Details

Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe something a child did that made you laugh.

You should say:

• who the child was
• when this happened
• what the child did

and explain why it was funny and made you laugh.

Model Answer 1: 
It’s true, children can do the funniest things. Sometimes it seems a bit unfair to laugh at their antics because they are maybe doing exactly what it is we’d like to be able to do, but unfortunately, as adults, we probably wouldn’t get away with! They can have a curiosity about the world that makes them notice and draw attention to things we probably would politely ignore, which can be embarrassing but can be funny too.  However, I have a particular example in mind. I’m going to tell you all about it. I wasn’t even there to witness it, but it is such a good example that I heard so much about I feel like I was there, so I’m sure it must count!

The child in question is called Beth, and she is the daughter of a good friend of mine. She is grown up now and studying at a university.  She would hate for me to remind her of this instance, but it still makes me laugh to recall it. The situation was that she had a birthday party aged about six or seven years old I think. It was a very special occasion, her mum (my friend) had made a lovely cake, and all the children at the party were in some sort of fancy dress – probably as fairies or something similar, in any event, it was a very BIG occasion. Beth, the little girl, was utterly delighted to find herself the centre of attention, and enjoyed party food and games, having her friends around her and no doubt getting lots of presents too! The only sad thing was that for some reason, her grandparents weren’t able to go to the party. To make sure they didn’t miss out, my friend made a great effort to get hold of a camcorder (an old fashioned video filming device - modern mobile phones that you can film with just didn’t exist back then) and recorded the whole occasion so it could be played back later.

The following weekend, the grandparents gathered at their daughter and granddaughter’s home and settled down to watch the video together. The video was a great success, capturing the sense of occasion wonderfully. All the adults oohed and aahed at the film, enjoying reliving the party enormously. However, after about five minutes, Beth suddenly got really annoyed. She was jealous about all the time they were spending watching the television when she felt they should be spending the time interacting with her! Apparently, she put on a real strop! She stomped across the living room and stood directly in front of the TV screen so no-one could see the picture anymore. She folded her arms across her chest and defiantly exclaimed ‘I don’t understand why you are wasting time watching a picture of me on the television, when I’m the real me and you could be playing with the real me instead!’

It was hilarious, she was so cross, and so jealous of her own picture.  Everybody laughed. I did too, when I heard all about it later as my friend relayed the story to me over the phone. It is true that Beth, the little girl was maybe a bit spoilt to expect to always be the centre of attention, and it’s ironic that she was so annoyed when actually it was a film all about her celebrating her birthday that they were viewing anyway.  Even so, there is a little part of me that thinks, funny as the story is, she was right in a way.  Sometimes it is important to live in the moment, and we can spend too much time seeing life through a viewfinder on a camera or on a TV screen. What she did was still funny, it makes me smile now recalling it, and she will still cringe if we mention it to her now – but there was a lesson in there too somehow, if we choose to hear it...

[ Written by - Lucy Marris: Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]

Sample Answer 2: 
Often, the aptitude of the children is far better than the intelligence level of some adults. My recent experience with a child proved the statement again. I was amazed at a sudden event when a child took a special decision and that was quite surprising and funny in a way. I am really happy to describe the event here.

This was the child of one of my colleagues. I was invited to his place for the first time on the occasion of the birthday of his only child. The child, Ethan, turned three on that day. But he was a bit different than most of the average children, at least that was my impression. Each of his activities was different than the other kids of his age. He is smart and intelligent. His smart answers and questions really made me puzzled. I am a regular visitor and admirer of this kid. So, he has a close relation with me and has granted me as one of his family members. As a result, he behaves spontaneously with me and I also become perplexed with his matured sense of thoughts and speeches.

The event took place in the middle of the last week. His parents had arranged a party and I was also invited there. The party began in the evening and continued till 10 pm. There were around 20 guests in the party and all of them were mostly relatives. I was, on the other hand, from outside of his family. But they did not make me feel so. I was quite comfortable with them. In fact, my relation with my colleague turned in to an informal one as I live just the opposite of his residence. We are in fact neighbours and been living there for past three years. So, I and my wife have become close associates of their family. The child did the special thing once it received the gift from me. I presented him with a large water gun to play. In fact, Ethan was fond of guns and thus he desired for the gun to me and I kept the promise.

Ethan sees many television shows and knows that the guns are used to shoot. So, he started playing with the gun. He refilled the gun with water and pointed that to the guests and shoot them with water. He wanted to have fun and did so. But finally, when the water was finished and his parents did not allow him to refill with water, he shot them. When he shot his dad, the dad fell on the ground. When he shot his mother, she also fell in the ground as if she died. He was surprised. He could not decide what to do. So, he shot himself and fell beside his mother until they stopped pretending to be dead.

The entire event was hilarious and made me laugh with all other invited guests. In fact, the kid was highly intelligent and his gestures made me laugh. He was confused what to do when he shot his parents. So, finding no other options left, he killed himself. In fact, it proves his guiltiness but the representation of the situation was really interesting that everyone could not stop laughing with this scenario. Despite the issue being a grave one, it was a kind of comical event. So, I laughed with my heart. In fact, it was the rapid decision making skill of the child and the implementation of the decision without any hesitation was the key element of the genuine laughter.

• Prev
• Next