CELPIP Speaking Task 4 — Making Predictions

Task 4 uses the same picture Task 3 described and asks what happens next. That reuse is the official exam’s, not a shortcut of ours; the scenes below are the Task 3 scenes.

30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to speak. No pausing, no second take.
Predict, do not describe. The description was the last task.
Every scene has one unresolved thing in it. Find it first.

The prompts

All 24 of them, the same pool the app draws from.

1 Look at the picture below. It was taken a moment ago at a food drive. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that room, and why you think so.

A food drive at a community centre: two volunteers sorting donated cans into boxes at a long table, a family carrying full bags in through the double doors, a third volunteer opening another table at the back, and a small child struggling with an oversized cloth bag while a loose can rolls across the floor in front of her. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

2 Look at the picture below. The move is still going on. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next on that sidewalk, and why.

Moving day outside an apartment building: two movers carrying a couch up the open ramp of a rented truck, the lower one stepping towards a stack of boxes left on the ramp, a child holding a potted plant on the front steps, an older neighbour watching from a balcony with a cup, and the driver leaning on the cab looking at his phone. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

3 Look at the picture below. The bus has not stopped yet. Describe what you think will happen next at that bus stop, and explain what makes you think so.

A winter morning at a school bus stop: three children in snow gear on top of a snowbank and one of them shaping a snowball, a parent scraping ice off a windscreen with the engine running, a second parent fixing the scarf of a fourth child, a dropped mitten in the snow, and the yellow school bus arriving from the right with its lights on. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

4 Look at the picture below. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen in that store over the next few minutes, and why.

The checkout counter of a small hardware store: a clerk cutting a spare key on a machine behind the counter, a customer setting two paint cans down near the edge of the counter with a roll of something under one arm, a second customer looking into an open drawer of screws on the wall, a dog waiting by the door with its leash looped over the handle, and rain on the street outside the window. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

5 Look at the picture below. Story hour is not over yet. Describe what you think will happen next in that room, and explain what makes you think so.

Story hour in a public library: a librarian on a low chair holding an open picture book towards five children on a rug, three of them listening cross-legged, one turned around laughing and one lying on his back, two parents talking between the shelves behind them, a third rocking a pram, and a returns trolley in the corner with a leaning stack of books on top. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

6 Look at the picture below. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that park, and why you think so.

A neighbourhood park on a summer afternoon: a six-a-side football game on the grass with the goalkeeper stretching for a high ball and one player on the ground, three adults on a picnic blanket under a tree with a dog pulling at its lead, and a vendor at an ice cream cart handing a cone to a child with two more people waiting in line. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

7 Look at the picture below. The market is still busy. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next at those stalls, and why you think so.

A farmers’ market on a Saturday morning: a vendor weighing tomatoes on a hanging scale while a customer holds out a cloth bag, a stack of apple crates on the next stall with one apple already resting on the edge of the top crate, a busker playing a guitar with an open case at his feet, a couple pushing a stroller between the stalls, and a dog tied to a post beside a table of jars. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

8 Look at the picture below. Nobody has been called in yet. Describe what you think will happen next in that waiting room, and explain what makes you think so.

A walk-in clinic waiting room in the evening: a receptionist behind a glass window handing a clipboard to a man leaning on the counter, four people waiting in a row of chairs with one of them holding a wrapped wrist and another asleep, a small boy pulling a magazine off a low table so the whole pile is sliding towards the edge, and a nurse standing in a doorway at the back holding a folder. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

9 Look at the picture below. It is getting dark quickly. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next at that campsite, and why.

A campsite beside a lake at dusk: two adults raising a tent with one corner still flat on the ground, a teenager carrying an armful of firewood towards a ring of stones, a child crouching at the water’s edge beside a canoe that has begun to drift away from the shore, and a picnic table with an open cooler on it and a raccoon at the far end of the table. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

10 Look at the picture below. The lesson has just started. Describe what you think will happen next at that pool, and explain what makes you think so.

A swimming lesson at a public pool: an instructor standing in the shallow end holding a float out to a child who is crouched on the wall about to push off, three more children sitting on the pool edge with their legs in the water, a lifeguard leaning forward on a high chair with a whistle, two parents watching from a bench behind a glass wall, and a wet-floor sign lying flat on the tiles where somebody has knocked it over. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

11 Look at the picture below. The judging is not finished yet. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that gymnasium, and why you think so.

A science fair in a school gymnasium: a girl standing beside a tall display board explaining her project to two judges with clipboards, a boy at the next table tipping a bottle over a tray as the liquid inside begins to foam up over the rim, a teacher wheeling a cart of extension cords down the aisle between the tables, and a row of parents watching from folding chairs along the wall. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

12 Look at the picture below. The afternoon’s work is only half done. Describe what you think will happen next in that backyard, and explain what makes you think so.

A backyard on an autumn afternoon: a man near the top of a ladder leaning against the gutter and reaching sideways for a handful of leaves, a woman raking a large pile of leaves that a small child is running towards with both arms out, a barbecue smoking with its lid open on the patio, and a wheelbarrow half full of leaves parked at the foot of the ladder. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

13 Look at the picture below. Nobody has boarded yet. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that departure hall, and why you think so.

A bus terminal departure hall in the morning: a uniformed staff member leaning over a counter and pointing the way for a traveller with a backpack, a family hurrying towards the doors with suitcases while the child they are pulling along looks back at a stuffed toy dropped on the floor behind them, an older man asleep on a bench beside his suitcase and a paper cup, and a cleaner pushing a mop bucket past a coach waiting outside the glass. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

14 Look at the picture below. The queue has not moved yet. Describe what you think will happen next in that pharmacy, and explain what makes you think so.

A pharmacy counter in the late afternoon: a pharmacist holding up a pill bottle to explain it to a customer who is cupping one ear to hear, two more people waiting behind a rail, an assistant kneeling to restock a low shelf, an older woman with her arm in a blood-pressure machine at a side table, and a small child pulling on the bottom shelf of a tall display stand so that the whole stand is tilting towards him. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

15 Look at the picture below. Nothing has been paid for yet. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next at that checkout, and why.

A grocery store checkout in the evening: a cashier waiting with one hand on the scanner while the customer in front of her searches through an open handbag with her groceries already bagged, three shoppers waiting in the line behind her, a small child on the rail of a cart reaching up towards a rack of chocolate bars while the shopper pushing it looks the other way, and a clerk pulling a chain across the next lane to close it. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

16 Look at the picture below. The delivery is not finished. Describe what you think will happen next in that lobby, and explain what makes you think so.

An apartment lobby on a rainy afternoon: a courier holding out a handheld device to a resident beside a loaded hand trolley with the top parcel pushed crooked over the edge of the stack, three more parcels left standing on the floor of the walkway, an older resident with a cane crossing the lobby with her eyes on the wall of mailboxes instead of the floor, a resident kneeling at an open mailbox with a handful of letters, and another coming in through the glass doors carrying a box with a lamp in it. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

17 Look at the picture below. The working day still has an hour to run. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that office, and why you think so.

An open-plan office in the afternoon: two colleagues at one desk looking at a blank monitor with a full mug standing half over the edge of the desk beside the elbow of the one who is pointing at the screen, three people at a blank whiteboard with one of them holding a marker to it, a woman walking down the aisle talking on a headset, a man carrying a box of desk things towards an empty desk, and a printer with a sheet of paper left sticking out of it. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

18 Look at the picture below. The class has only just begun. Describe what you think will happen next in that classroom, and explain what makes you think so.

An adult language class in a community centre on a winter evening: a teacher standing at a blank flip chart with a marker raised, six adult learners at tables with one of them putting a hand up, two of them sharing a single open book and one writing in a notebook, a coat rack and a coffee urn along the wall, and a late arrival standing in the open doorway with snow on her shoulders and a dripping umbrella, waiting to be noticed. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

19 Look at the picture below. Nobody has sat down yet. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that coffee shop, and why you think so.

A neighbourhood coffee shop in the middle of the morning: a barista holding a jug of milk under the steam arm of the espresso machine, a customer at the counter holding a card out to a reader, another customer carrying a tray with two cups and a plate down the aisle towards a seated man who is pushing his chair back into his path without looking, a woman at the same table watching him, and a person in a bicycle helmet coming in at the door. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

20 Look at the picture below. The work is not finished. Describe what you think will happen next on that street, and explain what makes you think so.

A sidewalk and pipe repair on a residential street in the morning: a worker kneeling at the edge of an open trench guiding a length of pipe down into it, a second worker standing on the heap of earth with a shovel, a third holding up a blank round stop paddle in the middle of the road, a cyclist riding up the road towards the works, and a parent pushing a stroller off the kerb into the road to get around the barriers on the sidewalk. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

21 Look at the picture below. The morning’s planting has only just started. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next in that garden, and why.

A community garden of raised beds on a spring Saturday morning: two adults kneeling at a bed setting seedlings into the soil, an older gardener tying a tall plant to a stake, a child crouching by another bed with a plant pot in her hands, someone walking up the path with a tray of seedlings, a wheelbarrow of soil left standing on the path, and a watering can overflowing under a running tap while the man who left it there stands with his back to it, talking. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

22 Look at the picture below. The tour has not moved on yet. Describe what you think will happen next in that gallery, and explain what makes you think so.

A school class in the picture gallery of a museum: a guide with one arm raised towards a large framed painting, three children on a bench in front of her with one of them putting a hand up, the teacher at the side of the bench counting them, an attendant standing in the doorway of the next room facing away, and a fourth child who has ducked under the rope around a display pedestal and is reaching out towards the vase on top of it. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

23 Look at the picture below. The skating session still has an hour to run. Tell the person you are speaking to what you think will happen next at that rink, and why you think so.

An outdoor skating rink in a park on a winter afternoon: two adult skaters gliding side by side arm in arm, an attendant pushing a wide snow brush across the far end of the ice, a man watching from outside the boards with a flask in his hand, a parent sitting on a bench pulling a skate lace tight with his head down, and a small child on a metal skating support frame gliding away from him towards the open gate in the boards. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

24 Look at the picture below. Nobody has finished yet. Describe what you think will happen next in that salon, and explain what makes you think so.

A small hair salon on a Saturday: a stylist cutting the hair of a client in a chair, a second stylist rinsing an older client’s hair at the backwash basin, a receptionist at the desk with a telephone to her ear, a child kneeling on an empty styling chair and spinning it round, and an assistant carrying a tall stack of towels that hides the floor from her, walking towards the cord of a hairdryer that is looped across the walkway. — Open the full-size picture (1120 px)

The app’s estimate is an estimate, and it is weakest at the top of the scale. The measured accuracy, both halves of it, is on the home page.

A prompt you have read is not a task you have answered. The app sets one, runs the real clock on it, and hands back a scored report in about five seconds.

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