CELPIP® Speaking Task 8 sample: The Recycling Flower

Describing an Unusual Situation · Preparation: 30 seconds · Response: 60 seconds · Published 23 October 2026

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

Practice question

You are at a recycling equipment display in Brampton. Emilio, who is organizing your community recycling event, has asked you to find a sorting station. You see an unusual one costing $55. Your budget is $60, and the available table is only 45 cm deep. Call Emilio, describe the object in detail in your own words, and ask whether you should buy it.

Model answers

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

Level 7 sample answer

120 words

Hi Emilio, I'm at the recycling display in Brampton. I've found something for our event, but it looks quite unusual. It's like a flower with three yellow mouths. They're oval and sit on short green branches around a green metal pole. Three clear tube run down into separate sections in a grey plastic base. You can see through the base. It's 60 centimetres tall, and the base is 40 centimetres across. Um, I think people put different recycling into the openings. It costs $55, so we're within our $60 budget. The base should fit on table because it's 45 centimetres deep, but we'd need to check the upper parts too. Should I buy it for the event? Thanks, talk soon.

Why this answer is at level 7

This level 7 answer gives Emilio a recognizable description, covers the price and dimensions, and asks whether to buy the sorter. Basic grammar slips, ambiguous wording about the table, and limited explanation of practical benefits keep it below the more precise and connected answers.

It's 60 centimetres tall, and the base is 40 centimetres across. — Content/Coherence: The dimensions are grouped clearly, helping Emilio picture the object's size. A stronger answer connects these measurements more directly to the available table space and distinguishes the base's footprint from the branches' reach.
It's like a flower with three yellow mouths. — Vocabulary: The flower comparison makes an unfamiliar object easy to imagine. The higher answers add more exact descriptive language, including the openings' oval shape within the comparison or their upward-facing orientation.
Three clear tube run down into separate sections in a grey plastic base. — Listenability: The route from the openings to the base is understandable, but the singular 'tube' after 'Three' interrupts an otherwise straightforward sentence. The higher answers use accurate plural forms and clearer descriptions of how the tubes connect to compartments.
The base should fit on table because it's 45 centimetres deep, but we'd need to check the upper parts too. — Task Fulfillment: This addresses the table constraint and sensibly flags the upper parts. However, 'it's' leaves the depth reference unclear. The higher answers explicitly relate the base measurement to the table depth and identify the projecting branches as the remaining concern.

Level 9 sample answer

156 words

Hi Emilio, have you got a minute? I'm looking at a strange recycling sorter at the display in Brampton, and it might suit our event. Picture a flower made partly of metal, about 60 centimetres tall, with three yellow oval openings instead of petals. Each opening sits on a short green branch coming off a central green column. Clear plastic tubes curve down from the openings into three separate compartments inside a translucent grey base. That arrangement seems intended to keep different materials apart. The circular base is 40 centimetres across, leaving five centimetres within our table's depth. We'd need to check whether the branches extend farther. At $55, it also leaves us $5 in the equipment budget. My concern is whether the openings would make the sorting choices obvious without an explanation. Still, the separate tubes could help people understand where everything goes. Would you like me to buy it? Let me know. Thanks, Emilio.

Why this answer is at level 9

This level 9 answer combines precise description with useful reasoning about separation, table space, budget, and sorting clarity. It develops the decision more fully than the level 7 answer, while the level 11 answer gives a more exact spatial picture and makes layout confirmation a clearer condition for spending.

That arrangement seems intended to keep different materials apart. — Content/Coherence: This connects the separate tubes and compartments to their likely purpose, moving beyond a list of features. The level 11 answer develops that connection further by explaining how visible tube routes could help participants understand the sorter.
Clear plastic tubes curve down from the openings into three separate compartments inside a translucent grey base. — Vocabulary: Words such as 'curve,' 'compartments,' and 'translucent' describe shape, structure, and material precisely. The level 11 answer adds finer spatial details, including the tubes curving around the column and the visible straight partitions.
Picture a flower made partly of metal, about 60 centimetres tall, with three yellow oval openings instead of petals. — Listenability: The invitation to picture a flower gives Emilio an accessible starting image. However, material, height, and opening shape arrive together. The level 11 answer keeps the opening image focused on structure and groups the height with the base measurement later.
At $55, it also leaves us $5 in the equipment budget. — Task Fulfillment: This makes the budget implication explicit and supports the purchase discussion. The level 11 answer goes further by linking the spending decision to confirming that the sorter suits Emilio's layout before using nearly the entire budget.

Level 11 sample answer

169 words

Hi Emilio, I'm calling from the recycling equipment display in Brampton. There's a sorter here that could work for our event, provided its upper section fits our table layout. Imagine a flower with a green metal column and three short branches holding upward-facing yellow oval mouths. Beneath each mouth, a transparent plastic tube curves around the column and feeds into its own compartment in a circular base. The base is translucent grey plastic, so the three sections and their straight partitions are visible. It's 60 centimetres tall overall; the base measures 40 centimetres across. That leaves five centimetres within the table's depth, although I'd need to check how far the branches project. The price is $55, just under our $60 limit. I can see the appeal: people could follow each tube visually, although we'd still need to explain which opening takes which material. It looks promising, but I'd rather confirm that it suits your layout before spending nearly the entire budget. Should I buy it? Thanks, Emilio. Talk soon.

Why this answer is at level 11

This level 11 answer builds a precise spatial picture and connects the object's features to practical decisions about fit, sorting instructions, and spending. Its clear progression and conditional recommendation give Emilio useful grounds for answering the final purchase question.

Beneath each mouth, a transparent plastic tube curves around the column and feeds into its own compartment in a circular base. — Content/Coherence: The description follows a clear route from each opening, around the central column, and into the base. This makes the relationship between the parts easier to reconstruct than a simple inventory of features.
Imagine a flower with a green metal column and three short branches holding upward-facing yellow oval mouths. — Vocabulary: The familiar flower image is supported by exact details about material, colour, shape, and orientation. 'Upward-facing' adds useful information about how the openings are positioned while preserving a natural conversational description.
I can see the appeal: people could follow each tube visually, although we'd still need to explain which opening takes which material. — Listenability: The conversational opening signals a move from description to evaluation. The benefit and remaining concern are linked clearly, helping Emilio follow the reasoning without having to infer how the visible tubes affect sorting.
It looks promising, but I'd rather confirm that it suits your layout before spending nearly the entire budget. — Task Fulfillment: This turns the earlier observations about fit and cost into a practical purchasing condition. Together with the final direct question, it gives Emilio a clear decision to make and explains why his confirmation matters.

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.

Help the listener picture the unusual object through its shape, material, size and arrangement. Use comparisons and spatial language, then complete the requested interaction.

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.

Answer this question and get your level