IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 48
Describe a shopping centre you often go to.
You should say:
- where it is
- what it looks like
- how often you go there
and explain why you often go to this shopping centre.
[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:
Shopping isn’t exactly one of my favourite things to do, even on a day when I am in best of the moods, primarily because it takes a lot of time to find what I really like or want without providing any tangible and significant benefits in return. And I dislike it, even more, when I am busy with the other priorities of my life. But, this is life, and we will need to do many things as adults, no matter if we like or dislike it, because of “family and peer pressure”. But that’s a different story altogether.
Anyway, given where I live in Toronto city, the only shopping centre for me to go rather easily is Yorkdale shopping mall which is conveniently located several kilometres northwest of Downtown Toronto at the interchange of Highway 401 and Allen Road, adjacent to the Yorkdale subway station in the former city of North York. Having served the residents of Toronto city for more than 50 years, Yorkdale shopping mall easily is one of the largest and busiest shopping destinations in Canada which has 2 floors and an area of almost 2 million square feet. Having a very beautiful and contemporary architectural design with a 60-foot high glass atrium running 300 feet in length, this mall is home to almost 270 stores which include some of the country’s largest collection of designer labels and luxury brands. The shopping centre has a huge food court which serves virtually all kinds of foods to its customers and visitors to satisfy their appétit.
I don’t really visit the mall that often except probably once in a month. But, when I do visit the place, it is mainly because the shopping mall is close to where I live, and it takes about only 15 minutes to drive there. I also like visiting the mall because it has a rather huge selection of products for all ages and sizes, making it almost impossible for a shopper like me to return home without buying what I really need. Finally, another reason, for which I choose to visit this particular mall, is that it has a huge parking lot with lots of empty spaces to park, no matter what time of the day you arrive so that I don’t have to waste 15 minutes just to find a parking space in order to park my car.
Sample Answer 2:
A shopping centre I often go to is called “Jaya Shopping Centre” in Petaling Jaya. As I live nearby and this is a convenient and modern shopping centre that offers a variety of products, fine dining, movie theatre, a large gym, library and many other amenities, my friends also like to go there. We often meet there to socialise apart from enjoying a movie occasionally and doing necessary shopping now and then.
This shopping centre has 6 levels or floors, a large parking area that spans from basement one to basement four, and the underground shops that attract a good number of customers each day. The ground floor has some small stalls that sell perfume, flowers, traditional Malaysian and Chinese goods and gift items. Apart from that, some large food stores are there for food lovers. The other floors house stores and large shops of variety of kinds including a large library, DIY shops, cosmetic shops, electronic shops, clothing shops, grocery shops, fashion store and so on. The touch and go kiosks, wheelchair and baby strollers, locker service, modern gymnasium, first aid kits, and not to mention the variety of products and brands at a reasonable price make it a worth visiting shopping centre in our locality. It takes me only 10 minutes or so for me to reach there.
Located at the heart of the Petaling Jaya, this shopping centre boasts as the heart and soul of the area and I go there at least once in a week.
I love to go there because it is more than a shopping centre. I can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee there and spend hours planning and taking notes for my next assignment, take my family to enjoy dinners or movies, meet my friends and hang out with them or watch a movie together, gossip with my classmates and friends and above all do shopping at a comfortable environment. It’s a great place to shop and meet friends and enjoy a great shopping experience in every conceivable way.