Cambridge Speaking Part 2: 40 Phrases to Compare Two Photos in 1 Minute (B2 and C1)

What Part 2 asks you to do, in one paragraph

In Part 2 of the B2 First and C1 Advanced Speaking tests you talk on your own for 1 minute, then answer a short question about your partner's photos for about 30 seconds. At B2 First you get two photographs with one question printed above them, and the B2 First handbook says candidates "are expected to point out similarities and differences between the photographs and then move on to deal with the question, answering it with reference to both photographs". At C1 Advanced you get three pictures, choose two, and answer two printed questions; the C1 Advanced handbook says candidates "will always be asked to speculate" and "will never be asked to merely describe the visual". So the phrases that earn marks are comparing and speculating phrases, not describing ones. This page gives you 40 of them grouped by job, a timeline for the 60 seconds, two complete long turns written by TalkDrill (one B2, one C1), the upgrades that move a C1 answer towards 200, and what Cambridge's own examiner comments say about real Part 2 performances.

Part 2 at B1, B2 and C1, side by side

Part 2 changes shape between the three exams more than any other part, which matters if you passed B1 Preliminary and are now preparing for B2 First, or are deciding between B2 and C1. The rows below come from the exam-format pages and the handbooks.

The B2 handbook describes the focus as "organising a larger unit of discourse; comparing, describing and expressing opinions", and the C1 handbook adds "speculating". The B1 handbook says the opposite about description: describe "as fully as possible", as if to someone who cannot see the photograph, including "colours, clothing, time of day, weather". In our judgement, the habit that most often follows a candidate from B1 into B2 is that full description: forty seconds of "there is a man, he is wearing a blue shirt" before the question appears. The B1 Preliminary Speaking page covers the B1 task; everything below is about B2 and C1.

The 1-minute structure: six moves

A minute holds about six short moves. The timings are our recommendation, not a Cambridge rule, but they follow the handbook's order: similarities and differences first, then the question, answered "with reference to both photographs".

Why 25 seconds? Because the printed question is where the content of your minute lives. Describing past that point spends the time the handbook says should go on dealing with the question. If your recordings show you reaching the question at 40 seconds, cut move 2 to a single clause: "Both photos show people eating together, but ...".

The 40 phrases, grouped by job

Phrases 6 and 11 are the B2 First handbook's own examples of language for similarity and difference. The other 38 are TalkDrill's selection. Do not learn all forty: pick two per group that feel natural to you and use them until they are automatic. The C1 handbook suggests students "build up their own lists of suitable phrases throughout the course", and the B2 handbook ties this language to marks directly: "using comparatives and linking words will produce a more extended and coherent sample of speech than simply stringing together a series of simple statements. This will help them to gain marks under the Discourse Management assessment criterion."

Framing the comparison, and choosing at C1 (1 to 5)

Similarities (6 to 10)

Differences (11 to 17)

Speculating (18 to 26)

Answering the printed question (27 to 32)

Rounding off and repairing (33 to 36)

Phrase 35 matters more than it looks. The B2 handbook tells teachers to "train your students to paraphrase when they do not know, or cannot remember, a word", and the B1 handbook says candidates "will be given credit" for doing so. Freezing on a missing noun costs more than describing it.

The 30-second answer about your partner's photos (37 to 40)

Thirty seconds is three or four sentences: an answer, a reason, a small example or a "having said that". "The first one" and silence gives the assessor nothing to mark.

The describe-versus-compare trap

Here is a weak opening to the photos in worked long turn 1 below, written by TalkDrill to show the pattern. It is accurate English, and it is not what the task asks for.

Nine sentences, no comparison, no link between them, and the printed question ("What might the people be enjoying about exercising in these ways?") has not been touched. The B2 handbook is explicit: candidates "are not expected to give detailed descriptions of each picture. Rather, they are asked to compare the pictures and to give their reaction to them." The same information, used to compare and to reach the question:

At C1 the gap is larger. The C1 handbook gives its own contrast: "This picture shows two people who are on an expedition. They have to work together to achieve their goal." is "not as impressive as" a version that begins "These people look like they're on an expedition to the North Pole or they might be climbing a mountain together", goes on to guess at the reasons and the relationship, and ends "Their lives could depend on how well they co-operate with each other if there is an emergency." Every sentence of the stronger version is a guess with a reason.

Worked long turn 1: B2 First (TalkDrill)

Worked long turn 2: C1 Advanced (TalkDrill)

Notice that the partner's answer uses the third picture. The C1 interlocutor's question is about the set, so listen to your partner's long turn with all three pictures in mind.

C1 upgrades: from a 180 answer towards 200

The C1 Advanced handbook puts Grades B and C at 180 to 199 and Grade A at 200 to 210. Cambridge does not publish phrase lists for each score; the table below is our reading of the C1 Band 5 descriptors, which ask for control of "a wide range of grammatical forms", "a wide range of appropriate vocabulary to give and exchange views on familiar and unfamiliar topics", "a wide range of cohesive devices and discourse markers", contributions that are "relevant, coherent and varied", and "phonological features" used "effectively to convey and enhance meaning".

Use one upgrade per move, not one per sentence. A minute in which every clause is decorated sounds rehearsed, and the C1 handbook asks for language that is "relevant, coherent and varied", not dense. The C1 Advanced Speaking page sets a 180 and a 200 answer side by side for every part.

What Cambridge examiners said about real Part 2 turns

Cambridge publishes Speaking test videos with examiner comments on its preparation pages. For B2 First the videos are of Giulia, Tabatha and Elena (a group of three), Julia and Isabela, and Natalia and Enzo; for C1 Advanced, Marta, Giovanna and Anna, Pedro and Isabela, and Teresa and Antonio. We read the examiner comments for Giulia, Tabatha and Elena (Cambridge PDF, dated 2024, linked from the B2 First preparation page, read 21 October 2026). Four of its observations, three of them about Part 2 turns, are worth more than any tips list, because they show what a real assessor notices in a minute.

All three scored 3.5 to 4.5 on every criterion in that commentary, so these are the remarks examiners make about good B2 candidates, not weak ones. Watch the video on the preparation page with the comments open; it is the closest you will get to sitting beside an assessor.

First-language traps in the long turn

These are TalkDrill's judgement, drawn from our research on the first languages of Cambridge candidates, not from Cambridge data. The B2 Band 5 Pronunciation descriptor asks for intelligibility, appropriate intonation, accurately placed stress and clearly articulated sounds; it says nothing about accent.

The fuller lists, with drills, are on the pages for Spanish, Italian and Portuguese speakers and Turkish and Vietnamese speakers.

A seven-day Part 2 practice route

Fifteen to twenty minutes a day. Record everything on your phone; the recording is the teacher.

1. Day 1, measure. Run bank task B2-03 (or C1-01 at C1) with a timer. Note the second at which you first answer the printed question. That number is your baseline.
2. Day 2, phrases. Choose two phrases from each group above. Say each one aloud five times with the stress on the contrast word, then use all of them on one photo pair from the official sample paper.
3. Day 3, the six moves. Run B2-04 or C1-02, pausing the timer after each move to check you are on schedule.
4. Day 4, with a partner. Do a full Part 2 for both candidates (4 minutes) with a friend, or in TalkDrill's role-play practice with the AI as the interlocutor asking your 30-second question.
5. Day 5, sound. Listen to your day 4 recording for intonation only, as the examiners did for Giulia. Then read a paragraph aloud in read-aloud practice, which scores pronunciation, and focus on falling tones at full stops.
6. Day 6, the official video. Watch one Speaking test video on the preparation page and read its examiner comments.
7. Day 7, re-measure. Repeat day 1's task. If you reach the question earlier than on day 1, the plan is working.

Then move on to Part 3, which is where Interactive Communication is won. The full set of 30 timed tasks is in the practice bank, and every Cambridge page is linked from the Cambridge English hub. If you are sitting a paper-based B2 First on 7 November, 24 November or 12 December 2026, or C1 Advanced on one of its November and December dates, ask your centre now for your Speaking date, which can be on a different day from the written papers: the official dates page says Speaking test dates "are subject to local provision". Official sources for this page: the B2 First exam-format page, the C1 Advanced exam-format page and the B2 First handbook for teachers.