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Duolingo English Test Read, Then Speak: practice prompt 5

One real-format Read, Then Speak prompt with a model spoken answer and notes on why it scores. You get 20 seconds to prepare, then speak about the prompt for at least 30 seconds and up to 90. Keep going until the time is nearly up.

The prompt

Some people work better in the morning and others late at night. When do you do your best work, and how do you organise your day around it?

20 seconds to prepare, up to 90 seconds to speak.

Hear a strong answer

One way this question can be answered well, spoken at the pace and length the task expects. Listen for where the pauses fall, then try it again in your own words and with your own examples.

I'm at my best early, around six in the morning, and I've stopped fighting it. My concentration is genuinely better before anyone else is awake, and it falls off a cliff at about two in the afternoon no matter what I do. So I organise the day around that instead of pretending to be a night person. Anything that needs real thinking, writing, planning, difficult reading, goes in the first three hours. The afternoon gets meetings, emails and anything mechanical, because I can do those while tired. The cost is that I'm useless socially after nine at night, which my friends find very funny. But I'd rather protect three excellent hours than spread eight mediocre ones across the whole day.

Why this earns score 160

  1. Answers both halves: when they work best, and how the day is organised around it.
  2. The trade off at the end shows development rather than simply listing a routine.
  3. Varied sentence lengths keep the delivery from sounding like a list.

Questions about this answer

What score is this model answer?

It is written to earn the top of the Duolingo English Test scale, score 160, and the notes under it say why.

How long do I get for this prompt?

20 seconds to prepare and up to 90 seconds to speak.

What should I watch for in my own answer?

Answers both halves: when they work best, and how the day is organised around it.

Answer it yourself, then see your score

Record your own answer and get a score with your transcript in about a minute. Your first test is free, no sign-up.

Record my answer

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