(A) Pre-Speaking Your preparation time is quite short, but itis an important time. Here’ what you need to do during this fifteen-second period: > Read and analyze the prompt. > Decide on your answer. > Take notes about what you will say and prepare a simple outline, Reading and analyzing the prompts is one of the most important steps in the Independent Speaking Task. If you do not speak about the topic that Is given to you, you will not receive a top score, no maiter hov well you speak, ‘The prompts are short and are written in simple English, You need to analyze the prompt—to put it into your own words and to tell yourself what the task is asking youto do. (You don't need to do this analysis in writing or aloud, only in your head.) Look at this analysis of the Sample Task, Analysis ‘This prompt Is asking me to name the most influential person in my life, and then to give a general description of this person. It also asks me to give reasons {or my choice, to explain why | consider this person so influential. | could talk about a relative, a teacher, a friend, or anyone who has changed my life. Remember: There is no “correct” answer for this task. Your choice doesn't even have to be your own real preference. Any answer that you can support is a good. one, Besides reading and analyzing the task, you should take some brief notes dur- Ing the preparation period and write a very simple outline, Follow this oudline as you speak. When you took notes for Listening lectures, you used abbreviations and ‘wrote down only important information. You should do the sane when you take notes and prepare an outline for this task. Your outline should include the following: v Your preference > A briefdeseription of your preference > Atleast one or two reasons for your preference An outline for the sample item might look like this: My older brother ee ‘6 years older—kind, thnks of others made me interested in golf & studying in. US.(B) The Language of Personal Preference Specific vocabulary and grammatical structures are often used to express personal preference. Opinion ‘When you give your preference, you are really giving your opinion about a topic. When you begin your response, you should clearly state what your preference is. ‘The following expressions can sometimes be used for your opening statement > I think that my older brother is the kindest person Lknow. > In my opinion, Florence is the most beautiful city in the world. > [believe that the Louvte is the most interesting museum in the world, Supertatives When you give your preference, you will often use superlative adjectives (the kind- est, the most important, the most interesting). Keep in mind these simple rules for forming superlatives. hule Examples ‘aid To One Hable adjeanes and two] great the greatest syllable adjectives that end in. funny the funnest Use the word mast before wo-sylabie | common the most common adjectives that do not end in -y and impressive the most impressive adkectves of three or more sles, The adjectives good and bod have regular | good the best superlative forms | bad the worst, In my opinion, tie greatest leader of all ime was Mahatma Gandhi. I think air pollution is the mosr common problem, ‘The most important development of science was the discovery of electricity ‘The best place to take a vacation, in my opinion, is Tahid. Favorite Some Personal Preference prompts ask you to describe your favorite something. ‘The word favorite is not used as 2 superlative, and is not used with the phrase in ‘my opinion My favorite book is Don Quixote. (CORRECT) There have been many great movies, but my favorite fs Seven Samurai (CORRECT) In my opinion, my favorite book is Don Quixote. (INCORRECT) My most favorite movie is Seven Samurai (INCORRECT)Reasons and Examples Personal Preference prompts ask you not only to state your preference or interest but also to give several specific reasons why you prefer something or are interested. by something. There are various ways to list reasons ‘There are several reasons why tennis is my favorite sport, One's that itis a fast- paced game and provides a lot of exercise. Another is that it isa game that requires quick thinking and decision-making, (One reason why Tabit is my favorite place for a vacation is thatit is an amazingly beautiful place, Another is that the people there are very friendly and hospitable Whyis tennis my favorite sport? One reason is that itis fast-paced game and provides alot of exercise. A second reason is that it is @ game that requires quick thinking and decision-making. ‘Tennis is my favorite sport because it is a fast-paced game and provides alot of exercise, and also because it requires quick thinking and decision-making. ‘You may also need to give specific examples in your response. ‘There are several ways that Mr, Santos was helpful to me. For example, he ‘would meet with me and other students after class to make sure that we under- stood his lessons. Also, he helped students who were interested in attending the university fill out their applications. My favorite kind of music is jazz. 1 especially like jazz from the 1940's and. 19505, such as the music of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, (©) Giving the Personal Preference Response In the Personal Preference response, you need to clearly state what your preference is You need to give a quick description of your choice and support your choice with specific reasons. One important element of your response i timing, There isan on-screen clock ‘hat will let you know how much time is left. Forty-five seconds is not much time. Don't “pad” your presentation with unim- portant information because you might not have time (o support your answer. Practice giving responses so that you finish in about forty-five seconds, (On the day of the test, ifyou find that you finish very early (with more than fif- teen seconds remaining) you should probably take advantage of that extra time to give some additional information. However, if you finish with less time that that, just stop and go on to the next task. Dont worry too much about running out of ime just before you finish the task, As long as you have completed most ofthe task, you will not be penalized for not finishing on time. ‘When you give your response, you should also keep the following points in mind: > State your preference in the frst sentence of your response > Follow the simple outline that you made during the preparation time.vvvvvyy Give at least two specific reasons to support your choice. Speak clearly and directly into the microphone. Don't speak too slowly or too fast. Keep your response flowing: avoid long pauses. Pay attention to your pronunciation and intonation. Keep it simple! Use familiar vocabulary and grammar.