CELPIP Speaking Task 4: Making Predictions

CELPIP Speaking Task 4 Sample Answer: Beach Ball About to Knock Nachos out of a Man’s Hands at an Outdoor Concert

The speaker predicts what happens after a beach ball flies at a man holding nachos. The challenge is giving a believable chain of events with reasons from the picture, not just one obvious crash.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

Same as Task 3

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 4 practice picture: Beach Ball About to Knock Nachos out of a Man’s Hands at an Outdoor Concert

In this picture, what do you think will most probably happen next?

How to plan your answer

What they want

Predict what will most probably happen next at the outdoor concert, where a big beach ball is about to hit a man in a lawn chair holding a full plate of nachos and a drink.

Plan (60 sec)

Set-up: the ball is flying right toward him, and his hands are full.
Prediction 1: it will knock the plate out of his hands, and nachos and cheese will land on his shirt and the grass.
Prediction 2: his drink may spill on the woman in the sun hat.
Prediction 3: whoever threw the ball will run over to apologize.
Prediction 4: he'll laugh it off, wipe his shirt, and go to the food truck for more nachos.
Close: "The band will keep playing, and the party will go on."

Useful vocabulary

knock out of, spill, splash, land on
messy, wipe off, laugh it off, food truck

Phrases

"I think the first thing that will happen is..."
"As a result,..."
"After that,..."

Avoid

Re-describing the whole concert; focus on future events.
Predictions that ignore the ball, the man and the nachos.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

Judging by where that ball is heading, I'd say the man's nachos are about to be history. He's sunk down in a folding chair with his hands full, so there's no way he can dodge it. The ball will most likely smack right into the tray, sending chips, cheese and salsa flying all over his Hawaiian shirt, and his drink will probably tip over into his lap. The woman beside him, who's already ducking, will let out a shriek and might lose her sun hat in the process. The two girls with the popcorn will burst out laughing, and the ball will bounce off toward the little girl in the headphones, who'll probably chase it across the blankets. A few seconds later, I imagine someone from the crowd will jog over, apologizing, to collect the ball. Once the shock wears off, I think the man will see the funny side, wipe himself off and head straight back to the food truck for a second order.

165 words

Why it scores high

Vocabulary: lively phrases such as "about to be history", "sunk down in a folding chair" and "sending chips, cheese and salsa flying" make each prediction vivid.
Content/Coherence: the events unfold in time, from the hit to the ball bouncing toward the girl, someone jogging over "A few seconds later", then the trip back to the food truck.
Task Fulfillment: hedges like "will most likely", "will probably" and "I imagine" sound like real predictions, and the speaker covers several people from the picture.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

I think in a second, the beach ball is going to hit the man right in the plate of nachos. Because he's sitting in a low lawn chair, he won't have time to get out of the way. The nachos and cheese will probably go all over his Hawaiian shirt, and his drink might spill on his pants too. The woman next to him will scream and jump back, and her sun hat might fall off. The two girls on the green blanket will start laughing, and the little girl dancing might run over to grab the ball. I think the man will be upset for a minute, but then he'll laugh and go to the food truck to get more nachos.

122 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: the reason "Because he's sitting in a low lawn chair, he won't have time to get out of the way" connects the prediction to the picture.
Vocabulary: "go all over his Hawaiian shirt" and "jump back" are clear and natural, though phrases like "get more nachos" stay at an everyday level.
Task Fulfillment: several people react, including the girls laughing and "the little girl dancing" grabbing the ball, but no one in the crowd is shown coming to collect it.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

I think the beach ball will hit the man with nachos. The ball is very close and he cannot move because he sit in chair. The nachos will fly and fall on his shirt and on the grass. Maybe the drink fall too. The woman with white hat will scream. The two girls with popcorn will laugh very much. Then the person who throw the ball will come and say sorry. Maybe the man will be angry first, but then he will go to food truck and buy new nachos.

90 words

What holds it back

Task Fulfillment: the predictions follow a sensible chain, from "the beach ball will hit the man" to buying "new nachos", but each event gets only one short sentence.
Listenability: "he cannot move because he sit in chair", "Maybe the drink fall too" and "the person who throw the ball" keep slipping out of the future tense.
Vocabulary: "laugh very much", "fly" and "be angry" are basic; a word like "spill" or "duck" would make the scene easier to see.

These are original CELPass examples written at each level. The CLBs are our estimates, not official CELPIP scores. How we estimate CLB