CELPIP Speaking Task 7: Expressing Opinions

CELPIP Speaking Task 7 Sample Answer: Keeping Wild Animals in Zoos

The question asks whether zoos should keep large animals like elephants, polar bears and lions. A strong answer needs clear reasons and should admit the zoo side's points without losing its own position.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

90 seconds

Structure

Opinion, reasons, conclusion

The question

Answer the following question.

Question: Do you think zoos should continue to keep large wild animals such as elephants, polar bears and lions? Explain your reasons.

How to plan your answer

What they want

Give your opinion: should zoos continue to keep large wild animals like elephants, polar bears and lions? Explain why.

Plan (90 sec)

State your side clearly, e.g. "No, I don't think zoos should keep very large wild animals."
Reason 1: space; elephants walk many kilometres a day in the wild, but zoos give them small enclosures.
Reason 2: animal welfare; some animals show stress, like pacing back and forth.
Reason 3: alternatives; wildlife sanctuaries and documentaries can teach people.
Brief nod to the other side: zoos help endangered species through breeding programs, so smaller animals can stay.
Close by restating your opinion.

Useful vocabulary

wildlife, enclosure, captivity, natural habitat
animal welfare, endangered species, sanctuary, conservation

Phrases

"In my opinion,..."
"The main reason I feel this way is..."
"For example, when I visited a zoo,..."
"Some people might argue..., but..."

Avoid

Sitting on the fence; pick one side and stay with it.
Only general statements; give a realistic example.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

I don't think zoos should keep animals like elephants, polar bears and lions anymore, at least not in the way most zoos do now. The main problem is space. An elephant in the wild might walk twenty or thirty kilometres a day, and a lion's territory can cover hundreds of square kilometres. Even the best city zoo can only offer a tiny fraction of that, and you can see the result in animals pacing or swaying back and forth for hours. Then there's climate. Polar bears are built for sea ice, not a humid July afternoon in southern Ontario. I understand the arguments on the other side. Zoos do valuable conservation work, and seeing a real animal can inspire kids to care about nature. But that work can continue through breeding programs for smaller species, and through funding protection in the wild. For the largest animals, I think the answer is large sanctuaries, where they have room to behave naturally and people can still learn about them responsibly.

168 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: numbers like "twenty or thirty kilometres a day" and "hundreds of square kilometres" make the space argument concrete and convincing.
Vocabulary: "a tiny fraction of that", "pacing or swaying back and forth" and "Polar bears are built for sea ice" show precise, natural word choice.
Task Fulfillment: "I understand the arguments on the other side" leads to a real answer, conservation through "breeding programs for smaller species", so the opinion stays firm and fair.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

In my opinion, zoos should stop keeping large wild animals like elephants, polar bears and lions. First, these animals need a huge amount of space. In the wild, elephants walk many kilometres every day, and a zoo can never give them enough room. Many of them get stressed and start doing the same movement again and again. Second, the climate is often wrong for them. For example, polar bears are made for the Arctic, so a hot summer in a city zoo is really hard for them. Of course, zoos do some good things, like teaching children and protecting endangered species. But I think they can focus on smaller animals that can live well in a zoo. For the big animals, sanctuaries with lots of land are a much better option.

131 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: the answer moves clearly from space to climate to "Of course, zoos do some good things", ending with sanctuaries as the solution.
Vocabulary: "a huge amount of space" and "made for the Arctic" are clear, but "doing the same movement again and again" could be named more precisely.
Task Fulfillment: the speaker admits zoos help with "protecting endangered species", but the reply to that point is quick and lacks a concrete example.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

I think zoo should not keep big animal like elephant and polar bear. First, these animals need very big place. In nature, elephant walk many kilometre every day. In zoo the space is very small. Second, polar bear live in very cold place. In summer in zoo it is too hot for them. I see on TV one polar bear walking same place again and again. It look very sad. I know children like to see animal, but they can watch documentary. So I think big animal should live in nature or big sanctuary.

94 words

What holds it back

Content/Coherence: the two reasons, space and heat, are clear, and the TV memory of a polar bear "walking same place again and again" is a useful example.
Vocabulary: "big animal like elephant", "many kilometre" and "It look very sad" have plural and agreement errors that repeat throughout.
Task Fulfillment: the other side gets one line, "children like to see animal, but they can watch documentary", which is too thin to show a balanced view.

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