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

Describe a sporting event you attended.

You should say:

• what kind of sporting event it was
• give details of this event
• how often it takes place

and explain why you consider this event to be interesting.

Follow-up Questions:

• What is the most popular sporting event in your country?
• Why are sporting events important?
• What sort of games and sports do you take part?

Model Answer 1:
I like football, whether it is played between two international teams or local teams, as long as the teams give their best in the field. The sporting event, I would like to talk about, was a national club football tournament of my country that takes place every year.

Anyway, the sporting event took place about 5 years ago, when two of the best football clubs of my country clashed against each other in a final match of the national football tournament. The two arch-rival teams had already clashed against each other in the past, and their number of wins was pretty much the same throughout the history of their clash, especially, in this tournament. So, essentially, nobody really knew which team was favourite to win the final.

But, when the game actually started, all the supporters of both the teams were screaming and encouraging their respective team as if they were bound to win. As a supporter, I also wanted my team to win at all costs.  Anyway, both teams were playing very “rough and tough” football that led to some unwanted “fouls” and some unfortunate “fistfight”.

The game continued scoreless up until the half time interval, but as the second half of the game started, the intensity of the game increased.  In the meanwhile, I was getting nervous in the stadium because my team wasn’t exactly playing up to our expectation. In fact, my team was lucky to survive a few scoring chances from the opponent team.  Then, suddenly, the ball was passed to the main “striker” of my favourite team from nowhere, and a goal was scored by my team, leaving the supporters of my team completely ecstatic and crazy with the feeling of a possible victory. And, in the end, we were indeed the victorious team.
 
Anyway, I consider this sporting event to be interesting because we never know which team is going to win. Besides, I consider this sporting event exciting also because it attracts supporters from all over my country. Finally, it is interesting also because no other sporting event makes us as emotional as this one.

Sample Answer 2:
I attended the Asia Cup final cricket tournament that was held at Dhaka Stadium in the year 2002 or 2003. We went to Dhaka to watch the game and stayed at a hotel during this time. I had 3-4 friends and a cousin with me from the very beginning. We have had our ticket for almost 3 months before the game started. On the day we left the hotel early morning and took a taxi to reach near the stadium. We found a huge crowd there; in fact, the crowd was much more than we anticipated and expected. I found one of my friends wearing the jersey of a team and others whistles. The crowd and their patience in the line gave the impression of how much popular this game over here.

I had a flag with me of the team I supported. We had to stay in line for about 45 minutes before we finally entered the stadium. I simply became overwhelmed with the sheer number of spectators and their festivity and support for the game.

The game started at 10.00 am and the people were enjoying it very much. The game was really enjoyable and I found supporters for both of the team. The crowd, the music, the competition, the excitement of the game, and the liveliness and spontaneous actions of the spectators were noteworthy. After the first team ended their innings, we went outside and were looking for a hotel to eat. But people were everywhere and there was no seat in the hotel. Finally, we got an empty hotel after walking for almost 20 minutes and sat there to have our lunch. We returned to the stadium in 35 minutes and the second innings started. Several TV channels were broadcasting the live game and the number of people watching this very game in the world would not be less than 70 million.  

The first team scored 280 and that was a good fighting score at that time. The second team started hammering the bowls from the very beginning. It seemed to me that they would not need more than 30 overs to win the game. But they started losing wickets and in 20 overs they lost 3 wickets. The spirit and excitement of the spectators looked like a waving sea. The team I was supporting started doing really good. In the evening the game started turning in favour of the first team and became very close. Cricket is a game of uncertainty and this game became even more competitive and uncertain. Both teams had the chance to win and the game was changing in every 10 minutes. The last 30 minutes were breathless and extremely exciting and finally the team I was supporting won the match.  

This event takes place once in every two years, and the schedule and venue are selected and maintained by the ICC. This was my first experience to visit Dhaka as well as watching such an exciting match. I have watched a few other cricket matches in the stadium, but none of them was as exciting as this one was. The crowd, the enthusiasm of the people and the superb weather made it an interesting one.

Sample Answer 3:
Gosh, this topic is hard for me, I don’t really go to many sporting events, and it isn’t especially an interest of mine. However, I can think of one which enticed me to go and watch, I’ll tell you as much as I can about the event, how often it takes places and why it was, to me at least, interesting!

The sporting event I went to was Le Tour de France – except it wasn’t! For one year only the opening stages took place near to where I live in South Yorkshire, but more of that later.

The event is a world-famous cycling race. It takes place every year, in a series of stages which are mainly in France, but it does occasionally pass through other countries. I think it started around 1903 and has taken place each year since then – apart from during the two world wars when obviously it was suspended. The cyclists are professional riders, and the tour is gruelling. The route changes each year, but always includes both hilly and mountain stages, fast flat sections and covers a huge distance of some three and a half thousand kilometres over about 23 days. I am told there are about 20 teams or so each year, each with nine riders. To be honest, I get very confused about how it is all timed and organised, but I do know that for each stage, the rider who has completed it in the fastest time gets to wear a yellow jersey for the next stage of the tour.

The race has fallen foul of cheating over the years, famously Lance Armstrong who won it some seven times I think was later banned for drug-taking. However, more recently cycling has cleaned up its act and gained in popularity. In 2014, a decision was made to have the Grand Depart – the start of the Tour de France in South Yorkshire. This part of England where I live has fantastic scenery and very, very steep hills that were deemed suitably challenging of the super-fit and competitive cyclists. Although I’ve never previously been interested in cycling, some of my friends are, and with such a world-famous event happening on my doorstep I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out.

On the day of the race itself, lots of roads were closed. I met up with some friends and we caught a tram as far out of the city as we could, and then walked the final stages to a good viewing point along the route. I had no idea what to expect but it was amazing! The weather was gorgeous, and Yorkshire and Sheffield folk had turned out in droves.  I think about 2.5 million of us lined the route over the weekend it was passing through. I climbed up a bank and hung onto a tree to get a good vantage point as the cyclists raced through in the peloton (a new word for me that I learned whilst spectating). To be completely honest, the actual cyclists passed by in an instant, what made the event fun to watch was the build-up and the atmosphere. The race was led by a convoy of floats and support vehicles. There was lots of good-natured banter and sharing of food and snacks as the crowds waited for the bikes to come, and plenty of people in hilarious fancy dresses on French or cycling themes. Bunting was hanging everywhere, and brightly painted yellow bikes were scattered along the route. The weather showed off our Yorkshire hills and scenery at its very best, it was awesome!

I was really proud to be one of the supporters on what was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see The Tour de France passing through practically on my doorstep (I live in Sheffield). The race director for the event later described Yorkshire's Grand Depart as the "grandest" in the 111-year history of the race, it was wonderful to be part of that… it hasn’t made me want to take up cycling, though – those hills are ferocious!

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

Tips for answering this cue card:

Do not get confused about this cue card topic. It does not ask you to talk about a sporting event or game event where you have participated. So you are free to talk about a sporting event you have seen. But you can also talk about a game or sporting event where you participated as well if you want.

Talk about a national or international games event that you know well. Even if you have not watched it, knowing about the game (i.e. who were the competitors, what was the result of the game and some other information) would let you talk about the event.

Since, this cue card asks you to talk about a sporting event you attended, do not tell that you have watched this game on TV. Mention if this was a local or international sporting event, which teams participated in the game, how long it was, how often it takes place, how you reached there, what you did, who was with you and what happened in the game. Finally, mention the interesting and important part of this event.

If you say that you were a participant of the game, mention how you attended the game, how you did and your experience of the sporting event.
 

Some sporting events you can talk about:

1. International cricket tournament
2. Local cricket tournament (/county leagues)
3. International football game.
4. Local football league.
5. Swimming sporting event.
6. Shooting sports event.
7. Hockey game
8. Car race
9. Badminton
10. Table Tennis
11. Cycling
12. Long tennis or any other local sports you have in your country.

Some similar cue card topics:

1. Describe a game or sports you have watched on TV.
2. Describe an international sports event you know about.
3. Talk about a game you have participated in.
4. Talk about a public event you enjoyed.
5. Describe a competition or tournament you attended.
6. Describe a sporting event you know about.
7. Talk about a type of sports which is popular in your country.

• IELTS Cue Card
• IELTS Speaking
• Candidate Task Card

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