CELPIP® Speaking Task 4 sample: Babysitting in a Basement Playroom

Making Predictions · Preparation: 30 seconds · Response: 60 seconds · Published 23 October 2026

Original practice questions in CELPIP® task formats, created independently by CELPIP Study.

Practice question

Predict what will happen in this playroom during the next few minutes. Give reasons based on the children's actions and the objects around them. You have 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak.

View from the stairs across a basement playroom in Sherbrooke on a rainy March afternoon; through a high window, show rain and melting snow at ground level outside. Two friends babysit five children. Centre middle ground: Felipe, a man around thirty in green, sits smiling on a low chair with an open picture book containing only illustrations. Centre foreground: an impatient seven-year-old girl in purple raises her hand toward him. Left foreground: an excited four-year-old boy in red pushes a toy truck directly toward a tall block tower. Left middle ground: a concentrated six-year-old girl in yellow adds a block to that tower. Right middle ground: Jordan, a man in his twenties wearing blue, anxiously balances a tilted snack tray containing apple slices and a cup sliding toward its edge. Right foreground: a grinning three-year-old boy in orange reaches toward an open tub of soapy bubbles tipping near a low table's edge. In the background, a concerned nine-year-old girl in pink stands beside a partly open cupboard overflowing with board-game boxes; one box tilts outward. Use unmarked toys and clothing, with no readable characters or branding.

Model answers

These are transcripts of a model response, provided for comparison with your own recording.

Level 7 sample answer

122 words

I think the boy's truck might knock down the block tower because he's pushing it straight toward it. The girl building it could get upset, so Felipe will probably ask the boy to stop. Um, Jordan needs to level his tray because the cup is sliding. He might put the tray down before helping anyone else. The little boy in orange could spill the bubbles if he keeps reaching toward the tipping tub. One of the adults will need move it back from the edge. At the back, the girl in pink might catch the game box or ask for help before it falls. The girl with her hand up will probably have to wait while Felipe deal with the other children.

Why this answer is at level 7

This level 7 example makes relevant predictions and explains them using visible clues. Compared with the stronger answers, it moves through events more like a list, uses simpler vocabulary, and contains grammatical slips that interrupt otherwise clear phrasing.

He might put the tray down before helping anyone else. — Content/Coherence: This gives Jordan a sensible sequence of actions. However, the answer mostly handles each incident separately. A higher-level answer would connect his next action to the nearby bubble tub and explain how the babysitters might share responsibility.
The girl building it could get upset — Vocabulary: The wording clearly predicts the tower builder's reaction, but get upset is fairly general. A higher-level answer would use more precise language for the children's reactions and the adults' responses while keeping the prediction natural.
One of the adults will need move it back from the edge. — Listenability: The intended action is easy to understand, but need move is missing to. The later wording Felipe deal also disrupts grammatical flow. A higher-level answer would maintain accurate verb structures throughout, making the spoken explanation easier to follow.
I think the boy's truck might knock down the block tower because he's pushing it straight toward it. — Task Fulfillment: This directly answers the prediction prompt and supports the likely collision with the truck's direction. A higher-level answer would sustain this clear link between evidence and prediction while organizing the competing incidents into a more connected account.

Level 9 sample answer

155 words

The most immediate problem may be the snack tray. Since Jordan is balancing it anxiously and the cup is sliding, he'll probably level it and put it down before it spills. He could then move the tipping bubble tub away from the table's edge, because the toddler is reaching directly toward it. On the other side, the truck is heading straight for the tower. Unless someone intervenes, it will probably knock some blocks down, upsetting the girl who's still building. Felipe may pause the picture book to redirect the truck, leaving the impatient girl in purple waiting a little longer. At the cupboard, the older girl's concerned expression suggests she's noticed the outward-tilting game box. She'll likely steady it or call for help. Both friends will have their hands full, so I expect them to divide their attention, settle these immediate problems, and then return to the book and snacks once the room is calmer.

Why this answer is at level 9

This level 9 example combines clear priorities, supported predictions, and controlled sentence structures. The gap to the top example is modest: the stronger answer explains practical dependencies more explicitly and finishes with more concrete conditions for returning to normal play.

The most immediate problem may be the snack tray. — Content/Coherence: The opening establishes a priority, giving the response a stronger organizing idea than a simple tour of the room. The higher-level example develops this further by explaining how freeing Jordan's hands enables his next intervention.
Unless someone intervenes, it will probably knock some blocks down — Vocabulary: Intervenes expresses adult involvement efficiently, while unless makes the collision conditional. This is more flexible wording than the simpler example uses. A higher-level answer would sustain that precision through the conclusion, which here refers broadly to settling problems.
Felipe may pause the picture book to redirect the truck, leaving the impatient girl in purple waiting a little longer. — Listenability: The sentence smoothly connects Felipe's action with its consequence for another child. A higher-level answer would make the emotional consequence equally explicit, helping the listener understand why the raised hand matters.
return to the book and snacks once the room is calmer. — Task Fulfillment: This supplies a plausible outcome for the next few minutes and reconnects the predictions to the ongoing activities. A higher-level ending would identify concrete conditions for resuming them, such as Jordan having a stable tray before distributing snacks.

Level 11 sample answer

165 words

Several small incidents are developing at once, so the babysitters will probably need to divide their attention. Jordan's first move should be to level the snack tray: with the cup already sliding toward its edge, setting it down promptly is more likely than carrying it much farther. Once his hands are free, he may steady the tipping bubble tub before the toddler's reaching hand sends it over. Across the room, the truck's direct path toward the tower makes a collision likely unless Felipe or the girl building it intervenes. Felipe will probably interrupt the picture book to redirect the boy, although that may frustrate the girl whose hand is already raised. In the background, the nine-year-old seems likely to support the protruding game box or ask an adult to help return it to the crowded cupboard. Over the next few minutes, I expect play to pause while these problems are resolved. The book can then resume, with snacks distributed once Jordan has a stable tray.

Why this answer is at level 11

This level 11 example builds a connected forecast around the babysitters' priorities and available hands. Precise vocabulary, varied sentence structures, and carefully qualified predictions explain both the likely incidents and how the room could return to calmer activity.

Several small incidents are developing at once, so the babysitters will probably need to divide their attention. — Content/Coherence: This opening establishes the central problem linking the whole scene. The following predictions develop that idea through Jordan's sequence of actions and Felipe's competing demands, giving the response a clear organizing thread.
support the protruding game box — Vocabulary: Support names a precise preventive action, and protruding identifies the box's dangerous position in the crowded cupboard. The wording communicates the physical situation efficiently and supports a plausible prediction about the older girl's response.
Once his hands are free, he may steady the tipping bubble tub before the toddler's reaching hand sends it over. — Listenability: The sentence clearly signals sequence, action, and possible consequence. Its structure helps the listener follow why Jordan must deal with the tray before helping at the bubble tub, while may keeps the prediction appropriately uncertain.
The book can then resume, with snacks distributed once Jordan has a stable tray. — Task Fulfillment: The ending predicts a concrete outcome beyond the immediate hazards. It brings the book and snacks back into the forecast and makes snack distribution depend on resolving the unstable tray, maintaining the connection between prediction and visual evidence.

What moves an answer from 7 to 9 to 11

These are model answers written to show each level. The labels are practice estimates, not examiner scores.

Connect each prediction to visible evidence. Explain plausible next events and use language of likelihood instead of presenting guesses as facts.

Content/Coherence: Level 7 models communicate the main ideas; level 9 models develop relevant details with clear connections; level 11 models sustain precise, well-integrated development.
Vocabulary: Compare adequate everyday wording with more varied, accurate choices at level 9 and flexible, precise expression at level 11.
Listenability: Higher-level delivery needs clear pronunciation, rhythm, intonation and controlled pauses. Transcripts suggest phrasing and organisation, but cannot demonstrate these audio features; a recording is needed.
Task Fulfillment: Compare how fully the response addresses the request, develops enough relevant detail and maintains an appropriate tone for the audience within the task limits.

Assess the criteria together. A longer answer or rarer words alone do not establish a higher level.

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