In the B1 Preliminary collaborative task you and your partner look at a set of pictures and discuss a situation together — what to buy someone, how to spend a free day, which activity a group should choose. You are marked on the conversation, not on winning it, so the candidate who asks questions and reacts scores better than the one who delivers a monologue.
‘Shall we start with the concert tickets?’ opens the task in four seconds. Trying to organise the whole discussion first wastes the opening and often confuses your partner.
Three moves every time: ‘I think a book would be good, because she reads a lot. What do you think?’ That pattern alone can carry most of the task.
‘That’s a good idea’ or ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that’ costs two seconds and is marked as interactive communication. Adding your own idea on top of an unacknowledged one is not.
‘I’m not sure about that, because it might be too expensive.’ Polite disagreement produces more conversation than agreement does, and shows more language.
Ask a direct question: ‘Which one would you choose?’ You are assessed on your own performance, and drawing your partner in is part of it.
Two or three exchanges per picture is enough. ‘Shall we look at the other one?’ keeps you covering the material rather than exhausting it.
When the examiner reminds you of the time, start closing: ‘So shall we agree on the trip, then?’ A task with no decision at the end feels unfinished.
‘Let me think…’, ‘How can I say it…’, ‘The thing is…’ hold the turn while you find the words. Silence hands the turn away and loses fluency marks.
Not thisI spoke for ninety seconds without stopping so I would have enough to say.
ThisI spoke for twenty seconds and then asked my partner what they thought.
Interactive communication is a marked criterion. A monologue in a paired task scores below a shorter, genuine exchange.
Not thisI disagree. That is a bad idea.
ThisI’m not sure about that — it might be quite expensive.
Blunt disagreement closes the conversation. Softened disagreement with a reason opens it and shows more language.
Not thisI waited for my partner to start every time.
ThisI opened two of the options myself.
You are assessed individually, so a candidate who never initiates cannot show the range the task is designed to elicit.
Not thisWe talked about the first picture for the whole three minutes.
ThisWe spent about forty seconds on each and reached a decision.
Covering several options gives you more vocabulary and more chances to agree and disagree.
Not thisWhat you think about this one?
ThisWhat do you think about this one?
The auxiliary is needed in the question. This form is used repeatedly in the task, so the error repeats too.
Not this(long silence while thinking of a word)
ThisLet me think… how can I say this…
Fillers keep the turn and are natural English; silence is scored as hesitation.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
2Complete with one modal verb.
3Complete with one preposition.
6Complete with one verb in its base form.
7Write the three-move pattern you would use for each option, with an example.
One good answer
Suggest, give a reason, then ask: ‘I think a plant would be nice, because she has just moved into a new flat. What do you think?’
8Complete with one adjective.
10Complete with one auxiliary verb.
12Complete with one verb.
14Complete with one noun.
15Write two sentences disagreeing politely with a partner who suggests an expensive present, and offering an alternative.
One good answer
That’s true, it’s a lovely idea, but I’m not sure we could afford it between us. We could always get her something smaller and add a card from everyone.
16Complete with one verb in the present simple.
18Complete with one verb.
21Complete with one adverb.
23Complete with one noun.
25Your partner has just suggested the same idea you were going to suggest. Write one sentence you could say.
One good answer
That’s exactly what I was thinking — and we could even do it in the morning, so there would still be time for the beach afterwards.
26Complete with one adjective.
28Complete with one verb.
30Complete with one word.
33Complete with one verb in its base form.
35Write one sentence you could use to close the task with a decision.
One good answer
So shall we agree on the cookery class, then, since it suits everyone and it isn’t too expensive?
36Complete with one linker.
38Complete with one noun.
Note
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Help them: ask short direct questions and give them easy things to react to. You are marked on your own performance, and drawing someone in is exactly the interactive skill being assessed.
Come in politely at a natural pause — ‘Can I just say something about the second one?’ Examiners are used to it, and a candidate who never gets a turn cannot be assessed.
You have to reach a conclusion, which can be agreeing to differ. ‘We can’t agree — I still prefer the trip and you prefer the meal’ is a perfectly good ending.
Yes, and you should. Ten phrases — two for suggesting, two for agreeing, two for disagreeing, two for asking, two for closing — will carry the whole task.
Much less than stopping. Communication and interaction are separate criteria from accuracy, and a fluent exchange with small errors scores well.