PrepEx CELPIP

CELPIP-General preparation

CELPIP Speaking Task 4 Sample Answers: Making Predictions

Three original Making Predictions examples with playable audio, full transcripts and analysis. Practise CELPIP Speaking Task 4 with varied situations.

Reviewed October 2, 2026

What Task 4 asks you to do

Link each plausible next action to a visible clue. Possibility is different from certainty.

Preparation: 30 seconds. Response: 60 seconds.

These three original study answers vary the situation and reasoning. They are unscored teaching examples. Try each prompt before listening, then identify how the response meets its audience and purpose.

What happens to the luggage?

A rainy station entrance. A woman in a blue coat holds a folded umbrella in the foreground. A man reaches towards the upper of two stacked suitcases, which is leaning. A worker in a yellow vest cleans the wet entrance. Travellers stand under the canopy in the background.
Station entrance

Original study prompt

Look at the picture and explain what you think may happen next and why.

Listen to the model response · 120 words · 60-second task window

Transcript

The traveller beside the suitcases will probably steady the upper bag, because it is leaning and someone is already reaching towards it. The man may then put that suitcase on the ground rather than leave the bags stacked. Near the doorway, I expect the worker to continue cleaning the wet floor as more passengers arrive. The rain and umbrellas suggest that people will keep bringing water inside. Some of the people under the canopy might wait until the rain eases before leaving the station. Others may open their umbrellas and walk out sooner. Those are possible next steps, rather than events we can know for certain. The luggage and the wet entrance seem likely to attract the most immediate attention.

What to notice

  • Each prediction has a visible basis: leaning luggage, a reaching hand or the wet entrance.
  • Different degrees of certainty appear in 'probably,' 'may' and 'might.' The response does not describe guesses as facts.
  • The two possible choices under the canopy show realistic alternatives, not a single invented outcome.

Revision to practise: After 'The suitcase may fall,' add the clue and a plausible intervention: someone is already reaching to steady it.

Making room for the plank

A bright community workshop. A woman in a green apron measures a wooden shelf at the front table. A man carries a long plank through the doorway. Another adult moves a stool out of his path. At the back, two people examine a drawing beside stacked boards.
Community workshop

Original study prompt

Look at the picture and explain what you think may happen next and why.

Listen to the model response · 127 words · 60-second task window

Transcript

I think the person moving the stool will clear a path so the man can bring the long plank fully into the workshop. Once he has enough room, he may put it on a table or alongside the other boards. The woman measuring the shelf will probably check the measurement before marking the wood, since she seems to be working carefully rather than rushing. At the back, the two people looking at the drawing might decide which board they need next. They could then help with the plank that is arriving. The shared materials make that a reasonable possibility, although the image doesn't tell us their exact plan. I expect the work to continue in stages, with people coordinating so they don't get in one another's way.

What to notice

  • The main prediction follows from an action already beginning: clearing the path.
  • The response separates probable immediate actions from a less certain shared project.
  • It avoids assuming a particular finished object or an accident that the image does not support.

Revision to practise: Support 'They will work together' with the visible drawing, stacked boards and incoming plank.

Responding to the weather

A park beside a pond. A picnic blanket and open basket are in the foreground, with a person resting a hand on the basket lid. A child holds a red ball on the grass as an adult reaches towards them. A stopped cyclist is beside the path. Dark clouds appear over the trees.
Park picnic

Original study prompt

Look at the picture and explain what you think may happen next and why.

Listen to the model response · 126 words · 60-second task window

Transcript

The picnic group may begin packing up, because the dark clouds suggest that rain could be approaching. The person beside the open basket might close its lid to protect the food. The adult beside the child will probably ask for the ball or guide the child back towards the blanket. That would keep the group together while they decide what to do. The cyclist might ride away along the path, or stay briefly to speak to the people nearby. There isn't enough detail to know which. If the weather gets worse, the group could look for shelter away from the pond. I wouldn't assume that the picnic is definitely over, though; they may simply be putting things away while waiting to see whether the clouds pass.

What to notice

  • Clouds support a weather possibility, not a certain storm.
  • The open basket and the person beside it support a possible action to protect the food, not proof that packing up has begun.
  • The response explicitly limits the cyclist prediction and avoids inventing a dangerous outcome.

Revision to practise: Qualify a prediction when the clue is weak: 'The cyclist might leave, but the picture doesn't show their intention.'

Make the next response your own

Keep the communicative purpose, but change the details you would naturally use. Practise the revision suggested after each example. Then record within the task window and check your actual audio for clarity and flow; a written transcript alone cannot establish listenability.

Format and assessment references

Task times and teaching focus were checked against the official 2026 Speaking Pro guide and official performance examples on October 2, 2026. PrepEx examples and annotations are independently authored study material; no official score or endorsement is implied.

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