Part 2 cue cardTravel and tourism

Describe a memorable journey you have taken

"What happened on the way" carries this card: the journey itself, not the destination. A minute on the beaches at the end answers a different card. Narrative tenses earn the grammar marks: past continuous for the scene, past perfect for what came before.

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

Describe a memorable journey you have taken.

You should say:

where you went
who you went with
what happened on the way
and explain why it was memorable

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

where you wentKonkan Railway, Mumbai to Goa, July
who you went withthree college friends, after final exams
what happened on the waylandslide, stuck six hours, Kerala family's food
and explain why it was memorablethe delay became the best part

Sample answers

229 words · about 1:59 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I'd like to talk about a train journey from Mumbai to Goa which I took two years ago, in July. It's on the Konkan Railway, it goes along the coast, and normally it takes around twelve hours.

I went with three friends from my college, Rohan, Imran and Priya. We just finished our final exams, so we wanted to celebrate, and the train was the most cheap option because it was monsoon season.

On the way, something unexpected happened. We were travelling for about seven hours when the train suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. After some time the guard told us there was a landslide on the track ahead, and we have to wait until they clear it. In the end it made a delay of six hours. At first we were very annoying, because we had no food left and no mobile signal. But a family sitting near us, they were from Kerala, shared their food with us, rice and fish curry and banana chips, and we played cards with their children.

I think it was memorable because the delay became the best part of the trip. The views from the window was amazing, everything was green and there were waterfalls everywhere. Also we made friends with that family and we are still in contact on WhatsApp. We reached Goa at midnight, but nobody was complaining.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

We just finished our final exams should be We had just finished our final exams
the most cheap option should be the cheapest option
We were travelling for about seven hours should be We had been travelling for about seven hours
we have to wait until they clear it should be we had to wait until they cleared it
it made a delay of six hours should be it caused a six-hour delay
we were very annoying should be we were very annoyed
a family sitting near us, they were should be a family sitting near us, who were
The views from the window was amazing should be The views from the window were amazing

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to speak at length and the story has a clear sequence ("On the way", "After some time", "In the end"). It stays at Band 6 because the reason it was memorable is added as a list at the end ("Also we made friends") rather than growing out of the story itself.
Vocabulary: Adequate for the story ("landslide", "in the middle of nowhere", "mobile signal"), but with clear slips: "we were very annoying" uses the wrong form and changes the meaning, and "it made a delay" is not a natural collocation. Band 7 needs more precise and less common vocabulary.
Grammar: Attempts narrative tenses, but the harder ones break down: "We just finished our final exams" and "We were travelling for about seven hours when" both need a past perfect form, and reported speech slips into the present ("we have to wait"). That pattern is typical of Band 6.

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

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

The journey I'll never forget was a train trip from Mumbai down to Goa on the Konkan Railway, a line that runs along the west coast through tunnels and over rivers. It was July, right in the middle of the monsoon, which is supposed to be the most beautiful time to do it.

I went with three friends from college, Rohan, Imran and Priya. We'd just finished our final exams and wanted a cheap break before everyone scattered for jobs, so we booked sleeper seats for next to nothing.

What happened on the way was that, about seven hours in, the train ground to a halt beside a paddy field. Eventually word came down the carriage that there'd been a landslide further down the line, and we ended up stuck there for nearly six hours. We'd already eaten all our snacks, and there was no signal, so tempers started to fray a bit. Then the family in the next compartment, who were heading home to Kerala, simply opened up their tiffin boxes and insisted us to share their lunch. We spent the afternoon playing cards with their kids while the rain hammered on the roof.

I think it stuck with me because the thing that should have ruined the trip turned out to be the highlight. The scenery was breathtaking, with waterfalls pouring down the hillsides, but what I really remember is how generous complete strangers were. We're still in touch with that family, and we didn't roll into Goa until after midnight, which nobody minded in the slightest.

The slips

insisted us to share their lunch should be insisted that we share their lunch

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length with clear narrative control ("about seven hours in", "Eventually word came down the carriage", "Then"), and the delay is developed into a proper scene. Not Band 8 because the final bullet is announced ("I think it stuck with me because") rather than emerging from the story.
Vocabulary: Good, less common items: "ground to a halt", "tempers started to fray", "for next to nothing", "tiffin boxes", "roll into Goa". Band 8 would bring this precision to the feelings too; here they stay general ("breathtaking", "generous").
Grammar: The past perfect is used correctly for earlier events ("We'd just finished", "there'd been a landslide"), with relative clauses and a contrast clause. One slip, "insisted us to share", where insist takes a that-clause; otherwise accurate, which is Band 7.

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

The journey that stands out is a train ride I took from Mumbai to Goa on the Konkan Railway two monsoons ago. It's one of those routes people do for the scenery as much as the destination: the line clings to the coast, cuts through dozens of tunnels and crosses rivers that are swollen and brown in July.

There were four of us, all from the same college: Rohan, Imran, Priya and me. We'd sat our last exam the previous week, and this was meant to be a final cheap blowout before we all went our separate ways, so we'd booked the slowest, least glamorous train we could find.

About seven hours in, we came to a juddering stop in what looked like the middle of a rice field, and the rumour that worked its way along the carriages turned out to be true: a section of hillside had collapsed onto the track. We sat there for close to six hours. Our snacks had run out, our phones were useless, and Rohan, who is not a patient person, was on the verge of walking to the next station. What rescued the afternoon was the family opposite, on their way home to Kerala, who unpacked an absurd amount of food and simply wouldn't take no for an answer. By the end their youngest was beating all of us at cards.

What makes it memorable is that it completely reversed my idea of what a good trip is. I'd been impatient to arrive, and the best part turned out to be the hours we spent going nowhere. We finally pulled into Goa just after midnight, soaked, exhausted and oddly reluctant to get off.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent, with the delay told as a scene and a clear turn in the last paragraph ("it completely reversed my idea of what a good trip is"). Short of Band 9 because one or two sentences, such as the list of the four friends, are functional rather than shaped.
Vocabulary: Wide and idiomatic: "clings to the coast", "a juddering stop", "on the verge of", "wouldn't take no for an answer", "went our separate ways". The gap to Band 9 is the occasional loose phrase, such as "an absurd amount of food".
Grammar: A wide range used accurately: the past perfect for earlier events ("We'd sat our last exam", "had collapsed onto the track"), a relative clause dropped into the sentence about Rohan, and "turned out to be" twice to mark the twist. No errors.

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

Rounding-off questions

Has the way people travel changed?: Enormously. Budget flights have made long distances cheap, and apps mean you rarely get lost or stranded. The downside is that journeys have become something to get through rather than something to enjoy.
Is the journey as important as the destination?: Sometimes more important, in my experience. You remember the conversations and the things that went wrong on the way, whereas destinations can blur together after a while, especially the popular ones.