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

Describe a situation when you met somebody from your past by accident

: You should say

when it was
where you met
how you know this person
and explain why it was surprising for you

: Sample Answer

Interesting topic and it just happened to me almost a year ago when I was quite surprised to see Paula, one of my school friends, at a shopping mall all of a sudden. I met her after a very long time that day

Last year I went to the city super mall to purchase some dresses for my family and met Paula there. Paula was my classmate and one of my closest friends in my high school. Her family settled in Canada just after we graduated from the high school. After a few initial communications, she went silent and I have not heard from her for more than 10 years. Meeting her in a supermall and being in the same shop at the same time was totally unexpected and I was very much thrilled to hear her updates

When I was buying a leather jacket for my younger brother, I noticed a girl was selecting a red dress for a kid and she seemed very familiar to me. I was not sure who she could be and was thinking that she looks like Paula. In fact, Paula looked quite different than she used to look in the school days. It was very tough to recognise her after a long time. However, when she talked to a salesgirl, I recognised her voice. It was unforgettable! I approached to her and to my surprise, she recognised me! We hugged each other and left the shop after we purchase the items we had selected. We sat in a nearby coffee shop and talked for more than two hours

She got married, became the mother of two kids and settled in Australia. Her husband is an electric engineer who works in Australia. I was sad to hear that her mother passed away recently and that’s the main reason she came home. She apologised for not keeping the communication, explained her reasons for doing so and took my email and phone number

Meeting Paula all of a sudden was indeed a great surprise to me. It was totally unexpected and I had no idea I would meet her someday. She was one of my best friends from my school and we had so many memories together. A few years back when I met another friend from high school and he told me that Paula had never communicated any of our school friends, I thought I would never meet her again. However, the world is small indeed and we have our surprises waiting for us just at the corner of the street!!! This was something that came to mind when I met Paula after more than 10 years

These days I mostly get her updates on Facebook and she sometimes calls me. I know her updates even if she stays a far away and we are good friends again