Cue Card # 54: Describe your favourite sport

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 54

Describe your favourite sport.

You should say:

• what it is
• how often you play it or watch it
• how you play it

and explain why this is your favourite sport.

[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 1:

Not sure when or under which circumstances, the French word “love” was started to be used in tennis in order to describe “zero”, according to the Oxford dictionary though, “love” really means love. Anyway, call it for the “love of the game” or “love of the French word”, I like watching long tennis, and I also like to play it at least once a week.

Tennis is a game played on a rectangular court by either two players (singles) or four (doubles). Players stand on opposite sides of a net and use a “stringed” racket to hit a tennis ball back and forth to each other in order to win enough points to win a game and enough games to win a set and enough sets to win a match. Each tennis match is made up of three to five sets at max (3 sets for women and 5 sets for men). To win a set, you must win at least six games. The games are scored starting at “love” (or zero) and go up to 40, but that’s actually just four points. From love, the first point is 15, then 30, then 40, then the game point, which wins the game. One of the most unique aspects of tennis sport is it can last for long, long hours, sometimes, even days!

I like Tennis because it seems to be a very “gentleman’s” game where one doesn’t have to get any physical contact with his/her opponents. Besides, it is a game that I can play most of my life, even when I am “old”, as it is really refreshing to see people in their 80s and 90s playing this great sport! Another unique aspect of this sport is that men and women can actually play together and compete together which rarely happens in any other sports. It is great for families just as it is good for my physical fitness as well.

Model Answer 2:

Cricket is insanely popular in our country, and I love it more than any other outdoor game or sport I know about. Introduced by the British during the colonial era, it has become so popular in our country that people are crazy about this sport. I’d like to thank you for letting me talk about this sport, which happens to be my favourite sport as well.

Cricket is played between two teams, and each team has eleven players on their side. It has three different formats namely “One Day Internationals”, “Test matches”, and “Twenty20 Internationals”. Usually, the first team scores run by hitting the ball while the fielding side tries to get them out. The first batting team scores a total run on the scoreboard and then the second team tries to beat it. If they succeed, they are declared the winner; otherwise, the first team wins. The game is played in an open and plain playground and batting and bowling are done in a 22-yard pitch.

Cricket is a healthy game that improves the player’s limbs and muscles. I have been playing it since early childhood and this game is in my blood. However, due to my busy and tight schedule, these days, I can’t play it as often as I would like to. Let’s say, I play cricket once or twice a month. But I never forget to follow international cricket events when big teams compete.

Cricket is my favourite sport because I know how to play this sport and every rule that governs this game. I’ve spent a significant amount of time both playing and watching this game, and it is only natural that I would like it than other games or sports that I’ve not watched or played that much. But perhaps the most prominent reason why it is my favourite sport is that we are a cricket-loving nation and we fanatically support our national team both from passion and patriotism whenever they play.