Describe an old person you admire

Describe an old person you admire.

You should say:

• who this person is
• how long you have known him/ her
• what qualities he/she has

and explain why you admire him/ her so much.

Sample Answer 1

This is an easy topic for me as I know exactly who I want to tell you about! I’ll say who she is, how long I have known her, a bit about her unique qualities and why I admire her so much.

I don’t think of this person as old, but I suppose she is because she will be 90 next year, and that’s certainly a good age. She is a distant cousin of mine, she now lives in a residential nursing home, which saddens me, but she has had a whole and exciting life and done many amazing, brave and brilliant things.

I think I have known her for about twenty-one years, but the story of how we came to be friends is a little strange. I was about to travel to Australia and stay overnight with my parents in London before catching a plane from Heathrow the following day. While there, my parents told me about this distant cousin who had been in a road accident and was in the hospital. She was/is a very well-educated woman with many academic and cultural interests, and they were wondering what to take her to read during her stay. I offered some of my collection of short storybooks. I wasn’t sure they would be to her taste; they dealt with political issues and were not by any means what I would have expected an elderly sick relative to be interested in. The volumes were by Alice Walker, Susan Hill and other such writers.

My cousin loved them! She wrote to me whilst I was in Australia to tell me, and also mentioned that she had worked in Australia for many years. She had a very illustrious career as a paediatric pathologist but also researched things like mammalian hearts, which took her worldwide. She asked me to look up an old friend of hers whilst there, which I did with some reluctance as I wasn’t sure what I’d find. I met another amazing woman who lived in the middle of beautiful rainforest and was passionate about conservation. When I returned to England a year later, I visited my cousin to tell her about my travels, which was the beginning of an ongoing friendship. We have always corresponded with one another, and I find her wise and a great role model. We have shared interests, and I think our personalities are similar – for better or worse! Opinionated and stubborn at times, but also caring very much about the world and those around us and constantly curious and restless. Endlessly wanting to go and explore and experience new things. We share a wanderlust, at least!

My cousin is intelligent, well-travelled and very independent. She has insight and excellent skills in academic writing. Over the years I’ve shared with her my writing efforts, looked to her for advice on what to do when facing certain decisions, and gained inspiration from her lifestyle. She is very good at setting goals and getting on with things – it would be fair to say she doesn’t suffer fools gladly, so she is undoubtedly someone who will put you straight on things. I think of her as a ‘critical friend. I know she cares about me a lot, as I do her, but that doesn’t mean she’ll indulge me if she feels I’m being foolish. She never married, and I, too, am on my own, so I think we sort of understand one another, and we both like our own space, which can sometimes be confusing for some people.

I admire her hugely, her health is frail now, and that saddens me, but she has achieved so much in her career, life and network of friends. If I can do half as well in my time, I’ll be very content with that!

[ Written by – Lucy Marris | Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam) ]

Sample Answer 2

I don’t think that too many people, especially the young generation, these days are that familiar with the idea of admiring old people. But, there are many things to admire about old people because of the unique characteristics they carry with them. Today, I would like to talk about an old person I admire so much.

This person is nobody else other than my old grandfather. Interestingly enough, though, he doesn’t like it much when we refer to him as an “old” person. Instead, he still likes to introduce himself as a 75 years “young” person! Having known my old grandfather for the last 30 years, after learning to recognize and identify a person from the age of 3 or 4, I think I am in a perfect position to describe my grandfather as a loving and caring person for the most part. Of course, he can also get cranky sometimes if he doesn’t get enough sleep. He also seems more active than other old people his age as he still likes to take care of some house chores, like grocery shopping and taking out the trash, from time to time. He loves to eat an apple every day, and he also likes to eat fried chicken with his 3 years old grandchild.

My grandfather is a retired government serviceman, so he still has an ‘aura’ of authority around him, but he doesn’t mind cracking occasional jokes to his grandchildren. Finally, I also think that he is relatively learned and knowledgeable, as I have seen him reading many books, but I have seldom seen him arguing with other people.

Anyway, I admire my grandfather, mainly because I have found him to carry himself well even in his old age. I also admire him because he still has a “young” heart, which motivates him to still enjoy the little things in life, like enjoying a cup of fresh coffee at a café or feeding birds in a lake.

Sample Answer 3

The aged person whom I admire and like is my grandmother. She has always been a caring person since childhood and loved me very much. She has been a good friend with whom I share so much of my personal information. She is a benevolent and good person who possesses a good heart. She tries to help others with her highest efforts. I have known her since childhood as she has been living with us for a long time and we have lots of happy memories together.

She is a successful mother of 4, including my father. She has devoted her entire life to the betterment of her kids and made them educated, and helped them immensely to be established. She possesses a friendly and charming personality that always pleases people around her. She is a kind and wise woman.

I love and admire her for many different reasons. The most important reason is her unconditional love and affection for me. She is a good mentor who can show me positive ways and guide me in my distressing time. Talking to her is a soothing experience; her stories are always attractive and full of morality. I have learned many positive attitudes and good thinking from her. For all those reasons and the strong bonding between us, I admire her very much.

Sample Answer 4

The old person I admire most is my grandfather. To me, he is a hero, an ideal father, a benevolent person and a man of his honour. His name is Alexander Vladimir, and he is around 75 years old.

We live in a joint family, and he is still the head of our family. Though he can’t manage every aspect of our family due to his age, he is still the decision maker for our family. I remember him from early childhood when he played chess with me. He taught me many things, including the value of honesty and punctuality. He bestowed me with some of his great adventures in his life through stories, and those stories are still inspiring to me.

He is a person of his word. He would not talk much, but when he does, it carries unparallel weights. He is benevolent as I have seen him helping many people in our locality. He has an educated and successful father, as all of them are successful professionals and businessmen. I revere my grandparents for their acute observation and significant decisions. I like him so much that I want to become a person like him.

Sample Answer 5

Generally, meeting with old people is uninteresting as they talk unnecessarily. But my meeting with Mr Moe Myaing was an interesting one. He is a retired army person and lives to my next door.

Mr Moe Myaing is passing his retired life now. He lives with his family in the opposite apartment of ours in Yangon. He has been living in this apartment even before we started living here. He got his retirement in the early part of the year 2000 from the Myanmar Army as a colonel. Now he loves to recall the memories of his olden days. I find interested in talking with him. He owns a tall figure of six feet and two inches. Besides, he looks strong even in his 70. And he is smart with an adventurer look. He loves to pass the time in physical exercise and sports. In fact, he loves to take part in different sports in the local sporting club.

I first saw him in the corridor of the apartment block. He was having some sort of physical exercise. I knew that a retired colonel is living in this apartment but did not know that he would be the man. I thought the colonel would be someone less old than him. I did not know that he was a bit older than I thought. But later, I discovered that he is an exciting man and knows how to attract people. Often he visits my dad at our home, and we are invited to his apartment on many occasions. Now, my relationship with him and his family with mine is excellent. Sometimes, I spent my leisure hours with him and listened to his heroic activities while he served in the military.

First of all, I like to appreciate his outspoken nature. He loves to speak straight. Besides, he tries to keep his promises and commitments. When he makes any promise, he will surely be successful in keeping the promise. This is not his nature that he makes any commitments without being confirmed. He is also brave and knows how to deal with difficult situations. I also like his spirit to continue physical activities at such an age. He can run faster than anyone else and participates in sports like badminton and football. He also loves to swim. Mr Myaing took me to his swimming club, and I was amazed at his swimming performance. Further, he is a humble man and never behaves rudely with anyone. Controlling the anger is the other quality I see in him.

I admire Mr Myaing for some particular reasons. He is a highly educated and trained person. Despite being in the army, he knows how to deal with civilians, while most army personnel cannot deal with ordinary citizens. They have some ideas that they are someone superior and to be worshipped. But there are no such arrogances in this person. He is a nice guy and loves to gossip about many issues. He loves to meet with newer people and particularly kids. I also have learnt many aspects from him that are effective in real-life situations. He has taught me the matters with great enthusiasm. For all such reasons, I admire him the most.

Tips for answering this cue card topic

You can talk about one of your relatives, a senior citizen, like your grandfather or grandmother. If you talk about one of your grandparents, you would be able to give lots of details since you know a lot about them. Alternatively, you can talk about one of the aged persons who is your relative, neighbour, friend’s grandparents, teacher, a renowned person in your country who has a significant contribution in some ways.

It is advised not to talk about a dead person as the issue expects you to talk about the old person who is alive and have some sort of interaction with you or had some intimacy or influence on you. While describing the qualities, s/he has, remember you should talk in a way so that you can conclude by saying that you admire his/ her for all the previously said qualities s/he has and because of your intimacy/ relationship with him/ her.

Usually, we like a senior person for some of the following reasons: