OPTIMISE YOUR EXAMS Speaking | Answer key B1+

OPTIMISE YOUR EXAMS they’re having fun but the first is like all erm … with
uniforms and in a building and in the seconds is it’s like
pages 140–143 all natural with their own clothes and …’.
Exercise 1 Student B:
2 free time 3 travel/places 4 the internet 5 family and Yes: ‘I think it’s more formal music than the one in the
leisure 6 holidays 7 daily routine 8 your town picture below.’
9 friends and family 10 education
Does the student use a range of grammar structures,
Exercise 2 vocabulary and expressions, and linking words? Give
Which Do they extend What examples.
questions their answers? interesting Student A:
from language do Grammar structures: She relied heavily on the present
Exercise 1 do they use? tense. A relative clause was used with the incorrect
they answer?
relative pronoun: ‘someone which’ – She could have
1, 8 She extends her ‘ambience’
Student B – Julio Student A – Laura

used a wider range of grammar structures. It would

4, 10
Exercise 3
Do they speak clearly?
Student A: Yes, most of the time.
Student B: Yes, most of the time.
Does the student stress the right words and parts of
sentences?
Student A: Yes, most of the time.
Student B: Yes, most of the time.
Does the student use intonation correctly?
Student A: Yes, most of the time.
Student B: Yes, most of the time.
For more details about the Students’ performances see
the Optimise Speaking Test Video Analysis.
Exercise 4
1 F 2 F 3T 4 F 5T 6T
Exercise 5
Students’ own answers
answers after ‘… is like we’re have been better if she’d used more advanced language
being asked all growing and
a follow-up to speculate (could be, might be).
always changing
question by the so there’s not Vocabulary and expressions: ‘relaxed’, ‘bbq’, ‘uniforms’,
examiner. really stable ‘it’s like all natural’.
friendships.’ Linking words: She used ‘so’ and ‘because’ – She could
have used a wider range of linking words.
Yes. He offered ‘… mild climate –
detail about the so er is not very Student B:
climate in his cold but not too Grammar structures: He used some advanced
city. hot.’ structures: ‘… they might be practising …’. However, he
made some errors with simple structures.
Vocabulary and expressions: ‘… auditorium so [it] is
more expensive’, ‘chill out’.
Linking words: ‘in the first picture’, ‘here’, ‘but’ – He
could have used a wider range of linking words.
Does the student talk for one minute? Does the student
answer the question about the photographs?
Student A:
Yes. She talked for about a minute to answer the first
question about the photographs. However, she could
have extended her answer for the second question.
Student B:
No. He talked for approximately 40 seconds. The
examiner repeated the question about the photos,
and the student gave a brief answer to the question.
He needs to ensure he speaks for the appropriate
amount of time for each question and to offer relevant
information in the first instance.
Exercises 8 & 9
1 together 2 two minutes 3 have some time 4 discuss
the points together 5 a minute 6 should try to agree
7 must 8 will

Exercise 6 Exercise 10
Students’ own answers Students should tick:
C, D, F, G, H, K, L
Exercise 7 Accept all reasonable suggestions for examples of
Does the student compare the photographs describing useful language.
similarities and differences? Give examples.
Student A: Exercise 11
Yes: ‘And also in the second picture they are like in a 1 They did not always answer the question directly.
bbq … So I think in the first and in the second erm … They talked about who they would prefer to talk to,
rather than what they could learn from the speakers.

Optimise B1+ Optimise B1+ Teacher’s Resource Centre © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017.
This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
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 OPTIMISE YOUR EXAMS Speaking |
2 They listened to each other and answered each
other’s questions.
3 Yes, they talked about all options, but they did not
answer the question.
4 Student A: She used ‘So …?’ and ‘Any ideas?’ to invite
her partner to talk. Student B: He asked ‘What do you
think?’ to invite his partner to talk.
5 Both of the students used ‘I think’, and Student B
asked ‘What do you think?’ three times. It would be
better if he could vary the way he invites his partner
to talk. Student A responded with ‘interesting’ every
time. She would benefit from varying her responses.
She also said ‘I think it’s better if we eliminate the
others and only keep two …’
6 Student A: ‘Yes, that’s true but …’
Student B: ‘Yes, I agree with the explorer.’
7 Student A: She asked questions about the clothes
designer to express her thoughts about what a clothes
designer does: ‘Why is this like fashion and this not?
Why we have to wear this on each occasion?’
Student B: He tries to develop an opinion about why
they should ‘eliminate’ the writer. He also adds to her
final point about a clothes designer. He needed to add
and develop more ideas.
8 In the second question, the students didn’t reach
an agreement on the two people to choose, but they
aren’t penalised on this in the exam.
Exercise 12
Students’ own answers
Exercise 13
Do schools prepare students well for the future world
of work?
What things might you need to consider before doing
further studies or choosing a job?
What’s more important – being happy in your job or
earning a lot of money?
Some people think in the future more and more people
will work from home. What do you think?
And if you could choose any job to do, what would
it be?
Exercise 14
1C 2A 3B
Optimise B1+ Optimise B1+ Teacher’s Resource Centre © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017.
This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
Answer key B1+
Exercise 15
Student A
1 She started off by saying ‘the most important things
are accent’, giving a clear answer. However, she
thought the speakers would be English speakers, and
did not answer the first question directly.
2 She spoke fluently in response to the second question
and addressed the question directly. She didn’t use
‘like’ or ‘er’ as much as in the other three parts.
3 ‘because’ and ‘but’ – She gives a realistic choice and
contrasts it with her ideal choice: ‘I go like, medicine
because I love er, helping people like him but if I
could choose any work I could take astronaut’.
4 She mentioned technology to justify her answer to
the question about more people working from home
in future.
5 No.
6 She reacted to her partner’s opinion in the third
question and added information: ‘I agree with him
and I have to add …’.
Student B
1 He didn’t address the first question coherently: ‘to
talk about a job is [better] that someone to talk about
a job is better than someone talks to you who works
in the job’ and didn’t provide any reasons to clarify
his position.
2 He hesitated and did not answer the first question
coherently or the second question fully.
3 He used a conditional structure to connect and
express his ideas: ‘I think it’s better to be happy in
your job because if you are not, if you are not happy
in what you are doing, you er, will be very sad, and …
er you don’t want to be sad, so …’.
4 He didn’t provide any reasons to clarify his position
in his answer to the first question.
5 No.
6 He mentions ‘robots’ in response to the question
about more people working from home in the future,
adding to Student A’s comment about technology.
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