Working outdoors & Making things by hand

C1 Advanced · Speaking Long Turn · Cambridge Ready original exercise

Choose two of your three photographs, compare them and answer both printed questions in about a minute. After that, you get around 30 seconds to respond to one quick question on your partner's photographs.

Choose two of the photographs and compare them. Say what might be appealing about working outdoors in these situations, and what the people might find hardest about their work.

Let's start with you. Your photographs show people doing their jobs outdoors.

Working outdoors

A woman in her fifties rebuilding a dry stone wall on a windy hillside

https://cdn.cambridgeready.com/images/e1b3cd0e0c5ab40b037856f98c2a53d10b9f6958f43093e7a2852bad4e8f107b.avif

candid documentary photograph, a woman in her fifties in a waterproof jacket rebuilding a dry stone wall on a windswept green hillside, sheep in the distance, focused and weathered, natural light, shot on 35mm film, no text, no watermark

A young man delivering parcels by bicycle along a busy city street

https://cdn.cambridgeready.com/images/d597a066873add10836460bea47e251947e1405fe898538268d6d2f5ff614c2b.avif

candid documentary photograph, a young Black man riding a cargo bicycle loaded with parcels along a busy city street, traffic around him, determined expression, natural light, shot on 35mm film, no text, no watermark

Two marine researchers taking water samples from a small boat at sea

https://cdn.cambridgeready.com/images/860ad5cd98b058c27fbb2c4ba49936acf3327f5132b8446f1b85ea864658cf89.avif

candid documentary photograph, two marine researchers, a South Asian woman and an older white man, in waterproofs leaning over the side of a small boat to take water samples, grey choppy sea, natural light, shot on 35mm film, no text, no watermark

Would you enjoy a job that kept you outside for most of the day? (Why? / Why not?)

What might be appealing about working outdoors in these situations?

What might the people find hardest about their work?

Choose two of the photographs and compare them. Say why these people might prefer to make things themselves, and how satisfying the finished result might be for them.

Now it's your turn. Your photographs show people making things by hand.

Making things by hand

An elderly man carving a wooden spoon at a workbench in his garage

https://cdn.cambridgeready.com/images/f53d5275433878b1ead8e0d3c8bc6a830d7248216b1a984a4a1ab7a8b41f3c83.avif

candid documentary photograph, an elderly East Asian man carving a wooden spoon with a small knife at a cluttered workbench in his garage, wood shavings on the floor, calm concentration, natural light, shot on 35mm film, no text, no watermark

A young woman shaping a clay pot on a potter's wheel in a shared studio

https://cdn.cambridgeready.com/images/b17cf1a24d9cdacd2ff1dac87e610b32a2fdf01ae5d7d12debfa6abf8a4d24de.avif

candid documentary photograph, a young Latina woman with clay-covered hands shaping a pot on a potter's wheel in a shared ceramics studio, shelves of drying pots behind her, natural light, shot on 35mm film, no text, no watermark

A group of adults and teenagers building a small wooden boat in a workshop

https://cdn.cambridgeready.com/images/46ddcbf39bdd7914d8e5cb1f3d9c40082b004c427a892c6e01a1cdfc3c32d2bd.avif

candid documentary photograph, a mixed group of adults and teenagers working together to build a small wooden rowing boat in a spacious community workshop, clamps and planks around them, natural light, shot on 35mm film, no text, no watermark

Which of these things would you most like to learn to make? (Why?)

Why might these people prefer to make things themselves?

How satisfying might the finished result be for them?

Next, you'll each have three photographs to work with. Choose two of them and speak by yourself for roughly a minute, and after that I'll ask you a quick question about your partner's photographs.

Answer this Speaking task out loud and an AI examiner marks it on the official Cambridge Speaking criteria, with what you did well and what to fix next.

Practise this Speaking task free online: solo with exam timers and a self-recorder, as a live mock Speaking test with a partner over a video call, or as a full three-person mock exam — a real examiner reads the official examiner script to Candidates A and B. Rooms are invite-by-link; partners can join without an account.

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