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 Type of Food That You Like to Eat on Special Occasions", 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?

Yes — it's part of the current exam period (Sep–Dec 2026).

IELTS Speaking Part 2

A Type of Food That You Like to Eat on Special Occasions

Most recently asked in Sep–Dec 2026In use now

The cue card

Describe a type of food that you like to eat on special occasions.

You should say:

what this food is
how this food is prepared
where and when you eat this food
and explain why you like to eat this type of food on special occasions.

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 preparation and setting are described in simple, sequential sentences without much elaboration, typical of a clear but modest Band 6.5 answer.

The food I want to talk about is xôi gấc, a bright red sticky rice that we eat on special occasions like birthdays and weddings. In Vietnamese culture, red is a lucky colour, so this dish always makes the table look more festive.

It's made from glutinous rice mixed with the pulp of a red fruit called gấc, which gives it that strong red colour, plus a little sugar and some coconut milk. Everything is mixed together first and then steamed for about an hour, until it turns soft and slightly sticky. It's sometimes topped with sweet mung bean paste, or served next to a piece of boiled chicken.

We usually eat it in Hue, at my parents' house, whenever there's a birthday in the family or a wedding to celebrate. My mother often buys it from a lady near the market instead of making it herself, because it takes a long time to prepare properly, and she says the lady makes it better anyway. We usually eat it early in the morning, before the rest of the celebration starts.

180 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

LR“which gives it that strong red colour” — 'Strong red colour' uses two plain, high-frequency descriptive words rather than a more precise culinary term (vivid, vermillion, crimson) that might appear in a higher-band description of the same dish, and the relative clause structure ('which gives it...') is the most basic way to attach this detail to the preceding clause. The description stays functional — telling the listener exactly what colour and why — without any attempt at figurative language, consistent with the 6.5 target of clear, everyday vocabulary rather than the more vivid comparison a 7.0 answer might reach for.
GRA“Everything is mixed together first and then steamed for about an hour, until it turns soft and slightly sticky.” — The sentence uses the passive voice ('is mixed', 'steamed') correctly to describe a cooking process without naming an agent, sequenced with 'first... then... until', which is a basic but entirely accurate way to narrate a procedure. There's no subordination beyond the final 'until' clause, and no attempt at varying the sentence opening or combining this step with the next one, the way a 7.0 answer might via a participial phrase. It's functional, clear procedural language exactly matching the 6.5 grammar target.
FC“We usually eat it early in the morning, before the rest of the celebration starts.” — The final sentence adds one more concrete fact — timing — rather than pulling back to a reflective close about why the dish matters to the speaker or family, which a 7.0 or 7.5 answer would more likely attempt in the closing position. It's accurate, relevant, and rounds off the description naturally, but it stays purely descriptive to the end rather than turning into an evaluative or personal statement. This matches the 6.5 descriptor's ceiling for Fluency & Coherence — direct, on-topic, but not reaching beyond description into interpretation.

Band 7.0

The answer develops the description with a full step-by-step process (kneading, wrapping, boiling, syrup) and closes on a specific reflective observation about the grandmother's uncharacteristic patience, giving more coherent development than the 6.5 answer's shorter, more listed description.

The food I'd talk about is chè trôi nước, small balls of glutinous rice filled with sweet mung bean paste, served in a warm ginger syrup, which my family eats specifically on the third day of the third lunar month, a festival called Tết Hàn Thực.

How it's made starts with soaking glutinous rice flour and kneading it into a smooth dough, then wrapping small pieces of dough around a ball of mashed mung bean mixed with sugar, rolling everything into neat round shapes about the size of a golf ball. These get dropped into boiling water until they float to the top, which apparently means they're cooked, and then they're moved into a pot of ginger syrup that's been simmering separately, usually with a bit of grated coconut and sesame seeds sprinkled on top when serving.

Where and when I eat it is at my grandmother's house in Hue, always in the late morning of that particular festival day. My grandmother insists on making it from scratch every year rather than buying it, even though there's a shop two streets away that sells a version most people say is just as good. She says the shop version doesn't taste the same, though I honestly can't always tell the difference myself.

What I like about this dish is partly the taste — warm, sweet, slightly spicy from the ginger — but mostly the fact that the whole family gathers in the kitchen to help shape the balls together, which rarely happens for ordinary meals. My younger cousins always make theirs too big or oddly shaped, and my grandmother lets it go without complaint, which surprises me a little every year given how particular she normally is about cooking.

288 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

LR“warm, sweet, slightly spicy from the ginger” — The three-item sensory list — 'warm, sweet, slightly spicy from the ginger' — moves beyond a single blanket adjective like 'delicious' by naming distinct qualities, and 'slightly spicy from the ginger' specifically attributes one sensation to its source. This level of descriptive precision, while still using everyday words, is the modestly flexible vocabulary Band 7.0 lexical resource targets, a step up from the more generic taste description a 6.5 answer would give.
GRA“These get dropped into boiling water until they float to the top, which apparently means they're cooked, and then they're moved into a pot of ginger syrup that's been simmering separately” — The process description chains a passive ('These get dropped'), a non-defining relative clause ('which apparently means they're cooked'), and a further relative clause with a present-perfect-passive verb ('that's been simmering separately') all within one sentence. Managing that many different structures accurately while describing a multi-step cooking process is exactly the comfortable complex-grammar range Band 7.0 is calibrated for, well beyond the short, separate sentences a 6.5 description of the same recipe would use.
FC“which surprises me a little every year given how particular she normally is about cooking” — Rather than just describing the grandmother's usual behaviour, the speaker notes a specific exception to it — her normal strictness about cooking gives way to leniency here — and flags their own surprise at the contrast. Drawing attention to an inconsistency in someone else's character, instead of simply describing what they do, adds the kind of reflective coherence the Band 7.0 descriptor asks for beyond flat narration.

Band 7.5

The colon-introduced closing image ('a night alone by a fire with the whole street's pots steaming') and the wry aside about the fried version show sustained imagery and idiomatic closing control typical of Band 7.5.

The food I'd talk about is bánh tét, which is the cake we eat at Tết, the lunar New Year, and which I only ever eat at that time.

What it is: a thick cylinder, about the length of my forearm, of glutinous rice packed around a filling of mung bean and fatty pork, wrapped tightly in banana leaves and tied with strips of bamboo. Sliced, it shows a green edge, white rice, a ring of yellow bean and a centre of pork. It's dense, savoury, slightly sweet from the bean.

How it's prepared is the part I love, because it's a family event rather than a recipe. On the twenty-ninth of the last lunar month, my mother soaks the rice and beans all day. In the evening the family gathers in the yard in Hue and rolls the cakes — my mother does the filling, my father ties, and the rest of us are trusted only with washing leaves. Then the cakes go into an enormous pot over a wood fire in the yard and boil for ten hours, and someone has to stay up feeding the fire and topping up the water. That job used to be my grandmother's, then my father's, and now it's mine, and I've come to look forward to it: a night alone by a fire with the whole street's pots steaming.

Where and when we eat it is in Hue, in my parents' house, from the first morning of Tết, when the first cake is offered at the ancestral altar before anyone tastes it. We slice it with a string rather than a knife, so the rice doesn't stick. For three days it's on the table at every meal, with pickled onions; by the third day it's fried, which is the version everyone secretly prefers. I like it because it's the taste of being home, and because no one has ever managed to make it worth eating alone.

325 words · about 2 minutes

Why this band

LR“by the third day it's fried, which is the version everyone secretly prefers” — 'Everyone secretly prefers' turns a factual detail about the third day's fried leftovers into a shared, slightly conspiratorial observation about human nature — the idea that people quietly like the 'wrong' version of a traditional dish best. That wry social aside, built from ordinary words used with precise comic timing rather than any unusual vocabulary, is exactly the kind of evaluative, idiomatic-feeling touch the Band 7.5 descriptor rewards over a plainer statement like 'people also like it fried'.
GRA“That job used to be my grandmother's, then my father's, and now it's mine, and I've come to look forward to it: a night alone by a fire with the whole street's pots steaming.” — The sentence lists three stages of inheritance ('used to be my grandmother's, then my father's, and now it's mine') before a colon introduces a final, image-based clause describing the scene itself. Using a colon to shift from narrative summary into a single vivid closing image, after already managing a three-part historical list within the same sentence, is the wide and controlled grammatical range the Band 7.5 descriptor is describing.
FC“I like it because it's the taste of being home, and because no one has ever managed to make it worth eating alone.” — The two reasons are built in parallel — 'because it's the taste of being home, and because no one has ever managed to make it worth eating alone' — with the second reason introducing a claim (that the dish needs company to be worthwhile) that goes beyond simple description into genuine evaluation of what the food actually means. This parallel, reasoned structure for a closing reflection is the coherence Band 7.5 is aiming for, distinct from the single flat reason a 7.0 closing would typically offer.

How this card was asked, by exam period

Describe a type of food that you like to eat on special occasions.Sep–Dec 2026
Describe a type of food that you like to eat on special occasionsMay–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. When do people eat special food in your country?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer lists occasions in short, separate sentences and leans on the plain connector 'Also' to move from point to point.
In my country, people eat special food on many different days. At Tết, the New Year, we eat cakes and pickled vegetables for about a week. At the mid-autumn festival, we eat mooncakes. Families also cook a big meal for a giỗ, which is a death anniversary, when relatives come together to remember someone. There is special food for weddings and for a baby's first month too. Also, if a guest comes or something good happens, we often cook something special to celebrate.
Why this band
FC“There is special food for weddings and for a baby's first month too.” — This flat 'There is X' sentence simply adds another item to the list with no elaboration. A 7.0 or 7.5 answer would fold this detail into a longer, more reflective sentence rather than stating it in isolation.
LR“special food” — This generic phrase is repeated across the answer with no variation. Higher bands reach for more varied wording, such as 'its own food attached to it' at 7.0 or the image 'a calendar of eating' at 7.5.
GRA“Also, if a guest comes or something good happens, we often cook something special to celebrate.” — This is a basic conditional sentence joined by 'if' and 'or', the simplest way to add an extra case. A 7.5 answer expresses the same idea more economically, using a colon and a compressed list instead of a full conditional clause.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer softens its claim with the hedge 'Honestly' and adds a moment of reflection with 'so the year is basically organised around what's being cooked'.
Honestly, in Vietnam it feels like almost every important date has its own food attached to it. Tết, our New Year, brings a whole week of cakes and pickles, and the mid-autumn festival brings mooncakes, so the year is basically organised around what's being cooked. I'd say the biggest meals, though, are for the giỗ, the death anniversary, when relatives gather to remember an ancestor and the cooking can take two full days. There's also food for weddings, for a baby's first month, and for religious days when people eat only vegetarian dishes. Basically, any reunion or success gets marked the same way.
Why this band
FC“Honestly, in Vietnam it feels like almost every important date has its own food attached to it.” — The hedge 'Honestly' and the softened claim 'it feels like' make this opener sound more natural and conversational than the 6.5 answer's flat statement, though it is less stylistically bold than the 7.5 answer's confident metaphor.
LR“the year is basically organised around what's being cooked” — This is a more natural, slightly reflective way of making the point than the 6.5 answer's plain 'many different days', though it is less vivid than the 7.5 answer's compact image 'a calendar of eating'.
GRA“when relatives gather to remember an ancestor and the cooking can take two full days” — This embeds a temporal clause and a coordinated result inside one longer sentence, which is more complex than the 6.5 answer's short separate sentences, though less compressed than the 7.5 answer's dash-punctuated version of the same idea.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the vivid metaphor 'a calendar of eating' and closes on the compact line 'get marked the same way: with food'.
The Vietnamese calendar, to be honest, is really a calendar of eating. Tết opens with a week of cakes and pickles, the mid-autumn festival brings mooncakes, and certain full moons call for sticky rice and sweet soups set out on the family altar. The most elaborate meals, though, belong to the giỗ — the death anniversary — where relatives gather to remember an ancestor and the cooking stretches over two days. Weddings and a baby's first month each come with their own dishes, and religious occasions call for a day of vegetarian eating. Beyond the fixed dates, though, any reunion, guest or stroke of good luck tends to get marked the same way: with food.
Why this band
FC“The Vietnamese calendar, to be honest, is really a calendar of eating.” — This opens with a confident metaphor framed by the evaluative aside 'to be honest', which is more polished than the 7.0 answer's hedge-led sentence and far more developed than the 6.5 answer's plain topic sentence.
LR“calendar of eating” — This is an idiomatic, image-rich phrase that is more precise and slightly literary compared with the 7.0 answer's 'organised around what's being cooked' and the 6.5 answer's plain 'special food'.
GRA“the giỗ — the death anniversary — where relatives gather to remember an ancestor and the cooking stretches over two days” — The dash-set appositive followed by a relative clause shows compact, flexible grammar that goes beyond the 7.0 answer's simpler coordination and well beyond the 6.5 answer's short separate clauses.
2. What are the differences between food for special occasions and the food people eat every day?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer states its point plainly in 'The main differences are time and the number of people' before listing simple contrasts.
The main differences are time and the number of people. Making bánh tét takes a whole night, but my dinner on a normal day only takes about twenty minutes, usually just a bowl of noodles. Special food uses more meat, fat and sugar, and it is cooked in large amounts for many people. It also has meaning — the shape of the cake and the colours on the table are important at Tết. A normal meal is just for eating quickly, but occasion food is about memory too.
Why this band
FC“The main differences are time and the number of people.” — This flat topic sentence states the answer directly with no hedge or reflection. The 7.0 answer softens the same claim with 'Honestly', and the 7.5 answer opens even more economically with a sentence fragment.
LR“Special food uses more meat, fat and sugar” — This is a plain, listy way of naming the contrast. The 7.5 answer turns the same idea into a rhythmic triad, 'more meat, more fat, more sugar', which reads as more deliberately crafted.
GRA“but occasion food is about memory too” — This short 'but' clause tacked onto the end of the sentence is the simplest way to add contrast. The 7.5 answer instead links two full clauses with a semicolon for a more balanced, compact structure.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer opens with 'Honestly, the biggest difference is time' and adds the natural aside 'half-standing in the kitchen' for a touch of reflection.
Honestly, the biggest difference is time, and who's actually sitting at the table. Bánh tét takes a whole night to make, whereas my weekday dinner is usually just a bowl of noodles eaten in about twenty minutes, half-standing in the kitchen. Special food tends to be richer, with more meat, fat and sugar, and it's made in quantities that assume a crowd rather than one hungry person. It's symbolic too — the cake's shape and the colours on the table actually mean something, while a weekday soup just means dinner. I'd say everyday food is about speed, and occasion food is about memory.
Why this band
FC“Honestly, the biggest difference is time, and who's actually sitting at the table.” — The hedge 'Honestly' plus the spoken aside 'who's actually sitting at the table' makes this more conversational than the 6.5 answer's bare statement, though less compact than the 7.5 answer's fragment opening.
LR“half-standing in the kitchen” — This is a vivid, specific detail that is more precise than the 6.5 answer's plain description, though the 7.5 answer renders the same image even more visually as 'half-standing at the counter'.
GRA“quantities that assume a crowd rather than one hungry person” — The contrastive 'rather than' clause inside a noun phrase is more sophisticated than the 6.5 answer's short coordinated clauses, though still less economical than the 7.5 answer's dash-punctuated version.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the compressed fragment 'Time, mainly, and who's around the table' and closes on the semicolon-balanced observation that occasion food 'is the last place a lot of old recipes still survive'.
Time, mainly, and who's around the table. Bánh tét takes a whole night to prepare, while my weekday dinner is over in twenty minutes flat, usually a bowl of noodles eaten half-standing at the counter. Special food is slower, richer — more meat, more fat, more sugar — and made in quantities that assume a crowd rather than one tired person. It's symbolic, too: the cake's shape, the colours laid out on the Tết table, the dishes that must appear at a death anniversary all carry meaning, whereas a weekday soup means nothing beyond dinner. Everyday food is really about nourishment and speed; occasion food is about memory and display, and, if I'm honest, it's the last place a lot of old recipes still survive.
Why this band
FC“Time, mainly, and who's around the table.” — This deliberately fragmentary opening is stylistically bolder than the 6.5 answer's full-sentence topic statement and even slightly bolder than the 7.0 answer's hedge-led version.
LR“more meat, more fat, more sugar” — This rhythmic triadic repetition reads as deliberately crafted, noticeably more polished than the 6.5 answer's flat list 'more meat, fat and sugar'.
GRA“Everyday food is really about nourishment and speed; occasion food is about memory and display” — The semicolon links two balanced independent clauses into one compact, parallel sentence, which is more flexible than the 7.0 answer's simple 'and'-linked version.
3. Why is food such an important part of celebrations?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer gives a direct reason in 'Food is important because everyone can share it together' and closes with the plain statement 'Without food, a celebration is just a meeting.'
Food is important because everyone can share it together. In my culture, the first piece of bánh tét is put on the family altar before anyone eats, so even the ancestors are part of the meal. Cooking together is often the real celebration, and the food is just the reason to do it. Special dishes also show the day is important, because we only eat them at certain times. Food also shows we are generous to our guests. Without food, a celebration is just a meeting.
Why this band
FC“Without food, a celebration is just a meeting.” — This short, plain closing statement gives a direct final point with no added comment. The 7.5 answer expresses the same idea with the evaluative aside 'honestly' tucked inside the sentence.
LR“Food also shows we are generous to our guests.” — The vocabulary here is generic and literal. The 7.5 answer uses the more precise verb pairing 'It signals generosity, and in harder times it signalled survival'.
GRA“so even the ancestors are part of the meal” — This is a basic 'so' result clause. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers build a longer sentence around the same idea, listing family, ancestors and food together in one clause.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer softens its claim with 'Honestly, I think' and adds a reflective aside with 'to be fair, it's simply pleasure too.'
Honestly, I think it's because food is the one thing everyone at a celebration can share at the same moment, including, in my culture, people who have already died. The first slice of bánh tét always goes to the ancestral altar before anyone eats, so for a moment the family, the ancestors and the food are all at the same table. For a lot of families, cooking together is basically the celebration, and the meal is just the excuse for it. Food also marks time, since certain dishes only appear on certain days, so the taste itself tells you it's Tết. And, to be fair, it's simply pleasure too.
Why this band
FC“Honestly, I think it's because food is the one thing everyone at a celebration can share at the same moment” — The hedge 'Honestly, I think' softens a fairly strong claim, making it more tentative than the 6.5 answer's flat 'Food is important because', though less confident than the 7.5 answer's unhedged opener.
LR“the meal is just the excuse for it” — This slightly idiomatic phrase is more natural than the 6.5 answer's plain 'the food is just the reason to do it', though marginally less compact than the 7.5 answer's parallel phrasing.
GRA“so for a moment the family, the ancestors and the food are all at the same table” — This sentence lists three items joined by 'and' inside one longer clause, which is more complex than the 6.5 answer's short clauses, though less tightly punctuated than the 7.5 answer's version.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the sentence fragment 'Because it's the one thing everyone at a celebration can share at once' and closes on the wry aside 'is just a meeting.'
Because it's the one thing everyone at a celebration can share at once — including, in my culture, the dead. The first slice of bánh tét goes to the ancestral altar before anyone else eats, and in that moment the family, the ancestors and the food are all sitting at the same table. Cooking together is the celebration for a lot of families; the meal itself is really just the excuse. Food marks time too, since certain dishes appear only on certain days, so the taste alone says 'this is Tết'. It signals generosity, and in harder times it signalled survival — a good feast meant a good year. And, quite simply, it's pleasure. A celebration without food, honestly, is just a meeting.
Why this band
FC“Because it's the one thing everyone at a celebration can share at once — including, in my culture, the dead.” — Opening with a fragment that answers the question head-on, then adding a dash aside for emphasis, is a bolder, more stylistically controlled move than the 7.0 answer's hedged opener or the 6.5 answer's plain topic sentence.
LR“It signals generosity, and in harder times it signalled survival” — This precise, slightly literary word choice with a neat past/present echo is more sophisticated than the 6.5 answer's plain 'shows we are generous'.
GRA“Cooking together is the celebration for a lot of families; the meal itself is really just the excuse.” — The semicolon joins two balanced independent clauses into one compact sentence, which is more flexible than the 7.0 answer's 'and'-linked version and well beyond the 6.5 answer's short simple sentences.
4. How have people's cooking and eating habits changed in recent years?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer opens with the flat statement 'Cooking habits have changed a lot' and lists changes in short separate sentences.
Cooking habits have changed a lot. When I was young, every house on my street boiled cakes on the night before Tết, but now only a few houses do this, and most people just buy the cakes from a shop. People cook less and eat out more than before. People also eat faster, and often alone while looking at a phone. But most families still want the cake at Tết, even if they buy it instead of making it.
Why this band
FC“Cooking habits have changed a lot.” — This flat, generic topic sentence gives no image or detail. The 7.5 answer instead opens with the vivid narrative image 'The yard fires tell the story, honestly.'
LR“People also eat faster, and often alone while looking at a phone.” — This is plain, literal vocabulary describing the habit. The 7.5 answer compresses the same idea more idiomatically as 'eat faster, often alone with a screen.'
GRA“but now only a few houses do this, and most people just buy the cakes from a shop” — This uses simple coordination with 'but' and 'and' to contrast past and present. The 7.5 answer joins the same contrast with a semicolon inside one flowing sentence instead of two coordinated clauses.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer opens with the hedge 'Honestly' before the image 'the yard fires near my house tell the story pretty well.'
Honestly, the yard fires near my house tell the story pretty well. When I was small, every house on our street in Hue boiled its own cakes on the night before Tết, and the whole street smelled of smoke; now it's maybe three houses, and everyone else buys from a shop. People generally cook less, eat out more, and eat faster, often alone with a screen. Diets have shifted toward meat, sugar and processed food, which you can see in the local clinics now. What's held on, though, is the occasion food.
Why this band
FC“Honestly, the yard fires near my house tell the story pretty well.” — The hedge 'Honestly' plus a narrative image is more vivid than the 6.5 answer's plain statement, though less tightly worded than the 7.5 answer's version of the same image.
LR“the whole street smelled of smoke” — This sensory, descriptive phrase is more evocative than the 6.5 answer's plain description, close to but slightly less compact than the 7.5 answer's 'the whole street smoked.'
GRA“which you can see in the local clinics now” — This relative-style clause tacked onto the main sentence is moderately complex, though less economical than the 7.5 answer's tighter 'the results show up in waistlines and clinics.'
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the compact image 'The yard fires tell the story, honestly' and closes on the qualified 'even if someone else made it.'
The yard fires tell the story, honestly. When I was small, every house on our street in Hue boiled its own cakes on the twenty-ninth night, and the whole street smoked; now it's three houses, and the rest buy from a shop. People cook less, order in more, and eat faster, often alone with a screen. Diets have shifted toward meat, sugar and processed food, and the results show up in waistlines and clinics. At the same time, a smaller group cooks more carefully than ever, fussing over organic vegetables and origins. What's held on, mostly, is the occasion food — even the busiest families still want the cake at Tết.
Why this band
FC“The yard fires tell the story, honestly.” — Placing the hedge 'honestly' at the end for rhythm is more stylistically confident than the 7.0 answer's front-loaded hedge and far more vivid than the 6.5 answer's generic opener.
LR“fussing over organic vegetables and origins” — The verb choice 'fussing over' is more nuanced than a plain 'worrying about' and well beyond the 6.5 answer's basic vocabulary.
GRA“every house on our street in Hue boiled its own cakes on the twenty-ninth night, and the whole street smoked; now it's three houses, and the rest buy from a shop” — Combining coordination and a semicolon to contrast past and present in one breath is considerably more flexible than the 7.0 answer's similar but slightly looser version and far beyond the 6.5 answer's short separate sentences.
5. Does cooking meals at home have more advantages than disadvantages?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer gives a direct opinion in 'Yes, I think cooking at home has more advantages' followed by a simple list of pros and cons.
Yes, I think cooking at home has more advantages. It is cheaper than eating out, and you know exactly what is inside the food. It also keeps cooking skills alive and helps you show care for people. But there are also disadvantages. It takes time, and you need to shop and wash the dishes after. Restaurants can often cook better than most people at home. For a busy person living alone, eating out can be a good choice.
Why this band
FC“Yes, I think cooking at home has more advantages.” — This is a plain position statement with no personal hedge. The 7.5 answer softens the same claim with the self-deprecating aside 'though I'll admit I'm not a particularly good cook myself.'
LR“It is cheaper than eating out” — This is a basic comparative statement. The 7.5 answer replaces it with the more specific 'costs me roughly half of what eating out would.'
GRA“But there are also disadvantages.” — This short, isolated sentence signals contrast with no detail. The 7.5 answer instead uses a colon to lead into a full list of drawbacks within one sentence.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer hedges with 'I'd say it does, and I say that as someone who's not even a great cook' before reasoning through the time argument.
Yes, on balance, I'd say it does, and I say that as someone who's not even a great cook. Cooking at home costs roughly half of what eating out does, and you know exactly what's gone into the food, so even the usual time argument is weaker than people think, since that hour isn't necessarily wasted otherwise. It keeps basic skills alive, and it's one of the simplest ways to show you care. The disadvantages are real, though — the shopping, the washing up, and a decent street kitchen usually cooks better than most home cooks ever will.
Why this band
FC“Yes, on balance, I'd say it does, and I say that as someone who's not even a great cook.” — The hedge 'I'd say' plus a self-deprecating aside is more natural than the 6.5 answer's flat claim, though slightly less economical than the 7.5 answer's more compact version of the same idea.
LR“the usual time argument is weaker than people think” — This moderately idiomatic evaluative phrase is more developed than the 6.5 answer's plain 'It takes time', though less specific than the 7.5 answer's 'the usual time complaint is weaker than it sounds.'
GRA“so even the usual time argument is weaker than people think, since that hour isn't necessarily wasted otherwise” — This stacks two subordinate clauses joined by 'so' and 'since', which is more complex than the 6.5 answer's short separate sentences, though a little less compact than the 7.5 answer's single-clause version.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the concessive hedge 'though I'll admit I'm not a particularly good cook myself' and closes on the reflective note that a non-cooking household 'only notices once a real occasion comes along.'
Yes, on balance, though I'll admit I'm not a particularly good cook myself. Home cooking costs me roughly half of what eating out would, I know precisely what's gone into it, and the hour it takes is an hour I'd otherwise have spent scrolling anyway, so the usual time complaint is weaker than it sounds. It keeps basic skills alive, and it's one of the simplest ways to show you care. The drawbacks are genuine, though: the commute-heavy schedules that leave no room for it, the shopping, the washing-up afterwards, and the plain fact that a good street stall often out-cooks most home kitchens. For someone single and busy, eating out can be entirely sensible. But a household that never cooks tends to lose something it only notices once a real occasion comes along.
Why this band
FC“Yes, on balance, though I'll admit I'm not a particularly good cook myself.” — Weaving the concessive hedge 'though I'll admit' directly into the opening position statement is more compact and self-aware than the 7.0 answer's 'I'd say... and I say that as' construction, and far more nuanced than the 6.5 answer's bare claim.
LR“a good street stall often out-cooks most home kitchens” — The compact, slightly playful verb 'out-cooks' is noticeably more precise and vivid than the 6.5 answer's generic 'Restaurants can also cook better.'
GRA“The drawbacks are genuine, though: the commute-heavy schedules that leave no room for it, the shopping, the washing-up afterwards, and the plain fact that a good street stall often out-cooks most home kitchens.” — Building a single sentence around a colon that introduces a four-item list is far more flexible and economical than the 6.5 answer's separate short sentences and more compact than the 7.0 answer's similarly themed but shorter listing.
6. Will family members eat meals together more often in the future?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer states its prediction directly in 'I think families will eat together less in the future, unless they decide to make it happen.'
I think families will eat together less in the future, unless they decide to make it happen. My sister's family only eats dinner together because she made it a rule for everyone. Without a rule like this, school, work and phones would keep people apart. Doctors and teachers now say family meals are important. But things like long work hours and food delivery apps make it harder. So only families who really choose to eat together will still do it.
Why this band
FC“I think families will eat together less in the future, unless they decide to make it happen.” — This states the position directly and simply upfront. The 7.5 answer contrasts with a terser, more crafted fragment opening, 'Less often as a default, more often as a deliberate choice.'
LR“Doctors and teachers now say family meals are important.” — This is plain, literal vocabulary. The 7.5 answer expresses the same point more naturally as 'doctors and teachers now saying the same thing openly.'
GRA“Without a rule like this, school, work and phones would keep people apart.” — This is a simple conditional-style sentence. The 7.5 answer covers the same idea inside one longer sentence built with a semicolon and a dash.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer hedges with 'Honestly, I'd say' and builds a longer conditional around 'without that rule, school, work and everyone's screens would pull the family to different corners.'
Honestly, I'd say less often by default, but more often for families who actually decide to make it happen. My sister's household manages one shared weekday dinner, and only because she turned it into a rule — without that rule, school, work and everyone's screens would pull the family to different corners at different times. There's more awareness of the value now, with doctors and teachers saying it out loud. But the pressures against it — longer hours, delivery apps, individual screens — are probably stronger than they've ever been. I think the families who eat together will mostly be the ones who decided to.
Why this band
FC“Honestly, I'd say less often by default, but more often for families who actually decide to make it happen.” — The hedge 'Honestly, I'd say' softens a fairly confident claim, making it more natural than the 6.5 answer's flat prediction, though less tightly balanced than the 7.5 answer's economical parallel opener.
LR“pull the family to different corners at different times” — This fairly vivid spatial metaphor is more developed than the 6.5 answer's plain 'keep people apart', close to but slightly less polished than the 7.5 answer's near-identical phrasing.
GRA“without that rule, school, work and everyone's screens would pull the family to different corners at different times” — This longer conditional clause with a three-item list is more complex than the 6.5 answer's short sentence, though not as compressed as the 7.5 answer's dash-and-colon structure.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the balanced fragment 'Less often as a default, more often as a deliberate choice' and closes on 'the ones who decided to.'
Less often as a default, more often as a deliberate choice. My sister's household keeps exactly one shared weekday dinner, purely because she made it a rule; drop the rule, and school, work and everyone's screens would scatter the family to different corners at different hours — that, I think, is the pattern ahead: the family meal surviving wherever people actively choose it, and quietly disappearing wherever they don't. Awareness is certainly growing, with doctors and teachers now saying the same thing openly. But the forces working against it — longer hours, delivery apps, a screen for every person — are arguably stronger than they've ever been. Whichever families still eat together in years to come will be the ones who decided to.
Why this band
FC“Less often as a default, more often as a deliberate choice.” — This balanced sentence fragment answers the question in one confident stroke, which is more stylistically ambitious than the 7.0 answer's hedge-led sentence and well beyond the 6.5 answer's plain full-sentence claim.
LR“the forces working against it” — This slightly abstract, precise collocation is more sophisticated than the 6.5 answer's basic phrasing and marginally more natural than the 7.0 answer's similar 'the pressures against it.'
GRA“drop the rule, and school, work and everyone's screens would scatter the family to different corners at different hours — that, I think, is the pattern ahead” — This imperative-conditional opening feeding into a dash-marked reflective clause is the most structurally adventurous of the three versions, well beyond the 6.5 answer's short sentences and more compressed than the 7.0 answer's plainer conditional.
7. Can food traditions be influenced by location and climate?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer gives a direct opinion in 'Yes, I think location and climate have a big effect on food traditions' followed by simple examples.
Yes, I think location and climate have a big effect on food traditions. For example, our Tết cake is round like a cylinder in the south, but square in the north. People also make pickled onions because they needed a way to keep vegetables during the cold winter. In coastal areas, people eat more fish and seafood, but in the mountains, people eat more dried or smoked food, because it lasts longer. Nowadays, transport means we can eat any food anywhere, but the old traditions still show where they came from.
Why this band
FC“Yes, I think location and climate have a big effect on food traditions.” — This direct opening statement answers the question plainly. The 7.5 answer contrasts with the terser confirmation 'Almost entirely.' at the very start.
LR“in the mountains, people eat more dried or smoked food, because it lasts longer” — This is plain, explanatory vocabulary. The 7.5 answer compresses the same idea more efficiently as 'mountains on what can be dried and smoked.'
GRA“For example, our Tết cake is round like a cylinder in the south, but square in the north.” — This is a simple sentence with a basic 'but' contrast. The 7.5 answer chains three such examples together in one semicolon-linked sentence instead of separate ones.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer opens with the hedge 'Almost entirely, I'd say' and reflects with 'honestly, they still taste of the place they came from.'
Almost entirely, I'd say. Our Tết cake, for instance, is a cylinder shape in central and southern Vietnam but a square in the north, and the pickled onions next to it were for preserving vegetables through a wet winter. Coastal regions tend to eat fish sauce and seafood, while mountain areas eat food that can be dried and smoked, and generally rice grows where there's water and wheat where there isn't. So climate basically decides what's fresh and when, and traditions get built around that timing. Modern transport has loosened that link a little, but the traditions were set long before, and they still taste of the place.
Why this band
FC“Almost entirely, I'd say.” — This short confident opener is softened only slightly by 'I'd say', which is more assured than the 6.5 answer's fuller hedge-free statement, but less stark than the 7.5 answer's unhedged 'Almost entirely.'
LR“traditions get built around that timing” — This natural, idiomatic phrasing is more fluent than the 6.5 answer's plainer 'old food traditions were built around this', close to the 7.5 answer's near-identical wording.
GRA“Coastal regions tend to eat fish sauce and seafood, while mountain areas eat food that can be dried and smoked, and generally rice grows where there's water and wheat where there isn't.” — This long sentence stacks three clauses with 'while' and 'and', which is more ambitious than the 6.5 answer's short separate sentences, though less economically compressed than the 7.5 answer's semicolon-based version.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the terse 'Almost entirely' and closes with the emphatic 'they still taste, unmistakably, of the place.'
Almost entirely. Our Tết cake is a cylinder in central and southern Vietnam and a square in the north; the pickled onions beside it exist because you needed to preserve vegetables through a wet winter; the fierce chilli in Hue cooking traces back to a royal kitchen in a damp city where heat was thought to be good for you — every dish, in other words, carries its own geography. Coastal regions live on fish sauce and seafood, mountains on what can be dried and smoked, and rice grows where the water is, wheat where it isn't. Modern transport has loosened the link, granted, but the traditions were fixed long before, and they still taste, unmistakably, of the place.
Why this band
FC“Almost entirely.” — This two-word fragment answers the question outright before any elaboration, the boldest and most economical opening of the three, contrasting with the 7.0 answer's softened 'I'd say' and the 6.5 answer's full hedged sentence.
LR“every dish, in other words, carries its own geography” — This precise, almost literary summarising phrase is more vivid and abstract than the 6.5 answer's concrete-only examples and slightly more polished than the 7.0 answer's plainer summary sentence.
GRA“Our Tết cake is a cylinder in central and southern Vietnam and a square in the north; the pickled onions beside it exist because you needed to preserve vegetables through a wet winter; the fierce chilli in Hue cooking traces back to a royal kitchen in a damp city where heat was thought to be good for you” — Three independent clauses chained by semicolons into one flowing sentence is the most structurally sophisticated of the three, well beyond the 6.5 answer's short sentences and the 7.0 answer's single 'while/and' sentence.
8. To what extent can food traditions reveal anything about a culture?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer gives a cautious opinion in 'I think food traditions can show a lot about a culture, if you look carefully' and repeats the verb 'shows' throughout.
I think food traditions can show a lot about a culture, if you look carefully. For example, in Vietnam, the first piece of the Tết cake is given to the ancestors, which shows that family still includes people who have died. The cake is also made for a big crowd, which shows that hospitality is important. And on the night the cake is boiled, neighbours often help, which shows that community is close. So food can really tell you about a culture's values.
Why this band
FC“I think food traditions can show a lot about a culture, if you look carefully.” — This cautious, plainly worded opinion statement contrasts with the 7.5 answer's confident fragment 'A great deal, if you know how to read it.'
LR“which shows that community is close” — The verb 'shows' is repeated across the whole answer with no variation. The 7.5 answer varies its vocabulary with 'tells you' and 'hints at' instead.
GRA“For example, in Vietnam, the first piece of the Tết cake is given to the ancestors, which shows that family still includes people who have died.” — This is one long sentence with a single 'which' clause. The 7.5 answer instead organises three parallel examples inside one sentence introduced by a colon.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer opens with 'Quite a lot, honestly' and organises its examples around the colon in 'three small habits around it explain a good deal about Vietnamese family life.'
Quite a lot, honestly, if you know what you're looking at. Take the Tết cake — three small habits around it explain a good deal about Vietnamese family life: the first slice always goes to the ancestors, which tells you the dead are still considered family; the cake's made in quantities for a whole crowd, which tells you hospitality is basically a duty; and the boiling is often shared with neighbours, which tells you the community stays close. More generally, food shows what a culture values, and it can reveal what's been survived too, since preserved foods usually record a hard season.
Why this band
FC“Quite a lot, honestly, if you know what you're looking at.” — This confident short opener places the hedge 'honestly' mid-sentence, which is more natural than the 6.5 answer's cautious full sentence, close in spirit to the 7.5 answer's version but less crafted.
LR“the boiling is often shared with neighbours, which tells you the community stays close” — The verb 'tells you' replaces the repeated 'shows' of the 6.5 answer, offering more variation, though the 7.5 answer pushes further with the idiomatic 'anything but strangers.'
GRA“the cake's made in quantities for a whole crowd, which tells you hospitality is basically a duty; and the boiling is often shared with neighbours, which tells you the community stays close” — Two semicolon-linked clauses each carry their own embedded 'which' clause, which is more structurally ambitious than the 6.5 answer's single-clause sentences, though slightly less polished than the 7.5 answer's triple-clause version.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the confident fragment 'A great deal, if you know how to read it' and closes on the evaluative line 'its most honest record.'
A great deal, if you know how to read it. Take the Tết cake: three habits around it say more about Vietnamese family life than any lecture could. The first slice goes to the ancestral altar, which tells you the dead are still counted as family; the cake is made in quantities meant for a crowd, which tells you the household is large and hospitality something close to an obligation; and the night-long boiling is shared with the whole street, which tells you neighbours are anything but strangers. More broadly, food shows what a culture prizes — speed or patience, the individual plate or the shared pot — and what it has lived through, since preserved dishes usually record a hard season. A culture's kitchen, in the end, is its most honest record.
Why this band
FC“A great deal, if you know how to read it.” — This compact, confident fragment opening answers the question immediately, the most economical of the three, going beyond the 7.0 answer's 'Quite a lot, honestly' and far beyond the 6.5 answer's hedged full sentence.
LR“neighbours are anything but strangers” — This idiomatic negative construction used for understatement is more sophisticated than the 6.5 answer's flat 'community is close' and a step beyond the 7.0 answer's 'the community stays close.'
GRA“the cake is made in quantities meant for a crowd, which tells you the household is large and hospitality something close to an obligation; and the night-long boiling is shared with the whole street, which tells you neighbours are anything but strangers” — This long sentence chains two semicolon-linked clauses, each carrying its own embedded 'which' clause and an elliptical construction, making it the most grammatically dense and flexible of the three versions.
9. Will communities be able to maintain their food traditions in the future?
Sep–Dec 2026
Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question
Band 6.5
The 6.5 answer gives a direct prediction in 'I think the dishes will probably survive, but the way people make them may not.'
I think the dishes will probably survive, but the way people make them may not. People can still buy bánh tét at Tết, so the tradition looks alive. But the old way, when families cooked it together by the fire all night, is disappearing, because fewer families have time to do this now. Communities usually keep food traditions when they are still tasty and connected to festivals people still celebrate. But the slow, traditional way of cooking will probably continue to disappear, because people are too busy.
Why this band
FC“I think the dishes will probably survive, but the way people make them may not.” — This plain, hedge-light opening statement directly answers the question. The 7.5 answer contrasts with a terser, more balanced fragment, 'The dishes, probably; the practices around them, less certainly.'
LR“the old way, when families cooked it together by the fire all night, is disappearing” — This is plain descriptive vocabulary. The 7.5 answer expresses the same idea more evocatively as 'the night spent by the fire... survives in fewer households with every passing year.'
GRA“because fewer families have time to do this now” — This short 'because' clause is tacked onto the sentence. The 7.5 answer embeds the same idea inside a dash-marked clause within one longer sentence instead.
Band 7.0
The 7.0 answer opens with the balanced pairing 'The dishes, probably yes; the way they're made, I'm less sure about.'
The dishes, probably yes; the way they're made, I'm less sure about. You can still buy bánh tét for Tết from a shop, so from the outside the tradition looks completely intact. But the part where families used to gather round the fire together all night — which is really where the knowledge and the family bonding happened — survives in fewer households every year. Generally, I think communities keep food traditions alive when they're convenient and still tied to festivals people genuinely celebrate. What's at risk is really the slow, labour-intensive part that hardly anyone has time for anymore.
Why this band
FC“The dishes, probably yes; the way they're made, I'm less sure about.” — This early attempt at the same balanced two-part structure as the 7.5 answer, joined with a semicolon, is more compact than the 6.5 answer's full sentence, though the self-comment 'I'm less sure about' is slightly less polished than the 7.5 answer's 'less certainly.'
LR“which is really where the knowledge and the family bonding happened” — This fairly natural relative clause is more developed than the 6.5 answer's plain description, though not as tightly phrased as the 7.5 answer's 'where the real knowledge and the family gathering actually happened.'
GRA“But the part where families used to gather round the fire together all night — which is really where the knowledge and the family bonding happened — survives in fewer households every year.” — This single sentence with an embedded dash-marked relative clause is more complex than the 6.5 answer's short separate sentences, comparable to but slightly less economical than the 7.5 answer's version.
Band 7.5
The 7.5 answer opens with the tightly compressed 'The dishes, probably; the practices around them, less certainly' and closes on the reflective note 'which parts were ever really the point.'
The dishes, probably; the practices around them, less certainly. Shop-bought bánh tét keeps the cake on every Tết table, so the tradition looks intact from the outside, but the night spent by the fire — where the real knowledge and the family gathering actually happened — survives in fewer households with every passing year. Communities tend to hold onto food traditions when they're convenient, delicious and tied to occasions people still genuinely celebrate, and Vietnam's crowded festival calendar gives ours an unusually strong base to work from. What's genuinely at risk is the slow, hand-made layer that demands time nobody quite has anymore. My guess is the future keeps the flavours and loses some of the labour, with each family quietly deciding which parts were ever really the point.
Why this band
FC“The dishes, probably; the practices around them, less certainly.” — This tightly balanced, elliptical two-part opening, with the verbs omitted for economy, is the most compressed and confident of the three, refining the 7.0 answer's similar but slightly looser attempt and well beyond the 6.5 answer's plain full sentence.
LR“with each family quietly deciding which parts were ever really the point” — This reflective, slightly abstract closing phrase is more evaluative and precise than the 6.5 answer's plain vocabulary and a notch beyond the 7.0 answer's more literal phrasing throughout.
GRA“Shop-bought bánh tét keeps the cake on every Tết table, so the tradition looks intact from the outside, but the night spent by the fire — where the real knowledge and the family gathering actually happened — survives in fewer households with every passing year.” — This one long sentence weaves two 'but' clauses around a dash-marked interruption, making it the most structurally dense and flexible of the three versions.

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 Type of Food That You Like to Eat on Special Occasions", 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?: Yes — it's part of the current exam period (Sep–Dec 2026).