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...
