Describe a time when the electricity suddenly went off: IELTS Speaking Cue Card model answers have been provided below. The answers are centred upon questions -When/where it happened, What happened when it went off, How people reacted / what you did, And explain how you felt about it
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Topic: Describe a time when the electricity suddenly went off: IELTS Speaking Cue Card
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Answer 1:
When/where it happened?
About six months ago, we had a little family gathering at my grandma’s place. It was one of those easy evenings—just relatives catching up, the smell of food drifting in from the kitchen, everyone waiting for dinner.
Right when we were about to sit down and eat, the lights flickered once and then—poof—everything went black. Not just the house; the whole street outside turned pitch dark. You could see it through the windows: no streetlights, no neighbor’s TV glow, nothing.
What happened when it went off?
The kids lost their minds in the best way—screaming and giggling like it was some adventure. The adults did that half-annoyed, half-worried thing grown-ups do when plans get messed up. Grandma, calm as ever, just said, “Everybody relax, it’ll come back soon,” while I was already digging my phone out for the flashlight. A couple of uncles followed suit, and suddenly the living room looked like a low-budget laser show with all these phone beams bouncing around.
How people reacted / what you did?
We found some candles in a drawer—those thick ones grandma keeps for emergencies—and lit them on the dining table. Honestly, it looked kind of beautiful. The food was already cooked, so we said screw it, let’s eat like this. Passed plates around by candlelight, shadows jumping on the walls every time someone laughed too hard.
And here’s the thing: without the TV droning in the background or anyone scrolling on their phones, we actually talked. Like proper, long conversations—old stories, teasing each other, the kind of stuff that usually gets drowned out by screens. Even the kids settled down after a while and just listened.
And explain how you felt about it?
I remember sitting there with my plate getting empty, thinking how weirdly nice it felt. No rush, no distractions, just all of us in that little bubble of candlelight. It reminded me of the stories grandma tells about when she was young and power cuts were normal—no panic, just life.
The electricity came back maybe an hour later, and the lights buzzing on actually felt like an interruption. That night sticks with me. A random blackout somehow turned into one of the best family dinners we’ve ever had. Sometimes the simplest things end up meaning the most.
Answer 2:
When/where it happened?
I still remember that night like it was yesterday. I was in full Class 12 panic mode, cramming Physics at 9 p.m. The chapter on electromagnetism had been kicking my ass for days, the room was a sauna because it was peak summer, and the fan was the only thing keeping me alive.
Then—blink—everything died. Lights, fan, the little table lamp I swear by, gone. For a second I thought I’d blown the fuse again (I have a habit of plugging in too many chargers), but then I heard the neighbors yelling outside and realized the whole area was down.
What happened when it went off?
I was pissed. Like properly, irrationally angry at electricity itself. Grabbed my phone, turned on the flashlight, and tried to keep reading, but that tiny beam was useless for diagrams and formulas. My mom showed up with the emergency candle box—those thin white ones we only use during loadshedding season—and we lit a couple. The flame kept dancing every time someone walked past, and the wax started dripping all over my notes. Great.
How people reacted / what you did?
After ten minutes of squinting and sweating, I gave up. Concentration? Zero. I wandered out to the balcony just to breathe. Down in the lane, half the building was hanging around—uncles in vests debating whether it was a transformer blast or “the electricity board people sleeping on the job again,” kids running around playing some version of tag in the dark, dogs barking at nothing. It was chaotic, but weirdly chill.
And explain how you felt about it?
I sat there on the floor, back against the railing, scrolling through memes on 2G because mobile data was crawling too. And honestly? That one hour of doing absolutely nothing felt… good. My brain had been fried from non-stop studying, and this forced break was the first time in weeks I wasn’t stressing about ranks or cutoffs.
When the tubelight finally flickered back to life, I actually groaned a little. Went back to the table, opened the same chapter, and somehow everything made more sense. That stupid power cut basically saved me from a burnout. Sometimes your brain just needs the world to hit the reset button for you.
Answer 3:
When/where it happened?
Last year, I was on the metro home after a brutal day at work, packed like a sardine as usual. The train had just pulled out of the station when (flick-flick) lights out. Total darkness for half a second, then the emergency strips glowed this creepy red along the floor. The train braked hard and just… stopped. Dead silence between two stations.
You could feel the panic rise. One guy actually whispered “shit” really loudly. Then someone laughed nervously and it spread, like we all collectively decided to pretend this was funny instead of terrifying. The AC died immediately and within a minute the coach turned into a sweaty armpit. Great.
What happened when it went off?
A little kid near me started crying, and his mom was doing that hushed “it’s okay, it’s just dark” thing while clearly freaking out herself. Half the compartment had their phone torches on, swinging them around like we were in some low-budget horror movie. I just gripped the pole tighter and tried to breathe through my mouth so I wouldn’t smell everyone’s evening stress.
Then the announcement crackled on (typical metro voice, calm like he’s reading the weather): “Due to power failure on the section, train stopped. Will move shortly. Inconvenience regretted.” Classic. But weirdly, once we heard a human voice, everyone relaxed a bit. Shoulders dropped, phones went down, and suddenly strangers were chatting.
How people reacted / what you did?
The uncle next to me goes, “Arre this happened to me in 2012, we were stuck for forty-five minutes, started playing antakshari.” Someone else yelled from the other end, “Let’s start now!” and a couple of people actually laughed. Random dude in a tie told us about the time he got stuck in a lift for two hours. Turned out the crying kid loves trains, so people started showing him photos of different metros around the world on their phones. The vibe flipped completely.
And explain how you felt about it?
I just stood there, sweating through my shirt, and realised I hadn’t taken a proper breath all day. No laptop, no deadlines, no boss pinging—just stuck, literally unable to go anywhere. It was kind of… nice? Ten minutes felt like an hour, but in a good way.
Then the lights snapped back, AC blasted cold air like an apology, and the train crawled forward. Everyone clapped ironically. We pulled into the next station and went our separate ways like nothing happened.
Still one of the weirdest commutes ever, but also one of the most human. Sometimes the city forces you to stop running, even if it’s by killing the power and trapping you in a metal box underground. I got off smiling, which is not how I usually leave the metro.
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