(2025) Describe a Time When You Were Stuck in a Traffic Jam IELTS Cue Card

Describe a Time When You Were Stuck in a Traffic Jam
Describe a Time When You Were Stuck in a Traffic Jam

Cue card

You should say:

  • When it happened
  • Where you were stuck
  • What you did while waiting
  • And explain how you felt in the traffic jam
Describe a Time When You Were Stuck in a Traffic Jam – Sample Audio

The incident that I want to talk about today where I was stuck in the traffic jam happened around six months ago, back when I was still living in Beijing. It’s a mega city with a lot of traffic.

It happened when me and my partner, we were on our way from the city center to where we lived, which is about 30 minutes drive, usually without any traffic. But because it was the evening rush hour, it ended up taking almost two hours, I think.

As for what we did in the beginning of the traffic jam, I was really confident because I’m quite familiar with the whole traffic situation, so I came prepared. So I whipped out my phone and started playing this audio book on psychology. But I guess the content was a little bit too difficult and serious.

So within about 30 minutes, both me and my partner, we were getting quite bored. So that’s when we decided to lighten things up by taking turns playing some music. That’s when he started playing some metal music.

As you may know, metal is really noisy. I’m not a big fan of these type of noise. So gradually I started getting really irritated both by the music and the traffic. So that’s when it got to my nerve and I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I said to him, how about we just tone it down, enjoy a moment of silence and just do nothing.

So that’s what we did.

For the rest, about an hour of our trip, we basically didn’t do anything active. We just waited for the traffic to go very slowly. We picked up some small talk here and there whenever there’s like a funny looking car or a cool license plate or whatever. But yeah, we didn’t talk much.

We just waited. And finally, As for how I felt about the traffic jam, I was a little bit disappointed because I was so confident that I was going to take advantage of the waiting time and learn something by listening to the audio book. But eventually I got defeated and it’s stressful, frustrating and I wasted a lot of time.

Sample Answer 2

Last Tuesday, I experienced the most terrible traffic jam in my life. On that day, I checked the weather forecast and found that there would be torrential rain in my city, so I went to work by bus instead of driving my private car.

After I finished my work, I took a bus to go back home. Just when I got on the bus, rain began to pour down. It was raining so heavily that some of the roads were flooded. At first, the bus was inching along in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. A few minutes later, it was stuck near an intersection.

I took out my mobile phone and watched some short videos to kill time. Suddenly I heard someone whisper to me: “Excuse me Can I use your mobile phone to call my mum?” I saw a young girl standing beside me. She was about 7 to 8 years old. She was wearing school uniforms and carrying a schoolbag. She looked very anxious. I agreed and handed her my phone.

However, the phone was dead as it had run out of battery. Luckily I had a portable charger with me, so I charged my phone for a while and lent it to the girl. The girl successfully got through to her mum and let her know that she was stuck in a traffic jam. She returned my phone and thanked me politely. Although getting stuck in the heavy traffic was quite annoying, helping others in need was an enjoyable experience for me.

Sample Answer 3

I live in a small town and in general, there is not much traffic on the roads. And most of the times, these are announced beforehand so I rarely get stuck in traffic jams.

However, last month I went to the capital city to buy some clothes for my cousin’s wedding. When we arrived, there was not much traffic. On the way back, the main road was shut down as there had been a collision between two buses.

Big cranes had to be called to remove the buses from the roads and that took time. It slowly led to a huge jam. The traffic police tried to get the traffic diverted through the service road. But the road was considerably narrower than the main road and because of that the traffic built up.

We were stuck in the jam for at least 2 to 3 hours. At first, we didn’t think we would have to wait for so long. We thought it was just busier than normal and things would clear up soon. However, when our car barely moved 100 meters in 15 minutes, my dad got off the car and inquired about what had happened. We couldn’t really back up as there was no space. So, we tried to use the time by playing games and listening to music.

To be honest, we also spent a big part whining about government failure, although we all knew such circumstances are unavoidable. I don’t think I could describe how we felt at that time. We all just wanted the traffic jam to clear up and reach home as soon as possible. But the day ended on a happy note as far I as was concerned. Because we reached home late, my mother didn’t get time to cook. And we got Pizzas to eat for dinner.

Describe a time when you were stuck in a traffic jam Sample video

Part 3

1. Do you like to use public transport?

1. Do you like to use public transport?

Yeah, of course, you know public transportation offer many convenience for commuters and advantages for our environment.
Like taking public transportation could save times and offer convenience to commuters and students especially when it comes to hush over without concerns about road conditions and peak time.

On the other hand, you know taking public transportation have indirectly positive impact to our environment and ecosystem. Like the more public transport we take, the less carbon emission we generate, and it could reduce air pollution.

2. Would you rather be in a car or a bus in a traffic jam?

2. Would you rather be in a car or a bus in a traffic jam?

Actually, As for me, I prefer to be on a bus when I encounter a traffic jam because you know, I can use my cell phone to spend my time and I can have a good xx to say what has happened ahead.

But if I drive by myself, I need to pay more attention to the surrounding situation and I may be more anxiety anxious.

3. How can we solve the traffic jam problem?

Sample answer 1: There are three main ways that are effective to solve the traffic jam problem. Developed transport infrastructure and public transport services are helpful to make traffic flow more smoothly. Also, strict rules should be issued to punish those who don’t obey the regulations. What’s more, governments can take measures to encourage people to walk or cycle to work and limit the number of private cars on the road. Better road conditions and fewer cars will definitely decrease the volume of traffic.

Sample answer 2: While it is practically difficult to totally eradicate traffic congestion, there are numerous strategies to reduce its impact on our everyday life. To begin with, I believe the government should encourage people to use public transportation by making it more pleasant and speedier. For example, since the launch of the Metro, traffic conditions in the city have significantly improved. In addition, roadways should be enlarged wherever possible to accommodate additional cars.

4. Do you think developing public transport can solve traffic jam problems?

Sample answer 1: I would say that it can help ease the problems. Commuters driving to and from work are a major source of traffic jams: If most commuters use public transport instead of driving their private cars, traffic density will be much lower than before. However, traffic congestion is caused by a wide variety of factors, such as traffic bottlenecks, terrible weather conditions, reckless driving, and so on. In my opinion, developing public transport can only be one of the methods to settle the problems.

Sample answer 2: Absolutely yes. It is the one and only solution for the current time and the government can take steps to make the public more inclined to public transport, which is safe and secure. It also helps to avoid traffic jams and reduce road accidents, so developing fast and reliable public transport can be very helpful to a growing city and resolve traffic issues.

5. Do you think the highways will help reduce traffic jams?

Sample answer 1: Yes, I agree with that. In our daily life, some traffic jams are caused by pedestrians who are unwilling to follow the traffic rules. While on the highways, drivers can drive their vehicles at a designated speed without disturbance from the pedestrians. Besides, there are fewer traffic lights on highways, so in most circumstances, highways provide congestion relief to some extent.

Sample answer 2: Building more highways, motorways, flyovers or widening existing ones can reduce traffic jams but it’s not the sole solution to the problem of vehicular congestion in metropolitan areas.
Another approach can be improving public transport options to prevent people from congesting the flow of urban traffic. As a rule of thumb, it is advisable for city councils to explore a wide range of solutions.

6. What are good ways to manage traffic?

Sample answer 1: Building more highways, motorways, flyovers or widening existing ones can reduce traffic jams but it’s not the sole solution to the problem of vehicular congestion in metropolitan areas.
Another approach can be improving public transport options to prevent people from congesting the flow of urban traffic. As a rule of thumb, it is advisable for city councils to explore a wide range of solutions.I suppose that raising public awareness of traffic safety is one of the good ways. Only when everyone knows how. to obey the traffic rules can traffic be managed effectively. Another good way is to install widespread surveillance cameras so that incidents, congestion and emergencies are monitored by the staff. In addition, it is necessary to invest in new infrastructure and technology that improves the transportation system for all road users.

Sample answer 2: Proper traffic management can be done in order to improve the traffic situation and people should be encouraged to use more public transport in order to reduce vehicles on the road. This will help save valuable fossil fuels and do good to the environment and may also keep the city economically healthy and pollution-free. Furthermore, people who break traffic rules should be fined heavily so that they don’t cause any nuisance to traffic.

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Credits

Image : Photo by shun idota on Unsplash

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