CELPIP Speaking Task 4 Template: Making Predictions

Task 4 shows you the same picture you just described in Task 3 and asks what will happen next. You get 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak, and your listener still can't see the picture, so name each clue before you build a prediction on it. The picture changes every test. The reasoning move — evidence first, prediction second — does not, which is why a template helps here.

Treat this as a shape to fill, not a script to memorize. Your response is scored on Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Listenability, and Task Fulfillment, and a rehearsed answer that ignores the picture in front of you loses marks on all four.

The single thing that separates Task 4 from Task 3: Task 3 asks what is there, Task 4 asks what happens next. Describing the scene again is the fastest way to a low Task Fulfillment score.

The five-part structure

Sixty seconds total. If you run short, the fix is a third prediction, not a longer description.

Step 1 — Use the 30 seconds to find evidence, not words

Do not spend prep writing sentences. Spend it scanning the picture for details that imply a direction: things being carried, weather forming, doors opening, a line building, an expression on someone's face. Two details are enough.

One clue here is [visible detail], and I also notice [second detail].

Applied:

One clue here is how few shoppers there are, and I also notice that the crates at the front are completely full.

Step 2 — Make the main prediction with a strong future form

Lead with a full future form, not a hedge. Vocabulary marks come from range, so vary the form each time you predict rather than repeating "will" five times.

Based on [evidence], I'd expect [who] to [action] in the next [timeframe].

Applied:

Based on how full the crates are, I'd expect the vendor to be busy serving customers within the next hour.

One hedge per prediction sounds thoughtful. Three in a row — "maybe, possibly, I'm not really sure" — sounds like you have nothing to say, and it costs you both Content/Coherence and Vocabulary.

Step 3 — Chain a second prediction off the first

The second prediction should follow from the first, not sit beside it. Connectors do this work cheaply.

Once [first prediction happens], there's a good chance [consequence].

Applied:

Once the morning crowd arrives, there's a good chance those neat rows of fruit will start to empty.

If you cannot connect them, at least sequence them: after that, by the end of the day, further down the line.

Step 4 — Justify in one sentence

Say why the picture supports what you claimed. This is the sentence that proves you reasoned rather than guessed.

That makes sense because [what the evidence rules in or out].

Applied:

That makes sense because nothing seems to have been sold yet, and markets like this usually fill up as the morning goes on.

Step 5 — Close on the outcome, not a summary of the picture

Name where the situation ends up. Do not restate the scene.

Overall, I think this is [the situation], and the next thing to happen will be [outcome].

Worked walkthrough

Here is the whole process on one prompt, from a blank screen to a finished answer.

Prompt: You have just described this picture to a friend. Now tell them what you think will happen next. (The picture: diners at an outdoor restaurant patio on a summer evening, with a bank of dark storm clouds rolling in behind the rooftops and wind lifting the tablecloths.)

1. Read it for who, what, and the ask.
The task is what happens next, not what is there — so the answer has to reason forward from visible clues, never re-describe the patio.

2. Plan — notes only.
In your 30 seconds of prep, find two visible details that point forward — not words.

3. Turn each note into a line.

Evidence:

One clue here is the bank of dark grey clouds rolling in over the rooftops, and another is that the wind is lifting the tablecloths and pushing one of the big umbrellas sideways.

Main prediction:

Based on that, I'd expect it to start raining within the next few minutes; those clouds are heavy and low, and the light has already gone flat and grey.

Second prediction:

The first drops are about to hit, and once they do, there's a good chance the diners will grab their plates and hurry inside. After that, the staff are likely to start folding down the umbrellas.

Justification:

That makes sense because nobody out there is dressed for rain, and there's no cover over the patio apart from those umbrellas, which won't last long in this wind.

Closing:

Overall, I think this is the last calm moment before a summer storm, and the next thing to happen will be the patio clearing out in a hurry.

4. Read it back.

One clue here is the bank of dark grey clouds rolling in over the rooftops, and another is that the wind is lifting the tablecloths and pushing one of the big umbrellas sideways. Based on that, I'd expect it to start raining within the next few minutes; those clouds are heavy and low, and the light has already gone flat and grey. The first drops are about to hit, and once they do, there's a good chance the diners will grab their plates and hurry inside. After that, the staff are likely to start folding down the umbrellas. That makes sense because nobody out there is dressed for rain, and there's no cover over the patio apart from those umbrellas, which won't last long in this wind. Overall, I think this is the last calm moment before a summer storm, and the next thing to happen will be the patio clearing out in a hurry.

5. Check before you stop speaking.

• There are at least two predictions, and the second follows from the first.
• The future forms rotate — I'd expect, is about to, there's a good chance, are likely to, will — instead of repeating "will".
• Every prediction traces back to a visible detail (the clouds, the wind, the lack of cover), with one measured hedge each.
• The closing line names an outcome, not a re-description, and the content fills the full 60 seconds.

Full model answer

Prompt: You have just described this picture to a friend. Now tell them what you think will happen next.

This is the same market picture as the Task 3 template's model answer, just as the real test pairs Tasks 3 and 4.

One clue here is how quiet the market is. There are only one or two people in the aisles, and the crates at the front are still completely full, so the day seems to have only just started. Based on that, I'd expect it to get much busier within the next hour or so, as people come in to do their shopping. The vendor in the white shirt is going to be kept busy, weighing fruit and bagging it for customers. Once the crowd builds up, there's a good chance those neat rows of apples and grapes will start to empty, and he'll probably have to restock them more than once. By the afternoon, the stall is likely to look quite different, with gaps in the crates and much less choice. Overall, I think this is the calm before the rush, and the next thing to happen will be the first wave of shoppers arriving.

Timing check: ≈150 words ≈ 60 seconds at a calm pace, and this answer is about 155.

Why this scores well: every prediction traces back to something actually in the frame — the near-empty aisles, the full crates, the vendor waiting at his stall — and the future forms rotate through I'd expect, is going to, there's a good chance, will and is likely to instead of repeating one pattern. The second prediction follows from the first (more shoppers, so the crates empty), the hedging is measured, and no sentence simply re-describes the scene. The Task 3 answer already described the stalls, the awnings and the red cloth; this one only looks forward from them, which is exactly what separates Task 4 from Task 3. Because the listener still can't see the picture, each prediction names its clue first ("the crates at the front are still completely full") before building on it.

Model answer at two levels

Before you speak

• I have picked two concrete visual details as evidence
• My first sentence names evidence, not the whole scene
• I make at least two predictions, not one
• The second prediction follows from the first
• I used three or more different future forms
• Each prediction has at most one hedge
• I gave a reason the picture supports my prediction
• My closing line states an outcome, not a description
• I have enough content to fill the full 60 seconds

Common mistakes

• Re-describing the picture. This is the big one. Task 3 already scored your description; repeating it here reads as not having understood the task, and Task Fulfillment drops however fluent the English is.
• Predicting from nothing. A story invented with no visible support — a car crash, a lottery win — reads as filler. Every prediction should trace back to a detail in the picture.
• One future form on repeat. Ten sentences of "they will... they will... they will" caps your Vocabulary score. Rotate through is going to, is likely to, I'd expect, there's a good chance.
• Hedging into silence. "Maybe, possibly, I don't know, perhaps" strung together sounds uncertain rather than careful. Commit to the prediction, then soften it once.
• Stopping at 35 seconds. A single prediction rarely fills a minute. If you finish early, add a further consequence — what happens an hour later, or to one specific person in the picture.
• Present tense drift. Starting in the future and sliding into "they are at the beach" confuses the timeline and hurts Listenability. Stay forward-looking all the way to the closing line.

For five more Task 4 prompts to practise with, each with a short answer plan, see CELPIP Speaking practice questions.

The words you need for predictions like these are in the food and dining, travel and transportation and weather and seasons pages of the Collocations Kit, and the natural spoken phrases for CELPIP Speaking cover careful, natural ways to hedge.