CUE CARD: CONVERSATION

Đề: Describe an important conversation that has brought a positive change in your life.

You should say:

• whom you had this conversation with

• how long this conversation lasted

• why you had this conversation

and explain how this conversation has brought a positive change in your life.

Model Answer:

I have a habit of having conversations and taking advice on different important issues from people around me. Needless to say, this practice has often helped me in making decisions at crunch times. Today, I would like to talk about one such conversation that I had, after passing my junior college.

It was about 10 years ago when I failed to get admission to the medical college. Actually, not being able to pass the medical college entrance examination was one of the most shocking experiences of my life. Of course, it was not an easy admission test at all because only the most brilliant students with great academic results usually take part in these tests in order to study medical science at the medical colleges of my country. However, while I don’t exactly think that I fall in the category of the most brilliant students of my country, I still thought that I would be able to pull off a miracle since I studied really hard throughout my previous years for this purpose.

After failing to secure a place at a medical college, I remained confused and clueless for a considerable period of time. I even felt really depressed at times after that shocking news. So, I decided to head to my elder uncle, hoping that he would provide me with some intelligent conversation and comfort in order to help me get out of this Jinx. The conversation had continued for about 30 minutes which provided a lot of important insights to me about life, as well as how the definition of “success” and “failure” changes in the life of people, as time progresses.

Anyway, I felt much better about my life after having that conversation with my uncle, as it provided me with the much-needed direction for my life. In fact, the conversation helped me realize the fact that we should always explore other avenues of success, when we fail to achieve a certain dream, instead of feeling down and depressed. Besides, it was after this conversation, I learned to work even harder instead of complaining about the system and situation.

TỪ VỰNG CHỦ ĐỀ “CONVERSATION”

• Crunch time: thời điểm khó khăn (a point at which something difficult must be done)

• Thought process: lối suy nghĩ (a way of thinking or thinking deeply about something)

• Whine: than thở (complain in an annoying)

• To start off (with): bắt đầu một chuỗi hoạt động (the beginning of some kind of series of events)

• Ramble: luyên thuyên, lan man (speak continuously for a long time with too many details or different topics)

• Snap at (someone): nạt ai đó, nói một cách giận dữ (to speak sharply or angrily to someone)

• To come to terms with something: chấp nhận điều gì (accept something that is maybe emotionally difficult)