Part 2 cue cardMedia and news

Describe a famous person you would like to meet

"What they are famous for" and "what you know about them" overlap, so keep them apart: the achievement in a sentence or two, then the story behind it. The last bullet needs a question you would genuinely ask them.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a famous person you would like to meet.

You should say:

who the person is
what they are famous for
what you know about them
and explain why you would like to meet them

Rehearse the long turn

1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

A 60-second plan

who the person isKatalin Karikó, Hungarian biochemist
what they are famous formRNA research; Nobel Prize 2023
what you know about themrejections, demotion, teddy-bear savings
and explain why you would like to meet thembiomed student: ask how she kept going

Sample answers

226 words · about 1:58 spoken at a Band 6 pace

The famous person I would like to meet is Katalin Karikó. She is a scientist from Hungary and she is very famous in the medical world, especially after Covid.

She is famous because of her research about mRNA. She worked with another scientist, Drew Weissman, and they found a way to change the mRNA so the body don't fight against it. Because of this research, companies could make the Covid vaccines very fast. In 2023 they won the Nobel Prize.

I read a lot about her life. She was born in a small town in Hungary and her father was butcher. When she moved to America in 1980s, her family hide their money inside the teddy bear of her daughter. In America her life was not easy. Many times the university refused to give her money for her research, and they even gave her a lower position. But she continued to work on her idea. Also her daughter won two gold medals at the Olympics for rowing, which is amazing.

I want to meet her because I study biomedicine and many times my experiments fail. Sometimes I feel very disappointed and I want to give up. I would ask her how she continued when nobody believed on her. I think she can give me good advices. For me she is a great example of hard work.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

research about mRNA should be research on mRNA
the body don't fight against it should be the body doesn't fight against it
her father was butcher should be her father was a butcher
in 1980s should be in the 1980s
her family hide their money should be her family hid their money
the teddy bear of her daughter should be her daughter's teddy bear
believed on her should be believed in her
good advices should be good advice
gave her a lower position should be demoted her

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to talk at length and covers each bullet, with the life story given in order. Not Band 7 because the facts are listed one after another ("Also", "But", "Because of this research") and the reason for meeting her is short and fairly general.
Vocabulary: Enough vocabulary for a scientific topic ("research", "vaccines", "biomedicine"), but with inaccuracies: "believed on her" has the wrong preposition, "good advices" treats advice as countable, and "a lower position" is a clumsy way to describe a demotion. Band 7 needs more precise words.
Grammar: Some complex sentences, but errors are frequent: agreement in "the body don't fight", a past form in "her family hide", articles in "her father was butcher" and "in 1980s", and "the teddy bear of her daughter" for the possessive. That is Band 6 accuracy.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

261 words · about 2:00 spoken at a Band 7 pace

I'd really like to meet Katalin Karikó, a scientist from Hungary. She isn't famous in the same way as a film star, but in the scientific world she's become something of a hero over the last few years.

She's known for her work on mRNA. With her colleague Drew Weissman, she discovered a way to change mRNA so that it didn't cause a dangerous reaction in the body, and that research made it possible to develop the Covid vaccines so quickly. Because of this, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2023.

I've read quite a lot about her life, and it's really inspiring. She was born in Hungary and her father was a butcher. In the 1980s she moved to the United States with her husband and their young daughter, and apparently they hid their savings inside the daughter's teddy bear. After that, she had a really hard time. Her applications for funding were rejected again and again, and at one point she was even demoted. But she never gave up on her idea. Interestingly, her daughter later became an Olympic champion in rowing.

The main reason I'd like to meet her is that I'm studying biomedicine, and I'm starting to realise how often experiments fail. Sometimes it's quite demotivating. I'd love to ask her how did she manage to stay positive for so many years when nobody took her seriously. I think her advice would help me to deal with my own setbacks. She's living proof that hard work and persistence really pay off in the end.

The slips

how did she manage to stay positive should be how she managed to stay positive

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length without effort and keeps the achievement and the life story separate ("She's known for", "I've read quite a lot about her life", "The main reason"). Not Band 8 because the ending relies on a stock phrase ("living proof") rather than a sharper personal point.
Vocabulary: Some less common items used naturally ("something of a hero", "demoted", "demotivating", "setbacks", "pay off in the end"). Band 8 would describe the science and the struggle more precisely and idiomatically.
Grammar: A good range of complex structures, mostly accurate: passives ("were awarded", "were rejected again and again"), "so that" for purpose, a present perfect for a change ("she's become"). One slip, "how did she manage", where an embedded question needs statement word order.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

281 words · about 1:56 spoken at a Band 8 pace

If I could meet anyone, it would be Katalin Karikó, a Hungarian biochemist whom most people had never heard of until a few years ago.

She's famous for her research on messenger RNA. Together with an American immunologist, Drew Weissman, she worked out how to modify mRNA so that the body's immune system wouldn't attack it, and that discovery turned out to be the foundation of the mRNA vaccines against Covid. In 2023 the two of them shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

What fascinates me, though, is the story behind it. She grew up in a small town in Hungary, the daughter of a butcher, and when she emigrated to the United States in the eighties, the family smuggled their savings out hidden inside her little daughter's teddy bear. For years afterwards her grant applications were turned down, she was demoted at her university, and plenty of colleagues clearly thought she was wasting her career on an idea that would never work. She simply carried on. And, as if that weren't enough, the little girl with the teddy bear grew up to win two Olympic gold medals in rowing.

I'd love to meet her because I'm studying biomedicine, and I'm already discovering how much of research is failure. Experiments go wrong for months, and it's hard not to take it personally. I'd want to ask her how she kept going when nobody believed in her work, and whether she ever came close to giving up. I suspect the answer would be more useful to me than anything in a textbook. And frankly, I'd just like to tell her that she's proof that being stubborn can be a virtue.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and fully coherent: the achievement, the story behind it and the reason to meet her build on each other, ending on a clear personal point ("being stubborn can be a virtue"). Short of Band 9 only because one or two links ("What fascinates me, though") are familiar.
Vocabulary: Wide and precise: "the foundation of the mRNA vaccines", "smuggled their savings out", "turned down", "take it personally". Band 9 would show that range in every sentence, including the plainer account of her prize.
Grammar: A wide range used accurately: an unreal conditional ("If I could meet anyone, it would be"), "as if that weren't enough", a past perfect ("had never heard of"), embedded questions ("how she kept going"). No errors; the gap to Band 9 is the occasional safe structure.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

Rounding-off questions

Why are people so interested in famous people?: Partly curiosity, and partly because famous people let us imagine a different life. Social media makes them feel like acquaintances, so we follow their ups and downs almost as if they were people we actually know.
Do famous people have a responsibility to behave well?: To some extent, yes, because young people copy them whether they like it or not. But I don't think they owe us their private lives; what matters is how they behave in public and in their work.