TOEFL Take an Interview practice questions, printable
Every prompt printed the way the task delivers it: the situation the interviewer sets, then the question. Grouped into campus situations and academic topics so you can rehearse one kind at a time instead of being surprised by both.
Free, no account and no email address. toefl-2026-take-an-interview-prompts.pdf
What is in it
- Take an Interview prompts printed in full — the setup and the question, never the question on its own.
- Both situation families the task uses: everyday campus decisions and study or coursework topics.
- The prompts that follow the fifty on the question-bank page, so the two surfaces together are the drillable set rather than one window published twice.
- A rehearsal routine on the page for working a prompt aloud without a recording, and the link to the scored drill for when you want one.
What it does not cover
- An answer key. This is an open spoken response scored on a rubric; a model answer would be one person’s reply, not a key, and presenting it as one would be a claim we cannot make.
- The prompts reserved for the full mock. Those never leave the mock, on any surface, and are not in this file.
- Listen and Repeat, the other 2026 Speaking task. It ships as its own pack.
- Recording or scoring. Paper holds the prompt; the free drill records the answer and marks it.
42 Take an Interview prompts, with their setups
Each prompt is printed the way the task delivers it: the situation the interviewer sets, then the question. There is no answer key for an open spoken response — the situation is what a reply is judged against, which is why it is never printed without one.
These are the prompts that follow the fifty on the Take an Interview question-bank page. Prompts reserved for the full mock appear in neither. Read the first fifty on the question-bank page.
Campus situations
Everyday university decisions — the interviewer sets a situation, then asks what you would do.
1. Cleaning duties
You and your roommate keep arguing about who should clean the shared kitchen.
How would you set up a fair cleaning arrangement together?
2. Night before a test
There is a free campus concert tonight, but you have an important quiz early tomorrow.
Would you go to the concert or stay in to rest, and why?
3. Cooking or dining hall
You could cook your own meals to save money or keep eating at the dining hall for convenience.
Which choice fits your life better right now, and why?
4. Peer mentor
The residence office asks whether you would mentor a first-year student on your floor.
Would you take on that role, and how would you help a new student settle in?
5. Social media use
You feel you spend too much time on social media during busy weeks.
Would you take a break from it, and how would that change your days?
6. Sharing a ride
A classmate who lives near you offers to carpool to campus to save on gas.
Would you accept the carpool, and what would you consider first?
7. Store job perk
The campus store offers you a job with a staff discount but slightly lower pay than other jobs.
Would you take that job, and why?
8. Recycling program
The student council proposes putting more recycling bins across campus, funded by a small fee.
Would you support that proposal, and why?
9. Hobby club
You are curious about photography, and a beginner-friendly photo club meets on weekends.
Would you try the club, and what would you want to learn there?
10. Early class choice
You can register for a class at eight in the morning or the same class in the afternoon.
Which time would you choose, and how does it fit your sleep habits?
11. Tracking spending
A friend suggests you try a budgeting app to keep track of your monthly spending.
Would you start using one, and how might it change your habits?
12. First week memory
Think back to your first week living on or near campus.
What is one experience from that week you remember most, and why?
13. Found a wallet
You find a wallet full of cash on a bench outside the library.
What would you do, and why would you handle it that way?
14. Study abroad idea
At a fair, you learn about a semester exchange program in another country.
Would you consider applying, and what excites or worries you about it?
15. Pets in dorms
Some students want the dorm to allow small pets like fish or hamsters.
Do you think the dorm should allow small pets, and why?
16. Walking more
You realize you drive short distances on campus that you could easily walk.
Would you switch to walking more often, and what would help you keep it up?
17. New student nerves
A new student on your floor seems nervous and has not met anyone yet.
How would you help that person feel more comfortable?
18. Event announcements
The student union is deciding whether to announce events mainly through an app or paper flyers.
Which method do you think works better for students, and why?
19. Work or friends
You could pick up an extra weekend shift for money or spend the time with friends.
Which would you choose this weekend, and why?
20. Shared fridge
Someone keeps taking food from the shared dorm fridge without asking.
How would you address the problem with the people involved?
21. A memorable event
Think of a campus event or activity you attended that meant something to you.
How did that event make you feel, and why did it matter?
Academic topics
Study and coursework topics — the interviewer sets a situation, then asks for your view.
22. Homework request
A friend who missed class asks to copy your completed homework instead of doing it.
What would you say to your friend, and why?
23. Tracking deadlines
You keep forgetting assignment due dates and wonder how to stay organized.
What system would you set up to keep track of your deadlines, and why?
24. Busy week
You have three assignments and a presentation all due in the same week.
How would you decide what to work on first?
25. A difficult subject
There is one subject that has always been the hardest for you to understand.
What subject is it, and how do you try to deal with the difficulty?
26. A past mistake
Think about a time you did poorly on an assignment or test.
What did you learn from that experience, and how did it change your habits?
27. Confused in class
During a lecture you get confused, but you are not sure whether to ask right away or wait until after class.
What would you do, and why?
28. Course format
A required course is offered both online and in person, and you can choose either.
Which format would you choose, and what is your reasoning?
29. Attendance rules
Some professors give grades partly based on attendance, while others do not.
Do you think attendance should affect grades, and why?
30. Open-book exams
Your department is considering making more exams open-book instead of closed-book.
Do you think that would be a good change, and why?
31. Study direction
You can spread your courses across many fields or go deep into one specialty.
Which direction would you take, and why does it suit you?
32. A great teacher
Think of a teacher who had a strong positive effect on how you learn.
What made that teacher so effective for you?
33. Research invitation
A professor invites you to help with a research project that would take several hours each week.
Would you accept the offer, and what would you weigh in deciding?
34. Reading strategy
You have a dense chapter to read and limited time before the next class.
How would you approach reading it so you truly understand the key ideas?
35. Doubting a source
While researching, you find a well-known source whose conclusion you doubt.
How would you decide whether to trust or challenge that source?
36. A useful skill
Imagine you could master one academic skill that would help you in every course.
Which skill would you choose, and why?
37. Future of learning
Technology keeps changing how students learn in classrooms.
How do you think classes will be different for students ten years from now?
38. Team disagreement
Two members of your project team strongly disagree about the main direction of the work.
How would you help the team reach a decision everyone can accept?
39. Grades or learning
You could take an easier course to protect your grades or a harder one that interests you more.
Which matters more to you here, and why?
40. A proud moment
Think of an academic achievement you felt genuinely proud of.
What was it, and why did it mean so much to you?
41. Grading discussion
Some instructors grade students on how much they speak up during class discussions.
Do you think class participation should be graded, and why?
42. Staying focused
During long study sessions, your attention starts to drift after a while.
What do you do to stay focused, and why does it help you?
Every question in these files is a Reach120 practice item taken from the bank our learners practise against. None of them is a real TOEFL test question, and nothing here is published, licensed, endorsed or reviewed by ETS.
What the task asks for
An interviewer sets a situation and asks what you would do or what you think. You answer aloud, immediately, with no preparation notes. The task rewards a clear decision with a reason attached far more than it rewards vocabulary — and it punishes an answer that ignores the situation it was given, however fluent.
What ETS states
Per the specification’s item-type notes, all Speaking tasks are AI-scored constructed responses.
Build a Sentence is machine-scored rather than AI-scored, so the two labels are not a Speaking-only distinction. This says nothing about how Reach120 scores your practice.
Sourced from the ETS 2026 test specifications, read 2026-07-27. Everything outside this box is Reach120’s own reading of it.
How to rehearse a prompt from paper
- 1Read the setup, then cover the page and answer aloud straight away. Thinking first is the habit that costs you the opening seconds in the real task.
- 2Answer the question in your first sentence. Everything after that is the reason; nothing before it is worth saying.
- 3Use the situation by name. A reply that would fit any prompt is the most common way a fluent answer scores badly.
- 4Do three in a row without stopping. One prompt rehearsed carefully is easier than the task; three in sequence is closer to it.
Common questions
- Do I need an account to download this?
- No. The PDF downloads directly from this page with no account and no email address, and every prompt is printed on this page as well.
- Are these real TOEFL prompts?
- Every question in these files is a Reach120 practice item taken from the bank our learners practise against. None of them is a real TOEFL test question, and nothing here is published, licensed, endorsed or reviewed by ETS.
- Why are there no model answers?
- Because there is no right answer to model. This is an open spoken response judged on a rubric, so a written "model" would be one reply among many presented as a standard. The rubric is published on the practice page instead, which is the thing an answer is actually measured against.
- Are these all the prompts Reach120 has?
- No. Some prompts are reserved for the full mock so that sitting it is not a re-run of material you have already rehearsed. Those never appear on a public page or in a file, and the split is enforced in the bank rather than by editing.