Describe a song that means something to you

這張題卡的準備方式

這張題卡（cue card）看重個人連結，而不是音樂知識。考官不是在檢查你知不知道這首歌的類型或排行榜成績，而是想聽你說明這首音樂為什麼對你重要，過程自然會牽涉到回憶、情感和反思。最容易的切入點，是和某個人或某個時刻有關的歌：父母常播的歌、一趟難忘旅行中的歌，或是和某段友誼有關的歌。如果你說不出任何個人的理由，就避免只因為一首歌現在很紅而選它。

因為要點問到你第一次聽到這首歌的情況，以及是誰讓你認識它，這張題卡自然會用到過去式的敘述，這正是展現文法多樣性的好機會。介紹歌曲本身要簡短，只談類型、整體氣氛，或許再加上歌手；把更多時間留給與這首歌有關的回憶，以及它為什麼至今仍然重要。

這裡的2分鐘很自然地分成三個部分：簡短介紹這首歌（15～20秒）；第一次聽到這首歌，以及是誰和你分享的故事（40～50秒）；最後是較長、帶有反思的收尾，說明這首歌現在為什麼對你有意義，更豐富的語言就該放在這一段。

讓回答更出色的詞彙

1分鐘準備計畫

在1分鐘的準備時間裡，可以寫下：

• what: song my mother played often, car rides
• first heard: age around eight, family holidays
• who: mother, sang along in the car
• meaning: reminds me of her, of that time
• closing: still play it when I miss home

範例回答

以下是這張題卡完整回答的一種寫法，用來示範結構和程度，不是要你照背。你自己的歌和回憶應該成為回答的核心。

The song I’d like to talk about is one my mother used to play constantly on long car journeys when I was a child, probably from around the time I was seven or eight. I can’t remember exactly the first time I heard it, since it was just part of the background of those years, but I do remember her singing along to it, slightly off-key, on the way to visit my grandparents every summer. It wasn’t really a song I chose for myself — it came into my life entirely through her, and for a long time I just associated it with being bored in the back seat of a car, honestly.

What’s changed is that now, hearing it does something completely different to me. My mother doesn’t drive as often these days, and hearing that song brings back that whole period so vividly — the smell of the car, the specific road we always took, her voice slightly out of tune. It’s a bit bittersweet, if I’m honest, because it reminds me both of a simpler time and of how much has changed since. I still put it on sometimes when I’m missing home, particularly if I’ve been away for a while, and it never fails to transport me straight back to being eight years old in the back seat, half asleep, half listening to her sing.

這張題卡的常見錯誤

• 把重點放在歌曲的人氣或類型，而不是與它相關的個人回憶。
• 略過題卡上「who introduced you to it」這一項，而這一項正是最容易、也最自然的過去式故事素材。
• 只用一句平淡的話交代它的意義，沒有在結尾把反思說得更深入。
• 想把整首歌詞翻譯並解釋一遍，會佔掉本來該用來做個人反思的時間。