Describe something you own that is old.
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 something you own that is old.
You should say
- what the object is
- how you got it
- how old it is
- and explain why you have kept it
60 seconds to prepare, up to 2 minutes to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 193 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.I own a mechanical wristwatch that belonged to my grandfather and is somewhere around seventy years old, which makes it older than anybody currently in my family. It came to me when he died, not because it was left to me specifically but because nobody else wanted something that needed winding every morning and lost about four minutes a day. It is not valuable. I had it looked at once and the man was very polite about it. Physically it is a small steel thing with a cream dial that has gone slightly yellow and a strap I have replaced twice. Why I have kept it is partly obvious and partly not. The obvious part is who it belonged to. The less obvious part is the winding. You have to handle it every single morning for about eight seconds, and that is a small daily contact with somebody I knew for the first fifteen years of my life. A watch you never touch would not do that. It gains about four minutes a day now rather than losing them, which the repairer told me is a sign of something I did not understand.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- mechanical
four syllables with the stress on the second
- wristwatch
compound noun with a silent w and a hard cluster
- winding
the verb the whole closing argument turns on
- valuable
three syllables, heavily reduced in speech
- dial
the precise noun for a watch face
- strap
concrete component noun with an opening cluster
- contact
abstract noun used physically and emotionally
How a strong answer is built
- 1Name the object and its age in one sentence.
- 2Say how it came to you, honestly.
- 3Describe it physically, including what is wrong with it.
- 4Split the reason into the obvious and the real one.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Describe something you own that is old.” 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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