Speaking Task 5 — Comparing and Persuading
CELPIP Speaking Task 5 sample answers — bands 10, 11, 12
60s prep · 60s speak
The prompt
Your family has agreed to get a pet, but everyone wants a different one. Compare the three options, decide which pet suits your family best, and persuade your family to choose it. You have 60 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak.
Try this exact task freeBand 10
Weighs all three options against the family's actual routine and arrives at a clear, reasoned choice. Correct and fluent, with straightforward vocabulary and a slightly formulaic closing.
Transcript
I think we should get the cat. Let me explain why, comparing the three options. The golden retriever is very good with children, and I know the kids want it, but it needs daily walks and it sheds a lot. With our schedules, somebody would have to walk it early every morning, even in winter, and I do not think anyone here will do that after the first month. The budgies are small and cheap, and they make cheerful sounds, but they live for a very long time. That is a serious commitment, and the children may lose interest in a year. The cat is the best fit for our family. It is independent, so it is fine when we are all at work or school, it needs low daily effort, and it is comfortable in an apartment like ours. So I really think the cat is the right choice for us.
Why this is a band 10
The decision comes first, which the task explicitly asks for.
Converts a listed drawback into a real household consequence.
Persuasive rather than merely comparative — it addresses the family directly and honestly.
Reframes the budgies' long lifespan as a risk, which is a genuine piece of analysis.
A serviceable close, though it restates rather than adds. A higher band would land a final argument here.
Band 11
Persuasive and honest, addressing the family's real objection head on and closing with a memorable summary of the preferred option. Natural idiom and confident rhythm throughout.
Transcript
I know I am going to be unpopular here, but the cat is the sensible choice. Start with the retriever, because that is what the kids want. It is wonderful with children, genuinely — and it needs walking twice a day, every day, in February as well as June. Be honest about who is doing that. It is not going to be the children after week three, so it is me, before work, in the dark. The budgies are cheap and cheerful, but a pair can live fifteen years or more. That is a commitment that outlasts the kids living at home, and we would be the ones left with them. The cat asks for almost nothing: it is independent, it copes with an empty apartment during school and work hours, and it suits the space we actually have. Affection when we are home, no crisis when we are not.
Why this is a band 11
A natural spoken opener that acknowledges the audience before making the case.
Concedes the strongest point for the rejected option, which makes the refusal harder to argue with.
Three short phrases that make the burden vivid without a full sentence.
Reframes lifespan as a family-planning problem, which is a sharper reading than long-lived is good.
A balanced closing pair that summarizes the argument in one line.
Band 12
A candid, tightly reasoned recommendation that separates what is best in the abstract from what fits this household, with striking phrasing and a closing line that names the real decision.
Transcript
The cat, and I will make the case honestly rather than diplomatically. The retriever is the best animal on that list and the worst fit for this household. Great with kids, no argument — but two walks a day is not a preference, it is a contract, and it does not pause for February, exams or a late shift. The children will mean it for about a fortnight. After that the dog becomes my six a.m. problem, and a bored retriever in an apartment is a destroyed apartment. The budgies I would rule out on lifespan rather than cost. Fifteen years is longer than the kids will live here, so we would be the ones keeping them company in an empty house. The cat matches the way this family actually lives: independent through the working day, low effort, entirely at home in an apartment. It fits us as we are, not as we would like to imagine ourselves.
Why this is a band 12
Sets the tone in one clause and prepares the family for an argument they will not love.
Separates quality from suitability, which is the central insight of the whole answer.
A memorable reframing that would be hard to argue against in a family discussion.
Compressed cause and effect, with the repetition doing the persuasive work.
Projects the consequence years forward, which no lower-band answer attempts.
Closes the persuasion by naming what the decision is really about.
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