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

Describe a news story you have read or heard about recently.

You should say:

• what it was about
• when you heard/read it
• what you thought about the news story

and explain why you remember this news story.

Model Answer 1:
Today’s news media are full of all kinds of news. But, today, I would like to go ahead and talk about one of those few news which, I thought, stood out among many others. The news was about a young boy from a poor family who was going to start his new job. I heard this news on one of the most popular news media outlets about a few months ago and watched it till the end since it was so intriguing.

Anyway, again, the news was about a struggling boy from a poor family who was going to start his new job. But, unfortunately, the car, he was driving stopped only after driving about 10 or 15 minutes. Since he started his journey in the early hours of the morning (because his job was quite far away from where he lived), there was no car mechanic’s shop around either to have his car fixed. So, he started to walk on the road, when it was still dark in the morning. Seeing the young boy walking like that, a police car started to watch him carefully.

The news continued saying that the boy actually walked about 2 hours like that to arrive at his office while the police also had kept following him all the way. Later, the police asked the boy about his reason for walking for so long on that early morning. The boy gave him the reason, but the police actually couldn’t believe what he was hearing. So, police told the same story to the company boss, and the boss became so happy with the boy that he actually gave him one of his (the boss) most treasured and prize cars to drive. Needless to say, the news story taught us something really valuable about the work ethics and determination which we always take for granted.

Well, I remember the news, mainly because it highlighted the determination of a young boy who valued his work so much. Besides, the news also highlighted the fact that such determination and hard work don’t always go unrewarded.

Sample Answer 2:
This is a really nice topic and I would love to talk about a news story I read recently. In fact last month I read a news story in a magazine which was about the contributions of women scientists in human history. It was a fascinating and educative news story and the whole article was quite informative.

I am not sure about the exact date but my best assumption is 10-14 May was the time when I read the news story in the magazine. The magazine that covered this news story is a monthly Science & Technology magazine called ‘Tech-World’.

I thought this was a very intriguing news story and it was a good read. I found it quite informative and the way the writer presented the news-story was outstanding. This news story tells the readers about the life, work and contributions of Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, Rachel Carson, Ada Lovelace, Alice Wilson and many other famous scientists as well as about many little-known women scientists. I found it quite captivating as it covered an interesting topic. Though we know about some famous female scientists, contributions of other less-known female scientists towards the enhancement of science was not known to me.

Honestly, I knew very little about women scientists and their invaluable researches and works for science, except, Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin. This news story presented how women in history have contributed towards the advancement of science and their sacrifices were remarkable and should never be forgotten. The topic itself was very enthralling and the way the story was presented was quite unique. I remember this news story possibly because of its interesting topic and outstanding description. I think such a news story should be more frequent in science magazines to educate its readers.

Sample Answer 3:
While browsing Reuters, recently I encountered with news on banknotes in England which were being manufactured using animal fats. It appeared interesting to me.   

In fact, the headline of the news attracted me that read - New British banknotes fall foul of vegetarians. As many of the UK citizens are vegetarians, the opposed the idea. The Bank of England confirmed that they were using tallow, a type of animal fat, to manufacture the banknotes. The five-pound note contains the portrait of Winston Churchill, the Wartime Prime Minister for the country. A mixed reaction was found among the bank note users while some of them claimed that it may even instigate religious reactions as well. Besides, the Bank of England has made a strategic mistake by admitting the tallow issue, some opined.    

Usually, I browse different news websites at night before going to bed. I am unable to manage time in the day to check the news. So, it has become a habit for me to browse the news channels and websites every day before going to bed. Habitually, I browsed the Reuters to know about the latest updates of the world. While browsing, the title attracted me and I entered into the link. I can remember the day clearly- it was around 10.30 pm on November 29, 2016, when I was browsing the website. I read the news and became shocked about the consequences.  

Certainly, this was unacceptable news where the state is having an injustice to a majority of its citizens. Since the vegans avoid all types of animals from their menu, it is natural that they would deny using the five-pound banknotes in their everyday transactions. Besides, religiously the use of animal fat is sensitive to some of the people which may spark an unwanted protest and chaos in the country. Of course, this is a praiseworthy initiative by the government. The new banknote comes with some special security features and smarter in look. But the application of tallow in manufacturing is not acceptable at all. In fact, this is a kind of indirect threat to the vegans of the country, I think. If the government can use tallow, it can also do something more that may hit the vegan sentiment in future.

As a vegan, the news was shocking to me. Though I am not a resident of England, I can feel the sense of the vegans living there. This is really troublesome to adjust with the things you are not habituated with or wanted to get rid of your life. But the government is compelling the citizens to cope up with the changes that they want instead of the people’s demand. In fact, it appeared to me that the government is turning a bit rigid on some issues which are casting some detrimental impacts on the ordinary people. Luckily the state I am living in has not taken such decisions to remodel the currencies ignoring the public feelings. In fact, the news touched me emotionally than any other news on the website that I had read that night. So, I can still remember the entire issue clearly.

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