Global Academia Connects IELTS-style Practice
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Part 2 cue card · Media & technology

Describe a day you spent without your phone

Describe a time you went a whole day without using your mobile phone.

Describe a day you spent without your phone

You should say:

  • when this happened
  • why you didn't use your phone
  • what you did instead

and explain how you felt about the experience.

You have one minute to prepare. Then speak for one to two minutes.

Record yourself on this cardFree account needed for speaking practice.

Tips for this card

  • Explain whether it was a choice or an accident.
  • Contrast your feelings at the start and end of the day.
  • Mention anything you noticed that you usually miss.
Show a sample answer (try your own first)

A day I spent completely without my phone was about four months ago, and it wasn't really my choice. I dropped my phone in a bucket of water on a Thursday evening, and the repair shop near us was closed on Friday, so I had to manage without it for the whole day. The first few hours were strange. I kept reaching for my pocket out of habit, and I felt anxious that I might be missing important messages about my university application. I even borrowed my mother's phone once just to check my email. But as the day went on, I started to relax. I read a novel I'd abandoned months earlier and finished almost half of it. In the afternoon, I walked to a friend's house instead of messaging him, and we ended up playing carrom with his brothers for two hours. I also noticed things I usually ignore, like the birds on our neighbour's mango tree. By the evening, I felt surprisingly calm and rested. When I got my phone back, I had over two hundred notifications, but almost none of them were important. Since then, I've tried to have one phone-free morning every week, and it's really helped my concentration.

Part 3 — discussion questions

  1. Are people addicted to their smartphones?
  2. Should phones be banned in schools?
  3. How have smartphones changed the way families communicate?
  4. Will people use phones more or less in the future?