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Practice Task 19 — Smoke from an apartment building vent

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

Speaking Task 8Describing an Unusual SituationSPK-T8-19Advanced
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.

You see smoke coming from a building but nobody seems worried. Describe the scene.

Smoke from an apartment building vent.

CELPIP Speaking Task 8 scene: a city street beside a brick apartment building

Points to cover

  • • the grey smoke pouring from the wall vent
  • • the pedestrians walking past calmly
  • • what you think should be done

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.