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Practice Task 11 — An open-plan office packed with moving boxes

Task 8 · Describing an Unusual Situation — describe an unusual or hard-to-explain object or scene

Speaking Task 8Describing an Unusual SituationSPK-T8-11Intermediate
30s prepare · 60s speak

You have 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak. Describe the unusual thing to someone who cannot see it, and explain what you think is going on.

Listen to the task prompt. Two fixed voices: a female examiner and a male situation narrator.

Your office is full of boxes and nobody told you why. Describe it to a colleague.

An open-plan office packed with moving boxes.

CELPIP Speaking Task 8 scene: an open-plan office

Points to cover

  • • the boxes stacked on every desk and in the aisles
  • • the dark monitors and empty chairs
  • • why the office might be packed up

You get 30 seconds to prepare, then 60 seconds to speak. Everything here works offline — no AI needed.

  1. 1. Describe the unusual situation
  2. 2. Explain what is happening
  3. 3. Describe a possible cause
  4. 4. Explain the consequences
  5. 5. Suggest what should happen
  6. 6. Conclude

Sentence template

You won't believe what I've just seen. There's ___ right in front of me. It looks like ___, and ___. I'm not completely sure, but my guess is that ___. If that's true, it could mean ___. I think someone should ___. Anyway, I'll let you know if anything changes.