How long should my answer to this Part 2 cue card be?

Speak for 1 to 2 minutes. The examiner will stop you at 2 minutes, so aim for roughly 220-300 words that cover every bullet on the card and end with how you feel about it.

What Part 3 questions follow this cue card?

After "A Song You Think Is Interesting", examiners have asked 9 follow-up discussion questions, listed above. They move from your personal story to general opinions on the same theme.

Is this cue card still being used?

It was most recently reported by test-takers in May–Aug 2026. Cue cards rotate every four months, and many topics return in later seasons with slightly different wording.

IELTS Speaking Part 2

A Song You Think Is Interesting

Most recently asked in May–Aug 2026

The cue card

Describe a song that you think is interesting

You should say:

what country the song is from
how you know about the song
what the song is about
and explain why you think this song is interesting

Sample answers: Band 6.5, 7.0 & 7.5

Three versions of the same answer, each written to sit genuinely at that band — compare them to see exactly what separates the scores.

Band 6.5

The answer closes with a plain admission ('I still don't know why... stayed in my head') and describes the song with simple vocabulary ('The words aren't complicated'), which is clear but linguistically modest.

The song I find interesting is a Vietnamese song called 'Nơi Này Có Anh'. It's a pop song, quite popular a few years ago.

I first heard it in a Grab car. The driver, a man called Nam, had it playing on the radio, and I liked the melody so much that I asked him what it was called. After that I looked it up on my phone and listened to it again at home.

The song is about missing someone you love, someone who isn't there anymore. The singer talks about a place that used to be full of memories, and now feels empty without that person. The music video shows a lot of nice scenery too, which I remember made me want to travel.

I find this song interesting mainly because of how simple it is, but it still makes people feel something. The words aren't complicated, and the melody is easy to sing, which is probably why it became so popular in Vietnam. Whenever I hear it now, in a coffee shop or on TikTok, it reminds me of that ride home in the rain, and I still don't know why one song from a taxi radio stayed in my head for so long.

207 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

FC“I still don't know why one song from a taxi radio stayed in my head for so long” — The closing line names the puzzle — why a random taxi-radio song stuck — and then just leaves it there, without offering even a tentative explanation such as nostalgia, simplicity, or the rain. That plain, unresolved admission is typical Band 6.5 coherence: the point is made clearly, but the answer doesn't push on to explore it. A 7.0 or 7.5 closing would more likely hazard a guess at the "why", even a modest one, rather than end on pure uncertainty.
LR“The words aren't complicated” — "The words aren't complicated" uses the single, generic adjective "complicated" to describe the lyrics, when a wider vocabulary might reach for something more specific like "unpretentious" or "plain-spoken". That reliance on one broad, high-frequency word to cover the idea is characteristic Band 6.5 Lexical Resource — clear and accurate, but not reaching for precision. It fits the answer's own argument too: the song is being praised for its simplicity, and the language describing it stays simple to match.
GRA“I liked the melody so much that I asked him what it was called” — "I liked the melody so much that I asked him what it was called" uses exactly one grammatical device — a so...that result clause — and doesn't combine it with anything else, no relative clause or additional coordination layered on top. That single, correctly-formed complex pattern is the Band 6.5 grammar ceiling: enough to move past bare simple sentences, but only one layer deep. A 7.0 answer would be more likely to fold in a second clause, for instance a relative clause about the driver or the song itself within the same sentence.

Band 7.0

The second, distinct reason introduced by 'It's also interesting because...' and the past-perfect-plus-result sentence about the instrument give this answer natural, accurate development without unusual vocabulary.

The song I find interesting is called 'Tình Ca Tây Bắc', an older Vietnamese folk-style song, though the version that really caught my attention was one I heard performed by a street musician in Hoi An.

I actually knew the song vaguely before that, since my grandmother used to hum bits of it around the house, but I never paid it much attention until I heard a busker playing it on a đàn bầu near the old bridge one evening. The instrument gave it a completely different feeling from the recordings I'd half-remembered as a child, so I stopped and listened to the whole thing, then asked him the name afterwards.

The song is essentially about the mountains and rivers of the northwest region of Vietnam, describing the scenery and, underneath that, a kind of quiet pride in the land. It's not really about one specific story or person — more a description of a place that, from the lyrics, the singer clearly loves deeply, even though they may never say that directly.

What makes it interesting to me is partly the instrument itself, the đàn bầu, which only has one string but somehow produces this bending, almost human-sounding tone that a normal guitar just can't replicate. It's also interesting because it connects two very different memories for me — my grandmother's kitchen and a random evening in Hoi An years later — which I never expected a single song to do.

Whenever I hear any version of it now, even a bad cover on someone's phone speaker, I think of both of those moments at once, and I still don't fully understand why one folk song from a region I've never even visited feels so personally meaningful to me.

290 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

LR“this bending, almost human-sounding tone” — The compound modifier "almost human-sounding" is built from ordinary words but combined in a way that captures something quite specific about the đàn bầu's sound, going beyond a generic description like "a nice sound." A Band 6.5 answer would likely stop at that generic version, while a Band 7.5 answer might reach for a genuinely idiomatic musical expression; this phrase sits between the two, using flexible, self-made description rather than either plain vocabulary or borrowed idiom, which is the Band 7.0 lexical resource target.
FC“It's also interesting because it connects two very different memories for me” — The word "also" signals that this is a second, separate reason stacked onto the first (the instrument's sound), rather than a restatement of the same point in different words. Building an answer out of two genuinely distinct reasons, each given its own short justification, is what turns a single-idea response into a developed one, which is the fuller Band 7.0 coherence pattern — a Band 6.5 answer would more likely offer only the first reason and stop there.
GRA“The instrument gave it a completely different feeling from the recordings I'd half-remembered as a child, so I stopped and listened to the whole thing” — A past perfect ("I'd half-remembered") combined with a result clause shows the comfortable, generally accurate mix of structures expected at Band 7.0.

Band 7.5

The paradox 'doesn't quite make sense and makes complete sense' and the compressed metaphor 'crossed the sea' show the idiomatic lexis and grammatical control that mark genuine Band 7.5.

The song I find most interesting is 'Diễm xưa', which is Vietnamese — written in the 1960s by Trịnh Công Sơn, who is probably our most loved songwriter, and set in Hue, which is my hometown.

I know it from my grandmother, though I didn't know I knew it for years. She hummed it while shelling beans in the yard when I was small, without words, and I assumed it was just a sound she made, like the kettle. Then, when I was about fifteen, I heard the real recording in a café and had the strangest feeling of recognising something I'd never heard. I asked her that evening, and she sang the whole thing, sitting on the step, and then told me she'd first heard it on the radio as a young woman in the same house.

What it's about, on the surface, is rain — the long, grey Hue rain that goes on for weeks — and a man watching for a woman who walks past under the trees and no longer comes. Underneath it's about waiting, and about how a city's weather can become the shape of a person's sadness. The words are simple and strange at once; there's a line about rain falling on a life, which doesn't quite make sense and makes complete sense.

Why I find it interesting is partly that it has travelled so far. A Japanese singer recorded it in the 1970s and it became a hit there in Japanese; it's been played in a Japanese university's music course as an example of Asian song. A quiet song about rain in my small city crossed the sea. But mostly it's interesting because of what it did to me: it turned the rain I'd grown up complaining about into something I could miss. I live in a sunnier city now, and when the rainy season comes I put it on, and I'm nine years old, and my grandmother is shelling beans.

328 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

LR“it turned the rain I'd grown up complaining about into something I could miss” — The paradox at the heart of this phrase -- turning a lifelong complaint (rain) into something longed for (missed) -- is genuinely idiomatic, emotionally precise language rather than a literal statement like "the song made me like rain more," which a Band 6.5 or 7.0 answer would likely produce instead. The structure "turned X into Y" is also doing compact argumentative work, summarising an emotional transformation the whole final paragraph has been building toward. It closes the answer on exactly the kind of personal, reflective note the 7.5 fluency descriptor asks for, tying an abstract idea to a very concrete, remembered irritation.
FC“there's a line about rain falling on a life, which doesn't quite make sense and makes complete sense” — Embracing the lyric's contradiction rather than explaining it away is a sophisticated, reflective evaluative point, characteristic of Band 7.5 coherence.
GRA“A quiet song about rain in my small city crossed the sea.” — The verb "crossed" is used with the song itself as the grammatical subject, personifying it as something that travels -- a compressed, agentive metaphor rather than the more literal, explicit phrasing a Band 6.5 or 7.0 speaker would use ("the song became popular in Japan too"). This economy of structure, packing subject, description, and outcome into a single short sentence with no subordinate clause at all, still counts as sophisticated because of how much work the verb choice is doing, matching the flexible, mostly error-free control the 7.5 descriptor names. It also sets up a satisfying scale contrast -- a "small city" versus "the sea" -- that mirrors the song's own theme.

How this card was asked, by exam period

Describe a song that you think is interestingMay–Aug 2026

Part 3 follow-up questions

These are the discussion questions examiners asked after this cue card. Sample answers are shown where available.

1. What types of music are popular with young people in your country?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States the main claim plainly ('a fair example') and lists the genres with dashes and commas in one long sentence.
Our studio's shared playlist is a fair example. It is mostly V-pop — Vietnamese pop with big production and big ballads — plus Korean pop, which has been popular for ten years, and a growing amount of Vietnamese rap, which became big after a televised rap competition a few years ago. There is also a lo-fi channel that plays all afternoon while people work. Indie bands from Hanoi and Saigon have loyal fans too, and Western pop is always in the background. Compared with my parents' generation, young people now mostly listen to music in their own language, which was not true when I was a teenager.
Why this band
FC“Our studio's shared playlist is a fair example.” — This opening states the source of evidence plainly. The higher bands upgrade 'example' to 'survey', a more precise and slightly formal word suggesting a systematic sample rather than a single instance.
LR“a growing amount of Vietnamese rap” — This is plain, functional phrasing. The higher bands keep the same idea but add 'exploded since', a more vivid verb for the rap genre's sudden rise in popularity.
GRA“Compared with my parents' generation, young people now mostly listen to music in their own language, which was not true when I was a teenager.” — This closing sentence joins two ideas with 'which', accurate but fairly plain. The 7.5 version restructures this with 'What's striking' as a fronted evaluative phrase, giving the same observation a more analytical framing.
Band 7.0
Upgrades 'example' to 'survey' and fronts the closing observation with 'What's striking...'.
Our studio's shared playlist is honestly a fair survey. It's mostly V-pop — Vietnamese pop with big production and big ballads — alongside Korean pop, which has been dominant for a decade, and a growing amount of Vietnamese rap, which has exploded since a televised rap competition a few years back. Then there's a lo-fi channel that runs all afternoon while people work. Indie bands from Hanoi and Saigon have a loyal following among the more artistic crowd, and Western pop is always there in the background. What's striking compared with my parents' generation is that young people now mostly listen to music in their own language, which wasn't true when I was a teenager.
Why this band
FC“honestly a fair survey” — 'Survey' is a more precise, slightly formal word than the plainer 'example' used at 6.5, suggesting the playlist represents a genuine sample rather than one case. It is shared exactly with the 7.5 version.
LR“which has exploded since a televised rap competition a few years back” — 'Exploded' is a more vivid, dynamic verb than the plainer 'became big' used at 6.5. It captures the sudden, dramatic nature of the genre's rise more precisely.
GRA“What's striking compared with my parents' generation is that young people now mostly listen to music in their own language, which wasn't true when I was a teenager.” — This sentence fronts 'What's striking...' as the subject, a more sophisticated cleft structure than the plainer 'Compared with...' opener at 6.5. It's identical to the 7.5 closing sentence, showing this particular construction is shared across the top two bands.
Band 7.5
Moves 'honestly' to the end of the opening sentence for a more natural rhythm and upgrades 'there' to the vivid verb 'lurking'.
Our studio's shared playlist is a fair survey, honestly. It's mostly V-pop — Vietnamese pop with big production and big ballads — alongside Korean pop, which has been dominant for a decade, and a growing amount of Vietnamese rap, which has exploded since a televised rap competition a few years back. Then there's a lo-fi channel that runs all afternoon while people work. Indie bands from Hanoi and Saigon have a loyal following among the more artistic crowd, and Western pop is always lurking somewhere in the background. What's striking compared with my parents' generation is that young people now mostly listen to music in their own language, which wasn't true when I was a teenager.
Why this band
FC“Our studio's shared playlist is a fair survey, honestly.” — Placing 'honestly' at the very end, set off by a comma, rather than as a leading adverb as at 7.0, creates a more natural, spoken afterthought rhythm. This kind of flexible adverb placement is typical of confident fluency.
LR“Western pop is always lurking somewhere in the background” — 'Lurking' is a more vivid, almost playful verb than the plain 'is always there' used at 6.5 and 7.0, personifying Western pop as a constant, slightly sneaky presence. This kind of figurative upgrade adds character to an otherwise factual list.
GRA“Indie bands from Hanoi and Saigon have a loyal following among the more artistic crowd, and Western pop is always lurking somewhere in the background.” — This sentence keeps the same coordinated structure as the 7.0 version but swaps in the more vivid verb 'lurking', showing that at the top band, small lexical substitutions within an already complex sentence are often what separates 7.5 from 7.0, more than the grammar itself.
2. Why are singing competitions on TV popular in some countries?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States the main reason plainly and reports the aunt's story in separate, short sentences.
Because they turn music into a story with a result. My aunt spent a whole season voting by text for a contestant from her province, and dinner became a weekly argument about who deserved to stay. The show gave the family a shared drama with heroes, villains and a vote. In countries where music is a big part of social life, like ours with karaoke everywhere, ordinary people singing well is deeply appealing, because the contestants feel like someone from your street. The format is cheap, the emotions are real, and viewers get to feel they influenced the outcome. Judges' cruelty and kindness add another layer.
Why this band
FC“Because they turn music into a story with a result.” — This opening states the reason plainly and directly. The higher bands keep almost identical wording, showing this particular compact opening was already close to optimal at 6.5.
LR“the contestants feel like someone from your street” — This is a fairly vivid phrase already. The higher bands keep the same idea but tighten the surrounding sentence with a dash instead of 'because', a small structural upgrade rather than a lexical one.
GRA“The format is cheap, the emotions are real, and viewers get to feel they influenced the outcome.” — This sentence lists three short, parallel clauses joined by commas, already reasonably balanced. The 7.5 version closes with a further witty one-line comparison this band doesn't attempt, extending the answer's final effect.
Band 7.0
Uses a dash and a semicolon to join sentences that were separate at 6.5, creating more continuous, flowing structures.
Because they turn music into a story with a result. My aunt spent a whole season voting by text for a contestant from her province, and dinner became a weekly argument about who deserved to stay — the show gave the family a shared drama with heroes, villains and a vote. In countries where music is a big part of social life, like ours with karaoke everywhere, ordinary people singing well is deeply appealing; the contestants feel like someone from your street. The format is cheap, the emotions are real, and viewers get to feel they influenced the outcome. Judges' cruelty and kindness add another layer to it all.
Why this band
FC“the show gave the family a shared drama with heroes, villains and a vote” — Attaching this clause with a dash directly onto the sentence about the weekly argument, rather than as a separate sentence as at 6.5, creates a smoother, more integrated narrative flow. It's identical to the 7.5 structure at this point.
LR“ordinary people singing well is deeply appealing; the contestants feel like someone from your street” — The semicolon here links the general claim to its specific justification within one sentence, more compact than the 'because' clause used at 6.5. It matches the 7.5 version, showing this particular upgrade is shared across the top two bands.
GRA“Judges' cruelty and kindness add another layer to it all.” — Adding 'to it all' gives this closing sentence a slightly fuller, more rounded finish than the terser version at 6.5. It's a smaller move than the 7.5 ending, which adds an entirely new final sentence as a witty comparison.
Band 7.5
Closes with the witty aphorism, 'It's sport for people who don't like sport.'
Because they turn music into a story with a result. My aunt spent a whole season voting by text for a contestant from her province, and dinner became a weekly argument about who deserved to stay — the show gave the family a shared drama with heroes, villains and a vote. In countries where music is a big part of social life, like ours with karaoke everywhere, ordinary people singing well is deeply appealing; the contestants feel like someone from your street. The format is cheap, the emotions are real, and viewers get to feel they influenced the outcome. Judges' cruelty and kindness add another layer. It's sport for people who don't like sport.
Why this band
FC“It's sport for people who don't like sport.” — This final one-line aphorism gives the whole answer a memorable, witty closing image that neither lower band attempts; both end after the point about judges. Comparing the show to sport for non-sports-fans is a genuinely original final flourish.
LR“another layer” — This compact noun phrase, left unexplained, trusts the listener to follow the metaphor of the show having accumulated 'layers' of appeal. Leaving it this brief, without the extra 'to it all' used at 7.0, is a small but genuine economy typical of the top band.
GRA“Judges' cruelty and kindness add another layer. It's sport for people who don't like sport.” — Splitting this into two short, separate sentences, rather than joining them, gives the final aphorism its own emphatic beat after the longer sentences that precede it. This kind of deliberate short sentence for a punchline is a mark of confident pacing.
3. Do you agree or disagree that the lyrics of a song are more important than the music itself?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States disagreement plainly with a short qualifier ('though it depends on the song') and gives two brief personal examples.
I disagree, though it depends on the song. My grandmother hummed one song for years without a single word, and it carried everything; a colleague of mine cries at a Korean ballad she cannot even translate. Music reaches people before language, and across it. That said, great lyrics do something melody cannot — they give the feeling a name and a place, which is why I remember lines from songs and not chords. In Vietnamese music the words matter enormously, because our language is tonal and the melody has to follow the words. So I would say music is the body and lyrics are the face.
Why this band
FC“I disagree, though it depends on the song.” — This opening states the position with a short, direct qualifier. The higher bands soften this to 'I'd disagree', a small but genuine hedge that makes the disagreement feel more considered than flatly stated.
LR“Music reaches people before language, and across it.” — This is a fairly compact, already vivid claim. The higher bands keep this exact phrasing, showing that this particular sentence was already close to the ceiling at 6.5.
GRA“So I would say music is the body and lyrics are the face.” — This closing metaphor is stated as a single, fairly plain sentence. The 7.5 version extends the same metaphor with a further clause — 'you can love someone without seeing their face, but it's harder' — building a more layered, complete final image.
Band 7.0
Softens the opening to 'I'd disagree' and extends the closing metaphor with a semicolon-linked clause about loving someone without seeing their face.
I'd disagree, though it depends on the song. My grandmother hummed that song for years without a single word and it carried everything; a colleague of mine cries at a Korean ballad she can't translate. Music reaches people before language, and across it. That said, great lyrics do something melody can't — they give the feeling a name and a place, which is why I remember lines from songs and not chords. In Vietnamese music the words matter enormously, because our language is tonal and the melody has to follow the words. So I'd say music is the body and lyrics are the face; you can love someone without seeing their face.
Why this band
FC“I'd disagree, though it depends on the song.” — The hedge 'I'd' softens the flat 'I disagree' used at 6.5 into a more considered, less absolute opening. It matches the 7.5 phrasing exactly, showing the two higher bands converge on this small but genuine hedge.
LR“they give the feeling a name and a place” — This is a precise, slightly poetic phrase for what lyrics uniquely do. It is shared exactly with the 6.5 and 7.5 versions, showing this particular phrase was already strong and simply carried through across all three bands unchanged.
GRA“So I'd say music is the body and lyrics are the face; you can love someone without seeing their face.” — This sentence extends the closing metaphor with a semicolon-linked clause, more ambitious than the single flat sentence at 6.5. It's close to the 7.5 version, which adds one further clause — 'but it's harder' — completing the comparison even further.
Band 7.5
Completes the closing metaphor with the final clause 'but it's harder', giving the comparison its full, balanced shape.
I'd disagree, though it depends on the song. My grandmother hummed that song for years without a single word and it carried everything; a colleague of mine cries at a Korean ballad she can't translate. Music reaches people before language, and across it. That said, great lyrics do something melody can't — they give the feeling a name and a place, which is why I remember lines from songs and not chords. In Vietnamese music the words matter enormously, because our language is tonal and the melody has to follow the words. So I'd say music is the body and lyrics are the face; you can love someone without seeing their face, but it's harder.
Why this band
FC“but it's harder” — This short final clause completes the metaphor left unfinished at 7.0, adding the honest qualification that loving without seeing a face is still possible but difficult. It shows the top band's tendency to push a figure of speech to its natural, fully worked-out conclusion.
LR“great lyrics do something melody can't” — This compact contrastive clause, using the contraction 'can't', is shared closely with 7.0, showing that at the top of the band range, the same efficient phrasing often persists — the difference lies in what follows it, not in replacing it.
GRA“music is the body and lyrics are the face; you can love someone without seeing their face, but it's harder” — This closing sentence extends the semicolon-linked structure already used at 7.0 with one further clause, creating the most layered version of the metaphor across all three bands. The final concessive clause gives the whole comparison a genuinely complete, balanced shape.
4. How is going to a live concert different from watching one on TV?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States the comparison directly with a personal story and lists the concert details in one sentence joined by commas.
I went to a Trịnh Công Sơn tribute concert in Hue a few years ago, after watching the broadcast the year before, and they were barely the same thing. Live, the audience sang louder than the performers, an old man beside me wept, and the rain started halfway through and nobody left. On television it had been a well-lit, well-mixed, slightly dull programme. The difference is that at a concert you are part of the event, sharing air and sound with thousands of people, and the imperfections are the point. Television gives you the best seat but the worst experience.
Why this band
FC“they were barely the same thing” — This is plain, direct phrasing for the contrast between the two experiences. The higher bands keep this exact phrase, showing this particular claim was already vivid enough at 6.5 to remain unchanged.
LR“the imperfections are the point” — This is already a fairly compact, precise phrase. The higher bands keep it unchanged, showing this specific formulation was near the ceiling at 6.5 and simply carried through.
GRA“Television gives you the best seat but the worst experience.” — This closing sentence uses a simple 'but' contrast. The 7.5 version restructures this into two short, separate sentences — 'It's for the music; the concert is for the memory' — creating a more deliberate, punchier final rhythm.
Band 7.0
Adds 'honestly' before the central claim and closes with a semicolon-linked distinction between music and memory.
I went to a Trịnh Công Sơn tribute concert in Hue a few years ago after watching the broadcast of the same event the year before, and honestly, they were barely the same thing. Live, the audience sang louder than the performers on the famous songs, an old man beside me wept, and the rain started halfway through and nobody left. On television it had been a well-lit, well-mixed, slightly dull programme. The difference is that at a concert you're part of the event, sharing air and sound with thousands of people, and the imperfections are the point. Television gives you the best seat and the worst experience; it's for the music, not the memory.
Why this band
FC“and honestly, they were barely the same thing” — Adding 'honestly' gives this claim a more natural, spoken rhythm than the flatter version at 6.5. It's a smaller move than the 7.5 version, which restructures the ending entirely into two short sentences for greater emphasis.
LR“it's for the music, not the memory” — This closing distinction between music and memory is more precise and analytical than the plainer 'best seat but the worst experience' comparison alone at 6.5. It adds a genuinely new closing thought rather than just restating the contrast.
GRA“Television gives you the best seat and the worst experience; it's for the music, not the memory.” — This sentence uses a semicolon to attach a further distinction onto the main contrast, more layered than the single 'but' sentence at 6.5. It's close to the 7.5 version, which splits the same content into two separate sentences instead of joining them with a semicolon.
Band 7.5
Closes with two short, punchy sentences — 'It's for the music; the concert is for the memory' — rather than a single joined sentence.
I went to a Trịnh Công Sơn tribute concert in Hue a few years ago after watching the broadcast of the same event the year before, and they were barely the same thing. Live, the audience sang louder than the performers on the famous songs, an old man beside me wept, and the rain started halfway through and nobody left. On television it had been a well-lit, well-mixed, slightly dull programme. The difference is that at a concert you're part of the event, sharing air and sound with thousands of people, and the imperfections are the point. Television gives you the best seat and the worst experience. It's for the music; the concert is for the memory.
Why this band
FC“Television gives you the best seat and the worst experience.” — Ending this as its own short sentence, rather than continuing with a semicolon as at 7.0, gives the contrast its own deliberate pause before the final aphorism follows. This kind of controlled short sentence for effect is a mark of confident pacing.
LR“It's for the music; the concert is for the memory.” — 'For the memory' is a more precise, evocative closing noun phrase than the plainer 'not the memory' negative construction used at 7.0. It states positively what the concert offers rather than simply what it isn't.
GRA“It's for the music; the concert is for the memory.” — This final sentence uses a semicolon to balance two short, parallel clauses against each other, a more compact and rhythmic device than the longer semicolon-joined sentence used for similar content at 7.0. The parallelism itself gives the ending its polish.
5. Do you agree with the idea that everyone needs music in their lives?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States agreement with a short qualifier ('with a broad idea of what music means') and gives the father story in one long sentence with a dash.
I agree, with a broad idea of what music means. My father says he has no interest in music, owns no recordings, and sings on his motorbike every single morning on the way to work — his need is real, he just does not call it that. Music seems to be something all humans share; every culture has it, babies respond to it, and people in grief reach for it without being told to. Some people genuinely feel little from it, and they live perfectly good lives, so 'need' is a strong word. But a world without music would be a poorer, quieter place.
Why this band
FC“I agree, with a broad idea of what music means.” — This opening states agreement with a short qualifying phrase. The higher bands upgrade 'idea' to 'definition', a more precise, formal noun for the same qualification.
LR“his need is real, he just does not call it that” — This is plain, direct phrasing already close to the ceiling. The higher bands keep this exact phrase, showing this particular formulation was already strong at 6.5.
GRA“But a world without music would be a poorer, quieter place.” — This is a short, simple closing sentence with two adjectives. The 7.5 version extends this to three adjectives and adds a further clause about people who say they don't need it still humming, building a longer, more complete final sentence.
Band 7.0
Upgrades 'idea' to 'definition' and 'something all humans share' to the more precise 'a human universal'.
I agree, with a broad definition of music. My father claims he has no interest in music, owns no recordings, and sings on his motorbike every single morning on the way to work — his need is real, he just doesn't call it that. Music seems to be a human universal; every culture has it, babies respond to it, and people in grief reach for it without being told to. Some individuals genuinely feel little from it, and they live perfectly good lives, so 'need' is a strong word. But a world without music would be a poorer, quieter, more anxious one.
Why this band
FC“with a broad definition of music” — 'Definition' is a more precise, formal noun than the plainer 'idea' used at 6.5. It is shared exactly with the 7.5 version, showing the two higher bands converge on this specific vocabulary.
LR“Music seems to be a human universal” — 'A human universal' is a more precise, almost technical term than the plainer 'something all humans share' used at 6.5. It names the concept directly rather than describing it.
GRA“But a world without music would be a poorer, quieter, more anxious one.” — This sentence adds a third adjective, 'more anxious', to the pair used at 6.5, building a longer parallel list within the same sentence structure. It's close to the 7.5 version, which extends the sentence even further with a final clause about people who claim not to need music.
Band 7.5
Extends the closing sentence with a further clause noting that even people who deny needing music tend to hum.
I agree, with a broad definition of music. My father claims he has no interest in music, owns no recordings, and sings on his motorbike every single morning on the way to work — his need is real, he just doesn't call it that. Music seems to be a human universal; every culture has it, babies respond to it, and people in grief reach for it without being told to. Some individuals genuinely feel little from it, and they live perfectly good lives, so 'need' is a strong word. But a world without music would be a poorer, quieter, more anxious one, and even the people who say they don't need it tend to hum.
Why this band
FC“even the people who say they don't need it tend to hum” — This final clause adds a wry, observational twist that neither lower band attempts; both end after the three-adjective description of a musicless world. It quietly undercuts the very people the answer earlier cited as evidence against 'need', a subtle rhetorical move.
LR“tend to hum” — 'Hum' is a small, precise, everyday verb that closes the answer on a concrete, physical image rather than an abstract claim. It echoes the father's habit of singing on his motorbike, tying the ending back to the opening example.
GRA“But a world without music would be a poorer, quieter, more anxious one, and even the people who say they don't need it tend to hum.” — This closing sentence adds a further coordinated clause onto the three-adjective structure already used at 7.0, extending it with 'and'. The added clause gives the whole answer a wry, rounded final observation rather than simply stopping after the description.
6. Why do we consider some sounds to be music while others are seen as noise?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States the main idea plainly ('intention and pattern') and gives the definitions of music and noise in two separate, parallel sentences.
Mostly it is about intention and pattern. A visiting musician once recorded the motorbike horns outside my window — pure noise to me after ten years — and arranged them into a piece that was genuinely beautiful; the sounds had not changed, only the frame around them. We hear music when there is structure we can follow, like rhythm and repetition, a shape that builds expectation and then meets or breaks it. We hear noise when sound feels random, unwanted or out of our control. Culture trains the ear too; sounds that were noise to one generation become music to the next.
Why this band
FC“Mostly it is about intention and pattern.” — This short opening states the two key ideas plainly. The higher bands keep this exact phrasing, showing this compact opening was already close to optimal at 6.5.
LR“the sounds had not changed, only the frame around them” — This is already a fairly precise, image-based phrase. The higher bands keep it essentially unchanged, showing this particular formulation was already strong at 6.5.
GRA“We hear music when there is structure we can follow, like rhythm and repetition, a shape that builds expectation and then meets or breaks it.” — This sentence lists examples with 'like', a fairly plain way of introducing them. The 7.5 version restructures this list with a colon instead of 'like', a more formal and compact way of introducing the same examples.
Band 7.0
Adds 'I'd say' to the opening and replaces 'like' with a colon before the list of musical qualities.
Mostly it's about intention and pattern, I'd say. A visiting musician once recorded the motorbike horns outside my window — pure noise to me after ten years — and arranged them into a piece that was genuinely beautiful; the sounds hadn't changed, only the frame around them. We hear music when there's structure we can follow: rhythm, repetition, a shape that builds expectation and then meets or breaks it. We hear noise when sound is random, unwanted or out of our control, which is why a neighbour's karaoke is noise and our own is music. Culture trains the ear too; sounds that were noise to one generation become music to the next.
Why this band
FC“Mostly it's about intention and pattern, I'd say.” — Adding 'I'd say' softens the flat claim at 6.5 into a more considered personal judgement. It's a smaller move than the 7.5 opening, which drops this hedge but restructures the sentence to open with 'Culture', giving the whole answer a different emphasis.
LR“We hear music when there's structure we can follow: rhythm, repetition, a shape that builds expectation and then meets or breaks it.” — The colon here introduces the list of qualities directly, more formal and compact than the 'like' construction used at 6.5. It's shared exactly with the 7.5 version, showing this upgrade is common to both higher bands.
GRA“the sounds hadn't changed, only the frame around them” — This clause uses a contraction, 'hadn't', for a slightly more natural spoken rhythm than the fuller 'had not' used at 6.5. It's a small but genuine register choice typical of the step from 6.5 to 7.0.
Band 7.5
Drops the hedge for a flatter, more confident opening and closes with the reflective final clause, 'the line, in the end, is in the listener, not the sound.'
Mostly it's about intention and pattern. A visiting musician once recorded the motorbike horns outside my window — pure noise to me after ten years — and arranged them into a piece that was genuinely beautiful; the sounds hadn't changed, only the frame around them. We hear music when there's structure we can follow: rhythm, repetition, a shape that builds expectation and then meets or breaks it. We hear noise when sound is random, unwanted or out of our control, which is why a neighbour's karaoke is noise and our own is music. Culture trains the ear too, and sounds that were noise to one generation quietly become music to the next; the line, in the end, is in the listener, not the sound.
Why this band
FC“the line, in the end, is in the listener, not the sound” — This closing clause adds a further, more philosophical generalisation that neither lower band reaches; both end after the point about culture training the ear. It reframes the whole answer's argument into a single compact, quotable principle.
LR“quietly become music to the next” — Adding 'quietly' gives this verb phrase a more precise, understated quality than the plainer 'become music to the next' used at 6.5 and 7.0. It suggests a gradual, unnoticed shift rather than a sudden change.
GRA“Culture trains the ear too, and sounds that were noise to one generation quietly become music to the next; the line, in the end, is in the listener, not the sound.” — This sentence adds a semicolon-linked final clause onto the structure already used at 7.0, extending it with a reflective aside and a compact final principle. The layered punctuation — comma, semicolon — within one sentence shows confident control of a long, multi-part structure.
7. Do older people enjoy the same kinds of music as young people?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
Opens with the claim plainly and lists each family member's taste as a simple comma-joined sentence.
Not usually, and family karaoke proves it every Tết. My grandmother chooses ballads from before 1975, my parents want the songs of their youth in the eighties, my sister takes V-pop, and there are exactly two songs that all four generations can sing together, including the one about rain. People form their taste in their teens and mostly keep it, so each generation carries its own decade. There is some crossing — older people rediscover new music through their children, and young people find old songs through films or a remix. But the overlap is thin.
Why this band
FC“Not usually, and family karaoke proves it every Tết.” — This opening states the claim plainly with a simple 'and'. The higher bands keep this exact phrasing, showing this particular opening was already close to optimal at 6.5.
LR“each generation carries its own decade” — This is already a fairly compact, precise phrase. The higher bands keep it essentially unchanged, showing this particular formulation was already strong at 6.5.
GRA“But the overlap is thin.” — This is a short, simple closing sentence. The 7.5 version adds a further sentence after it — 'The shared songs matter more for being rare' — extending the ending into a more developed, reflective final thought.
Band 7.0
Adds 'though' and a colon to the sentence about crossing between generations, giving it a slightly more formal structure than the plain dash at 6.5.
Not usually, and family karaoke proves it every Tết. My grandmother chooses ballads from before 1975, my parents want the songs of their youth in the eighties, my sister takes V-pop, and there are exactly two songs that all four generations can sing together, including the one about rain. People form their taste in their teens and mostly keep it, so each generation carries its own decade. There's some crossing, though: older people rediscover new music through their children, and young people find old songs through films or a remix. But honestly, the overlap is thin.
Why this band
FC“There's some crossing, though:” — Adding 'though' as a concessive tag, followed by a colon, gives this transition more nuance than the plain dash used at 6.5. It signals the coming exception more deliberately.
LR“But honestly, the overlap is thin.” — Adding 'honestly' gives this closing sentence a more natural, spoken rhythm than the flatter version at 6.5. It's a smaller move than the 7.5 ending, which adds an entirely new sentence after this one for a more developed conclusion.
GRA“older people rediscover new music through their children, and young people find old songs through films or a remix” — This sentence balances two parallel clauses joined by 'and', already a reasonably ambitious structure. The 7.5 version keeps the same pattern, showing this particular balance was already close to the ceiling at 7.0.
Band 7.5
Adds a final sentence extending the metaphor of music into 'the same key', tying the abstract point about rarity to a musical image.
Not usually, and family karaoke proves it every Tết. My grandmother chooses ballads from before 1975, my parents want the songs of their youth in the eighties, my sister takes V-pop, and there are exactly two songs that all four generations can sing together, including the one about rain. People form their taste in their teens and mostly keep it, so each generation carries its own decade. There's some crossing, though: older people rediscover new music through their children, and young people find old songs through films or a remix. But the overlap is thin. The shared songs matter more for being rare — they're the few places the family can meet in the same key.
Why this band
FC“The shared songs matter more for being rare” — This added sentence turns the plain observation about thin overlap into a positive, reframed point — the rarity itself is what gives the shared songs their value. Neither lower band develops the idea this far.
LR“meet in the same key” — 'The same key' is a precise musical metaphor extending the whole answer's subject matter into its own final image, more vivid than a plain closing statement would be. It ties the ending directly back to the topic of music itself.
GRA“The shared songs matter more for being rare — they're the few places the family can meet in the same key.” — This closing sentence uses a dash to attach an extended metaphor onto the main claim, more layered than the plain final sentence at 6.5 and 7.0. The musical pun in 'same key' rounds off the whole answer with genuine wit.
8. Do you agree or disagree that music makes films and TV programmes more enjoyable?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States agreement with a short personal anecdote and gives the main claim as a plain semicolon-joined sentence.
Agree, and I once tested it by accident. I watched a horror film with the sound off because my sister was asleep, and it was nearly funny — figures walking down corridors without the low note that tells you to be afraid. Music does an enormous amount of the emotional work in film. It can be overdone, and I dislike scores that shout at me, or television that adds a violin to every sad moment because it does not trust the acting. But as a rule, take the music away and most films lose half their power.
Why this band
FC“Agree, and I once tested it by accident.” — This opening states agreement and the source of evidence plainly. The higher bands keep this exact phrasing, showing this particular opening was already efficient at 6.5.
LR“it was nearly funny” — This is plain, direct phrasing for the effect of removing the sound. The higher bands upgrade this to 'nearly comic', a slightly more precise and formal word for the same idea.
GRA“It can be overdone, and I dislike scores that shout at me, or television that adds a violin to every sad moment because it does not trust the acting.” — This sentence lists two complaints joined with 'or', accurate but fairly loose. The higher bands keep a very similar structure, showing this particular sentence was already close to the ceiling at 6.5.
Band 7.0
Upgrades 'funny' to 'comic' and adds 'honestly' and 'actually' as small, natural intensifiers throughout.
Agree, and I once tested it by accident. I watched a horror film with the sound off because my sister was asleep, and it was nearly comic — figures walking down corridors without the low note that tells you to be afraid. Music does an enormous amount of the emotional work in film; it says how to feel a few seconds before the picture does. It can be overdone, and honestly I dislike scores that shout at me, or television that adds a violin to every sad moment because it doesn't trust the acting. Some of the best scenes are actually silent. But as a rule, take the music away and most films lose half their power.
Why this band
FC“it was nearly comic” — 'Comic' is a more precise, slightly formal word than the plainer 'funny' used at 6.5. It is shared exactly with the 7.5 version, showing the two higher bands converge on this specific vocabulary.
LR“honestly I dislike scores that shout at me” — Adding 'honestly' gives this complaint a more natural, spoken rhythm than the flatter version at 6.5. It's a smaller move than the 7.5 version, which restructures this sentence further with the dash-marked aside 'or dislike, rather'.
GRA“Some of the best scenes are actually silent.” — Adding 'actually' intensifies this claim slightly beyond the plain version at 6.5. It's a small but genuine upgrade, close to but not identical to the 7.5 phrasing, which restructures the sentence with 'the best scenes I can think of are often the silent ones'.
Band 7.5
Uses a dash and the inverted 'I dislike, rather' for a more natural spoken rhythm, and expands the closing claim about silent scenes.
Agree, and I once tested it by accident. I watched a horror film with the sound off because my sister was asleep, and it was nearly comic — figures walking down corridors without the low note that tells you to be afraid. Music does an enormous amount of the emotional work in film; it says how to feel a few seconds before the picture does. It can be overdone — I dislike, rather, scores that shout at me, or television that adds a violin to every sad moment because it doesn't trust the acting. Some of the best scenes I can think of are often the silent ones. But as a rule, take the music away and most films lose half their power.
Why this band
FC“I dislike, rather, scores that shout at me” — Inserting 'rather' as a mid-clause aside, set off by commas, creates a more natural, self-correcting spoken rhythm than the plainer 'honestly I dislike' used at 7.0. It reads as a genuine moment of the speaker refining their own claim.
LR“Some of the best scenes I can think of are often the silent ones.” — This is a fuller, more hedged and personal version of the claim than the plainer 'Some of the best scenes are actually silent' at 7.0. Adding 'I can think of' and 'often' makes the generalisation feel more genuinely considered rather than absolute.
GRA“It can be overdone — I dislike, rather, scores that shout at me, or television that adds a violin to every sad moment because it doesn't trust the acting.” — This sentence uses a dash followed by a mid-clause aside ('rather'), more flexible than the simple 'and' join used at 6.5 and 7.0. The self-correcting insertion shows confident control of natural spoken sentence structure.
9. Do you think non-human species, such as birds or whales, have their own form of music?
May–Aug 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
States the position plainly and lists two pieces of evidence — whale songs and bird regional accents — in one sentence joined by 'and'.
I think they do, though probably not for the reasons we make ours. There was a bird outside my window in Hue that sang the same four-note phrase every dawn, with small variations, for years, and it was hard to hear that as anything but a song. Whale songs have structure and change over time, almost like fashion, and some birds learn their songs from parents and develop regional accents. That is music in the sense of patterned sound made with apparent care. Whether they experience it as we do, as beauty or feeling, nobody knows. My guess is that music is older than humans.
Why this band
FC“I think they do, though probably not for the reasons we make ours.” — This opening states the position with a short qualifier. The higher bands replace 'I think' with 'My guess is', a slightly more tentative and natural spoken hedge for the same claim.
LR“patterned sound made with apparent care” — This is already a fairly precise, compact phrase. The higher bands keep it essentially unchanged, showing this particular formulation was already close to the ceiling at 6.5.
GRA“My guess is that music is older than humans.” — This is a short, simple closing sentence. The 7.5 version extends this with a further witty clause — 'and we're just the species that started writing it down' — building a longer, more complete and memorable final sentence.
Band 7.0
Uses a semicolon to join the whale-song and bird-accent examples and a dash-marked list for 'as beauty, as feeling'.
I think they do, though probably not for the reasons we make ours. There was a bird outside my window in Hue that sang the same four-note phrase every dawn, with small variations, for years, and it was hard to hear that as anything but a song. Whale songs have structure and change over time, almost like fashion; some birds learn their songs from parents and develop regional accents. That's music in the sense of patterned sound made with apparent care. Whether they experience it as we do — as beauty, as feeling — nobody knows. My honest guess is that music is older than humans.
Why this band
FC“Whale songs have structure and change over time, almost like fashion; some birds learn their songs from parents and develop regional accents.” — The semicolon here joins two related examples into one continuous sentence, more integrated than the 'and' join used at 6.5. It's identical to the 7.5 structure, showing this particular upgrade is shared across the top two bands.
LR“as beauty, as feeling — nobody knows” — This dash-marked parallel list is a more precise, rhetorically balanced way of naming the two possibilities than a plainer single phrase would be. It adds a small but genuine rhetorical flourish beyond the plainer version at 6.5.
GRA“My honest guess is that music is older than humans.” — Adding 'honest' gives this closing claim a more personal, considered quality than the plainer '6.5' version. It's a smaller move than the 7.5 ending, which extends the same sentence with a further witty clause about writing music down.
Band 7.5
Closes with the witty final clause, 'we're just the species that started writing it down.'
I think they do, though probably not for the reasons we make ours. There was a bird outside my window in Hue that sang the same four-note phrase every dawn, with small variations, for years, and it was hard to hear that as anything but a song. Whale songs have structure and change over time, almost like fashion; some birds learn their songs from parents and develop regional accents. That's music in the sense of patterned sound made with apparent care. Whether they experience it as we do — as beauty, as feeling — nobody knows. My guess is that music is older than humans and we're just the species that started writing it down.
Why this band
FC“we're just the species that started writing it down” — This final clause adds a genuinely witty, self-deprecating twist about humans' role in music that neither lower band reaches; both end after the plainer claim about music being older than humans. It reframes human musical achievement as modest rather than central.
LR“just the species that started writing it down” — 'Writing it down' is a precise, concrete image for musical notation that contrasts neatly with the abstract claim about music's age. It gives the whole closing thought a grounded, almost humble final image.
GRA“My guess is that music is older than humans and we're just the species that started writing it down.” — This closing sentence coordinates a second clause onto the claim already made at 7.0 using 'and', extending it into a longer, more complete final thought. The added clause gives the whole answer its most memorable and rounded ending.

Frequently asked questions

How long should my answer to this Part 2 cue card be?: Speak for 1 to 2 minutes. The examiner will stop you at 2 minutes, so aim for roughly 220-300 words that cover every bullet on the card and end with how you feel about it.
What Part 3 questions follow this cue card?: After "A Song You Think Is Interesting", examiners have asked 9 follow-up discussion questions, listed above. They move from your personal story to general opinions on the same theme.
Is this cue card still being used?: It was most recently reported by test-takers in May–Aug 2026. Cue cards rotate every four months, and many topics return in later seasons with slightly different wording.