Cue Card # 51: Describe a speech you heard

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 51

Describe a speech that somebody delivered and you heard.

You should say:

• who gave the speech
• what the speech was about
• what you learned from it

and explain whether you liked it or not.

[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 always take a great deal of interest in the subject of climate change. So, whenever there is a speech, seminar or symposium on the subject, I never hesitate to attend it if it is taking place close to where I live. So, the other day, when an eminent Scientist and Climatologist from one of the leading universities of my country came to deliver a speech at a local city community centre in my home town, I immediately decided to attend it.

The speech on the dangers of climate change had continued for almost 2 hours, and the speaker went to a great length to describe the patterns of climate changes over the last century by presenting the facts and information. The speech mainly focused on how the human-caused factors (or should I say “human greed”), because of unprecedented industrialization, have contributed to the rise of global temperatures by 2 degree Celsius over the last century or so.

The speech continued to educate us also on how the glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are melting while ices on the rivers and lakes are breaking earlier, threatening some small island nations as well as countries (at least, some parts of them) with low-lying lands to get submerged under the water as the sea level rises. Besides, the speaker also taught us about the serious ecological imbalance, caused by the shifting in plants and animal ranges due to the changes in overall climate in the world. Some other relevant topics were also discussed in great details in his speech.

The speech was absolutely an eye-opener for me, and I really liked it since it took great care in presenting the data and information from some of the world’s top class scientific research institutions such as NASA. I also liked the speech because it just didn’t talk about the dangers of climate changes, but it also presented some well-thought-out plans to minimize the negative effects of climate changes in the long run. But, the best part of the speech was the speaker, in my opinion, believed in each and every word he delivered in the speech, and, as a result of which, the audience had no choice but to pay attention to the dangers of climate changes for the whole period of two hours even though it was a really long speech.