IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

Describe an educational television program

: You should say

what it was
on which channel it was telecasted
what you learned from it
and explain why you think it was a good educational program

: Sample Answer

I am incredibly lucky, because I live in the UK, and we have the BBC – British Broadcasting Company, which is funded by a licence fee payable by all British households, companies and organisations. As such, it has a particular public service broadcasting remit, it isn’t funded by advertising, and is expected to produce quality, unbiased factual and ‘public interest’ material. Amongst other things, it has an educational responsibility as part of its remit. Perhaps because of this, the BBC is renowned worldwide for the quality of some of its programmes. In particular, its wildlife broadcasting is breathtakingly good

It happens, that only today I watched the most amazing wildlife documentary, I’m going to tell you all about. What it was on, what channel it was broadcast on and what I learned from it. I think it will be pretty obvious why it is so brilliant – not just in worthy educational terms, but as extraordinary visual entertainment too

The programme was just one of a whole series called ‘The Hunt’. Each episode concentrates on a different part of the natural world, taking an intimate and detailed look at the remarkable strategies employed by hunters to catch their prey and what the hunted have to do to escape. Today’s episode was called, ‘Hunger at sea’ and was about the oceans. Amongst other things, the team had spent years trying to get footage of remarkable marine animals including blue whales – which are the heaviest animal ever to have existed on our planet (it’s 30 metres long, and they weigh appreciably more than even the largest of known dinosaurs), but can still be elusive in the vast expanse of the seas. However, the programme looked at lots of different creatures as well as the blue whales. There were films of sharks, sea lions, frigate birds, dolphins and albatrosses cleverly revealing the strategies they use to hunt for prey in the big blue waters of the oceans. I don’t live near the sea so whilst I know it’s beautiful and I worry a lot about pollution impacting on it, I don’t get to see if very often. This programme demonstrated that the open ocean is an immense wilderness that covers more than half the surface of our planet, yet for the most parts, it’s a watery desert, largely devoid of life. It is a fragile ecosystem, and predators face an endless search to find and catch food, yet these great tracts of ocean are home to some of the most remarkable hunters on the planet

The production values of the series were beyond your wildest imaginings. The film footage is remarkable. It took two years, but a team of scientists and underwater photographers eventually got footage not only of a blue whale – a rare enough achievement in itself, but a blue whale feeding on a massive ball of krill, gulping in water and the tiny zooplankton creatures all at once. It was really extraordinary to see. The programme series is being narrated by Dir David Attenborough – he is a well-respected broadcaster and scientist who delivers interesting information with passion and clarity. The photography though is just amazing. Close up shots of these extraordinary creatures in their natural habitat, the tenacity and dedication of the production teams in obtaining such footage can only be imagined. The programme is currently on BBC1, but I’m sure it will end up being broadcast worldwide as well

I learned so much about marine life, ecosystems and how so many animals survival is interconnected. It makes me sad that our oceans are being polluted and fish stocks over-fished, but I take hope that such extraordinary television programmes might help raise awareness about the complexity and fragility of life in the seas. The programme gave a glimpse of an underwater world that would be otherwise impossible to see, it not only increased my knowledge, but the footage obtained is of scientific importance too, because they were able to capture on film animal behaviour that has never been recorded before. That’s quite something. I think this programme series The Hunt, is well deserving of the accolade of a brilliant education TV programme on natural history. If you get the chance to see it, do so