A dialogue taken from a recent exam of Cambridge B2 Speaking Questions.

EXAMINER: Now am I going to give you two photographs. I want you to compare and answer a question about the set of photographs you are given. Then I will ask the other candidate a question related to your photographs, and vice versa. Kelly, here are your photographs. They show people experiencing two different types of holidays. I want you to compare the photographs and then tell me how you think the people are feeling in these different situations.

KELLY: Ok, in the first picture, I can see 3 people. In the foreground, there is a campfire and the people are huddled around this, roasting marshmallows. They are all in jumpers and are wrapped in blankets which suggests to me that the weather is cold. In the background, I can see lots of trees which probably means they are in the woods. The people look young, maybe around 22 years old. I think they feel really happy and relaxed. They seem to enjoy each other’s company. In the second picture, it is similar one way because there are also 3 people and they look young too. However, the type of holiday is completely different. In the foreground, I can see the people lying on sun loungers around a hotel pool and in the background I can see the big hotel building. It looks like a pretty luxurious hotel. The weather conditions are also different to the first picture. Here, I can see that the sun is shining. Like the first picture, the people here also seem to be feeling really happy and relaxed.

EXAMINER: Ok, so Laura, which one of these holidays would you prefer?

LAURA: I would prefer the second option. Mainly because I hate the cold weather. I went camping once and I didn’t really like it because there were lots of insects which I hate! The second holiday looks really relaxing with great weather so I would say that one.

EXAMINER: Ok. So Laura, now I’m going to give you 2 photographs. These ones show people eating in different ways. I want you to compare the photographs and tell me why you think the people have chosen to eat in these ways.

LAURA: Well, in the first picture, I can see 6 people gathered around in a garden. In the foreground, I can see that 4 people are eating burgers and different types of meat, whereas in the background, I can see two men cooking on a barbecue. This obviously suggests to me that the group of people is enjoying a barbecue. I think they’ve chosen to eat in this way because it looks like a really relaxed, friendly and comfortable atmosphere. It’s a cheap option too and just a good way to make sure you can talk to all your friends. Ok, so for picture 2, there is a group of people here too. I can see that they are in a restaurant, it looks like quite a sophisticated place. They are all drinking wine and I can see that most of them are eating steak. I can notice that the people are all in suits, so maybe they are all employees at the same company and this is a kind of business meeting. If that is the case, I can see why they have chosen to eat like this. It is good to be wined and dined and not to have to do any cooking like in picture one, it is necessary that they just concentrate on what they are talking about here.

EXAMINER: So Kelly, do you eat at restaurants a lot?

KELLY: Not really, as I mentioned before, I have two small children. So, it’s hard to go to a nice restaurant because they always want to run around and they would never want to sit still to eat their meals. I prefer to cook at home so I don’t have to worry about things like that. Besides, I love to cook.