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 time when you helped someone.
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.
About a year ago I helped a neighbour I barely knew, an older woman who lived alone two floors above me. One winter evening I was taking the lift down to the bin store, and she was already inside, crying quietly. I almost just nodded and let her be, but something made me ask if she was okay. It turned out she'd lost her wedding ring while emptying a bag of recycling — it had slipped off her finger because she'd lost weight after an illness. I went down with her, and we spent about forty minutes going through the recycling bins by the light of my phone torch. We didn't find it that night, but I came back the next morning before work and went through the bins again, and the ring was wedged inside a folded yoghurt carton. I dropped it off on my way to the office. What surprised me about helping her wasn't that it felt good — that's almost a cliché — it was that we became actual friends afterwards. I have tea with her once a fortnight now. So the strongest feeling, looking back, is gratitude that the situation forced me out of my usual habit of minding my own business.
Phrases used in the sample answer that lift fluency naturally.
let her be
leave her alone
slip off her finger
fall off accidentally
go through
search carefully
wedged inside
stuck firmly within
minding my own business
not getting involved with others
once a fortnight
every two weeks
The examiner will move from your story (Part 2) to broader, abstract questions (Part 3). Prepare answers for these.