Describing a Book

Warm-up: Two minutes about a book

2 warm-up questions

• Quick chat first: what's the last book you actually finished — and would you have recommended it halfway through?
• Now the first try. Cue card, NO preparation: "Describe a book you have read — what it's called, what it's about, why you read it, and whether you'd recommend it." Talk for one minute, starting now.

Reading: The two-minute story: a book

Read a 324-word text about The two-minute story: a book

The two-minute story: a book The book cue card has one famous trap: the plot. Candidates start retelling the story, get lost in “and then… and then…”, run over their two minutes, and never reach the only part the examiner actually wants — what the book meant to you. Band 6 or Band 7? A Band 6 answer is mostly plot summary with simple verbs. A Band 7 answer spends two sentences on the plot — maximum — and the rest on your story with the book: who recommended it, why it was on your list, the moment it became a page-turner, what it changed in your head. You don't even need the author's name; you need your reaction. The cue card Describe a book you have read recently. You should say: what the book is called, what it is about, why you decided to read it, and explain whether you would recommend it to others. Build it in four moves 1. Open — title and one frame sentence: “I'd like to talk about a book I read a few months ago called The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.” 2. Plot in two sentences — and stop: “It follows a boy named Amir in Afghanistan and his friendship with Hassan. Without giving too much away, it's about how one childhood mistake shadows his whole life.” 3. Your story with it — why you read it: “A friend said it was the most gripping book she'd ever read, and I'm drawn to stories set in cultures I don't know. It sat on my list for ages before I finally started it.” 4. The verdict — recommend, with a reason that's about YOU: “I'd absolutely recommend it — a real page-turner, and it made me think hard about forgiveness. It's one of those books that stays with you.” The practice dialogue on the next slides builds exactly this answer. Time how little of it is plot.

Vocabulary: Book Vocabulary

6 items

Practice: Book Descriptions

Gap-fill exercise, 5 items

• It was such a ____ story that I finished it in one day.
• The book has an interesting ____ with lots of surprises.
• I would highly ____ this book to my friends.
• It quickly became a ____ around the world.
• The movie was ____ the novel by the same name.

Practice: Book Genres

Matching exercise, 6 items

• Crime story with a puzzle to solve
• Story about love and relationships
• Exciting adventure with danger
• Set in the future or other worlds
• True story about real events
• Story about someone's life written by themselves

Dialogue: Part 2 Book Practice

Role-play: Practice a Part 2 response about a book (4 lines)

• Please begin. Point - Introduce the book.
• (Continue your response): Example - Explain what it's about.
• (Continue your response): Elaborate - Why you read it.
• (Conclude your response): Personal - Your recommendation.

Discussion: Your two minutes: a book

3 discussion questions

• Mission: the real thing. One minute of notes on the cue card (a book YOU really read), then speak for the FULL two minutes. Success = all four points covered, plot held to two sentences, at least 60 seconds on your own story with the book, and at least three of today's words (gripping, page-turner, plot, recommend, bestseller, based on). (Tutor: time strictly, stop them only at 2:00 — and raise a finger if the plot runs past two sentences.)
• Second take, new theme: “Describe a book you remember from your childhood.” 30 seconds of prep — same four moves, but the 'why' becomes who read it to you or why it mattered then, and the verdict becomes whether it still holds up.
• Callback: compare with your first try from the start. How many seconds of the first attempt were plot retelling — and what replaced them this time?