Describe something you borrowed from your friend or family. v.1

Describe something you borrowed from your friend or family. You should say: what you borrowed when you borrowed it whom you borrowed it from and explain why you borrowed 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. ]   Model Answer 1: I have always remained a very vocal “opponent” of borrowing anything from anybody either because it would put a question mark on my “financial ability” or present me as a “miserly” person to others. But, necessity knows no bounds, and I also needed to borrow something, a scientific calculator that is, from one of my distant relatives. It was about 10 years ago, when I was still a high school student, and I was eagerly waiting to get over with my final term examination. Everything was going well as I was finishing taking one test after another until the day to appear for the “Trigonometry” test had arrived. As usual, I was ready to get out of my house and hit the road in order to take part in the “Trigonometry” test. But, unfortunately, just when I was checking my calculator for the last time to make sure if it was in good working condition, I found out to my extreme “horror” that it wasn’t working at all! I checked the battery (which I had put only the previous month) and everything else by pushing all the “buttons” one after another, but it just wouldn’t switch on. So, I immediately decided to run to a nearby local store in order to buy the same kind of calculator, but all I could expect there was some “huge disappointment” as it didn’t have any scientific calculator to sell. At this point, I felt very “helpless”. But, just when I was about to give up my hope to get a calculator, I thought of asking one distant math teacher relative of mine to rescue me. And, what a rescue it really was! Anyway, I needed to borrow the calculator because travelling to different stores one after another, without actually knowing which store was selling that type of calculator, would surely make me late for my test. I had to borrow the scientific tool also because, without it, I couldn’t really do much in my “Trigonometry” test as far as the issue of getting a good grade was concerned.   Model Answer 2: I would like to thank you for the opportunity you have given me to talk about something I once borrowed from a friend or a relative. To be honest, I can recall many such events when I had to turn to a friend or family member for something I required. However, for this cue card topic, I will talk about an event when I borrowed two thousand dollars from my father.   Just after finishing college, I, along with two of my friends, planned to start a small business. It was 2016 and I was convinced to be a partner of the proposed business and that's why borrowed the money from my father. Besides my university, I got serious about our new venture and I had been able to return the money within a year that I took from my father as a loan. When I returned the money to my father, he seemed surprised and I explained how our interior design venture is flourishing day by day. He told me that he was quite astonished that our little enterprise eventually saw the light of success.   I thanked him for the money and explained how we worked together to make it a success. I also showed my gratitude and mentioned that without his money, I could not have been a part of this business.   In numerous times, I borrowed books, laptops, music player, money, CDs and so on from my friends and relatives but the two thousand dollars that I took from my father was something quite different and I am lucky that I decided to borrow it from my father for a good reason which is eventually paying off.       Sample Answer 3:   Once I had to borrow a history textbook from one of my friends and I would like to talk about this event. I am an undergraduate student and I took the History of Ancient Civilizations course in my fourth semester. I needed the book as I lost mine and needed to get some information to complete an important assignment.   I borrowed the book “History and Our Footsteps” from Hien Long. He is a good friend of mine and lives near my residence. He is a helpful person and lent me the book though he needed it for the same purpose. I was happy to have the book and Long also was delighted that he could help me.   I needed the book urgently to get some information to prepare an assignment that I was due to submit in a week. Unfortunately, I lost my book and did not know how it was lost! If I failed to submit the assignment, it might have been difficult for me to pass the course. As I remember, it was a comparatively easier assignment and took only a few hours for me to complete but I could not have done it without having the textbook as a reference.   I knew that I would require the book to complete the assignment but I could not buy it right then. So, I sought help from Long as he lived nearby. I asked him to lend me the book and I promised to return it the next day. He was supportive enough and came to my home with the book and then I completed the assignment. I thanked him heartily for his genuine help.   Idea generating: Cue Card Topic: Describe something you borrowed from your friend or family. 1. Before going to the office last Monday, I needed to have some change to pay the bus fare. But I could not manage it and lent some coins from my mom. In fact, it is hard to get a change of a large banknote in New Delhi and my mother was happy to offer her help. 2. I was supposed to go to a birthday party in my town last November but I could not find my necktie. So borrowed that from my dad. It was not unusual for me to borrow something from my dad but when I borrowed the necktie from him, I realised how important it is for me to be more careful about my wardrobe. 3. Usually, I do not borrow things from others but I had to break the rule last month. During a tutorial exam at my university, I had to borrow a pen. Actually, my pen ran out of ink and I did not have a spare one to complete the exam. I was relieved when Martha lent me one of her pens. 4. Smokers have rules worldwide. They do not hesitate to exchange cigarettes. I borrowed a cigarette from a friend cum colleague several times. I am an IT professional in Cordova, Spain and actually forgot to buy my cigarette pack that day. 5. My phone drained all the charges a few days ago and only then I remembered about an important phone call that I was supposed to make! So, I borrowed my dad’s phone. Putting my phone in charge, I lent the phone and had met the emergency.     6.  I love to play badminton and this is a popular sport in Japan. I had to borrow a badminton bat from a friend of mine as I broke mine the day before. It was a sad event for me because that was my favourite sporting tool. But when my friends lent his bat, I was a bit relieved. 7. Nicholas lent me his paint sprayer because I needed that to paint my kitchen. I have recently rented a small apartment in Leeds and it is located on the 8th floor of a residential complex. So when I wanted to decorate the house, I needed the paint sprayer to renovate the kitchen. Nicholas saved me from buying an expensive sprayer on that day. 8. Last semester, I had to attend a formal presentation at my college and to do so, I borrowed a formal suit from Robin, my best friend. In fact, we all were told to wear formal attires on that day and mine was left at home in New York. So, I needed to borrow one for the presentation.   Your preparation for this cue card topic would help you talk about the following topics as well: 1. Describe something you borrowed that was useful to you. 2. Describe an item you borrowed from one of your neighbours. 3. Describe a gift that one of your family members gave you. 4. Describe a situation when someone you know helped you. 5. Describe an item you do not have but you would like to have. 6. Describe a time when you rented or hired an item. 7. Describe something you own but do not use much.