B1 PET forSchools Speaking Test Examples

 

Don Juan’s First Love Affair - Lord Byron, Don Juan (1819-24)

Don Juan is a famous, legendary character featured in many literary and musical works, such as:

• Moliere's play, Don Juan, ou Le Festin de Pierre (1665);
• Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni (1787);
• Lord Byron's, unfinished poem, Don Juan (1819-1834 - he died before finishing it); 
• George Bernard Shaw's, Man and Superman (1903). 

Traditionally, Don Juan is depicted as an arrogant and aggressive libertine who is, ultimately, damned. 
In Byron’s version, Don Juan (pronounced Joo-ann) is a naïve, passive young man. He is seduced, rather than being a seducer.

For more information, click HERE

Byron started writing Don Juan in 1818 when he was about 30 and living in Venice.  He had been exiled from England due to his numerous affairs with married women. He passed away during the 17th canto (believed to be a malaria relapse in Messolonghi, Greece during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.) 

The poem was published in serialized form, like a novel. Byron admitted he didn't know where the plot was going and this way he could gauge public reaction. 

It has 16,000 lines, is divided into 16 cantos, and is written in ottava rima, an Italian eight-line stanza form with the rhyme scheme: A-B-A-B-A-B-C-C. It is used for both comic and serious work.
Both Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) and Torquato Tasso (1544-95) wrote their great epics (Orlando Furioso and La Gerusalemme liberata) in this form. 

NOTES 

Don Juan lives in Seville with his father, Don José, and his mother, Donna Inez. His father cheated on his mother before abandoning them.
Donna Julia, the 23-year-old wife of 50-year- old Don Alfonso, fancies and lusts for the 16-year-old boy Don Juan. Despite attempting to resist his charms, Julia enters into a love affair with Juan and falls in love. 

The main themes:
Romance and Love (marriage) -  Don Juan has more than 1000 lovers and finds himself in absurd situations. At 22 he even has an affair with the much older Empress, Catherine the Great from Russia, but is returned to England when he becomes ill due to the climate.

Youth and Innocence - considered praiseworthy and celebrated

Poetry as a vehicle for glory. Byron is the poet and the narrator.

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March: a Month dedicated to Women

March 8 is International Women's Day, but did you know that the month of March has been Women's History Month 
since 1987?  

Click here to see how the mimosa came to be an important symbol

"Celebrating Women who tell our Stories"

is the theme The National Women's History Alliance  (NWHA) has chosen for 2023.  The group will encourage recognition of women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling. The theme honors women in every community who have devoted their lives and talents to producing art, pursuing truth, and reflecting the human condition decade after decade.

Which famous women do you admire?
Who do you think has left an important mark on history and why?

Who do you think should be famous but isn't? What contribution has this person made? 

Check out this site about Women's History Month and famous women

Find some famous quotes by or about women and put them in the comments section below. 

50 Inspirational quotes by powerful women throughout history

17 quotations from famous women about feminism 

Women who changed Science - Listening exercise  

Read about Amelia Earhart- A Woman of Courage

B1 Cambridge Preliminary Speaking Test - Parts 3 + 4

Part 3:  Talk together for about 2-3 minutes. The examiner will describe a situation.      

• Talk to your partner and show an interest in what your partner says.  
• Give suggestions and ask your partner questions*, including all pictures.    *, How /what about you? /   Do you agree? /   What do you think?
• Try to speak for an equal amount of time.  
• If you don't remember a word, explain it in simpler terms. 
• If you don't understand a word your partner uses,  you can ask what it means. 

Here is an example:   

A young man works very hard and has only one free day a week. He wants to find an activity to help him relax. Here are some activities.  Talk together about the activities he could do and say which would be the most relaxing. 

Part 4:  You will return the picture to the examiner who will ask you to talk about the previous topic. In this case, relaxing.   Here are some possible questions:

• What do you do when you want to relax? (Why?)
• Do you prefer to relax with friends or alone? (Why?)
• Is it important to do exercise in your free time? (Why?/Why not?)
• Is it useful to learn new skills in your free time? (Why?/Why not?)
• Do you think people spend too much time working/studying these days? (Why?/Why not?)

B1 Article: FILMS

 

One of the most important things in the PET Writing exam is that you have to answer the questions in the task very clearly. Don’t talk about things that are unrelated, but focus on the topic.  Use good grammar, linking words, punctuation, and interesting vocabulary.

In this article, you were to write about the types of films you enjoy and if you prefer going to the cinema or watching films at home with reasons. It was necessary to consider:

Types of films:  action action / animated / biographical / cartoons / comedies / detective / disaster / drama / fantasy / historical / horror / love stories (romance) / musicals / mystery / science fiction / spy / thrillers...

Reasons to go to the cinema: newer films / atmosphere / big screen / sound system...

Reasons for staying at home: less expensive / more comfortable / can chat or do other things / stop and start / great selection / can watch many times...

Speaking B1 Cambridge Preliminary

Part 1:    Personal information. Talk to the examiner, not your partner. Give FULL answers. Know how to SPELL your name.  (2-3 minutes)

Part 2:  Talk about a picture.      Each student will get a picture to talk about.  Talk about everything you see:  people, clothes, colors, weather,  surroundings, time of day...(2-3 minutes).

This picture shows people learning a language. 

This shows people at a party. 

Storytelling: The Snake Bite

What would you do if you were in this situation?
How do you think this story will end? 

What ending would you give the story?

Now create a story that begins with this sentence:
    The island didn't look far away, and I felt sure that I could reach it.  

WRITING Part 2: B1 - The Story

In Part 2, you can choose to write a STORY or an ARTICLE.  You must write ca.100 words.  As in all stories, you need a beginning, a development (main events), and an ending. The first sentence of your story will be given to you. Add another sentence or two to this beginning and then move on. 

• Be organized: THINK before you write!
• Be careful about punctuation;
• Use interesting adjectives and adverbs to set the scene and describe characters;
• Give background information (any information the reader needs to know that helps explain the character or the context);
• Use direct speech to express the character's mood and feelings ("Stop following me!" )
• Use past tenses: 
• past simple to describe the main events
• past continuous to describe something that is happening at the same time as another event  (I was studying while my brother was playing video games.) OR interrupted (I was getting into bed when the doorbell rang.)
• past perfect to describe an event that came before another (I was very tired because I hadn't slept at all.
• time expressions:

Expressions such as these below can give higher marks.

Here is an example from a past exam. Think about what you would change or do to make this a better story.

Sustainable fabrics; Recycling fabrics and clothes

What are your clothes made of?

do you recycle your clothes?

Which fabrics are natural and which are synthetic? 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? 

Do you use eco-frienly clothes?

Article:     Nordicìs biggest textile recycling center opens in Finland

                                                                         Recycle with H&M 

Canale Rifiutile di Geopop (in Italiano). How fabrics and clothes are recycled.

Fruit Leather: Mangos 

Cactus Leather

What are HUMAN RIGHTS?

the Universal Human Rights logo

National Human Rights is celebrated on December 10.
The 75th anniversary of the document was celebrated last December 2023. 

Check out the Youth for Human Rights website and watch this video:
WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS? Video - Human Rights Definition: Youth For Human Rights Video 

The UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Dec. 10, 1948): "The power of the Universal Declaration is the power of ideas to change the world. It inspires us to continue working to ensure all people can gain freedom, equality and dignity."  

Unfortunately, this declaration is not enforced by law.

UN website

 Some Famous Human Rights quotations  

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” – Nelson Mandela

“A right delayed is a right denied.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (US President 1933-1945)

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. … Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady)

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” – John F. Kennedy (US President, 1961-1963)

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel, human rights activist who wrote books about his experience during the Holocaust. 

“We declare that human rights are for all of us, all the time: whoever we are and wherever we are from; no matter our class, our opinions, our sexual orientation.” – Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2007-2016, from S. Korea)

“Our hopes for a more just, safe, and peaceful world can only be achieved when there is universal respect for the inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family.” – UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (2013-2021, from S. Africa)

“There can be no peace without development, no development without peace, and no lasting peace or sustainable development without respect for human rights and the rule of law.” – Former UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson (2012-2016, from Sweden)

"When you deprive people of their right to live in dignity, to hope for a better future, to have control over their lives, when you deprive them of that choice, then you expect them to fight for these rights."  Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

Another interesting, less famous, quotation from Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan:  "Social media are a catalyst for the advancement of everyone's rights. It's where we're reminded that we're all human and equal It's where people can find and fight for a cause, global or local, popular or specialized, even when there are hundreds of miles between them."