Describe a person who once apologised to you. You should say: who this person was why he/ she apologised to you where you were then and explain how you felt about it. [You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish. ] Sample Answer 1:
Apologising is a part of good manners and I believe that it often pacifies many chaotic situations. Whenever I believe that someone owes me an apology, I do not hesitate to apologise to this person. In many events, others have apologised to me and I would talk about one such event for this candidate task card topic.
It was around 3-4 months ago when the chief cashier of the City bank profoundly apologised to me. I cannot recall his name but my best guess would be ' Mr Jonathon'. He was a middle-aged white male and would be 5 feet 11 or so.
I went to the (. . . say your bank area name. . . ) City bank branch to withdraw some money. It was unusually crowded and I had to wait in a queue for about 25 minutes. As soon as I presented the cheque leaf, the cashier verified my signature and checked other information on his computer system. Within a minute, he returned my cheque and informed me that my savings bank account with them did not have sufficient balance. His facial expression was quite rough and he advised me to check my balance before presenting any cheque leaf. I tried to explain to him that I deposited a large amount of money the previous day and he should check it before rejecting my cheque. He was adamant and non-cooperative. He asked me to contact the chief cashier for any complaint and leave the cash counter to let others do banking - which was very harsh and unprofessional, I guess. It was a frustrating experience for me.
When I explained the chief cashier the whole situation, he checked the computer system and found that my claim was absolutely correct. In fact, it was their fault that my deposit was not credited to my savings account. The chief cashier then apologised to me profoundly. He took my cheque leaf and cashed it out himself. He apologised to me several times and promised me that such an event won't happen again.
Honestly speaking, when the cashier rejected my cheque, I felt quite angry and irritated. I knew that I had deposited a large sum of money and there was no way he should reject my cheque. I become angrier when he behaved as if I was a fool to present the cheque without having any balance! The chief cashier's manner and friendly behaviour, on the other hand, was quite professional and amiable. He attentively listened to my explanation and retracted as soon as he found that I was right and if there was anyone to be blamed, it would be his teller, not me. His cordial response and regret reassured me and I excused the unprofessional behaviours of the teller who denied my cheque. I accepted the apology and left the bank without any hard feelings. Sample Answer 2:
It is confusing when a teacher comes with an apology. In fact, I had a similar experience in my 8th semester at the Columbia University in New York. I will describe the event in brief now and thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to talk about this event.
In my 8th semester, I had to attend a course conducted by Dr Robert Brown. He is a man of letters and knows his subject very well. He has a very sharp sense of rights and wrongs and never compromises on the issues of sincerity. Dr Brown never forced his student to study hard, rather he suggested them to get into the subjects or texts they study. He preferred and inspired the students to understand the topics and the subject as a whole, rather than merely memorising them. Hence, he was a great and popular teacher among the students. A simple mistake and his sincere apology raised his position higher to me and to the remaining class.
Dr Brown was assigned to take our course E 301 – Basic Economics. He took the classes and delivered lectures very professionally. I also attended all of his classes and came to know about different economics-related terms and their use in real-life. So, when we appeared on the semester final exam, we encountered with the math he had shown us before. I answered them perfectly. Unfortunately, he made a simple mistake while checking my answer script. But when I was given the script to check after his evaluation, I discovered the mistake. And he apologised to me very sincerely.
At the beginning of the 9th semester, all the exam scripts were given to us to inform our parents and check back if there was any discrepancy. I was in the class when I found the matter. Instantly, I informed the fact to Dr Brown that there was a mistake in counting the marks. Since he was busy with the exam script distribution, he assured me that he will look into the matter later. Once the exam scripts were distributed, he asked me to meet him with the answer sheet, and he admitted his mistake when I showed him that he did not count the mark of an answer.
He felt sorry for his mistake and apologised to me. He also said that if I had not noticed the discrepancy, my grade could have gone lower than I deserve. He sincerely regretted the mistake. He immediately corrected the score. So, my score bumped up and I was happy. But by the same time, I felt a bit confused that an individual like Dr Brown is seeking an apology from me for his error. However, it was a different experience for me indeed. More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card topic: Topic: Describe a person who once apologised to you. 1. I could not believe that my supervisor will come with an apology and it was an unexpected event indeed. He apologised to me because of his harsh behaviour with me that morning. I was at my desk when he came to apologise to me. I was not ready for such an event. In fact, I felt highly embarrassed then and could not find any word to say. When he came to seek an apology, I was not actually ready to respond!
2. A few months ago, a waiter who behaved a bit rudely apologized to me. I was at the restaurant here in Paris and went there to have my breakfast and morning coffee. But the waiter made a mistake and when I told him politely, his behaviour turned rude. Later, he was forced to apologize. Though I forgave him, I decided not to visit the restaurant again but later discarded the idea. It was not the restaurant's fault.
3. An apology from a bookseller a few weeks ago was totally unexpected to me. In fact, it was my mistake that I broke a nice-looking showpiece in his store. But he apologized because he thought he did not place the showpiece at the right place. I was in his shop when he was sought for an apology. Actually, I could not believe that he was apologising when I was the one who should be apologising! And I was assured that I don't have to pay for the broken showpiece. He was very cordial and understanding.
4. A biker sought an apology to me a year ago for obstructing my way. In fact, it was not intentional at all. He was riding at his own pace and I wanted to overtake him. Suddenly he turned right without using his indicator light and I had to break instantly to avoid any potential accident. I fell off the ground from my bike. I did not feel well because I was injured in my knees and wrist. The other biker stopped his bike and came to my help. He also expressed his sincere apology. I accepted his apology and left the place without any hard feelings.
5. My maternal uncle, Sam, apologized to me recently. He took my laptop to complete a presentation and he forgot to tell me about it. I started seeking the laptop here and there. Finally, I thought that it was lost and when my uncle returned home from his office in the evening, he understood everything and apologized to me. I felt glad that the laptop was not lost or stolen. I realized that he was in rush and thus forgot to take my approval while taking the laptop.
When you are ready to talk about this cue card topic, you should be able to talk about the following topics as well:
1. Describe an unexpected event when you felt confused.
2. Describe an event when you apologised to someone.
3. Describe a bad experience you have had recently.
4. Describe a salesperson or a store owner who offered you a great service.
5. Describe an event when you felt ashamed.
Describe
a
person
who
once
apologised
to you. You should say:
who
this
person
was why he/ she
apologised
to you where you were then and
explain
how you
felt
about it. [You will
have to
talk
about the
topic
for one to two minutes. You have one
minute
to
think
about what you are going to say. You can
make
some
notes to
help
you if you wish.
]
Sample
Answer
1:
Apologising
is a part of
good
manners and I
believe
that it
often
pacifies
many
chaotic situations. Whenever I
believe
that someone owes me an
apology
, I do not hesitate to
apologise
to this
person
. In
many
events
, others have
apologised
to me and I would
talk
about one such
event
for this candidate task card topic.
It was around 3-4 months ago when the
chief
cashier
of the City
bank
profoundly
apologised
to me. I cannot recall his name
but
my best guess would be
'
Mr Jonathon'. He was a middle-aged white male and would be
5 feet
11 or
so
.
I went to the (.
.
.
say
your
bank
area name.
.
.
)
City
bank
branch to withdraw
some
money. It was
unusually crowded
and I had to wait in a queue for about 25 minutes. As
soon
as I presented the
cheque
leaf, the
cashier
verified my signature and
checked
other
information on his computer system. Within a
minute
, he returned my
cheque
and informed me that my savings
bank
account with them did not have sufficient balance. His facial expression was quite
rough and
he advised me to
check
my balance
before
presenting any
cheque
leaf. I tried to
explain
to him that I deposited a large amount of money the previous
day and
he should
check
it
before
rejecting my
cheque
. He was adamant and non-cooperative. He asked me to contact the
chief
cashier
for any complaint and
leave
the cash counter to
let
others
do banking
-
which was
very
harsh and unprofessional,
I guess
. It was a frustrating
experience
for me.
When I
explained
the
chief
cashier
the whole situation, he
checked
the computer system and found that my claim was
absolutely
correct. In
fact
, it was their fault that my deposit was not credited to my savings account. The
chief
cashier
then
apologised
to me
profoundly
. He took my
cheque
leaf and cashed it out himself. He
apologised
to me several times and promised me that such an
event
won't happen again.
Honestly
speaking, when the
cashier
rejected my
cheque
, I
felt
quite angry and irritated. I knew that I had deposited a large sum of money and there was no way he should reject my
cheque
. I become angrier when he behaved as if I was a fool to present the
cheque
without having any balance! The
chief
cashier's manner and friendly
behaviour
, on the
other
hand, was quite professional and amiable. He
attentively
listened to my explanation and retracted as
soon
as he found that I was
right
and if there was anyone to
be blamed
, it would be his teller, not me. His cordial response and regret reassured me and I excused the unprofessional
behaviours
of the teller
who
denied my
cheque
. I
accepted
the
apology
and
left
the
bank
without any
hard
feelings.
Sample
Answer
2:
It is confusing when a teacher
comes
with an
apology
. In
fact
, I had a similar
experience
in my 8th semester at the Columbia University in New York. I will
describe
the
event
in brief
now
and thank you
very
much for giving me the opportunity to
talk
about this
event
.
In my 8th semester, I had to attend a course conducted by Dr Robert Brown. He is a
man
of letters and knows his subject
very
well
. He has a
very
sharp sense of
rights
and wrongs and never compromises on the issues of sincerity. Dr Brown never forced his student to study
hard
,
rather
he suggested them to
get
into the subjects or texts they study. He preferred and inspired the students to understand the
topics
and the subject as a whole,
rather
than
merely
memorising
them.
Hence
, he was a great and popular teacher among the students. A simple
mistake
and his sincere
apology
raised his position higher to me and to the remaining
class
.
Dr Brown
was assigned
to take our course E 301
–
Basic Economics. He took the classes and delivered lectures
very
professionally
. I
also
attended all of his classes and
came
to know about
different
economics-related terms and their
use
in real-life.
So
, when we appeared on the semester final exam, we encountered with the math he had shown us
before
. I answered them
perfectly
. Unfortunately, he made a simple
mistake
while checking my
answer
script
.
But
when I was
given
the
script
to
check
after his evaluation, I discovered the
mistake
. And he
apologised
to me
very
sincerely
.
At the beginning of the 9th semester, all the exam
scripts
were
given
to us to inform our parents and
check
back if there was any discrepancy. I was in the
class
when I found the matter.
Instantly
, I informed the
fact
to Dr Brown that there was a
mistake
in counting the marks. Since he was busy with the exam
script
distribution, he assured me that he will look into the matter later. Once the exam
scripts
were distributed
, he asked me to
meet
him with the
answer
sheet, and he admitted his
mistake
when I
showed
him that he did not count the mark of an answer.
He
felt
sorry for his
mistake
and
apologised
to me. He
also
said that if I had not noticed the discrepancy, my grade could have gone lower than I deserve.
He
sincerely
regretted the
mistake
.
He
immediately corrected the score.
So
, my score bumped
up and
I was happy.
But
by the same time, I
felt
a bit confused that an individual like Dr Brown is seeking an
apology
from me for his error.
However
, it was a
different
experience
for me
indeed
.
More
Ideas
to
talk
about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card
topic
:
Topic
:
Describe
a
person
who
once
apologised
to you. 1. I could not
believe
that my supervisor will
come
with an
apology
and it was an unexpected
event
indeed
. He
apologised
to me
because
of his harsh
behaviour
with me that morning. I was at my desk when he
came
to
apologise
to me. I was not ready for such an
event
. In
fact
, I
felt
highly
embarrassed then and could not find any word to say. When he
came
to seek an
apology
, I was not
actually
ready to respond!
2. A few months ago, a waiter
who
behaved a bit
rudely
apologized
to me. I was at the restaurant here in Paris and went there to have my breakfast and morning coffee.
But
the waiter made a
mistake
and when I
told
him
politely
, his
behaviour
turned rude. Later, he
was forced
to
apologize
. Though I forgave him, I decided not to visit the restaurant again
but
later discarded the
idea
. It was not the restaurant's fault.
3. An
apology
from a bookseller a few weeks ago was
totally
unexpected to me. In
fact
, it was my
mistake
that I broke a nice-looking showpiece in his store.
But
he
apologized
because
he
thought
he did not place the showpiece at the
right
place. I was in his shop when he
was sought
for an
apology
.
Actually
, I could not
believe
that he was
apologising
when I was the one
who
should be
apologising
! And I
was assured
that I don't
have to
pay for the broken showpiece. He was
very
cordial and understanding.
4. A biker sought an
apology
to me a year ago for obstructing my way. In
fact
, it was not intentional at all. He was riding at his
own
pace and I wanted to overtake him.
Suddenly
he turned
right
without using his indicator light and I had to break
instantly
to avoid any potential accident. I fell off the ground from my bike. I did not feel
well
because
I
was injured
in my knees and wrist. The
other
biker
stopped
his bike and
came
to my
help
. He
also
expressed his sincere
apology
. I
accepted
his
apology
and
left
the place without any
hard
feelings.
5. My maternal uncle, Sam,
apologized
to me recently. He took my laptop to complete a
presentation and
he forgot to
tell
me about it. I
started
seeking the laptop here and there.
Finally
, I
thought
that it
was lost
and when my uncle returned home from his office in the evening, he understood everything and
apologized
to me. I
felt
glad that the laptop was not lost or stolen. I realized that he was in rush and
thus
forgot to take my approval while taking the laptop.
When you are ready to
talk
about this cue card
topic
, you should be able to
talk
about the following
topics
as
well
:
1.
Describe
an unexpected
event
when you
felt
confused.
2.
Describe
an
event
when you
apologised
to someone.
3.
Describe
a
bad
experience
you have had recently.
4.
Describe
a salesperson or a store owner
who
offered you a great service.
5.
Describe
an
event
when you
felt
ashamed.