespoons and forks that took long hours for me to find out. I noticed the spoons at the residence of one of my maternal uncles and asked him about the location where he bought from. But he replied that he had no ideas about the spoons and forks as he received them as gifts.
In fact, it was a set of finely made spoons covered with simple designs. The spoons arrested my attention as those were different from the ordinary spoons. The medium-sized silver spoons were a bit heavier than the ordinary ones. The spoons were shining in the light. I was invited to the uncle’s house for a familial dinner and then noticed the spoons and forks. I have never seen such a combined attractive spoon set and wanted to have a batch for my family or to present someone I admire. The set contained twelve tablespoons with twelve forks.
After my graduation from Paris, I came to Singapore to handle our family business. There I met with Sally, one of my closest friends in Paris. She invited me to attend her marriage in Singapore as she had also settled there. Since I was invited as a guest, I needed to arrange for some gift to present her on the day. Accordingly, I planned on giving her the spoons. I knew that the bunch of spoons will make her happy and whenever she will use those they will remind her of my gifts. As per my thought, I bought the spoons. There was a dozen of tablespoons accompanied with a dozen forks. I also added a dozen of knives with the spoons to make it a complete set of dinner assistive instruments.
Choosing was a difficult task for me. Firstly I am highly busy with my family business which deals with importing food crops and grains from different countries. Thereby, it was difficult for me to manage time to get the spoons. Besides, I was unaware of about the location where I could get the items. I had to visit different shopping malls and street markets to get them. Finally, I found the spoons at an importer's store at a corner of a street market after a lot of troubles and visits to different markets.
I had to spend a lot of time to get the items. It took nearly a week for me to get them and I had to visit different places each of the days. I spent a huge time to get the spoons as those were highly attractive. The outlooks of the spoons and forks were gorgeous and there was no excessiveness in the design. They were strong and it appeared to me that the spoons will be durable. Moreover, the seller said that there would be no dents or spots on the spoons and he assured that he would be responsible for any sort of damages within three years. So, I got the spoons and extended the list with the knives.
Model Answer 2:
It was the second birthday of my nephew. I had been looking for a toy train for him to present marking the day. But I did not get the desired piece. So, it took long times for me to find out the right toy train set for the baby.
In my childhood, I was presented with a toy train set from one of my relatives. It was a nice piece of toy set that had one locomotive with four other waggons. Besides, it had a railway track that needed to be assembled before playing with the train. That was a nice experience for me. So, I wanted to get a similar set of toy for the baby so that it also would get a pleasant experience.
It was my nephew from my elder sister. He just has stepped in two. I have a very good relationship with this baby boy and do lots of things with him. In fact, he is so adorable that I always want to be with this baby. Moreover, the baby is also fond of me and loves to be with me. When I go to visit my sister, I take something for this baby and it becomes pleased. But when I attempt to get out of their home, the baby tries to stop me and stay with him. Based on all the grounds, I wanted to give him the very best gift to play with.
The selection process was filled with complexity. It is really difficult to find out the right gift for someone. Before the gift selection, one needs to consider some aspects about the recipient like as the preference of the recipient, the colour of the present, celebration theme, and many more issues. Though this was simply a birthday, I needed to consider some of the aforesaid matters. He was a small boy of two years of age. So, I need to focus on his entertainment issues. After thinking a lot, I find the toy train will be the best one for this little boy. Accordingly, I managed the toy train set.
It took a long time to choose the present. First of all, I wanted to buy some sorts of cars or other types of toys for the baby. But later, I realised that the boy would not be able to play with cars. The cars need to be controlled by using a remote control. He is not matured enough to control a car using the remote controller. Besides, such toys are not suitable for kids of two. But there are no such issues with a toy train. Once the train track is set, you can place the train on the track and it will move by itself. The boy will be delighted. So, I spend a long time to get this specific toy set.
2. Selecting a perfume as a gift is really a hefty task. I had no idea that this simple task could be so hard for me! I presented a Dunhill Red to William marking his 19th birthday. Initially, I searched the perfume online but they were unable to deliver the product on the same day of placing the order. So, I went out and bought it from a shopping mall. I picked it for its outstanding smell and longevity. The perfume is no available everywhere and so it took a long time for me to get one.
3. Samantha turned 26 last month and I picked a wristwatch for her. But it took a long time for me to get the piece. I had to visit several shops for this. In fact, I had been trying to get the best piece for her but none of the available wristwatches was up to the mark. So, I had to visit more than five or six shops in total. Finally, after spending around three and half hours, I got the perfect one. The leather-strapped wristwatch looked wonderful with its heart-shape. She was delighted with the gift and that made me happy as well.
4. Our teacher Mr Brown was set to leave our college. So, I wanted to give him something special that will make him remember his students. Thereby, I bought a nice piece of a coffee mug. But it was hard for me to get this one. I wanted to make a customized mug but that was time-consuming. As I was in a rush, I visited the local market here in Singapore. Finding a mug is easier but finding the special one is really tough. I had to spend over two hours to get the desired mug.
5. During last Christmas, I presented a key ring to my dad. It was a special key ring that came with a carving of Jesus Christ. My dad loved the ring and I felt happy about it. But he did not know how much time and effort I had to spend to get this one. I generated the idea from the internet and then spent almost half a day to get this key ring. Such key rings are uncommon in Hong Kong. But luckily, I managed to get that piece. But it took me a few hours to get that gift.
If you can talk about the cue card topic "Describe a gift you bought for others that took you a long time to choose." you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue card topics as well:
Describe a gift you bought for others that took you a long time to choose.
You should say:- what it was
- who you gave it to
- how you chose 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:
In fact, it was a set of finely made spoons covered with simple designs. The spoons arrested my attention as those were different from the ordinary spoons. The medium-sized silver spoons were a bit heavier than the ordinary ones. The spoons were shining in the light. I was invited to the uncle’s house for a familial dinner and then noticed the spoons and forks. I have never seen such a combined attractive spoon set and wanted to have a batch for my family or to present someone I admire. The set contained twelve tablespoons with twelve forks.
After my graduation from Paris, I came to Singapore to handle our family business. There I met with Sally, one of my closest friends in Paris. She invited me to attend her marriage in Singapore as she had also settled there. Since I was invited as a guest, I needed to arrange for some gift to present her on the day. Accordingly, I planned on giving her the spoons. I knew that the bunch of spoons will make her happy and whenever she will use those they will remind her of my gifts. As per my thought, I bought the spoons. There was a dozen of tablespoons accompanied with a dozen forks. I also added a dozen of knives with the spoons to make it a complete set of dinner assistive instruments.
Choosing was a difficult task for me. Firstly I am highly busy with my family business which deals with importing food crops and grains from different countries. Thereby, it was difficult for me to manage time to get the spoons. Besides, I was unaware of about the location where I could get the items. I had to visit different shopping malls and street markets to get them. Finally, I found the spoons at an importer's store at a corner of a street market after a lot of troubles and visits to different markets.
I had to spend a lot of time to get the items. It took nearly a week for me to get them and I had to visit different places each of the days. I spent a huge time to get the spoons as those were highly attractive. The outlooks of the spoons and forks were gorgeous and there was no excessiveness in the design. They were strong and it appeared to me that the spoons will be durable. Moreover, the seller said that there would be no dents or spots on the spoons and he assured that he would be responsible for any sort of damages within three years. So, I got the spoons and extended the list with the knives.
Model Answer 2:
It was the second birthday of my nephew. I had been looking for a toy train for him to present marking the day. But I did not get the desired piece. So, it took long times for me to find out the right toy train set for the baby.
In my childhood, I was presented with a toy train set from one of my relatives. It was a nice piece of toy set that had one locomotive with four other waggons. Besides, it had a railway track that needed to be assembled before playing with the train. That was a nice experience for me. So, I wanted to get a similar set of toy for the baby so that it also would get a pleasant experience.
It was my nephew from my elder sister. He just has stepped in two. I have a very good relationship with this baby boy and do lots of things with him. In fact, he is so adorable that I always want to be with this baby. Moreover, the baby is also fond of me and loves to be with me. When I go to visit my sister, I take something for this baby and it becomes pleased. But when I attempt to get out of their home, the baby tries to stop me and stay with him. Based on all the grounds, I wanted to give him the very best gift to play with.
The selection process was filled with complexity. It is really difficult to find out the right gift for someone. Before the gift selection, one needs to consider some aspects about the recipient like as the preference of the recipient, the colour of the present, celebration theme, and many more issues. Though this was simply a birthday, I needed to consider some of the aforesaid matters. He was a small boy of two years of age. So, I need to focus on his entertainment issues. After thinking a lot, I find the toy train will be the best one for this little boy. Accordingly, I managed the toy train set.
It took a long time to choose the present. First of all, I wanted to buy some sorts of cars or other types of toys for the baby. But later, I realised that the boy would not be able to play with cars. The cars need to be controlled by using a remote control. He is not matured enough to control a car using the remote controller. Besides, such toys are not suitable for kids of two. But there are no such issues with a toy train. Once the train track is set, you can place the train on the track and it will move by itself. The boy will be delighted. So, I spend a long time to get this specific toy set.
Idea Generation for this Cue Card Topic:
1. I had to attend a birthday party of a friend and I bought a present for her. It was a nice set of makeup. And Maria was highly happy with the present. I was in trouble while choosing the present. I did not have any idea about her preferences. So, I collected information from her Facebook account about her preference for gifts. I came to know that she loves branded make-up box and accordingly, I picked the gift for her. It took a long time to select the right shades and pieces from a branded shop.2. Selecting a perfume as a gift is really a hefty task. I had no idea that this simple task could be so hard for me! I presented a Dunhill Red to William marking his 19th birthday. Initially, I searched the perfume online but they were unable to deliver the product on the same day of placing the order. So, I went out and bought it from a shopping mall. I picked it for its outstanding smell and longevity. The perfume is no available everywhere and so it took a long time for me to get one.
3. Samantha turned 26 last month and I picked a wristwatch for her. But it took a long time for me to get the piece. I had to visit several shops for this. In fact, I had been trying to get the best piece for her but none of the available wristwatches was up to the mark. So, I had to visit more than five or six shops in total. Finally, after spending around three and half hours, I got the perfect one. The leather-strapped wristwatch looked wonderful with its heart-shape. She was delighted with the gift and that made me happy as well.
4. Our teacher Mr Brown was set to leave our college. So, I wanted to give him something special that will make him remember his students. Thereby, I bought a nice piece of a coffee mug. But it was hard for me to get this one. I wanted to make a customized mug but that was time-consuming. As I was in a rush, I visited the local market here in Singapore. Finding a mug is easier but finding the special one is really tough. I had to spend over two hours to get the desired mug.
5. During last Christmas, I presented a key ring to my dad. It was a special key ring that came with a carving of Jesus Christ. My dad loved the ring and I felt happy about it. But he did not know how much time and effort I had to spend to get this one. I generated the idea from the internet and then spent almost half a day to get this key ring. Such key rings are uncommon in Hong Kong. But luckily, I managed to get that piece. But it took me a few hours to get that gift.
If you can talk about the cue card topic "Describe a gift you bought for others that took you a long time to choose." you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue card topics as well:
- Describe a gift you gave to someone.
- Describe something you gave to a friend recently.
- Describe a gift or present you gave to someone.