Describe a famous person you would like to meet.
A strong long turn names the subject in the first sentence, spends most of the two minutes on the last bullet — the why — and arrives at a prepared final line rather than trailing off.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Describe a famous person you would like to meet.
You should say
- who the person is
- why they are famous
- what you know about them
- and explain what you would want to ask them
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 195 words at a natural pace — roughly what 120 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.The person I would choose is the writer Svetlana Alexievich, who won the Nobel Prize for a kind of book that is really hundreds of interviews stitched together. She spent years talking to ordinary people about enormous events, soldiers, mothers, survivors, and then arranged what they said into something that reads like a chorus. I have read two of her books and found them genuinely difficult to put down and difficult to carry around afterwards. What I know about her method is that she interviews the same person repeatedly, sometimes over years, because the first version of anybody's story is the polished one. What I would want to ask is how she decides what to leave out. Every one of those books must have had ten times the material, and the choosing is where the author actually is, even though the whole form is designed to hide her. I would also want to know whether people ever regretted what they told her, and what she does when they do. I imagine she would be a difficult person to interview, which is presumably what you deserve for making a career out of asking other people questions.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- stitched
vivid verb for assembling a book, with a hard cluster
- survivors
the precise noun, stressed on the second syllable
- chorus
an unexpected noun for a literary form
- repeatedly
four syllables with the stress on the second
- polished
used figuratively about a story, which examiners notice
- material
four syllables with the stress on the second
- regretted
past tense with the consonant doubled correctly
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the person and say what they actually do.
- 2Show real knowledge, not a summary of their fame.
- 3Describe one specific thing about their method.
- 4Make the question you would ask a real one.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe a famous person you would like to meet.” be?
You get 60 seconds to make notes and then speak for up to two minutes without interruption. Aim to still be talking at ninety seconds: finishing at forty is the commonest way to lose marks on this part.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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