B2 First · Speaking · Part 2
Compare two photos and speak on your own for a minute against the clock.
Two photographs, one minute of uninterrupted speech, and a question printed above them that you must answer while comparing. Then a short question about your partner's photographs.
The instruction is *compare*, and this is where marks go missing: candidates describe each picture in turn and never put them side by side. Comparison language is the skill being tested — whereas, both, unlike, the main difference. And the minute is longer than it feels. Practise it against a clock, because the sensation of a minute alone is the part you cannot rehearse in your head.
No — and trying to is the classic mistake. You are comparing them and answering the question above them, not inventorying their contents. Detail matters only where it supports the point you are making.
Speculate. Why might these people be doing this, how might they be feeling, what might happen next — the task is designed to be extendable that way, and speculation language is explicitly rewarded. Stopping early costs more than a slightly loose sentence.
