CELPIP Tips: Speaking Task 4
Task #4 requires test-takers to look at the same picture that they described in the previous task, however, this time you’ll be making predictions of what you imagine will happen next!
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While Task #3 asked candidates to use present continuous tense to describe what is happening in the picture, Task #4 will ask you to use future tenses as well as your imagination to predict what will happen next.
First, let’s look at some examples of the 4 future verb tenses. You will be primarily using future simple tense in this task, but there will be opportunities to use a combination of the other future verbs tenses as well.
Future simple: “The boy in the bright green shirt will fasten his helmet and get on his bicycle.”.”
Future continuous: “The boy in the bright green shirt will be removing his helmet when his brother walks towards him.”
Future perfect: “The boy in the bright green shirt will have removed his helmet by the time his brother has reached him.”
Future continuous tense: “The boy in the bright green shirt will have been removing his helmet while his brother is walking towards him.”
You may also use modal verbs such as might and could to express degrees of possibilities or to express different possibilities.
For example, “If the woman walks towards the little girl and boy, they might ask her for some treats to feed the dog, or she could ask them if they want a turn riding their brother’s bicycle.”
Now, we’ll look at a sample answer for Task #4 using the same picture we looked at for Task #3!
Speaking Task 4: Making Predictions
In this picture, what do you think will probably happen next?
Preparation: 30 seconds
Recording: 60 seconds
”After the boy has taken off his helmet, he will join his brother and sister who are playing with the dog. The older looking boy on the left will remove his baseball cap and hand it to his father. Then he will put on the yellow helmet and hop on the bicycle and ride it around the park.
The mother will follow the children who are playing and running with the dog, while the father will keep an eye on the boy who is riding his bike.
The dog will grab his dog toy which looks like a bone and will bring it back to the little boy and girl. One of them will grab the bone from the dog’s mouth and will throw it ahead of them. The dog will go running to fetch the bone and the children will run after the dog.
The mother will remind the children to take turns and will ask the boys to let their sister throw the bone this time. It looks like a hot and sunny day, so the parents will take the children and dog to the water fountain so that everyone can have a few sips of water to stay hydrated.”