CELPIP Speaking Task 4: Making Predictions

CELPIP Speaking Task 4 Sample Answer: Boy About to Run into a Woman Carrying Popcorn in a Movie Theatre Lobby

The speaker predicts what happens after a boy runs toward a woman carrying a huge bucket of popcorn. The challenge is building a believable sequence with reasons, and including the other people in the lobby.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

Same as Task 3

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 4 practice picture: Boy About to Run into a Woman Carrying Popcorn in a Movie Theatre Lobby

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 in the theatre lobby, where a boy in a green jacket is running straight at a woman carrying a huge bucket of popcorn and a drink.

Plan (60 sec)

Set-up: the boy is running fast, and the woman's hands are full.
Prediction 1: he'll run into her, and the popcorn will fly everywhere.
Prediction 2: her drink may spill on her red coat and the carpet.
Prediction 3: the worried man, probably his dad, will hurry over to apologize and offer to buy her a new popcorn.
Prediction 4: a staff member will come with a broom to sweep it up.
Close: "The boy will have to walk, and they'll all go see the movie."

Useful vocabulary

run into, knock, spill, scatter
apologize, replace, sweep up, calm down

Phrases

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

Avoid

Re-describing the whole lobby; focus on future events.
Predictions that ignore the boy, the woman and the popcorn.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

I'd say we're about one second away from a popcorn explosion. The boy is running full speed and laughing, and the woman has both arms wrapped around that giant bucket, so there's no way either of them can stop in time. He'll most likely slam right into her, and the popcorn will go flying in every direction, raining down on the starry carpet. Her drink will probably pop its lid and splash down the front of her red coat. The man on the right, who I assume is the boy's father, will rush over, mortified, apologizing over and over and offering to pay for the coat to be cleaned. He'll almost certainly march the kids, including the girl in pink, over to the counter to buy her a fresh popcorn and drink, and give them a stern talk about running indoors. Meanwhile, the woman with the broom by the claw machine will sigh and get to work, because she's clearly got a lot of sweeping ahead of her.

168 words

Why it scores high

Vocabulary: "a popcorn explosion", "raining down on the starry carpet" and "mortified" are lively, precise choices that make each prediction easy to picture.
Content/Coherence: the events follow naturally, from the crash to the father apologizing to "a stern talk about running indoors" and the cleanup.
Task Fulfillment: the speaker includes almost everyone, even "the girl in pink" and the woman who has "a lot of sweeping ahead of her", with clear reasons.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

I think in a second, the boy in the green jacket is going to crash right into the woman in the red coat. She's holding the popcorn with both arms, so she can't move out of the way. The popcorn bucket will probably fly out of her hands and spill all over the carpet, and her drink might splash on her coat. The boy will probably fall down, but I don't think he'll be hurt. The man on the right, who looks like his dad, will rush over and say sorry to her many times. Then I think he'll buy her a new popcorn and drink at the counter. After that, the woman with the broom by the claw machine will come and help clean up the mess.

128 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: the reason "She's holding the popcorn with both arms, so she can't move out of the way" links the prediction directly to the image.
Vocabulary: "crash right into", "spill all over the carpet" and "rush over" are natural, but "say sorry to her many times" could be more expressive.
Task Fulfillment: the father, the counter and the woman "by the claw machine" are all included, though the girl in pink is left out of the prediction.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

I think the boy will run into the woman with popcorn. He run very fast and she cannot move. The big popcorn will fall on the floor and the drink will spill too. The boy will fall down maybe, but he will be okay. The man with the gloves is maybe his father. He will come and say sorry to the woman. Then the father will buy new popcorn for her. And the lady with the broom will come and clean the floor.

83 words

What holds it back

Task Fulfillment: the sequence is complete, from the crash to the father buying "new popcorn" and the lady with the broom cleaning, but reasons are brief.
Listenability: "He run very fast", "The boy will fall down maybe" and "the lady with the broom" are understandable, but grammar slips break the flow.
Vocabulary: words like "fall", "spill" and "say sorry" are simple; "The man with the gloves" is a weak way to identify a person in the picture.

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