IELTS Speaking · Part 2 Cue Card
A complete preparation guide: the cue card itself, a 60-second prep framework, a band 7.5 sample answer, topic vocabulary, and likely Part 3 follow-up questions.
Cue card
Describe a photograph you particularly like.
You should say:
Specific to this cue card — not generic advice.
Read it once for shape, then aloud for rhythm. Don't memorise it — examiners can tell.
The photograph I'd choose was taken by my sister when I was about twenty-three. It's a black-and-white shot of my parents on a balcony in Lisbon, where they'd gone for their thirtieth anniversary. In the photo, my mother is laughing with her head tipped back, and my father, who almost never lets a camera see him properly, is looking at her rather than the lens. They're not posed; my sister apparently took it without them noticing, from inside the apartment, through the open balcony doors. You can see a sliver of city behind them — terracotta rooftops and a slice of the river. The photo was taken about four years ago, on the second evening of the trip. I love it for several reasons. The composition is beautiful by accident — the framing of the doorway turns the balcony into a kind of stage. But the real reason is that it captures something I almost never see, which is my father caught off-guard by joy. He's a reserved man, and pictures of him usually look stiff. This one doesn't. Whenever I miss them, that's the photo I look at, not the formal anniversary portraits.
Phrases used in the sample answer that lift fluency naturally.
head tipped back
head leaning backwards
sliver of city
a thin section of the urban view
by accident
unintentionally
caught off-guard
surprised, unprepared
reserved
not openly emotional
look stiff
appear unnatural or rigid
The examiner will move from your story (Part 2) to broader, abstract questions (Part 3). Prepare answers for these.