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Learn · Speaking · CELPIP Speaking Task 7 (Expressing Opinions): An Opinion Needs a Reason Someone Could Argue With

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CELPIP Speaking Task 7 (Expressing Opinions): An Opinion Needs a Reason Someone Could Argue With

Task 7 asks what you think and why. Most answers state a view and then say it again in different words. What is marked is the reasoning underneath — and a reason nobody could disagree with is not a reason.

What Task 7 actually asks

A statement is put to you — usually something people genuinely disagree about — and you say whether you agree, and why.

The "why" is the entire task.

The failure: saying it again, slower

"I think mobile phones should not be allowed in schools. I believe they are not a good thing for students. In my opinion, schools are better without them. Phones cause many problems, so I think they should be banned."

Four sentences. One idea, repeated four times. No reason has been given at all — only the opinion, rephrased.

This is the single commonest shape of a weak Task 7, and it is easy to fall into because it feels like elaborating. It is not. Elaborating means adding something new.

The test for a real reason

Could a reasonable person disagree with it?

  • "Phones cause problems" — nobody can disagree, because nothing specific was claimed. Not a reason.
  • "A teacher spends the first ten minutes of every class policing phones, and that's forty minutes a week gone" — someone could disagree with this. They could say it is exaggerated, or that the policing is bad teaching. That is what makes it a reason.

If your sentence is too safe to argue with, it is too empty to score.

The shape that works

  1. Say your position in the first sentence. Plainly. No "well, this is a complicated topic…"
  2. Give two or three reasons, and make them different from each other. Not three angles on one idea — three ideas.
  3. Make one of them concrete. A number, an example, something that happened.
  4. Concede one point to the other side, and answer it. This is where the strongest answers separate from the merely fluent.
  5. Close by restating the position. One sentence.

A worked example

The prompt (original AlmiWorld practice prompt)

Some people think workplaces should let employees work from home permanently. Others think staff should be in the office. What do you think?

The response (spoken, about 60 seconds)

I think most workplaces should let people choose, but I'd stop short of fully remote.

My main reason is that some things only happen by accident. When I worked in an office, half of what I learned came from overhearing the person next to me handle a problem I hadn't hit yet. Nobody schedules that. On a video call you get the meeting and nothing around it.

The second reason is fairness in a different direction. Working from home is not equal — if you have a spare room, it's brilliant; if you have three kids and a kitchen table, it's punishment. An office at least gives everyone the same desk.

Now, the argument on the other side is commuting, and it's a strong one. Two hours a day is real time and real money. That's exactly why I wouldn't force five days — two or three in the office gets most of the benefit at half the cost.

So: choice, but not fully remote.

Why this works.

  • The position is in the first sentence, and it is specific. Not "it depends" — a stated middle position with a boundary.
  • The two reasons are genuinely different. One is about learning; one is about fairness. Neither is a restatement of the other.
  • One is concrete and personal. The overhearing example is the sentence a marker remembers.
  • The concession is real. Commuting is granted as "a strong one" — and then used to justify the exact position taken. That is argument, not hedging.

Middle positions are allowed — but they must have edges

"It depends on the situation" is not a position. "Choice, but not fully remote" is, because it rules something out.

If you take a middle line, say what you would refuse. A middle position with no edges is the same empty answer as no position at all — and CELPIP's harshest rule is waiting:

A response giving insufficient information to assess scores 0 or 1.

What is not being marked

  • Not whether your opinion is popular, or right. There is no key.
  • Not your accent.
  • Not whether it is your real view. Argue the side you can build fastest.

The habit that fixes this task

After each sentence you practise, ask: could someone argue with that? If not, delete it and say something they could. Three arguable sentences beat a minute of agreeable ones.

Try one

[Try Task 7: Expressing Opinions →] — one full task, marked, no card required.

Try Task 7: Expressing Opinions

One full task, marked, no card required.

Related

Sources

Original material — never copied from Paragon or CELPIP publications.

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