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Describing a picture is a common element of almost all Cambridge main suite English exams, but in order to practise, you'll need pictures to describe. The other essential element is knowing how to describe a picture. For that you can use our perfect PET speaking part 2 plan. It's important to choose the right type of pictures to describe because not all of them have the right qualities. For example, you'll never see a picture of a single object or anything that is strange or controversial.

Check here for 5 complete Preliminary (PET) Speaking exams as part of Breakout English's premium materials collection.

Possible topics for PET Speaking Part 2

As specified in the official Cambridge Preliminary (PET) handbook, there are certain topics that are expected at B1 level. Here are the ones which are most likely to come up in this part of the exam.

daily life

education

entertainment and media

food and drink

free time

health, medicine and exercise

hobbies and leisure

house and home

people

relations with other people

shopping

social interaction

sport

the natural world

transport

travel and holidays

work and jobs

When you practise speaking with your classes. Try to find PET Speaking Part 2 pictures on a variety of these topics so that your students are fully prepared for whatever they might get in their exam. We've got a selection for you to download or display below, but if you are looking for more pictures to describe, remember to find something with enough content for the full minute.

Preliminary (PET) Speaking Part 2 Example

In part 2 of the Preliminary (PET) Speaking Exam you will be asked to describe a picture to the examiner for approximately one minute.

Here is an example of a Preliminary (PET) Speaking Exam Part 2.

Now, I'd like each of you to talk on your own about something. I'm going to give each of you a photograph and I'd like you to talk about it.

(Candidate A), here is your photograph. It shows friends spending time together.

(Candidate B), you just listen.

(Candidate A), please tell us what you can see in the photograph.

Approximately one minute

Thank you.

(Candidate B), here is your photograph. It shows someone reading.

(Candidate A), you just listen.

(Candidate B), please tell us what you can see in the photograph.

Approximately one minute

Thank you.

The examiner has a few back-up prompts available if the candidate is having trouble completing the task. These back-up prompts are always the same:

Talk about the people/person

Talk about the place

Talk about the other things in the photograph

The Materials

Practise with these PET Speaking Part 2 pictures. Either use them from the website or download the pdf to practise, print or display.

If doing it with a class, write down things that they do well and errors. After describing each picture, do a correction/praise feedback stage before trying again.

Check here if you need to know how to describe a picture are looking for the perfect PET speaking part 2 plan.

EXAM PART: Speaking

EXAM SKILLS: Describing people, giving information about everyday activities, talking about what people are doing

TIME: 2-5 minutes per picture + feedback

Download the pictures

Pictures to describe

Eating together

Playing music

Celebrating

Reading

Spending time at home

Cooking

Using technology

Playing games

At school

Spending time outside

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Pictures to describe for Preliminary (PET) Speaking Part 2

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Find pictures to describe and practise Cambridge Preliminary (PET) Speaking Part 2. Exam preparation materials from Breakout English.

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B1 Preliminary is made up of four papers developed to test students' English skills. You can see exactly what's in each paper below.

The formats below are the same for both the paper-based and computer-based exams. Please note that computer-based (CB) exams are being replaced by Cambridge English Qualifications Digital in February 2024. Visit our Cambridge English Qualifications Digital webpage to find out more.

Shows you can read and understand the main points from signs, newspapers and magazines.

You have to be able to follow and understand a range of spoken materials including announcements and discussions about everyday life.

Shows how good your spoken English is as you take part in conversation by asking/answering questions and talking, for example, about your likes and dislikes. Your Speaking test will be face to face with one or two other candidates and two examiners. One of the examiners (who could be online, examining remotely) talks to you and the other examiner listens. This makes your test more realistic and more reliable. Examiners may use their mobile phones for entering marks using an app.

openbook What's in the Reading paper?

The B1 Preliminary Reading paper has six parts. There are different types of texts and questions.
Part 1 (Multiple choice) Part 2 (Matching) Part 3 (Multiple choice) Part 4 (Gapped text) Part 5 (Multiple choice cloze) Part 6 (Open cloze)
pencil What's in the Writing paper?

The B1 Preliminary paper has two parts. You have to show that you can write different types of text in English.
Part 1 (Writing an email) Part 2 (Choice between an article or a story)
playlist What's in the Listening paper?

The B1 Preliminary Listening paper has four parts. For each part, you have to listen to a recorded text or texts and answer some questions. You hear each recording twice.
Part 1 (Multiple choice) Part 2 (Multiple choice) Part 3 (Gap fill) Part 4 (Multiple choice)
megaphone What's in the Speaking paper?

The B1 Preliminary Speaking test has four parts and you take it together with another candidate. There are two examiners. One of the examiners talks to you and the other examiner listens.
Part 1 (Interview) Part 2 (Extended turn) Part 3 (Discussion) Part 4 (General conversation)

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The B1 Preliminary exam (PET) is made up of four papers developed to test English skills: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking

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Want to practise your written English? Write & Improve gives you feedback in seconds. Simply choose a task, write or upload your text and submit your writing for feedback. Then try again and use the feedback to improve.

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Use AI to give you feedback.

1. Complete a writing task.

2. Copy and paste into AI

3. "Give me some feedback. CEFR B1"

4. Make a note of the differences between your text and the AI version.

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"learn english" "learning english" "english addict" "duncan in china" duncun england "youtube english lessons" "english addict with mr duncan" "live english ...

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The English Addict in 2023 Join in with the LIVE fun every Sunday at 2pm UK time for English Addict - Live from England. DO YOU LIKE LEARNING ENGLISH? DO YOU FEEL AS IF YOU CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT? THEN YOU MIGHT BE AN ENGLISH ADDICT... JUST LIKE ME.

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What is CEFR B1?

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Here you can find activities to practise your reading skills. Reading will help you to improve your understanding of the language and build your vocabulary.

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Download more than 100 free B1 reading comprehension worksheets with engaging stories, informative reading texts, and exercises on technology, global issues, and everyday topics.

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Linguapress.com

Intermediate English resources

Graded English reading texts with vocabulary guides, and also lesson plans, interactive exercises and audio:
CEF levels B1 and B2, Cambridge First Certificate.
UK - USA - Canada - topical - cultural - technical - fictional

TOPICAL TEXTS - make the most of the things people are talking about !

Who is King Charles III ?
Read about him in this B1 text: Britain's new king With audio -

All Linguapress.com online resources are open access and completely free to use at home or in class. There is nothing to pay, and no need to register or sign up before you use them.

Audio: Many of the texts are accompanied by audio recordings. See below.

Responsive: Unlike PDF documents which can be impossible to view on small screens, the responsive pages on Linguapress adapt for easy viewing on all typoes of device - computer screen, mobile phone, tablet, projector.

Printing: Linguapress reading resources are printer-ready. No need for PDF. Select your browser's print icon, or select print from the menu, to print just an article and its word guide. Exercises and teacher notes print on separate pages.

Teachers: For more ideas for using reading resources in the classroom see Reading comprehension .

Interactive resources: Many articles come with interactive worksheet resources that can be used in class, done on paper, or filled in on screen.

Reading texts for intermediate English - CEF levels B1 and B2

A collection of reading resources mostly about life and issues in Britain and the United States, in intermediate level English - with word guides, exercises and classroom activities

1. Topics about life in Britain

Britain in general

Society

And new texts available only in the Linguapress paperback - ► A Background to English

The Mother of Parliaments! The English / British parliament is almost 1000 years old.

Cambridge new and old - The historic university city is the heart of Britain's "Silicon Fen".

Dialogues

Icons

London

Sport

2. Topics with a North-American theme

Alcohol, Prohibition and Al Capone B1 level, a simple but interesting text with interactive worksheet.

Profession : Cowboy New audio There are still cowboys working today in the American west

George Washington - With audio - the story of America's first president

Hollywood & Superheroes New audio

Focus on Canada An introduction to Canada in intermediate-level English

USA: Still looking for Gold Out west, the gold rush is not yet over...

USA: who was Buffalo Bill? With audio - Remembering one of America's great folk heroes .

USA: Team sports, American style Why do the USA and Europe have different sports?

Elvis - he's still the "King" and his home Graceland, in Memphis, is a major tourist attraction.

The story of Silicon Valley What is Silicon valley, where is it, and why ?

The story of Coca-Cola. New audio The name "Coca-Cola" is the best-known name in the whole world.

The story of Blue Jeans. The world's most popular garment was first created in 1873

Hollywood - its life and times A short story of Hollywood, in easy English.

America's oil - a love affair Americans use a lot of energy; but the cost of oil is going up.

USA: Winter sports USA Americans love winter sports, because their winters are so cold

USA: Close encounters with a Twister - A tornado strikes....

And new texts available only in the Linguapress paperback ► A Background to English

Go West, young man! The phrase that built America - With audio

Plastic pollution; how can we stop it? - With audio

3. Other resources - short stories, technical English, songs, cartoons

Short stories - teenage fiction (► see also short stories)

Songs

Technical subjects

Cartoons

Original strip cartoons in simple English

English for A2 B1 and B2 levels. Intermediate English reading resources

CEFR / TELC - levels (A2) B1 or B2 (Threshold - intermediate)

ACTFL - levels Advanced-low - Advanced-mid.

Readability

Most Linguapress Intermediate texts score as follows on the Flesch-Kincaid scales:
Grade : between 6 and 8,
Readability level : either

70 - 80 Fairly easy

To Understand Flesch Kincaid scales, see the Linguapress Readability guide

Simplified English ?

The "simplified English" in these items is not simplistic English, nor is it artificial English.
It is real English, with the difficulties ironed out. Resources in this section vary in difficulty from low intermediate English to advanced intermediate (equivalent of up to Cambridge First certificate of English level, or CEFR * levels A2 to B2), and are designed for students with (the equivalent of) at least two to four years of high-school English behind them - not for beginners.

Schools, teachers !

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Copyright information.

Free to view, free to use, free to print, but not free to copy. except by teachers for their own classes.
All pages published on Linguapress.com are © copyright Linguapress unless otherwise indicated.
Teachers are free to reproduce these resources on paper for use with specific classes, and students are free to print out personal copies of materials from Linguapress.com.

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Most items in the Linguapress intermediate English archive can be easily printed for classroom use. See Printing Linguapress English resources

* CEFR - The Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for languages.

Teachers: do you and your students enjoy working with Linguapress ? Let us know what you like best, what you would like to see more of, or any questions you may have. To send us your views or questions, please use our get-in-touch form.
Photo top by Julius Silver / Pixabay

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Intermediate English reading - index of free resources

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Intermediate English reading texts for EFL / ESOL | B1 and B2 texts with vocabulary guides and exercises for classroom and private study

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Practice English listening with dictation exercises - dailydictation.com

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Online dictation exercises for learners to improve English listening skills quickly. All levels from basic, intermediate to advanced. 100% Free.

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"free english class" "bbc english" "bbc learning english" "free english lesson" "bbc language lessons" bbc "learn english" "english grammar" vocabulary gramm...

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Learn English with the BBC. We publish new videos, podcasts, tutorials and lessons every week to help you learn and improve your English speaking, listening, vocabulary and pronunciation. Subscribe to our channel and hit the bell so you never miss our video uploads! We love receiving, reading, and responding to your comments!

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B1 Exams

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Try B1 level

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Practise and improve your listening skills for your school studies and your English exams. There are activities for different levels, so find your level and make a start.

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Try level B1

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Here you can find activities to practise your listening skills. Listening will help you to improve your understanding of the language and your pronunciation.

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ELLLO - English Listening Lesson Library Online

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ELLLO stands for English Listening Lesson Library Online and features natural English lessons that come with quizzes, vocabulary training, and free printable worksheets. ESL students and teachers can access over 2,000 free lessons that feature World English with speakers from over 100 countries.