Describe something in your home that was broken and then repaired
The cue card
Describe something in your home that was broken and later repaired.
- You should say: what it was
- You should say: how it broke
- You should say: how it was repaired
- You should say: and explain how you felt about it
How to answer it
A narrative card with a structure built in — before, the breakage, the fix — so use it. The breakage is your chance at a story (who dropped it, what the noise was); the repair is your chance at precise vocabulary. Decide in the prep minute whether you fixed it, a professional fixed it, or it was never quite right again; the last option is the most interesting and still answers the card in full.
What moves the band
- Repair lexis lifts this card fast: it stopped working altogether, a loose connection, replace the part, patched it up, good as new, on its last legs.
- The Part 3 turn is about throwaway culture. Have one line ready on why repairing is often dearer than replacing.
Part 3 questions reported with it
Part 3 follows the topic of the cue card, so these are the discussion questions the same candidates were asked next.
- Are IT and repair jobs valued highly by society?
- Is the quality of products worse than it used to be?
- What things do people repair themselves?
- Why do people take phones to specialist repair shops?
These are candidate recalls. These are questions reported by test-takers after their exams, not official or leaked IELTS material. Wording varies by test version, location and memory. Use them for timed practice — never as a prediction of what you will be asked.
Practise these next
Know the number. Now move it.
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