Speaking activities – tasks during exams

Below you will find examples of tasks for both the examiner and the examinee.L1/S/001

Part 1a– What’s your name? Can you spell it?– What do you do?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your wife/husband/ partner.[ you should cover these questions ]1. What does he/she do?2. What does he/she look like?3. Where did you meet her/him?

2) Tell us about when you learnt to drive.[ you should cover these questions ]1. When did you learn to drive?2. How long did it take you to learn to drive?3. Are you a good driver? Why?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your house/flat.1. How many rooms does it have?2. Describe the rooms that you have.3. Would you like to change your home?

2) Tell us about your best birthday.1. How did you celebrate it?2. Who celebrated it with you?3. What was the last party you went to?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your best friend.1. When did you first meet him/her?2. Where did you meet him or her?3. Why do you like him/her?/Why are you friends?

2) Tell us about the last trip you went on.1. Where did you go? Describe the place.2. Who did you go with?3. What did you do on the trip?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your hobby.1. How often do you do it?2. Where can you do this?3. How much money do you spend on it?

2) Tell us about your last summer.1. Where did you go?2. How did you get there?3. Would you go there again? Why?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your English course.1. How long was the course?2. How many students were on the course?3. How much homework did you have?

2) Tell us about your last visit to a shopping centre.1. What shops did you go to?2. What did you buy?3. How much did you pay?

Part 1b1) Tell us about the last time you went shopping.1. What did you buy?2. How did you pay?3. Do you like shopping? Why (not)?

2) Tell us about your plans for the weekend.1. How often do you go out? Where to?2. How often do you meet your friends?3. Where can people have fun in your / this town?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your meals.1. Say 5 things that there are in your fridge2. How often do you drink tea / coffee?3. What can you cook?

2) Tell us about your day at work.1. Is your job easy or difficult? Why?2. When do you have a break?3. What do you do after work?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your home town.1. How many people live there?2. Where can you spend your free time?3. What is there near your house?

2) Tell us about your parents.1. How old are they?2. How often do you see them?3. What do/did they do?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your favourite season.

1. Why do you like it?2. What do you usually do then?3. What clothes do people wear then?

2) Tell us about your plans for Christmas.1. What presents are you going to buy?2. What do you eat at Christmas?3. Do you like Christmas time? Why?

Part 1a– What’s your name? Can you spell it?– What do you do?

Part 1b1) Tell us about your office.1. What furniture is there?2. Is it large or small?3. What colour are the walls?

2) Tell us about your last party.1. Who did you meet?2. What did you eat?3. What did you wear?

Reading part of the exam

Below you will find the example of level 1 English exam, made available by the The Polish Armed Forces School of Languages (PAFSL), located in Łódź.Reading part consists of 3 tasks with a few texts assigned to each task.Task 1Read the texts and choose the correct answer a., b., or c..Text 1

I don’t want to keep my favourite photo in an album. I just want to have it in a beer mat! Why put a photo in a piece of plastic? Because when I put a glass of beer on it, I can see the photo. That is why I’m going to a specialist framing shop where they put photos on or in anything you want, for example, tea cups or T-shirts. The shop is located on York Avenue, about a mile away from Green Point station. It’s one in the afternoon and there is still a “Closed” sign on the shop door. I can’t believe it! Normally, all the local shops are open from 10 am to 6 pm every day. I’m standing there for a minute thinking what to do. Then I look inside and see a shop assistant in there. She waves at me and invites me to enter, so I push the door open. The woman is wearing flowery clothes – to me, she looks quite funny in them. She smiles at me and says that the shop isn’t closed – she’s just forgotten to change the sign. She explains it often happens to her as she’s a forgetful person. Then I tell her what I want: to cut a hole in a beer mat that I have with me and put a photo in it. I know it’s a little strange but each framing shop has a machine which cuts holes in plastic, wood and even metal. The woman looks at the photo and mat and says the machine can’t do that. It’s because the mat is too small and the machine can stop working if it cuts such small holes. I can’t argue with her because she definitely knows a lot about the machine. I don’t have bigger mats at home. I don’t know what to do. I look around the shop and I can see big mats on the shelf. I think people buy them because they’re not expensive – just $5. But I’m not sure if I want to get a new mat. So I tell her I’ll think about it. Before I leave I ask her when she has lunch. “At 2 pm I have lunch in the restaurant across the street,” she says. It means she must close the shop for about 30 minutes. This is the information I need because I won’t have to wait for her outside the shop, if I decide to come back of course.1. At 1 o’clock the man is …

A. in the shopB. at the stationC. on York Avenue

2. The woman often …A. forgets thingsB. smiles at clientsC. wears funny clothes

3. There is a problem because …A. the mat is not the right sizeB. the machine does not work wellC. the woman can’t operate the machine

4. The man …A. can bring a bigger mat from his houseB. decides to buy a new mat in the shopC. must think what to do about the mat

5. In the end, the man wants to know …A. what time she has a breakB. when she finishes workC. where she eats lunch

Text 2

One day our friend, Mary, found a dog on a busy street. The dog had a broken leg and needed help. Because she is an animal lover, she took him to a veterinary clinic, and paid $1,200 out of her own money to help sick dog. She wanted to find the owners of Bud, as she called him, but she couldn’t. Soon Mary got a new job where she spent long hours. That’s why she couldn’t keep Bud. At the same time we were looking for a dog because ours was 13 years old. We knew we were going to lose her soon. So Mary asked us if we wanted Bud and we took him. It was an adventure to begin with. He was one year old at the time and unfortunately he had to stay in one room because of his broken leg. We couldn’t take him outside beacause he was ill. We had to change bandages twice a day for two months. We got him in the middle of February, and in April Bud felt OK and could run around the house. Then there appeared a problem – he made our house dirty. Why? Bud just didn’t want to go for walks! It was really difficult for us to train a fourteen-month-old dog. At first we tried on our own. We bought him tasty pet food and put it outside but that didn’t work. So we went to an obedience course where professional trainers helped us with our problem. Now it’s easy to take Bud for walks – he loves it so much that he doesn’t want to come back home!

1. Mary didn’t want the dog because she didn’t …A. like animalsB. have moneyC. have time

2. When we got Bud …A. he was feeling OKB. our dog was very oldC. he could run around

3. There was a problem because …A. Bud didn’t come back homeB. Bud didn’t want to go for walksC. professionals couldn’t train Bud

Task 2Read the 5 stories below and then decide which statements below describe the stories in the best way. Only 5 statements are true. Put the story number next to the corresponding letter.

The woman doesn’t see the sign at first.     _________ AThe child wants some food.                   _________ BSomeone’s playing Chopin’s music.            _________ CThe woman sees some men in the last car.     _________ DThe woman gives some money to a poor person. _________ EThe man has a break because he is tired.     _________ FThe man is saying goodbye to his wife.       _________ GEverybody must have a short break.           _________ HThe child doesn’t listen to the woman.       _________ IThe man and woman are going on a trip.       _________ J

 

Story 1

Fernanda is in the departure lounge. Her mother is flying back to Rome today. There’s a couple sitting nearby. The man is in a pilot’s uniform. The woman looks very elegant. Both seem to be in their 60s. Fernanda goes to gate 46 to get her

mother a better seat. The flight attendants are talking about something. “It’s his last flight,” one of them says. “He is retiring tonight! Taking his wife to Rome for the occasion.” Fernanda understands that they are talking about the pilot and his wife. She rushes back to tell her mother about it.

 

Story 2

Julie is travelling by Delhi subway. It’s incredibly crowded today. She goes to the end of the train hoping there won’t be so many people there. She’s right. The last car is not very crowded. Julie sits, looks around and notices something strange. There are only women in the car. There is not one man in sight. And then she sees a sign. It says “Women Only” and explains that between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. the first and last car of each train is reserved for women. “Wow! Perhaps I should move to India,” she thinks.

 

Story 3

Sarah Hyder is walking along Oakland Street. Suddenly, a girl comes up to her and asks her for a quarter. Sarah has only a five-dollar bill, so she takes the girl to a corner store and offers to buy

some chocolate bars and candy. The girl doesn’t want any sweets, but asks for a loaf of bread and some cottage cheese. Sarah buys the food and asks: “Do you go to school?” “Sometimes,” the girlsays.

Story 4

On my third day in Japan, I go to a swimming pool. I get into the water and start swimming back and forth. From time to time I stop to

let faster swimmers go past me. I start to relax fully, but suddenly I hear a whistle. I ignore it and

keep on swimming, but a woman taps me on the shoulder. “Rest now,” she says. I look at her

surprised. And then I notice that everybody is getting out of the pool. It is rest time for everybody. Every hour, all swimmers take a ten-minute break. It doesn’t matter that you’ve just arrived or you don’t need to rest.

 

Story 5

I’m having lunch in the lobby and listening to Chopin’s music. There’s a piano, but … there’s no player. The instrument is programmed and its keys are going up and down all by themselves. Suddenly, a 4-year-old kid appears in front of the piano and starts to bang on the keyboard. A waitress comes and tells the boy to stop. “No!” he yells and keeps on banging. Finally the waitress politely tells the boy’s mother that kids are not allowed to touch the instrument.

 

Task 3Read the following texts and decide whether sentences 1-7 are true (T) or false (F).Text 1

I want to tell you about my hobby. I like to ride motorbikes. I have a 900cc Kawasaki Ninja. It is very fast. I know that riding a motorbike quickly is dangerous but sometimes I can’t help it. I just love going fast. It is so exciting. I learnt to ride when I was in the army. At that time I used a 125cc bike which was not fast and was quite small.

When I learnt to ride a bike I already had a car licence. I got it 3 years earlier after my second test. That is why learning to ride a bike was much easier. I passed my bike test first time and was very happy. But I did not have my own bike. I could not enjoy my new licence. It was a year before I bought my own motorcycle.

The bike I bought was a 600cc Suzuki. It was gold and could go more than 200 km per hour. This was a lot faster than the 125cc army bike on which I learnt. It was great!! I used to take it around the small country roads. I had to be very careful because sometimes there were sheep or cows on the road.

Today I drive a car to work every day. But whenever I have some free time I ride my bike for pleasure. I think it’s really exciting.

1. The writer likes to go fast. T / F2. The writer took his car driving test twice. T / F3. The writer’s first bike was a 125cc Suzuki. T/ FText 2

Driving a car is very important for most people. Most families have a car and some have two or three cars. We use them for many things. For example to get to work, do shopping or go on holiday. In Poland people drive on the right, but in Britain people drive on the left. I am English and it was a big change for me when I came to Poland.

I have lived here for five years, but people still ask me what it is like to drive on the other side of the road. Well, today it is natural for me. But five years ago it was a different story. You have to look the other way at stop signs and remember to use your right hand to change gears. Now, after five years, I feel strange when I drive in Britain.

However, the greatest problem is at night when there are no other cars on the road. At this time, you can forget to drive on the right and start driving down the left-hand side of the road. This is of course very dangerous. You quickly change your position when a car comes towards you.

Today Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and Great Britain are the only countries in Europe that drive on the left, but there were many more. People in Sweden, for example, once drove on the left. But in 1967 they changed to the right. Why do Britain and Ireland still drive on the left? Well, the biggest problem is cost. Just to change road signs would cost ₤750 million for example.

Driving on the ‘wrong’ side, left or right, is easy, so don’t be afraid. Take your car abroad and drive!

1. The writer first learnt to drive on the left. T / F2. For the writer, driving in Poland is still strange. T / F3. The biggest problem is when you are the only car on the road. T / F4. In the past people in Sweden drove on the left. T / FAnd now it’s time to check your performance. You will find the answer key below.

Test answer key

Task 11C   2A   3A   4C   5A   6C   7B   8B

Task 2Story 1 – JStory 2 – AStory 3 – BStory 4 – HStory 5 – ITask 3

1T   2T   3F   4T   5F   6T   7T

Level 1 Reading comprehension

Tekst 1The other day I was driving home after visiting my wife’s mother. The journey was very long and my wife and I were very tired. There were a lot of road works and it was difficult to drive. I stopped at traffic lights and waited for a green light. I looked in my mirror and saw there were no cars behind me. I thought this was strange, but then saw the bus sign. I was in a special lane for buses. I knew this was bad, but it was too late to change.When the lights changed I started driving. After only fifty metres I was stopped by the police. The policeman asked me if I knew why he stopped me. I, of course, knew and told him it was a mistake. He asked to see my driving licence, which I gave to him. I then offered my ID card, but he did not want to see it. The policeman told me I would get points on my license and it would cost me 100zl. I told him that we were not from this city and we were lost because of the road works.

The policeman asked where we were going. My wife told him the street and he gave us directions to it. He then gave me back my documents and told me to always look at road signs. We drove away happily.

1. At first, the driver did not see the …a) road worksb) red lightc) road sign2. The driver offered …a) some of his moneyb) his driving licencec) his identification cardTekst 2I want to tell you about a live rock concert I went to. I bought tickets to see Radiohead. The group is my wife’s favourite and I wanted to get her something special for our anniversary. As I was not a regular concert goer I was very excited. I did not know the music well but was happy to go with my wife. Over the next couple of months I listened a lot to their music and discovered I liked it a bit, well enough to go anyway.When the big day came, we drove to Poznan where it was and had a great afternoontogether. Finally we went to the concert. We were both very excited and listened happily to the warm-up band which was a very good German group. Then Radiohead came on stage. The first two songs were brilliant. In the middle of the third song, my mobile phone rang. I thought it was my boss, but it was my brother-in-law. He said my dog had eaten a rubber ball and could not breathe.We left the concert and drove very quickly to my brother-in-law’s house where we got our dog and took him to a 24-hour veterinary hospital. Luckily the vet was able to take the ball out and the dog was fine. I thought it would be expensive but it was not and I was relieved. On the way home we listened to radio reports of the concert and people said how great it was. We were glad our dog was okay, but upset that we missed the concert. We finally got home again at 4 o’clock in the morning.okay, but upset that we missed the concert. We finally got home again at 4 o’clock in the morning.

3. The writer bought tickets because  …a)   he often goes to concerts

b)   it was a special occasionc)   he was a fan of the group4. The writer left the concert because …a) his brother-in-law was illb) his dog had a problemc) his boss called him5. On his way home, the man was unhappy about …a) his sick dogb) the missed concertc) the veterinary costsTekst 3Today many people use the internet to keep in contact with their friends and family. I use it to keep up to date with all my friends around the world. You do not even need to be next to your computer to let your friends know what you are doing. Many people use their mobile phones to write emails. It means they can keep in regular contact, which is good. However this is often complicated as the buttons are very small and usually messages take a lot of time to write. It can also be strange, as people often send very uninteresting things.Generally though, the internet is a great way of keeping in touch with friends and family. You can check for new messages at anytime. Some people switch on their computers first thing in the morning before work. On the other hand a lot of people keep in touch with others while at work, between meetings. However, I prefer to have a relaxing and fun end to the day. That is why I read my messages at home.

6.   The writer thinks people write …a) too many thingsb) boring thingsc) complicated things7. The writer checks his messages  …a) after workb) during workc) before work

Zadanie 2Przeczytaj historie na następnej stronie i zdecyduj, które stwierdzenia umieszczone poniżej najlepiej przedstawiają ich treść. Tylko 5 stwierdzeń jest prawdziwych. Wpisz w pole numer historii od 1. do 5. [Read the stories on the following page and decide which statements below illustrate the stories best. Only 5 statements are true. Put the story number in the right blank space.]

The shopkeeper helped the animal.   _________  AThe client wanted to buy some alcohol.   _________  BThe man died in a hiking accident. _________  CThe driver’s partner helped the dog.   _________  DThe man serves in the navy. _________  EThe dog ran into the shop.     _________  FThe shop assistant helped find a dangerous man. _________  GThere is a problem with one of the workers. _________  HThe man died of shock. _________  IThe man paid for the operation.  _________  J

Story 1 Story 2

I was on holiday in Atlanta. It was scorching hot. I was driving when I saw a small black dog on the side of the road. I thought he’d been hit by a car and I was right. I decided to help him. I know injured dogs can be unpredictable, but I carried him to my car and took him to a vet. I didn’t know what the dog’s name was. However, the next day the vet called him ‘Blacky’ and said his leg was completely broken. I couldn’t pay for the operation or face putting him to sleep; he was so sweet. When I strokedhim he often pushed his head into my hands. Luckily my girlfriend covered all the costs and adopted him. Blacky got the care he needed and a loving permanent home.

John visited a historic site in Texas with his friends. He asked one of them, Bob, to take his photo while hiking. As Bob took the photo, he screamed and fell to the ground. Then 2 days later Bob died inhospital. The doctors said he’d had a heart attack. No one knew why. The answercame when his familylooked at the photos. In the last photo there was a woman in a white dress standing next to John – it was a ghost! However, John and friends said there was no one there when the photo was taken. OnlyBob saw the ghost at the time. He was so shocked that his heart stopped beating.

Story 3

A man walked into a shop with a gun and demanded all of the cash. After the shopkeeper put the cash ina bag, the robber saw a bottle of whisky on the shelf. He told the shopkeeper to put it in the bag, butshe said, ‘You must be over 18 to buy alcohol’. The robber said that he was, but the woman refused tobelieve him. So the robber took out his driving licence and gave it to her. She examined it and saw that the man was really over 18 and she put the whisky in the bag. The robber then ran from the shop. The shopkeeper immediately notified the police and gave the name and address of the man that she had seen on his licence. Police arrested the robber 3 hours later.

Story 4

Michael Brown was 50 and started a second career. However, he couldn’t get to work on time. Every day he was 10 or 15 minutes late. He was a diligent worker, so his boss didn’t know how to deal with this problem.Finally, one day he called Michael into the office for a talk and said: ‘Michael, I have to tell you, you do a top class job, but you’re always coming late and it is quite a worry.’  Michael replied: ‘Yes, I know that, sir, and I am working on it’. The boss was happy to hear that and asked: ‘You’re a team leader. You shouldn’t come late. I know you worked in the navy. What did other workers say when you came late there?’ ‘They said nothing as I was their boss’ answered Michael.

Story 5

One day my dog Barky and I were walking to the local shop. Suddenly a big black dog appeared and wanted to attack Barky. I looked for the owner but there was no one around. Barky panicked and started running away towards the busy road and almost got killed. It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to get Barky off the road. Fortunately, a butcher came out of his shop and ran out onto the road. He hit the black dog so hard it went off into the distance. I thanked the man for his courage. Barky returned back to normal after a few weeks. He is alive thanks to that brave butcher.

Zadanie 3Przeczytaj poniższe teksty i zdecyduj, czy zdania od 1. do 8. są prawdziwe (T) czy fałszywe (F). [Read the sentences below and decide whether sentences from 1. to 8. are true (T) or False (F).]Tekst 1It was a sunny and windy day. “Perfect day for sailing,” Sarah and Mark said. Sailing is their new hobby. They spend each weekend on the water. This time they invited me to go sailing with them. I thought: “Why not? The lake looks calm, I’ll sit down and sunbathe for

a while.” But I didn’t have a chance to do so.  As soon as I was on the boat, I wasn’t sure the weather was “perfect”. The wind was very strong. The boat was rocking wildly and I didn’t feel well. I thought it was dangerous and became very scared. I told my friends to bring me back to the shore. They left me there and continued sailing without me.The place was nice and full of people. I didn’t want to go home yet so I spent some time watching others. I looked with interest at one couple. Everybody had special clothes, but this man and his girlfriend  were wearing jeans and sneakers. They were both a little fat. At first I thought they were amateurs. But then they went towards a small boat. They started preparing the boat for sailing. I watched them as they were working for about an hour. They clearly knew what they were doing. Finally the man put on his life jacket. He  started sailing while his girlfriend stayed on the shore.

I already knew that the wind was very strong so I was worried about the man in his small boat. I could easily see his red sail. All the other sails were white. After no more than 5 minutes on the water, he came back to the shore. In quarter of an hour, the couple packed their things into small boxes. Then they put the boxes into the boot of their car and left.

“People are strange,” I thought. “So much work for just five minutes of fun!” But then I saw a police boat coming towards the shore. Behind it, there was my friends’ boat without its sail. Their boat had turned over. They lost all their things in the water and were completely wet and very cold. I felt some respect for the man with the red sail. He knew sailing in bad weather could be really dangerous.

1. The writer relaxed and sunbathed on the boat.                T F2. The writer changed her opinion about the two sailors.   T F3. The couple packed their  things in 5 minutes.                   T F4. The man with the red sail did the right thing.                  T F

Tekst 2In December 2006 the first polar bear was born in Berlin zoo in over 30 years. He was named Knut and Germany soon fell in love with him. Knut’s mother didn’t want to look after her little son. So Berlin zookeepers soon became Knut’s “parents”. Knut became famous all over the world. He was even on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine.But all good things come to an end. Knut is no longer a sweet little baby. Now he is an ordinary grown-up polar bear. He’s still beautiful and zoo visitors are crazy about him, but journalists have found another star. Now Germany has a new mascot, Emmi, a one-week-old rhinoceros in the northwestern town of Münster. The little rhino’s mother, Jade, put her baby into a corner and ignored it. Zookeepers knew that Jade had already killed two of her babies before. This time she just pushed her baby aside and gave it no milk. So they took little Emmi away after four minutes.

The zookeepers are going to be very busy looking after the little rhino. The baby already weighs 58 kilograms and drinks gallons of milk a day. “Emmi is resting under two heating lamps. We must be with her all the time. One night I sleep with Emmi, another night it’s somebody else’s turn. Physical contact is important for these animals. They must feel somebody is close to them. Without it, they fall ill,” says one of the zookeepers.

5. Knut was the first polar bear born in Berlin zoo.    T F6. Knut still has his fans.       T F7. Jade tried to kill Emmi.       T F8. Someone must be with the rhino at night.     T F

Answer key:Zadanie 11C   2C   3B   4B   5B   6B   7A

Zadanie 2Story 1 DStory 2 IStory 3 GStory 4 HStory 5 A

Zadanie 31F   2T   3F   4T   5F   6T   7F   8T