Cue Card # 173: Describe a famous business person

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 173

Describe a famous business person that you know about.

You should say:

• who this person is
• what kind of business this person is involved in
• what you know about this business person

and explain what you think of this business person.

[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.]

Model Answer:

I have always admired all kinds of businessmen in general because of the risk they take to help their countries and societies. And because of their contribution and achievements, some of them also become very famous, and today, I would like to talk about one such famous businessperson.

The name of this famous businessperson is Richard Branson. He is a British entrepreneur, adventurer, founder and mastermind of the virgin business enterprise who has built up his reputation as one of the most popular personalities in all of England. Born in the year of 1950 in a middle-class family in the English county of Surrey, he undertook his first business venture at the age of 17 when he published his first magazine called “student” for the young activists of the country. Today, with more than US $4.8 billion of his net worth, this 70-year-old business tycoon is certainly one of the richest business persons in the entire world.

However, even though his business or companies have included airlines, wireless communications, radio stations, hotels, health clubs, financial services businesses, the nightclub Heaven, renewable technologies, a Formula One team, and even a space tourism company, he is more popular for being the founder and chair of the Virgin Group, which employs nearly 70,000 people in 35 countries through its 60-plus companies around the world. Besides, Richard Branson is also well known for his death-defying “near-miss” accidents as an adventure seeker which perfectly matches his “daredevil” risk-taking ability as a very shrewd businessman. The charismatic Branson attracted crowds and media attention everywhere, not only in the course of his business exploits but also for his adventurous lifestyle.

So, I think, there is no doubt that Richard Branson is one of the finest business minds of the last century and is still continuing to rock his boat like a young entrepreneur as he was about 50 years ago. Besides, I also think that he takes some genuine joy in his work and loves challenging ideas that perfectly suit his adventure-seeking lifestyle.