Speaking activities – tasks during exams

Below you will find examples of tasks for both the examiner and the examinee.
L1/S/001

Part 1a
– What’s your name? Can you spell it?
– What do you do?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your wife/husband/ partner.
[ you should cover these questions ]
1. What does he/she do?
2. What does he/she look like?
3. Where did you meet her/him?

2) Tell us about when you learnt to drive.

[ you should cover these questions ]
1. When did you learn to drive?
2. How long did it take you to learn to drive?
3. Are you a good driver? Why?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your house/flat.
1. How many rooms does it have?
2. Describe the rooms that you have.
3. Would you like to change your home?

2) Tell us about your best birthday.

1. How did you celebrate it?
2. Who celebrated it with you?
3. What was the last party you went to?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your best friend.
1. When did you first meet him/her?
2. Where did you meet him or her?
3. Why do you like him/her?/Why are you friends?

2) Tell us about the last trip you went on.

1. Where did you go? Describe the place.
2. Who did you go with?
3. What did you do on the trip?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your hobby.
1. How often do you do it?
2. Where can you do this?
3. How much money do you spend on it?
2) Tell us about your last summer.
1. Where did you go?
2. How did you get there?
3. Would you go there again? Why?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your English course.
1. How long was the course?
2. How many students were on the course?
3. How much homework did you have?

2) Tell us about your last visit to a shopping centre.

1. What shops did you go to?
2. What did you buy?
3. How much did you pay?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about the last time you went shopping.
1. What did you buy?
2. How did you pay?
3. Do you like shopping? Why (not)?

2) Tell us about your plans for the weekend.

1. How often do you go out? Where to?
2. How often do you meet your friends?
3. Where can people have fun in your / this town?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your meals.
1. Say 5 things that there are in your fridge
2. How often do you drink tea / coffee?
3. What can you cook?

2) Tell us about your day at work.

1. Is your job easy or difficult? Why?
2. When do you have a break?
3. What do you do after work?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your home town.
1. How many people live there?
2. Where can you spend your free time?
3. What is there near your house?

2) Tell us about your parents.

1. How old are they?
2. How often do you see them?
3. What do/did they do?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your favourite season.
1. Why do you like it?
2. What do you usually do then?
3. What clothes do people wear then?

2) Tell us about your plans for Christmas.

1. What presents are you going to buy?
2. What do you eat at Christmas?
3. Do you like Christmas time? Why?

Part 1a
– What’s your name? Can you spell it?
– What do you do?

Part 1b
1) Tell us about your office.
1. What furniture is there?
2. Is it large or small?
3. What colour are the walls?

2) Tell us about your last party.

1. Who did you meet?
2. What did you eat?
3. What did you wear?
Reading part of the exam
Below you will find the example of level 1 English exam, made available by the The
Polish Armed Forces School of Languages (PAFSL), located in Łódź.
Reading part consists of 3 tasks with a few texts assigned to each task.
Task 1
Read the texts and choose the correct answer a., b., or c..
Text 1

I don’t want to keep my favourite photo in an album. I just want to have it in a beer
mat! Why put a photo in a piece of plastic? Because when I put a glass of beer on it, I
can see the photo. That is why I’m going to a specialist framing shop where they put
photos on or in anything you want, for example, tea cups or T-shirts. The shop is located
on York Avenue, about a mile away from Green Point station. It’s one in
the afternoon and there is still a “Closed” sign on the shop door. I can’t believe it!
Normally, all the local shops are open from 10 am to 6 pm every day. I’m standing there
for a minute thinking what to do. Then I look inside and see a shop assistant in there.
She waves at me and invites me to enter, so I push the door open. The woman is
wearing flowery clothes – to me, she looks quite funny in them. She smiles at me and
says that the shop isn’t closed – she’s just forgotten to change the sign. She explains it
often happens to her as she’s a forgetful person. Then I tell her what I want: to cut a
hole in a beer mat that I have with me and put a photo in it. I know it’s a little strange
but each framing shop has a machine which cuts holes in plastic, wood and even metal.
The woman looks at the photo and mat and says the machine can’t do that. It’s because
the mat is too small and the machine can stop working if it cuts such small holes. I can’t
argue with her because she definitely knows a lot about the machine. I don’t have bigger
mats at home. I don’t know what to do. I look around the shop and I can see big mats
on the shelf. I think people buy them because they’re not expensive – just $5. But I’m
not sure if I want to get a new mat. So I tell her I’ll think about it. Before I leave I ask
her when she has lunch. “At 2 pm I have lunch in the restaurant across the street,” she
says. It means she must close the shop for about 30 minutes. This is the information I
need because I won’t have to wait for her outside the shop, if I decide to come back of
course.
1. At 1 o’clock the man is …
A. in the shop
B. at the station
C. on York Avenue
2. The woman often …
A. forgets things
B. smiles at clients
C. wears funny clothes
3. There is a problem because …
A. the mat is not the right size
B. the machine does not work well
C. the woman can’t operate the machine
4. The man …
A. can bring a bigger mat from his house
B. decides to buy a new mat in the shop
C. must think what to do about the mat
5. In the end, the man wants to know …
A. what time she has a break
B. when she finishes work
 C. where she eats lunch
Text 2

One day our friend, Mary, found a dog on a busy street. The dog had a broken leg and
needed help. Because she is an animal lover, she took him to a veterinary clinic, and
paid $1,200 out of her own money to help sick dog. She wanted to find the owners of
Bud, as she called him, but she couldn’t. Soon Mary got a new job where she spent long
hours. That’s why she couldn’t keep Bud. At the same time we were looking for a dog
because ours was 13 years old. We knew we were going to lose her soon. So Mary asked
us if we wanted Bud and we took him. It was an adventure to begin with. He was one
year old at the time and unfortunately he had to stay in one room because of his broken
leg. We couldn’t take him outside beacause he was ill. We had to change bandages twice
a day for two months. We got him in the middle of February, and in April Bud felt OK and
could run around the house. Then there appeared a problem – he made our house dirty.
Why? Bud just didn’t want to go for walks! It was really difficult for us to train a
fourteen-month-old dog. At first we tried on our own. We bought him tasty pet food and
put it outside but that didn’t work. So we went to an obedience course where
professional trainers helped us with our problem. Now it’s easy to take Bud for walks –
he loves it so much that he doesn’t want to come back home!

1. Mary didn’t want the dog because she didn’t …

A. like animals
B. have money
C. have time
2. When we got Bud …
A. he was feeling OK
B. our dog was very old
C. he could run around
3. There was a problem because …
A. Bud didn’t come back home
B. Bud didn’t want to go for walks
C. professionals couldn’t train Bud
Task 2
Read the 5 stories below and then decide which statements below describe the stories in
the best way. Only 5 statements are true. Put the story number next to the
corresponding letter.

The woman doesn’t see the sign at first. _________ A

The child wants some food. _________ B
Someone’s playing Chopin’s music. _________ C
The woman sees some men in the last car. _________ D
The woman gives some money to a poor person. _________ E
The man has a break because he is tired. _________ F
The man is saying goodbye to his wife. _________ G
Everybody must have a short break. _________ H
The child doesn’t listen to the woman. _________ I
The man and woman are going on a trip. _________ J
 Story 1

Fernanda is in the departure lounge. Her

mother is flying back to Rome today. There’s Story 2
a couple sitting nearby. The man is in a pilot’s
uniform. The woman looks very elegant. Both Julie is travelling by Delhi subway. It’s incredibly
seem to be in their 60s. Fernanda goes to crowded today. She goes to the end of the train
gate 46 to get her hoping there won’t be so many people there.
She’s right. The last car is not very crowded.
mother a better seat. The flight attendants are Julie sits, looks around and notices something
talking about something. “It’s his last flight,” strange. There are only women in the car. There
one of them says. “He is retiring tonight! is not one man in sight. And then she sees a
Taking his wife to Rome for the occasion.” sign. It says “Women Only” and explains that
Fernanda understands that they are talking between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. the first and last
about the pilot and his wife. She rushes back car of each train is reserved for women. “Wow!
to tell her mother about it. Perhaps I should move to India,” she thinks.

Story 4

On my third day in Japan, I go to a swimming

pool. I get into the water and start swimming
back and forth. From time to time I stop to

let faster swimmers go past me. I start to relax

Story 3 fully, but suddenly I hear a whistle. I ignore it
and
Sarah Hyder is walking along Oakland Street.
Suddenly, a girl comes up to her and asks her keep on swimming, but a woman taps me on
for a quarter. Sarah has only a five-dollar bill, the shoulder. “Rest now,” she says. I look at her
so she takes the girl to a corner store and
offers to buy surprised. And then I notice that everybody is
getting out of the pool. It is rest time for
some chocolate bars and candy. The girl everybody. Every hour, all swimmers take a ten-
doesn’t want any sweets, but asks for a loaf minute break. It doesn’t matter that you’ve just
of bread and some cottage cheese. Sarah arrived or you don’t need to rest.
buys the food and asks: “Do you go to
school?” “Sometimes,” the girlsays.

Story 5

I’m having lunch in the lobby and listening to Chopin’s music. There’s a piano, but … there’s
no player. The instrument is programmed and its keys are going up and down all by
themselves. Suddenly, a 4-year-old kid appears in front of the piano and starts to bang on the
keyboard. A waitress comes and tells the boy to stop. “No!” he yells and keeps on banging.
Finally the waitress politely tells the boy’s mother that kids are not allowed to touch the
instrument.
Task 3
Read the following texts and decide whether sentences 1-7 are true (T) or false (F).
Text 1

I want to tell you about my hobby. I like to ride motorbikes. I have a 900cc Kawasaki
Ninja. It is very fast. I know that riding a motorbike quickly is dangerous but sometimes
I can’t help it. I just love going fast. It is so exciting. I learnt to ride when I was in the
army. At that time I used a 125cc bike which was not fast and was quite small.

When I learnt to ride a bike I already had a car licence. I got it 3 years earlier after my
second test. That is why learning to ride a bike was much easier. I passed my bike test
first time and was very happy. But I did not have my own bike. I could not enjoy my new
licence. It was a year before I bought my own motorcycle.

The bike I bought was a 600cc Suzuki. It was gold and could go more than 200 km per
hour. This was a lot faster than the 125cc army bike on which I learnt. It was great!! I
used to take it around the small country roads. I had to be very careful because
sometimes there were sheep or cows on the road.

Today I drive a car to work every day. But whenever I have some free time I ride my
bike for pleasure. I think it’s really exciting.

1. The writer likes to go fast. T / F

2. The writer took his car driving test twice. T / F
3. The writer’s first bike was a 125cc Suzuki. T/ F
Text 2

Driving a car is very important for most people. Most families have a car and some
have two or three cars. We use them for many things. For example to get to work, do
shopping or go on holiday. In Poland people drive on the right, but in Britain people drive
on the left. I am English and it was a big change for me when I came to Poland.

I have lived here for five years, but people still ask me what it is like to drive on the
other side of the road. Well, today it is natural for me. But five years ago it was a
different story. You have to look the other way at stop signs and remember to use your
right hand to change gears. Now, after five years, I feel strange when I drive in Britain.

However, the greatest problem is at night when there are no other cars on the road. At
this time, you can forget to drive on the right and start driving down the left-hand side of
the road. This is of course very dangerous. You quickly change your position when a car
comes towards you.

Today Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and Great Britain are the only countries in Europe that
drive on the left, but there were many more. People in Sweden, for example, once drove
on the left. But in 1967 they changed to the right. Why do Britain and Ireland still drive
on the left? Well, the biggest problem is cost. Just to change road signs would cost ₤750
million for example.

Driving on the ‘wrong’ side, left or right, is easy, so don’t be afraid. Take your car
abroad and drive!
1. The writer first learnt to drive on the left. T / F
2. For the writer, driving in Poland is still strange. T / F
3. The biggest problem is when you are the only car on the road. T / F
4. In the past people in Sweden drove on the left. T / F
And now it’s time to check your performance. You will find the answer key below.
Test answer key

Task 1
1C 2A 3A 4C 5A 6C 7B 8B
Task 2
Story 1 – J
Story 2 – A
Story 3 – B
Story 4 – H
Story 5 – I
Task 3
1T 2T 3F 4T 5F 6T 7T
 Level 1 Reading comprehension

Tekst 1
The other day I was driving home after visiting my wife’s mother. The journey was very
long and my wife and I were very tired. There were a lot of road works and it was
difficult to drive. I stopped at traffic lights and waited for a green light. I looked in my
mirror and saw there were no cars behind me. I thought this was strange, but then saw
the bus sign. I was in a special lane for buses. I knew this was bad, but it was too late to
change.
When the lights changed I started driving. After only fifty metres I was stopped by the
police. The policeman asked me if I knew why he stopped me. I, of course, knew and
told him it was a mistake. He asked to see my driving licence, which I gave to him. I
then offered my ID card, but he did not want to see it. The policeman told me I would
get points on my license and it would cost me 100zl. I told him that we were not from
this city and we were lost because of the road works.

The policeman asked where we were going. My wife told him the street and he gave us
directions to it. He then gave me back my documents and told me to always look at road
signs. We drove away happily.

1. At first, the driver did not see the …

a) road works
b) red light
c) road sign
2. The driver offered …
a) some of his money
b) his driving licence
c) his identification card
Tekst 2
I want to tell you about a live rock concert I went to. I bought tickets to see Radiohead.
The group is my wife’s favourite and I wanted to get her something special for our
anniversary. As I was not a regular concert goer I was very excited. I did not know the
music well but was happy to go with my wife. Over the next couple of months I listened a
lot to their music and discovered I liked it a bit, well enough to go anyway.
When the big day came, we drove to Poznan where it was and had a
great afternoontogether. Finally we went to the concert. We were both very excited and
listened happily to the warm-up band which was a very good German group. Then
Radiohead came on stage. The first two songs were brilliant. In the middle of the third
song, my mobile phone rang. I thought it was my boss, but it was my brother-in-law. He
said my dog had eaten a rubber ball and could not breathe.
We left the concert and drove very quickly to my brother-in-law’s house where we got
our dog and took him to a 24-hour veterinary hospital. Luckily the vet was able to take
the ball out and the dog was fine. I thought it would be expensive but it was not and I
was relieved. On the way home we listened to radio reports of the concert and people
said how great it was. We were glad our dog was okay, but upset that we missed the
concert. We finally got home again at 4 o’clock in the morning.
okay, but upset that we missed the concert. We finally got home again at 4 o’clock in the
morning.
3. The writer bought tickets because …
a) he often goes to concerts
b) it was a special occasion
c) he was a fan of the group
4. The writer left the concert because …
a) his brother-in-law was ill
b) his dog had a problem
c) his boss called him
5. On his way home, the man was unhappy about …
a) his sick dog
b) the missed concert
c) the veterinary costs
Tekst 3
Today many people use the internet to keep in contact with their friends and family. I
use it to keep up to date with all my friends around the world. You do not even need to
be next to your computer to let your friends know what you are doing. Many people use
their mobile phones to write emails. It means they can keep in regular contact, which is
good. However this is often complicated as the buttons are very small and usually
messages take a lot of time to write. It can also be strange, as people often send very
uninteresting things.
Generally though, the internet is a great way of keeping in touch with friends and family.
You can check for new messages at anytime. Some people switch on their computers first
thing in the morning before work. On the other hand a lot of people keep in touch with
others while at work, between meetings. However, I prefer to have a relaxing and fun
end to the day. That is why I read my messages at home.

6. The writer thinks people write …

a) too many things
b) boring things
c) complicated things
7. The writer checks his messages …
a) after work
b) during work
c) before work
Zadanie 2
Przeczytaj historie na następnej stronie i zdecyduj, które stwierdzenia umieszczone
poniżej najlepiej przedstawiają ich treść. Tylko 5 stwierdzeń jest prawdziwych. Wpisz w
pole numer historii od 1. do 5. [Read the stories on the following page and decide which
statements below illustrate the stories best. Only 5 statements are true. Put the story
number in the right blank space.]

The shopkeeper helped the animal. _________ A

The client wanted to buy some alcohol. _________ B
The man died in a hiking accident. _________ C
The driver’s partner helped the dog. _________ D
The man serves in the navy. _________ E
The dog ran into the shop. _________ F
The shop assistant helped find a dangerous man. _________ G
There is a problem with one of the workers. _________ H
The man died of shock. _________ I
The man paid for the operation. _________ J

Story 1 Story 2
I was on holiday in Atlanta. It was scorching
hot. I was driving when I saw a small black
dog on the side of the road. I thought he’d
been hit by a car and I was right. I decided to
help him. I know injured dogs can be
unpredictable, but I carried him to my car
and took him to a vet. I didn’t know what the
dog’s name was. However, the next day the
vet called him ‘Blacky’ and said his leg was
completely broken. I couldn’t pay for the
operation or face putting him to sleep; he
was so sweet. When I stroked
him he often pushed his head into my hands.
Luckily my girlfriend covered all the costs and
adopted him. Blacky got the care he needed
and a loving permanent home.
John visited a historic site in Texas with his
friends. He asked one of them, Bob, to take his
photo while hiking. As Bob took the photo, he
screamed and fell to the ground. Then 2 days
later Bob died in
hospital. The doctors said he’d had a heart
attack. No one knew why. The answercame
when his family
looked at the photos. In the last photo there
was a woman in a white dress standing next to
John – it was a ghost! However, John and
friends said there was no one there when the
photo was taken. Only
Bob saw the ghost at the time. He was so
shocked that his heart stopped beating.

Story 3

A man walked into a shop with a gun and

demanded all of the cash. After the
shopkeeper put the cash in
a bag, the robber saw a bottle of whisky on
the shelf. He told the shopkeeper to put it in
the bag, but
she said, ‘You must be over 18 to buy
alcohol’. The robber said that he was, but the
woman refused to
believe him. So the robber took out his
driving licence and gave it to her. She
examined it and saw that the man was really
over 18 and she put the whisky in the bag.
The robber then ran from the shop. The
shopkeeper immediately notified the police
and gave the name and address of the man
that she had seen on his licence. Police
arrested the robber 3 hours later.
Story 4
Michael Brown was 50 and started a second
career. However, he couldn’t get to work on
time. Every day he was 10 or 15 minutes late.
He was a diligent worker, so his boss didn’t
know how to deal with this problem.Finally, one
day he called Michael into the office for a talk
and said: ‘Michael, I have to tell you, you do a
top class job, but you’re always coming late and
it is quite a worry.’ Michael replied: ‘Yes, I
know that, sir, and I am working on it’. The
boss was happy to hear that and asked: ‘You’re
a team leader. You shouldn’t come late. I know
you worked in the navy. What did other workers
say when you came late there?’ ‘They said
nothing as I was their boss’ answered Michael.

Story 5

One day my dog Barky and I were walking to the local shop. Suddenly a big black dog appeared and
wanted to attack Barky. I looked for the owner but there was no one around. Barky panicked and started
running away towards the busy road and almost got killed. It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to
get Barky off the road. Fortunately, a butcher came out of his shop and ran out onto the road. He hit the
black dog so hard it went off into the distance. I thanked the man for his courage. Barky returned back to
normal after a few weeks. He is alive thanks to that brave butcher.

Zadanie 3
Przeczytaj poniższe teksty i zdecyduj, czy zdania od 1. do 8. są prawdziwe (T) czy
fałszywe (F). [Read the sentences below and decide whether sentences from 1. to 8. are
true (T) or False (F).]
Tekst 1
It was a sunny and windy day. “Perfect day for sailing,” Sarah and Mark said. Sailing is
their new hobby. They spend each weekend on the water. This time they invited me to
go sailing with them. I thought: “Why not? The lake looks calm, I’ll sit down and
sunbathe for a while.” But I didn’t have a chance to do so. As soon as I was on the boat,
I wasn’t sure the weather was “perfect”. The wind was very strong. The boat was rocking
wildly and I didn’t feel well. I thought it was dangerous and became very scared. I told
my friends to bring me back to the shore. They left me there and continued sailing
without me.
The place was nice and full of people. I didn’t want to go home yet so I spent some time
watching others. I looked with interest at one couple. Everybody had special clothes, but
this man and his girlfriend were wearing jeans and sneakers. They were both a little fat.
At first I thought they were amateurs. But then they went towards a small boat. They
started preparing the boat for sailing. I watched them as they were working for about an
hour. They clearly knew what they were doing. Finally the man put on his life jacket. He
started sailing while his girlfriend stayed on the shore.

I already knew that the wind was very strong so I was worried about the man in his
small boat. I could easily see his red sail. All the other sails were white. After no more
than 5 minutes on the water, he came back to the shore. In quarter of an hour, the
couple packed their things into small boxes. Then they put the boxes into the boot of
their car and left.

“People are strange,” I thought. “So much work for just five minutes of fun!” But then I
saw a police boat coming towards the shore. Behind it, there was my friends’ boat
without its sail. Their boat had turned over. They lost all their things in the water and
were completely wet and very cold. I felt some respect for the man with the red sail. He
knew sailing in bad weather could be really dangerous.

1. The writer relaxed and sunbathed on the boat. TF

2. The writer changed her opinion about the two sailors. TF
3. The couple packed their things in 5 minutes. TF
4. The man with the red sail did the right thing. TF

Tekst 2
In December 2006 the first polar bear was born in Berlin zoo in over 30 years. He was
named Knut and Germany soon fell in love with him. Knut’s mother didn’t want to look
after her little son. So Berlin zookeepers soon became Knut’s “parents”. Knut became
famous all over the world. He was even on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine.
But all good things come to an end. Knut is no longer a sweet little baby. Now he is an
ordinary grown-up polar bear. He’s still beautiful and zoo visitors are crazy about him,
but journalists have found another star. Now Germany has a new mascot, Emmi, a one-
week-old rhinoceros in the northwestern town of Münster. The little rhino’s mother, Jade,
put her baby into a corner and ignored it. Zookeepers knew that Jade had already killed
two of her babies before. This time she just pushed her baby aside and gave it no milk.
So they took little Emmi away after four minutes.

The zookeepers are going to be very busy looking after the little rhino. The baby already
weighs 58 kilograms and drinks gallons of milk a day. “Emmi is resting under two heating
lamps. We must be with her all the time. One night I sleep with Emmi, another night it’s
somebody else’s turn. Physical contact is important for these animals. They must feel
somebody is close to them. Without it, they fall ill,” says one of the zookeepers.

5. Knut was the first polar bear born in Berlin zoo. TF

6. Knut still has his fans. TF
7. Jade tried to kill Emmi. TF
8. Someone must be with the rhino at night. TF

Answer key:
Zadanie 1
1C 2C 3B 4B 5B 6B 7A

Zadanie 2
Story 1 D
Story 2 I
Story 3 G
Story 4 H
Story 5 A

Zadanie 3
1F 2T 3F 4T 5F 6T 7F 8T