Practise this cue card out loudPrepare for 1 minute, speak for up to 2 minutes, then compare with the Band 8 sample and try the Part 3 questions.
This card (and its cousins “a time someone helped you” and “a time you helped a stranger”) is a short story with a clear structure. Pick a situation with a small problem and a clear result, so you can tell it step by step. Here is a plan, a Band 8 sample answer and the Part 3 questions about helping and volunteering.
How to plan your answer in one minute#
You get one minute and a pencil. Don’t write sentences: note one or two key words per point, plus a detail or two that will make your story vivid. For example:
- who you helped: elderly man at a train station, didn’t speak the language
- what the situation was: last winter, abroad, wrong platform, missed train, phone dead
- what you did: translated, found next train, charged his phone, called his daughter, waited with him
- explain how you felt afterward: felt useful, remembered being lost myself; he sent a postcard
Practise, then compare: Band 8 sample answers
Record your own answer first, listen back, then compare. Don’t memorise these: examiners spot memorised answers. Borrow the structure and the highlighted vocabulary instead.
Part 2 sample answer (cue card)
Cue card
Describe a time you helped someone.
You should say:
- who you helped
- what the situation was
- what you did
- and explain how you felt afterward.
Sample answerShowHide
A time I helped someone that I still remember was last winter, at a busy train station in the city where I’m studying.
I was waiting for a train when I noticed an elderly man standing by the information board, looking very confused. He was holding a ticket and trying to ask people something, but nobody stopped. When I went over, I realised he didn’t speak the local language. Luckily, he spoke a little English, so we could communicate.
It turned out he was travelling to visit his daughter. He had waited on the wrong platform, because the platform had been changed at the last minute, and he’d missed his train. On top of that, his phone battery was dead, so he couldn’t call his daughter to tell her, and he was getting quite anxious.
So I did a few things. First, I took him to the ticket office and translated for him, and they changed his ticket for the next train, which was about an hour later. Then I let him charge his phone with my power bank and helped him call his daughter, who was very relieved. Since he still looked nervous, I decided to wait with him and we had a coffee together. He told me he was from Portugal and that he’d been a teacher for forty years.
Afterwards, I felt really good, and not just because I’d been useful. When I first moved abroad, I had a similar experience, completely lost at a station, and a stranger helped me, so it felt like I was passing that kindness on. A few weeks later, I got a postcard from him, sent to my university, saying thank you. It’s on my fridge now.
Useful language:looking very confusedit turned outchanged at the last minuteon top of thatvery relievedpassing that kindness onit felt like
Part 3 sample answers
Why do some people help strangers while others don’t?
Sample answerShowHide
Partly personality, but also the situation. Research suggests people are less likely to help when there are many others around, because everyone assumes someone else will step in. People are also more likely to help if they’ve been helped themselves, or if they feel confident they know what to do.
Useful language:step infeel confident
Should schools encourage children to volunteer?
Sample answerShowHide
Yes, I think so. Volunteering teaches empathy and responsibility, and shows children that they can make a difference. It also gives them contact with people they might not normally meet, like older people or those in difficult circumstances. However, it works best when children have some choice in what they do.
Useful language:empathymake a difference
Are people less helpful in big cities than in small towns?
Sample answerShowHide
People often say so, and there may be some truth in it. In big cities, people are busier and surrounded by strangers, so they’re more likely to ignore others. In small towns, people know each other and feel more responsible. But I’ve seen plenty of kindness in big cities too.
Useful language:some truth in itsurrounded by strangers
Is technology making people more or less willing to help each other?
Sample answerShowHide
In some ways more: people raise money for causes online, offer advice on forums and organise help quickly through social media. But face to face, people can be so focused on their phones that they don’t notice someone who needs help nearby.
Useful language:raise moneyface to face
Want your own answer scored? With Worddemy Pro, the AI examiner asks you real Part 1–3 questions and gives a band score for fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Why this answer would score well#
- A complete story with a clear problem (wrong platform, dead phone) and step-by-step actions (First… Then… Since…).
- Narrative tenses: past perfect (had waited, had been changed) explains what happened before.
- A meaningful reflection (passing kindness on) plus a satisfying ending (the postcard).
- Natural phrases: it turned out, on top of that, very relieved, at the last minute.
Other ideas you could talk about#
You don’t have to use a true story, and you can adapt one you know well. Other good choices:
- Helping a friend prepare for an exam or interview
- Helping a neighbour move house or carry shopping
- Volunteering at an event or charity
- Helping a family member learn to use technology
Mistakes to avoid#
- Choosing a tiny action (“I helped my mother wash the dishes”) with no story.
- Not explaining how you felt afterwards, the last point.
- Saying “I helped him to find” is correct, but “I helped him finding” is not.
Want more? Practise a random card with the 2-minute timer in the cue card generator, or see every Speaking topic with sample answers.