IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card 691 with Model Answer

Describe a time when you were stuck in a traffic jam

: You should say

when it was
where you were going
how long you had to wait
and explain how you felt about this

: Model Answer

India is a populous city and traffic jam is a very common issue for the citizens of the country, especially people living in urban areas. The situation is too irritating that sometimes people cannot control their emotions over traffic jam and start walking leaving their vehicles behind

I also experienced such a situation recently when I was about to participate at a radio event organised by a local radio station. The event was supposed to be aired live and I was one of the key participants representing our own band. In fact, the radio event aimed to promote newly emerging band groups so that the mass people could come to know about the band groups and to praise their songs. The band group named – Dark Shadow is formed of five members and I am the vocal. It was set on the last night that I would attend the event as the other members were unable to make time. So, being the leader of the band, I had to take the responsibility to despite my reluctance

So, the next day, it was probably the mid of March 2016, I started for the radio station. It was located in New Delhi while my residence was near Delhi Cantonment. The distance between my place and the radio station was moderate and it would not take over one hour for me. So, accordingly, I started for the radio station. I failed to ride on public transports due to massive crowds. Besides, I planned to wait for the bus in a queue but the long queue discouraged me waiting there. So, simply I hired an auto and started for the station. I took my guitar with me to play songs at the radio event and some newly composed songs. Besides, I was prepared to answer any types of questions from the other sides. As this was a live radio program, my band members suggested me answering every type of questions with ready wits so that the audiences could get a positive idea about us

Unfortunately, I could not reach the radio station in time and I had to wait for around two hours in the traffic jam. The auto driver tried to escape the increasing traffic but he could not do so. Though he tried to cross the main road using the narrows inner streets, he failed as the streets were too narrow to enter and again he had to join on the main road of the city. As a result, he got trapped in the jam perfectly that. So, I had to sit idly for two hours and by the same time I informed the issue to the radio authority who invited me. I urged them to reschedule the slot if possible for them and explained my real situations here. Initially, they said that it is not possible for them to shift the program on any other day but I tried to make them realise that I want them to hold the program on the scheduled day but a few hours later. I know it is difficult for a radio station to shift a program in any other slot, but they did it for me

I felt worst on the day. Later, I came to know that the traffic congestion took place for a clash between two political parties while police had to control the situation. Some of the people also got arrested from the spots. So, the vehicles could not move easily and entering into the New Delhi streets became difficult for them. The radio authority also paid heed to my request as they might have realised about the real situation. So, they aired the program after I reached the station two and a half hour later after the scheduled time. But it was one of the worst experiences of my life