Cue Card # 136: When you had to wait a long time

IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 136

Describe an occasion when you had to wait a long time for someone or something to arrive.

You should say:

• who or what you were waiting for
• how long you had to wait
• why you had to wait a long time

and explain how you felt about waiting a long time.

[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:

Not sure if anybody likes to wait, but as far as I am concerned, I don’t really prefer to wait long even if it meant for a good cause. But, unfortunately, we can’t always control the events around us, which means we all have to wait whether we like it or not, just like I had to wait during my 16th birthday.

Anyway, my 16th birthday was very special to me since I had just graduated from high school. Naturally, a lot of people, friends and relatives were invited to my birthday to enjoy the occasion. I was also very excited about the party as many guests brought many different kinds of cool birthday gifts to make my 16th birthday a very memorable one. My father was also supposed to join the birthday party soon as he was away on some important job. By the way, my father had to travel extensively for professional reasons, but he would always somehow manage to arrive home on time. But, unfortunately, during my 16th birthday, he was taking a bit too long to join us.

Everybody, including me, kept waiting very anxiously for him, but there was just no sign of him yet. Finally, after waiting for almost 3 extra hours, I saw my father arriving as a very tired man at the eleventh hour, apparently because of his meeting with an important client had continued for way too longer than he had initially anticipated. By the way, when my father arrived, it was almost 10 pm, so we immediately got on with our birthday party and got through it quickly.

Anyway, I felt really sad and frustrated because of the long waiting period as I wanted my 16th birthday to be very special. Then, of course, I told myself that my father didn’t keep me waiting intentionally because his job was just as important to him as my birthday. But, finally, I was all happy because my father did buy me a very special gift.