Describe a book you read recently about a subject that was new to you.
A card about a non-fiction book that took you somewhere unfamiliar — how sleep works, the history of a spice, the life of bees, the economics of football. Curiosity drives this answer, so choose a subject you genuinely knew little about.
The task card
Describe a book you read recently about a subject that was new to you.
You should say:
- what the book was about
- why you decided to read it
- what you learned from it
and explain how reading it affected you.
Now say it yourself
Record your own two minutes on this card and have it transcribed and marked against the Speaking criteria. Practising is free; the band estimate is part of Pro.
Record my answerHow long you have
- 1 minute
Preparation
The examiner hands you the card, paper and a pencil. Make notes — a few words per cue point, never sentences.
- 1–2 minutes
Your long turn
Speak until the examiner stops you at two minutes. Finishing early is the most common self-inflicted problem in Part 2.
- 1–2 questions
Rounding off
The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions, then moves straight into the Part 3 discussion on the same theme.
Part 2 takes three to four minutes in total. The whole Speaking test runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts, and Part 3 that follows lasts four to five minutes.
How to approach this card
Summarise the subject in one or two sentences — what the book covers, not every chapter. If you cannot remember the exact title or author, describe the book instead; the examiner is not checking your references.
For 'why you decided to read it', a small, specific trigger works best: a question nobody could answer over dinner, a documentary that left you curious, a book left behind in a holiday flat.
'What you learned' needs two or three concrete ideas explained in your own words. Explaining one surprising idea clearly shows more range than listing ten facts.
For the final bullet, connect the book to something you now notice or do differently. The common mistake is ending with 'it was very interesting'; say what you see now that you did not see before.
Model answer
Speak your own answer first. Examiners are trained to spot memorised speeches and mark them down — use this to study structure, pacing and naturalness, never to recite.
Show the model answer
I'd like to talk about a book I read last spring about soil — which I realise sounds like the least exciting subject in the world, and that's partly why it surprised me so much. It was a non-fiction book written for ordinary readers, about what's actually going on underground: the insects, the worms, the fungi, the huge numbers of bacteria, and how all of it keeps plants — and therefore us — alive. Why did I pick it up? Pure accident, really. My parents had asked me to help with their vegetable patch, everything we planted kept dying, and none of us knew why. A few days later I spotted this book in a charity shop with a worm on the cover, and I bought it half as a joke for my dad. Then I started reading it on the bus and didn't give it to him for a month. What did I learn? Three things stuck. First, that a single teaspoon of healthy soil can contain more living organisms than there are people on the planet, which I genuinely had to read twice. Second, that the roots of many plants are linked underground by threads of fungi, which seem to pass water and nutrients around. And third — the useful one — that digging the soil over every year, which my dad does religiously, can break up that whole underground structure. How did it affect me? Practically, we stopped digging and started covering the beds with compost instead, and the vegetables did noticeably better the next summer — though my dad still won't admit the book had anything to do with it. But I also see soil differently now. When I walk past a building site and see it all scraped into piles, I find myself thinking about how long it took to form. It's a strange thing to feel sad about, but I do.
Why this works: Opening by admitting the subject sounds dull is a natural, confident way to start. The 'what you learned' bullet is organised into three clearly signposted points, each explained in plain words, and the final bullet moves from a practical result to a change in perception — the two levels the strategy suggests. The humour about the father is used once and lightly. Practise the three-point signposting with a book you have really read rather than repeating this one.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- aimed at a general reader
Written for non-experts; useful for describing accessible non-fiction.
- I'd never given it a second thought
Shows that the subject was genuinely new to you.
- it opened my eyes to
Natural phrase for discovering something you had not noticed.
- a page-turner
A book so engaging you keep reading; surprising, and so effective, praise for non-fiction.
- a knock-on effect
An indirect result; useful when explaining ideas from the book.
- to see something in a new light
To understand something differently; fits the final bullet.
Part 3 discussion
After your long turn the examiner moves into a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, working from two related discussion topics with about three questions each. The first stays close to your own experience; the second widens out. Answer with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
- 1Why do some people prefer non-fiction to novels?
- 2Is it better to learn about a subject from books or from videos?
- 3Should experts write more books for ordinary readers rather than for other specialists?
- 4Do people read as carefully on screens as they do on paper?
- 5How can parents encourage teenagers to read more?
- 6Will printed books still be common in fifty years' time?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: Media, technology and culture. Model answers for Part 3: Part 3 questions and answers.