IELTS SPEAKING CUE CARD
[PART 2]
A TIME YOU TOOK A RISK
Describe a time you took a risk that may have gone wrong but turned out well
You should say:
- what it was
- when you took it
- what the risk was
And explain why it turned out well
A N S W E R
I don’t really consider myself a 100% risk-taker since I have a lot of reservations in life. I always think about the ‘what ifs’ before jumping into a final decision. But last year, I broke my own rules and made a big risk, which I was really aware of in the first place that it could make me go broke, but thank goodness, it turned out to be something I wasn’t really expecting.
Early last year, I bought 3000 stocks from an IT startup company as I was encouraged by my friend, who has been investing in the stock market for years. He said that I should invest in some start-up IT-related companies if I really wanted to earn a decent amount of money from my investment in the stock market. Honestly, I was very skeptical of investing in start-ups then, since I didn’t have confidence. But I dunno for some reason, I ended up buying 3000 stocks from that company which cost me $1,200 because the price of the stock was $0.40.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Risk-taker [noun] – a person who takes risks
Jump into [phrase] – to suddenly decide to do something
Reservation [noun] – if you have reservations about something, you aren’t sure that it’s entirely good or right
Go broke [idiom] – to spend or lose all your money
In the first place [phrase] – at the beginning
Thank goodness [phrase] – used as an expression of relief
Stock [noun] – a type of investment that represents an ownership share in a company
Startup [noun] – a newly-established companies
Stock market [noun] – refers to a public market where you can buy, sell, or trade stocks during business days
Skeptical [adj.] – doubtful
End up [phrase] – to reach a situation that was not planned or expected
TIPS
i.) FIRST PARAGRAPH: The speaker developed his introduction by describing his personality first on the idea of taking risks. He didn’t immediately tell the examiner the risk that he took which turned out well, instead, he developed his introduction in a more creative way showcasing his language prowess. That makes his introduction not boring and doesn’t sound rehearsed – it’s natural!
ii.) SECOND PARAGRAPH: The speaker started to develop his story about the risk that he took. He talked about his investment in a startup company in the stock market. In this part, he talked about how and why he took the risk. That part served as his background story which helped him make the examiner understand his story better.
After a month, I realized I lost so much money since the stock market was consistently going down – the price of the stock for that startup dropped dramatically from $0.40 to $0.35, you can imagine how upset I was. What’s worse was, that it continued to dip until it reached its lowest value of $0.20, I was desperate and anxious as I already lost $600 from my investment and I couldn’t help but blame my poor decision for investing.
However, during the first quarter of this year, I was completely taken aback, that the startup company turned the tide. The value of their company blew up and the return on my investment went doubled. I couldn’t contain my happiness and excitement. So I made a decision to sell my stocks so I could make myself at peace. And because of that experience, I learned that life’s full of surprises and we should just trust the process.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Upset [adj.] – unhappy; worried
Dip [verb] – to go down to a lower level
Desperate [adj.] – hopeless
Anxious [adj.] – worried
Taken aback [idiom] – surprised
Turn the tide [idiom] – to change things dramatically
Blow up [phrase] – inflate
Can’t contain one’s happiness [expression] – cannot hide
At peace [phrase] – free from anxiety
Trust the process [expression] – to have faith that everything will work out as planned
TIPS
iii.) THIRD PARAGRAPH: The speaker added supplemental details to his previous ideas to extend his story a bit longer. That’s also an important part of his story as he presented the problem. That served as the pre-climax of his story.
iv.) FOURTH PARAGRAPH: In this part, the speaker talked about the result of the risk that he took and how it turned out well. That’s the climax of his story and the way he ended his story was creative since he ended it with a life lesson he learned from taking a risk.
PART 3
Do you think it’s important to take risks in life?
From what I have experienced, I realized that it is necessary to take a risk every now and then in life, as it provides us with personal growth. When we take risks, we either fail or win and any of these results will teach us valuable lessons in life. If we fail as a result of taking risks, we learn the value of patience and resilience and it opens the opportunity to help us understand our capacity and therefore we strive to improve ourselves.
However, if we get favorable results from taking risks, we can widen our perspective on life and make us fearless whenever we face some big challenges. So, I believe we can learn so much about life when we start breaking out of our comfort zone.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Resilience [noun] – the capacity to recover from difficulties
Capacity [noun] – the power to do something
Favorable [adj.] – beneficial; advantageous
Perspective [noun] – point of view
Break out of [phrase] – to escape from something like a situation or a way of life
Comfort zone [noun] – a situation where one feels at peace
TIP
i.) The speaker answered the questions by relating them to his experience but he didn’t spend more time talking about his experience so he wouldn’t be construed as a weak candidate by the examiner. Part 3 is basically not about giving personal examples so he transitioned to talking about people in general. In his answer, he talked about the consequences of taking risks – either positive or negative then he ended his answer by stating that the endpoint of taking risks was the valuable lesson people could get.
Why don’t some people take risks?
Well, the fear of losing halts people to take risks in life. Not every one of us has the ability to accept failures as part of growth. Some see failures as embarrassment; being weak; having poor judgment in life. So those people who have that kind of thinking do not really dare to take a risk but later on, in their respective lives, some of them will have serious regrets especially when they are on their deathbeds. They wish they could have tried or explored more life by taking risks when they had the opportunity to do so, and that is already too late.
Honestly, I do not want to have regrets in my dying days, so, I make sure to responsibly take risks every now and then, and I just hope that people will learn the value of taking risks.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Halt [verb] – stop
Respective [adj.] – personal
Deathbed [noun] – the bed where someone is dying
TIP
i.) The speaker answered the question directly. Then talked about the characteristics of some people who couldn’t accept failure. To make his answer a well-discussed answer, he talked about the regrets that those people would have when they’re on their dying days and how he didn’t want that to happen in his life. His answer is realistic or philosophical which helped him communicate his thoughts better.
In what way we can encourage children to take risks?
Well, for some simple things, I guess because, in the first place, children cannot really make big decisions in life. So I suppose we can encourage them to take a risk by joining competitions such as painting, quiz bee, and swimming, among others. As we know some children have not developed their confidence yet they are more than scared to dare themselves to join competitions.
We, adults, should guide them and let them know and understand the importance of taking risks in participating in some competitions in schools or in some educational organizations to boost their self-esteem.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Among others [phrase] – to indicate that there are more things or several facts like the ones mentioned
Dare [verb] – have the courage to do something
Self-esteem [noun] – confidence; self-respect
TIP
i.) The speaker gave his assumption and stated that children could not really take bigger risks in life as adults could. Then, provided examples that would support his argument. In that way, he’s able to explain his answer thoroughly and then, finally ended his answer by giving his reflection that adults should encourage children to take a risk.
Why do you think some of our plans don’t turn out well as we expect them to?
As I learned from the author Paulo Coelho, the universe must conspire with our plans to help us achieve our goals, so if it is the opposite, our goals or plans in life will not really come to fruition. There are times that no matter how hard we try, like pushing ourselves beyond the limit, we still end up having a bad result. However, there are also times when even if we do not exert much effort we can easily achieve our goals, that is because the universe is simply in favor of our plans and we are destined to make things a reality.
LEXICAL RESOURCE
Conspire [verb] – to act in harmony toward a common end
Come to fruition [idiom] – to be successfully be brought into existence
Exert [verb] – strive; make an extra effort
Destined [adj.] – to happen in a particular way that seems to have been decided in advance
TIP
i.) The speaker simply recalled the lesson he learned from reading one book of the most famous author in the world and shared it with his examiner. He explained why some things are easy or not easy to achieve because of the universe. With that kind of answer, he’s able to show off his language prowess to his examiner. Cultivating a habit of reading surely pays off when you take an actual IELTS Speaking exam.
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Meaning of Words and Phrases Sources: Collins, Macmillan, Cambridge, Oxford
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