When you disagreed with a decision someone made

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 575 with Model Answer:

Describe a time when you disagreed with a decision someone made.

You should say:

• when it was
• what decision was made
• who made this decision

and explain why you disagreed with this decision.

[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.]

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Model Answer:
I can recall a few occasions when I could not agree with the people who made some important decisions. Despite being a reasonably agreeable person, I disagreed in these situations and sometimes I expressed my disagreement while other times I remained silent. For this topic, here I will talk about one memorable instance when I disagreed with a decision as a member of a student organization in college. It was about a year ago when our group was planning an event to raise funds for a charitable cause.

The decision in question was made by the president of the organization, who proposed allocating a significant portion of the event budget to hire a high-profile guest speaker. While the idea was to attract more attendees and garner media attention, I strongly disagreed with this allocation.

The decision to spend a large portion of the budget on a guest speaker seemed impractical to me, given our limited resources and the primary goal of raising funds for charity. I believed that the funds would be better utilized for other aspects of the event, such as venue rental, marketing materials, and catering, which would directly contribute to the success of the fundraiser.

Despite expressing my concerns to the president and providing alternative suggestions, including inviting local influencers or organizing engaging activities, the decision remained unchanged. This led to a difference of opinion between us regarding the best approach to achieve our fundraising goals.

My disagreement stemmed from a belief in prioritizing practicality and maximizing the impact of our resources to achieve our objectives effectively. While I respected the president's perspective and intentions behind the decision, I felt strongly about advocating for what I believed was the most prudent and strategic course of action for the organization.