In part two of the Cambridge first certificate speaking exam you must speak
alone for one minute. Oh! Sounds difficult right? No it's not. If you know what to do.
My name is Toby, I am a Cambridge speaking examiner. This is smash English
and here is how to pass part 2 of the Cambridge FCE speaking exam!
So what do you need to do? Well part two is four minutes long if you have one
partner or six minutes long if you have two partners. Normally you will only have
one partner but in some circumstances you could have two. The examiner will
give you two pictures, you must then talk about the pictures and answer a question
about them. You have one minute to do this. Then your partner must answer a
question about the pictures. This is usually about 30 seconds but it can be
less. So, are you ready to begin? Oh my god we're starting already? I'm so
not ready for this! No way! Monica, here are your photographs, they show
people playing different sports. I'd like you to compare the photographs
and say what you think the people are enjoying about playing these sports. All
right? Umm like in the first picture there's a woman and she's playing golf
but somebody call the fashion police! Hello!? Where are the fashion police!? What
is she wearing? It's like a pink top but with shorts in
the summertime like, oh my God that's so not even in season like why don't you
bring a bikini or like beachwear? It's a nice day, I can see the sea so why isn't
she on the beach? What is she doing playing golf? Eww golf! In picture 2 it's
different because they're men and not women (or a woman sorry plural!)
and one of them is wearing orange and the others are wearing white and there playing
basketball and they're all chasing the ball trying to put it in a little hoop.
That's what you do in basketball! Yeah... Thank you.
And Bruce, which of these sports would you prefer to
play? Basketball. Hmm, thank you. So let's look at Monica's answer. Well,
the woman in the picture is playing golf, so that's good but most importantly
Monica did not answer the question. Please make sure you answer the question.
If you don't, top marks are impossible. Remember describing pictures is the B1
Cambridge Preliminary speaking exam. For b2 you must understand the pictures,
understand the concepts, and then use them to answer a question. Do not
describe. Answer the question only. Monica, have another go but this time answer the
question! All right? Yeah well she's playing golf
and she's all on her own so this woman really likes being on her own. And also
she really likes nature because when you play golf you're like in the nature and
it's all green there's a bit of sand and stuff like that and you're under the Sun
so maybe it's a really sunny day so she went outside to play golf and she likes
golf because she can be in the Sun you know? This was already so much better
because Monica is answering the question. But of course we can still improve. Do we
know why this woman is enjoying playing golf? Well we are not that woman and I
have no access to her brain because she is in a picture, so no we don't know. This
means that we need to speculate!
This means we need some modal verbs must, could, may, might, can't, all of these modal
verbs are used for speculation. We use must for positive certainty. We are sure
something is true. We use can't for negative certainty. We are sure something
is not true. We use could, may and might for uncertainty. We do not know for sure.
The question is in the present continuous,
so to speculate about actions in progress we use modal verb plus "be" plus
the gerund. For example: why is that man laughing? Well he might be listening to a
funny podcast. Why is she running? She might be exercising or she could be
late for her bus. Instead of "she is playing golf because it's a relaxing
sport" we could say "she could be enjoying golf because it's a relaxing sport".
Instead of "she likes being alone" we could say "she might like being alone".
Remember, "like" is a stative verb so we cannot use this verb in a continuous
tense. So let's look at the second picture again. Here we can see people
playing basketball. It's a team sport so they might be enjoying playing
basketball because they like team sports. They are playing against other people so
they also could like the competitive aspect of the sport. They are wearing
sports uniforms and they are in front of a crowd so they must be playing
professionally because they are dressed in uniform and playing in front of a
crowd so they may be having fun because they are making money,
So then Monica have another try 30 seconds answering the question picture 2.
Yeahm totally, in the second picture they're playing basketball and
basketball is like a competitive sport against another team so they might be
enjoying it because they're really competitive people. And also you're
working in a team so they could be enjoying it because they really like
working with other people they like teamwork. And also they're wearing
uniform (mmm... uniforms) so they must be playing professionally. So they could just enjoy
making the money, you know, everyone's gotta make money right? haha!
And there we go. That was fantastic! Oh my god, um, hey, you're pretty cute you
know that right? Thanks, you're too kind. Now Bruce, I have not forgotten about you.
After your partner has spoken about their two pictures you will be asked a
question related to the topic or to the pictures. You were asked a question
related to the pictures "which sport would you prefer to play?", and you gave a
one-word answer: "basketball". No, Bruce. No. Instead, when you are asked what you
prefer and you are given the choice between two things why not use a second
conditional? Show them your grammar power! ...and I said grammar power... You can do this
every single time. For example, if I have to choose I would say basketball because
I don't like golf. Well if I had to choose I would say basketball because it
is more fun than golf for me. Happy? And what do you prefer? Going out with
friends or staying in with friends? Huh? Nah mate, I ain't got any of them...
Shut up! Brilliant... Of course. Now Bruce, here are your photographs. They
show people eating in different places. I'd like you to compare the photographs
and talk about why you think the people have chosen to eat in these places.
All right, so in the first picture I think they might be in the living room
because I can see a sofa. Urrr, they they must be a family, there's a little boy, there's a
mum and a father, probably, eating pizza. I think they chose this
because it's, urrr, relaxing, it's convenient, yeah. In the, urrrr, in the second
picture I think they must be in a restaurant
becuuse I can see the plates and it's all nice. They might be friends and
They chose to eat here because it's a way to get together. They can
talk about their lives. And urr, yeah, it's nice. Thank you. And Monica, do you like
eating in restaurants? Oh yeah yeah! Totally! I love going to restaurants like
every Friday I go to this great pizza place with my friends and I always get a
margarita. I get a really big one! I eat loads of it and then I feel sick!
and it's really great and I love going there! So yeah I totally love eating in
restaurants. That wasn't bad but of course we can still improve. Let's begin
though looking at what Bruce did well. So Bruce did the speculating fairly
proficiently. He was speculating about where they were, who they were, but his
question was different to Monica's. Monica's question was talking about the
present. Why are they enjoying playing these
sports in this very moment. Bruce's question, on the other hand, is
asking us to talk about the past. Why HAVE the people chosen to eat in these
places. That means we need to use past modal's of deduction.
Grammar power! yeah! So similar to Monica's question, we do not know why
these people chose to eat in these places. This means we need to speculate
about the past. This means past modal's of deduction.
Must, could, might, may, can't, and couldn't plus "have" plus the past participle. Again,
must is used for certainty. We are sure something happened. Could, may, and might
are used for possibility. We are not sure. Can't
and couldn't are used for negative certainty. We are sure something did not
happen. For example, the grass is wet, it must have rained. Alice is late,
she could have missed her train. Tom is on holiday, you can't have seen him at
the party. Or for this question "they might have chosen to eat here because it
is convenient they wanted to relax and spend some quality time together" So
Bruce, I want you to talk about the second image again but this time use
modal's to speculate about the present in the image and then answer the
question using past modal's to talk about why
they have chosen to eat in these places. Alright, alright, so, in this picture I can see what
might be friends. They are eating food in a, well, it must be a restaurant
because I can see other people sitting at the tables, I can see a nice spread on the
tables with glasses and I think they could have chosen to eat in this place
because it's a it's a way to go out it's a way to change your routine maybe they
haven't seen each other in... wait! They might not have seen each other in a while
and now they're just errr, talking, yeah. And Monica, your answer. It was fine but there was too much present
simple. We want to avoid the present simple because it's simple. So here are
some ideas to answer simple questions in a complicated way about whether you like
something or not.
A "do you like" question is an easy opportunity to insert some more complex
grammar. One way to complicate things is to use a zero conditional starting with
"it depends". Do you like exercising? Well, it depends.
If I can exercise outside I enjoy it, but I hate exercising inside. Do you like
fish? Well, it depends. If it is cooked well
then yes but I don't like sushi. Do you like English? Well, it depends. If I am
watching SMASH English then it is fantastic if I am not I feel really sad.
Another really easy trick: use "used to". We use "used to" to talk about past habits
and routines: something that was true in the past but is not now. Do you like
exercising? Well I used to when I was young but now I don't have time. Do you
like fish? Well I used to hate it when I was young
but now I love it. Do you like English? Well I didn't used
to, but now I have found SMASH English it is my life! Remember, your answers don't
have to be true. Just use the grammar when you can. But of course, SMASH English
is great yeah it really is. Let's try your question again then.
Monica, do you like going to restaurants? Well it like, depends, because if I'm
going with someone that's a totally lame then no, I don't like it. But if I'm
going with some others like really handsome,
is a great teacher and speaks really good English then I really love it...
You know what? I can't do this! I can't do this! This is stupid
I ain't doing this. You're idiots!
So now you can pass part two of the Cambridge First Certificate Speaking
exam by ONE: answering the question. TWO: speculating about the present to answer
the question. THREE: Speculating about the past to answer the question. FOUR: Using a
second conditional to talk about your preferences. FIVE: using a zero
conditional to talk about what you like. And SIX using "used to" to talk about what
you like. You can reuse these grammar structures at different stages in the
speaking exam. And with that, we are finished. Now you know how to pass part
two of the Cambridge First Certificate Speaking exam. If you liked the video
don't forget to SMASH that like button, click subscribe, leave a comment down
below. My name is Toby and this was SMASH English
yeah...