CELPIP Speaking Task 4: Making Predictions
Can you predict what happens next, using future forms and giving reasons?
A typical prompt
Look at the same market scene. One stall owner has just started packing up early while dark clouds gather overhead. Predict what will happen next and explain why.
The one thing that scores 9+
Pair every prediction with a reason ("…because/since…") and vary your future forms ("will", "is going to", "will be -ing"). The reason is the whole task — a prediction with a "because" is a 9; a bare "it will rain" is a 6.
A Band-9 sample answer
Original — written to show the technique, not to memorise. Raters penalise memorised, off-topic answers, so use it as a model for structure, then say your own.
I think it's going to rain very soon, because those dark clouds are moving in quickly. So in the next few minutes, the vendor who's already packing up will probably cover his produce with a tarp, since he won't want it to get soaked. The family walking through will most likely head for the shelter of the food truck, or they'll leave the market to reach their car before it pours. The musician will almost certainly stop playing and pack his guitar away, because an instrument like that can be ruined by water. And I'd guess the crowd will thin out fast — within ten minutes the market will probably be half empty, with the vendors who stay huddling under their awnings, waiting for it to pass.
What caps people at Level 7
- Describing the present ("a man is packing") instead of predicting the future.
- Predictions with no reason attached.
- Using only "will" — mix in "is going to" and "will be -ing" for range.
Practise this task
Reading a sample only gets you so far — you improve by speaking under the clock. Take the prep time, record your own answer on your phone, and compare it to the sample above and the level descriptors in our CELPIP score decoder. All 8 speaking tasks run in thefree CELPIP full mock, and the whole format is in theCELPIP format guide.