Part 2 cue cardPeople and relationships

Describe a time a stranger helped you

Narrative tenses carry this card: past continuous for the setting, past perfect for what had already gone wrong, past simple for the rescue. Spend the least time on "where you were"; the help and the feeling are the story.

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

Describe a time a stranger helped you.

You should say:

where you were
what the situation was
how the stranger helped you
and explain how you felt about it

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 wereSri Lanka hill country, scooter trip
what the situation wasflat tyre, rain, dusk, no signal
how the stranger helped youfetched his cousin, tea at home
and explain how you felt about itrelieved, embarrassed, humbled; now I stop

Sample answers

233 words · about 2:02 spoken at a Band 6 pace

This happened two years ago in Sri Lanka. I was travelling with my friend Hafiz, we are both from Malaysia, and we rented a scooter to ride from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, which is a town in the mountains with a lot of tea plantations.

In the afternoon it started raining very heavy, and on a small road between the tea fields our back tyre got a puncture. It was getting dark, there was no phone signal, and we didn't have any tools. Honestly, we were quite scared, because we didn't know nobody and the road was very narrow with many curves.

After maybe twenty minutes a man on a motorbike was stopping next to us. He didn't speak much English, but he understood the problem immediately. He went to his village and he come back with his cousin, who repaired the tyre in the side of the road while the man hold an umbrella over him. Then they invited us to their house, and his wife gave us hot tea and rice with curry. When we tried to give them money, they refused it completely.

I felt very relief, of course, but also a bit ashamed, because we were not prepared at all. It was a big lesson for me. Now when I see somebody who has a problem on the road, I always stop and help, because I remember that man.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

raining very heavy should be raining very heavily
we didn't know nobody should be we didn't know anybody
a man on a motorbike was stopping should be a man on a motorbike stopped
he come back with his cousin should be he came back with his cousin
in the side of the road should be at the side of the road
the man hold an umbrella should be the man held an umbrella
they refused it completely should be they flatly refused
I felt very relief should be I felt very relieved

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Tells the story at length and in order, with clear time markers ("In the afternoon", "After maybe twenty minutes", "Then"). It stays at Band 6 because the feelings at the end are summarised quickly ("It was a big lesson for me") rather than explored.
Vocabulary: Enough vocabulary for the situation ("puncture", "tea plantations", "phone signal"), but some choices are off: "they refused it completely" is an unnatural way to describe turning down money, and "very relief" uses the noun where an adjective is needed. Band 7 would use more idiomatic items.
Grammar: There's a relative clause and a past continuous for the background, but tense control slips: "was stopping" for a single completed action, "he come back" and "the man hold" left in the base form, and "we didn't know nobody" doubles the negative.

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

266 words · about 2:03 spoken at a Band 7 pace

This was in Sri Lanka, about two years ago. My friend Hafiz and I had flown over from Kuala Lumpur for a week, and we'd rented a scooter to ride up into the hill country, from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, past the tea plantations you see on postcards.

The situation was entirely our own fault. Halfway up, the sky just opened, and on a narrow, winding road between the tea estates our back tyre went flat. It was getting dark, neither of our phones had any signal, and we hadn't brought so much as a pump. We were soaked, a bit panicky, and miles from anywhere.

After about twenty minutes a man on an old motorbike pulled over. His English was limited, but he took one look at the tyre and got the picture. He rode off, and I'll admit I wondered if he'd come back at all, but fifteen minutes later he reappeared with his cousin and a repair kit. The cousin patched the tyre by the roadside while our rescuer held an umbrella over him. Then they insisted we come back to their house to dry off, and his wife served us sweet milky tea and a plate of rice and dhal. When we offered to pay, they looked almost offended.

Afterwards I felt enormously relieved, but also slightly embarrassed of how unprepared we'd been. More than that, though, it really humbled me. They had very little, and they gave us their whole evening without thinking twice. These days, if I see someone broken down at the side of the road, I pull over.

The slips

embarrassed of how unprepared should be embarrassed at how unprepared

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length with a natural story shape and flexible links ("Halfway up", "I'll admit", "More than that, though"). Not Band 8 because the feeling in the last bullet is reported as a fairly direct sequence rather than woven into the story.
Vocabulary: Some less common and idiomatic language: "the sky just opened", "miles from anywhere", "got the picture", "without thinking twice". Band 8 would add more precise choices in the plainer stretches, such as "it really humbled me".
Grammar: A good range with mostly accurate complex sentences: past perfect for what hadn't happened ("we hadn't brought so much as a pump"), "insisted we come back", a conditional for a present habit. One slip, "embarrassed of how unprepared", where English uses at or about.

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

268 words · about 1:51 spoken at a Band 8 pace

It happened in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, on a trip with my friend Hafiz. We'd come over from Malaysia for a week and, against everyone's advice, hired a scooter to ride up through the hill country from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, past those endless terraces of tea.

We'd badly underestimated the weather. Somewhere above Ramboda the heavens opened, and a few bends later the rear tyre gave out on a single-track road hemmed in by tea bushes on both sides. Dusk was coming on fast, we had no signal whatsoever, and it dawned on us that we hadn't packed so much as a puncture kit. I remember standing there drenched, feeling more foolish than frightened.

Then a middle-aged man on an ancient motorbike pulled up. We shared barely a dozen words of any language, but he grasped the situation instantly, held up a hand as if to say 'wait', and disappeared down the hill. Just as I was starting to doubt he'd return, he came back with his cousin and a battered toolbox. The cousin fixed the tyre in the downpour while our rescuer held an umbrella over him, and afterwards they wouldn't hear of us leaving until we'd dried off at their house, where his wife sat us down with sweet tea and rice and dhal. Any mention of payment was waved away.

What I felt, once the relief wore off, was humility more than anything. They had so little and gave so freely, without a moment's hesitation. It's genuinely changed how I behave: I no longer drive past anyone stranded at the roadside.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Effortless and fully coherent, with suspense built naturally ("Just as I was starting to doubt he'd return") and a closing reflection that answers the last bullet. Band 9 would make a few transitions less predictable than "Then" and "What I felt".
Vocabulary: Wide and precise: "the heavens opened", "hemmed in by tea bushes", "wouldn't hear of us leaving", "waved away". Band 9 would bring the same precision to every line; "genuinely changed how I behave" is clear but ordinary.
Grammar: Flexible and accurate: a passive for the refusal ("Any mention of payment was waved away"), past perfect for the earlier mistake, a time clause ("once the relief wore off"), "as if to say". No errors; Band 9 would range a little further.

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

Rounding-off questions

Do people help strangers as much as they used to?: In big cities, probably less, because people are busier and more suspicious. But in smaller places, like that village in Sri Lanka, I think helping a stranger is still completely normal.
Would you help a stranger in the same way?: I'd like to think I already do. Since that trip I've stopped for a couple of people with flat tyres, although I'll admit I've never cooked anyone dinner afterwards.