IELTS speaking part 2 cue card example

Example 1

Whenever I get time, I try to read books and the ranges vary from profession related books, technical, religious, fiction, classic and contemporary books. The book I would like to describe is a novel called ‘Kane and Abel’ and is written by the famous British writer Jeffrey Archer. Sometimes I read book reviews on the internet and after reading 2/3 of the books by Jeffrey archer, I tried to get the list of all his books. I found that most of the Jeffrey Archer fans recommended the book ‘Kane & Abel’. Some people even commented that this is the best book ever written by him. At that very moment I made up my mind  to read this book. After one month or so, I bought the book from a bookstore and started reading it.

The book was first published in 1979 in the United Kingdom and in the USA in 1980. The book was an international bestseller and reached number 1 on the New York Times best-selling book list. The story starts with the birth of two infants named Kane and Abel in the year 1906. One of them was born to a life of prosperity and ease in a wealthy family in the USA, while the other one to a world of hardship and struggle. On different sides of the Globes, they grew up: one shaped by luxurious upbringing and, fine schooling, the other lost his mother at the time of his birth and did not know who his father was, well tempered by war, slavery and history.

The story telling of Jeffrey Archer is magical and enchanting. Most of his story simply mesmerizes the readers and for Kane and Abel the attraction worked even more. Every page I turned tempted me to read further. Not for a single moment could I have stopped thinking about the events and characters of the book and that had a major influence on me. The characters have their own charismatic powers and followed their own paths. On their journey in life, they confront each other and become arch enemies. In their relentless battle, both men knew that there could only be one victor- and one vanquished.

Across three generations and around a rapidly changing world, their war rages unchecked, for the love of a dream, the loss of an empire, and the lure of a fortune. Kane became the owner of the largest bank in the USA while Abel came to the USA as a penniless emigrant after the World War I. With intelligence Kane started flourishing in the banking business, while Abel made his fortune at last in the Hotel business. The first time they confronted each other as a bank owner and a debtor. Though Kane wanted to help Abel regain his business by financing further, but could not do so because of the bank’s board members’ decision. After that, Abel considered Kane as his greatest enemy and sought to destroy him. As time passed both had to fight their own fates but the vendetta remained in their hearts. When both men finally grew older, their son and daughter fell in love and got married. They never accepted the marriage because of their personal hatred of each other. Abel succeeded to buy the bank stocks of Kane’s Bank to hold the power to veto Kane. At the end of the story both confronted each other for the second and last time. After that Kane died and after his death, Abel learned that it was Kane who backed him financially to start his hotel business. The story unfolds  slowly, keeping it mysterious and you glued to the pages. It is a powerful portrait of a world and two men that a reader will never forget.

Example 2

I have liked reading books since my early childhood and have read a large number of books so far from different writers. But I did not get inspirited by all of the books, some of them amazed me while the rest others entertained me to some extent. I was most influenced by the book of Mark Twain with the title – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Currently the book is known as ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ but previously it was known as ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. The entire book is about a little teenage boy who is unable to stay still for a moment. The book is lead by Huckleberry Finn and his friends address him as Huck. The events take place in different parts of the USA including Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas. The entire book is filled with the adventures of Huck and his friends. The story starts with the setting of a fictional town in Missouri. Huck is associated with his friend Thomas, better known as Tom Sawyer. Both of the kids have gained a lot of money from their former adventure and Huck is the narrator of the book. He describes all the events to inform the reader and thus the reader becomes aware of everything that happened to him and his friends in the last episode.

The novel was first published in 1884 in England and it was published in the USA in the following year. The book is famous for the lively descriptions of different places, especially the geographical locations of the USA. The book is considered as the sequel to the previous book named – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The plot centres around the events happening with Huckleberry Finn. In the previous book, Thomas (or Tom Sawyer) was the protagonist and led the events. But now it is Huck’s turn to lead the events, though Tom tried to influence some of the adventures. The book has been written based on life in the USA before the civil war, a time of discrimination and where slavery was still legal.

There were several causes that lead me to read the book. Firstly, I was inspired to read the book by watching a movie of the same name. But I could not enjoy the movie being too old and some of the dialogues didn’t play properly on my DVD player. So, I decided to find and read the book, but it was difficult as well for me to collect a well-printed copy of the book. Further, being a Chinese national, it is really difficult for me to read books in English. But the things that I enjoyed on the DVD inspired me. The other reason behind reading the books is that I also was a kid like Huck and had many adventures where I grew up. People often used to tell on me to my mom. Like Huck, I also smoked pipe in my early childhood and stole the tobacco and pipes from my dad. So, all the things that Huck did were similar to my own experiences.

When I read the book, I not only enjoyed it but came to know about many things I didn’t know of before. I was completely unaware about slavery and after reading the book I researched the issue on the Internet and got to know about many of horrific events of that time. So, I felt pity for Jim – who wanted to be free and meet his family. Moreover, I  was also deeply moved when Huck’s father died. It is tough indeed for a teenager to grow up without a family. If he had been in a family, he would have had a different life and everything could have been different. So, I think Huck turned into a naughty boy as he did not experience a proper family tie. He was sent to different people to be taken care of but family love is entirely a different thing. Every feature of Huck sometimes touched me while reading the book, but it also made me laugh, often. I wish I could be a boy like him again and be a teenager again!

Example 3

Whenever I get time, I try to read books ranging from profession related books, technical, religious, fiction, classic to contemporary books. The book I would like to describe is a novel called ‘Kane and Abel’ and is written by the famous British writer Jeffrey Archer. Sometimes I read book reviews on the internet and after reading 2/3 books by Jeffrey archer, I tried to get the list of all books by Jeffrey Archer. I found that most of the Jeffrey Archer fans have recommended the book ‘Kane & Abel’. Some people even commented that this is the best book ever written by the same author. I made up my mind at this very moment to read this book. After one month or so, I bought the book from a book store and started reading it.

The book was first published in 1979 in the United Kingdom and in USA in 1980 and was an international success reaching No. 1 position on the New York Times best-selling book list. The story-line starts with the birth of two infants named Kane and Abel in the year 1906. One of them was born to a life of prosperity and eases in USA in a rich family while the other one to a world of hardship and struggle. On different sides of the Globes, they grew up: one shaped by a luxurious upbringing, fine schooling and history he read, the other one who lost his mother at childbirth and did not know who his father was, well tempered by war, slavery and history he was part of. The story telling of Jeffrey Archer is magical and enchanting. Most of his story simply mesmerizes the readers and for Kane and Abel the attraction worked even more. Every page I turned tempted me to read further. Not for a single moment could I stop thinking about the events and characters of the books and that had a major influence on me. The characters have their own charismatic powers and followed their own paths. One is gold, meritorious while the other one is steel and forfeited Death himself. On their journey in life, they confront each other and became the ultimate adversary of each other. In their relentless battle, both men knew that there could  only be one victor- and one vanquished.

Across three generations and around a rapidly changing world, their war rages unchecked, for the love of a dream, the loss of an empire, and the lure of a fortune. Kane became the owner of the largest bank in USA while Abel came to USA as a penniless emigrant after the World War I. With intelligence Kane started to flourish in the banking business, while Abel made his fortune at last in Hotel business. The first time they confronted each other as a bank owner and a debtor. Though Kane wanted to help Abel regain his business by financing further, but could not do so because of the bank’s board members’ decision. After that Abel considered Kane as his greatest enemy and sought to destroy Kane. As time passed both had to fight their own fates but the vendetta remained in their hearts. When both men finally grew older, their son and daughter fell in love and got married. They never agreed on the marriage because of their personal hatred towards each other. Abel succeeded to buy the bank stocks of Kane’s Bank to hold the power to veto Kane. At the end of the story both confront each other for the second and last time. After that Kane dies and after his death, Abel learned that it was Kane who backed him financially to start his hotel business. The story was told like a magician and it is a powerful portrait of a world and two men that a reader will never forget.