42  |  Speaking  Part 1 test 1

Speaking  about 15 minutes

Part 1  2 minutes
Before you do the Part 1 task, go to the Further Practice and Guidance pages which follow.
Candidates may be asked:
• Where are you from?
• What do you do?
• How long have you been studying English?
• What do you enjoy most about learning English?
Candidates are then asked one or more questions from a selection of categories, for example:

Leisure time
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
• If you could take up a new sport or activity, what would it be?
• What kind of television programmes do you watch?
• How much time do you spend on leisure compared to work or study?
Future plans
• What are you most looking forward to in the next few months?
• How do you think you might use your English in the future?
• What do you hope to be doing this time next year?
• How far ahead in the future do you usually plan?

Travel and holidays

• What sort of holiday do you tend to prefer?
• Where in the world would you most like to visit?
• Do you prefer traveling alone or with others? Why?
• What do you find unpleasant about travelling?

Work and study

• What skills do you need for the job that you do or plan to do?
• What would make a job appeal to you?
• How do you help yourself to concentrate on your work or study?
• How have your ambitions changed over the last five years?

Experience
• How might learning English lead to new experiences?
• Who has had a significant influence on you?
• How has your life changed in the last few years?
• Are you the kind of person who likes to take risks and chances in life?

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 test 1 Speaking  Parts 2–4  |  43

Before you do the tasks in Parts 2–4, go to the Further Practice and Guidance pages which
follow.

Part 2  4 minutes
1 Achieving goals
For both candidates:
Look at the three pictures on page 132. They show people trying to achieve a goal.
CANDIDATE A: Compare two of the pictures, and say what goals each person might have
and what they might need to do to achieve their goal. (1 minute)
CANDIDATE B: In which situation do you think the person might have to make the
greatest sacrifices? (approximately 30 seconds)

2 Group activities
For both candidates:
Look at the three pictures on page 133. They show young people taking part in different
activities.
CANDIDATE B: Compare two of the pictures and say why the young people might be
taking part in these activities, and how they might be feeling. (1 minute)
CANDIDATE A: Which of these activities do you think might develop a person’s character
most? (approximately 30 seconds)

Part 3  4 minutes
Positivity
For both candidates:
Look at the task on page 134. The task shows some activities that might contribute to people’s
sense of positivity and a question for you to discuss.
Talk to each other about the extent to which these activities might contribute to people’s
sense of positivity. (2 minutes)
Now you have about a minute to decide which of these activities requires the least effort.
(1 minute)

Part 4  5 minutes
For both candidates:
• Why do you think some people find it easier to be positive than others?
• Do you think that people can be taught to have a positive outlook on life? (Why?/Why not?)
• Some people think it is best to discuss their problems; others prefer to deal with them by
themselves. What is your opinion?
• In your opinion, is it easier for young people or older generations to be optimistic?
• Do you think the government has a role to play in maintaining people’s positivity?

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 44  |  Speaking  Part 1   Further Practice and Guidance  test 1

What’s tested?
In the Speaking paper, candidates speak together in pairs or occasionally in a group of three. There will be
two examiners: the Interlocutor, the examiner who asks the questions and gives you your tasks, and the
Assessor who will listen, take notes and award marks. The test takes approximately 15 minutes and is
divided into four parts.

Part 1 Conversation The interlocutor asks each candidate general interactional

about 2 between the some general questions, e.g. about where they are and social language
minutes interlocutor from/their occupation/their experience of
and each learning English, and some questions chosen
candidate from a range of general categories e.g. leisure/
future plans/travel.
Part 2 Individual The interlocutor asks each candidate to compare comparing, describing,
about 3 ‘long turn’ and talk about two pictures from a set of three. The expressing opinions,
minutes for each other candidate is then asked to make a brief speculating
candidate comment or give their response.
Part 3 Two-way The candidates are given spoken instructions and exchanging ideas,
about 4 conversation also written prompts, which are used in discussion expressing and justifying
minutes between and decision-making tasks. opinion, speculating,
candidates (dis)agreeing, suggesting,
evaluating, reaching a
decision through negotiation
Part 4 Discussion on The interlocutor asks the candidates questions expressing and justifying
about 5 topics related which develop and extend the theme of Part 3. opinion, (dis)agreeing,
minutes to the task speculating

For the Cambridge Advanced Speaking Assessment Scale, go to pages 126 and 127.

Part 1: General and Social

1 In this part of the test, you are required to demonstrate your ability to use general interactional and social
language and you will mainly be talking about yourself, your life and your experience. It is not a good idea to
prepare a fixed speech; it may not be a suitable response to the exact questions the interlocutor has asked
you, and your intonation will sound unnatural. However, you could make sure you are confident in using
some accurate and appropriate grammatical forms. Read the following examples and add two more
sentences which are true for you.
Your usual lifestyle/situation: Present Simple
I’m from Switzerland. I live in Ticino, which as you might know, is in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, and I
work in a bank, in the personal loans department. I don’t have much free time, but at weekends, I try to get out and
do some sport, either tennis or golf.
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Your temporary lifestyle/situation: Present Continuous

At the moment, I’m living in Oxford with a host family while I’m doing my English course.
I work during the day so I’m studying English part-time in the evenings.
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 test 1  Further Practice and Guidance Speaking  Part 1  |  45

Talking about a situation or activity which started in the past and is still true: Present Perfect
I’ve been learning English since I was 13. It was a compulsory subject in school, but in the last
few years, I’ve been having private lessons.
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Talking about experiences where the exact time isn’t important or mentioned: Present Perfect
Since I’ve been in Melbourne, I’ve visited loads of museums and galleries. Most of them were
quite interesting and the best thing is that they’re free. But I’ve also spent a lot of money on eating
out and going to clubs. I haven’t travelled outside of Melbourne yet – but I hope to.
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Talking about the past: Past Continuous, Past Simple, Past Perfect, used to
Before I came here, I was working as an assistant in a nursery school. I used to help the young
children with their reading, but after four years, I got a bit fed up with it. So, I decided to quit and
to learn English to get a better job. My friend Carina had already studied English in Dublin and
she recommended that I went to the same school. That’s why I’m here.
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Talking about future plans: going to/Present Continuous/will

After this course finishes, I’m going to hire a car and travel around Australia.(for plans/
intentions)
I’m starting work as soon as the course finishes.(arrangements)
I’m not sure what I’ll do … I think I’ll probably look for a new job.(uncertainty/spontaneous
decisions)
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Comparing
I think English is easier than French because French grammar is much more complicated.
In Barcelona, the bars and the cafés are open later than in the UK so I think the nightlife is better there.
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2 The interlocutor is likely to ask questions similar to those on page 42. With a partner, take
turns to be the interlocutor and the student. Ask each other the questions and use your
sentences above to help you. Try to respond from memory and don’t just read your
answers.

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 46  |  Speaking  Part 2   Further Practice and Guidance  test 1

Part 2: Talking about pictures

In this part of the test, you are given three pictures and you choose two of them to talk about.
The interlocutor asks you to compare your chosen pictures and respond to two questions.
You are able to see these questions above the pictures.
In order to respond to Part 2 tasks, you need grammatical structures and vocabulary that
enable you to compare, express your opinions, describe and speculate.
Comparing
DO NOT SAY , for example,

‘This picture shows a politician who looks a bit annoyed. This picture shows a boy who looks calm. ’
DO SAY ‘Compared to/Unlike the politician, the boy looks slightly/a lot/ much calmer’

‘The man here seems to be rather annoyed, whereas/but the boy looks quite calm in comparison.’
They’re both in potentially stressful situations but the difference is that the boy looks calm and
the man seems much more annoyed.

Expressing your opinion

DO NOT SAY ‘Let me think about that … ’ and hesitate for too long.

YOU CAN SAY ‘Let me think about that’ but then quickly add ‘Well, in my opinion ... ’ , ‘I’d guess
that … ’ , ‘I imagine that …’

Describing and speculating

DO NOT SAY ‘He addresses a group of people. ’ ‘He plays a game of chess. ’

DO SAY ‘He’s addressing a group of people. ’ ‘He’s playing a game of chess. ’

DO NOT SAY ‘ ... in the top left hand corner … ’ ‘ … in the top picture of this page … ’

DO SAY ‘ … this man seems/appears to be responding to a question ... ’

‘He looks rather annoyed … as if someone just asked a difficult question.’
‘He looks quietly confident … I think he might/could/must have just realized how to win the
game.’
DON’T SAY , if you can clearly see something, e.g. a chess board ‘This might be a game of chess.’

DO SAY ‘There are other chess players behind the boy so it must be some kind of chess
championship … perhaps it’s somewhere in Russia because I know this game is quite popular there.’
DON’T SAY ‘That’s all.’, ‘I’ve finished.’

DO remember that there are no right or wrong answers to the questions, so continue to
speculate about the pictures until the examiner stops you. In this way, you can demonstrate a
greater range of vocabulary and structure.
Using the highlighted language forms above, practise Part 2 ‘Achieving Goals’ and ‘Group
Activities’ on page 43. Take turns to be the interlocutor and the candidate.

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 132 | Speaking Part 2 TEST 1

Test 1 Part 2
Achieving goals
• What goals might each person have?
• What might they need to do to achieve their goals?

FPO

FPO

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 TEST 1 Speaking  Part 2 | 133

Test 1 Part 2
Group activities
• Why might the people be taking part in these activities?
• How might the people be feeling?

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 134 | Speaking Part 3 TEST 1

Test 1 Part 3
Positivity

taking exercise learning new skills

To what extent might

these activities
contribute to people’s
sense of positivity?

maintaining practising spiritual

relationships beliefs

pursuing a hobby

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