Help with FCE Speaking

Part 3
In FCE Speaking part 3 you and your partner have to discuss a situation, which
may be a little more abstract than the kind of thing you are used to talking about.
ere is an e!ample"
i'd like you to imagine that a school is planning to invite some people to come
and speak to the students about healthy living. Here are some dierent
people they could invite.

#he visual prompt shows"
a chef
a doctor
a personal trainer in a gym
a rock climber
an athlete
a farmer
a dentist
First! talk to each other about what these dierent people could tell students
about healthy living. "hen decide which two people students would ind it
most useul to listen to.
#he first thing to do is to try and make a brief comment about each picture, and relate each person
to the first part of the task. For e!ample"
#$ Shall I start$ %ell, this is a chef, in a restaurant kitchen. e could talk about the
kinds of food that are healthy, and those that we should avoid.
%$ &es. 'nd this is a doctor. e is obviously an e!pert when it comes to health, so
he could talk about how we can prevent certain illnesses, by paying attention to our
diet, taking e!ercise and so on.
#$ #his guy is in a gym. I suppose he is some kind of personal trainer. e would be
able to talk about the best way to e!ercise if you want to build up your muscles, for
e!ample.
%$ 'nd this is a rock climber. e must be very fit, so he(d be able to talk about how
he prepares for a climb.
#$ 'nd the athlete too, could talk about his daily routine, what food he eats before a
race and so on.
%$ #he farmer is an e!pert on food production, so he(d be able to tell the students
about how crops are grown, the treatment of animals and so on.
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#$ 'nd finally, the dentist could talk about dental hygiene, how to avoid tooth decay
and that sort of thing.
)'t this point, the two candidates have talked about all the parts of the visual prompt, and have
talked for about *+ seconds, or half the allowed time. ,ow candidate - switches the focus to the
second task..
%$ So, we have to choose the two people that students would find it most useful to
listen to. %hat do you think$
#$ %ell, we should remember that these are students. #hey don(t necessarily want
to become professional athletes. I think there(s a big difference between being
healthy and being an athlete.
%$ So you don(t think the school should invite the athlete$ /on(t you think it would
be more motivating for them to listen to someone who is maybe famous, or at the
top of their chosen profession$
#$ %ell, maybe, but I think a doctor or dentist could give them more practical
advice, which would be more useful.
%$ %hat about the chef$ /o you think he would be interesting to listen to$
#$ e might be interesting, but I(m not sure that he(d be able to give them much
information about healthy living. I don(t think chefs are very healthy0
%$ 'nd farmers these days are more interested in making money than our health.
1erhaps the school should invite the doctor, to give some general information about
having a healthy lifestyle, and the athlete, or personal trainer, to talk about how to
become super2fit.
#$ &es, I think that would be a good choice.
's you can see, our two imaginary candidates began by briefly commenting on each
picture in turn. #o do this they would have taken appro!imately *+ seconds, or half the
allowed time of 3 minutes. #hen candidate - re2directed the discussion by changing the
focus of the discussion to the second 3uestion )remember that the 3uestions are printed at
the top of the visual prompt.. It is not necessary to agree with your partner, but the
e!aminer will be looking for evidence that you can put forward your ideas, 4ustify your point
of view and agree or disagree with appropriate politeness.
Finally, notice how many e!amples of conditional structures are used by the two
candidates )5he could talk about6, 5it would be more motivating6 etc.. #hese occur naturally
when we are talking about a hypothetical situation.
International House La Spezia
Via Manzoni 64, La Spezia Via P.Gori 32, Sarzana
T.: 00390187732771 00390187620830
F.: 00390187732880 00390187603965
E.: ihspezia@cdh.it ihsarz@tin.it
VAT: 01339190116
www.internationalhouselaspezia.com