IELTS Speaking Task: Cue Card Question With Sample Answer on Experiences

PART 2

Describe an important decision/choice that you made in your life.

You should say:

• what the decision/choice was
• when you made the decision/choice
•  what the result of the decision/choice was, and whether it was good for you.
• and explain why it was an important decision or choice for you.

I've made a lot of decisions during my life, sometimes alone and other times after consulting with my parents and others. At some point in our lives, each of us must make some critical choices since they give us the chance to develop personally while also adjusting our life plans to the demands of the moment. I want to talk about one such significant choice I made roughly five years ago today.

The choice was whether or not to leave my employment in order to return to school once again and earn a graduate degree, such as an MBA in international business. In addition, I intended to earn an advanced degree so that I might develop a career as a university professor rather than pursuing a career in business.

However, it was not an easy choice for me to make at the time because I didn't have enough money to cover my tuition costs and I didn't have enough confidence in my ability to perform well academically after a lengthy study break, which would have been necessary for me to be hired as a university faculty member. Unsure of what to do, I turned to one of my high school teachers, who was very much like a mentor to me, for some critical advice. He advised me to return to university.

I decided to return to the university, and it turned out to be one of my best moves to date. It was a crucial choice to make because it gave me the opportunity to later realize my genuine potential, both intellectually and professionally. After completing my advanced degree, I actually received an invitation to work as a teacher at a nearby institution. In addition, this particular choice gave me more assurance than ever before about my life and the future.

PART 3

What are the typical choices people make at different stages of their lives?

We must occasionally make a variety of decisions in order to move forward in life. We choose whether to attend a school that is close to home or one that is far away when we are students. As students, we must also choose between a comprehensive education and a more specific topic of study. In addition to selecting a career, we must choose whether to pursue employment or launch our own enterprises in order to support ourselves. Depending on our individual circumstances, we also have to determine whether to get married young or wait until we are adults and ready to settle down in life. Additionally, we make a number of decisions during our lives that have a big impact on it.

Should important choices be made by parents rather than by young adults?

Young adults should be allowed to make their own decisions, important or not. Of course, they can ask their parents and other people for assistance in order to make educated judgments, but since they will occasionally have to live independently, the final decisions should be made by the young adults themselves. 

Young adults will be better able to organize their lives and carry them out in accordance with circumstances after they learn how to make decisions on their own. Making significant decisions will also assist young individuals in developing greater self-assurance in their life.

Why do some people like to discuss choices with other people?

People enjoy discussing their options with others, usually because they are unsure of the decisions they are about to make and are looking for sound guidance to aid in their decision-making. In fact, as we are all unique individuals with various perspectives on how to approach life, engaging in conversation with others will frequently lead to the discovery of fresh insights and opportunities. Then, of course, there is another group of people who enjoy talking about their decisions with others because they lack the self-assurance to make any decisions in their lives, despite the fact that such decisions may be crystal clear.

What kind of choices do people have to make in their everyday life?

In their daily lives, people make a variety of decisions, from what to wear to work to whether to eat meat or vegetables. We also have to decide whether to use a bus or metro subway to get to our workplaces, depending on how far we live from them. When we are on a limited budget, we may also need to decide how much money to spend on buying our favorite energy drinks each week as opposed to how much money to spend on buying our groceries and milk each day.

Why do some people choose to do the same things every day? Are there any disadvantages in this?

Simply put, as humans, we don't really enjoy leaving our comfort bubble. As a result, if we become accustomed to doing the same things every day, we find it difficult to do anything new because we worry that it would present us with new difficulties in our daily lives. But the issue or drawback of such paralyzing ideas is that exploring new things may actually raise our standard of living in several ways. Additionally, attempting new activities may also make our life more enjoyable by relieving unneeded strain from us.

Do you think that people today have more choices to make than in the past?

Yes, I agree that individuals nowadays have a lot more options than they did in the past, mostly because our lives have become more difficult and we have much higher expectations for life. As a result, we are not really content with making basic decisions in life like going to work and spending time with our family; we also have to decide whether to get an iPhone, iPad, or smartphone. In the past, we could just visit a friend and spend some time with him or her. Today, however, decisions like whether to see a movie at home or in the theater give us a headache.