CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Travellers in a Bright Terminal Hall

This picture shows travellers walking through a bright airport terminal past a departures board, check-in counters, shops and benches. The tricky part is that the hall is huge and symmetrical, so you have to anchor the listener with the board in the centre before moving left and right.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Travellers in a Bright Terminal Hall

Describe some things that are happening in the picture below as well as you can. The person with whom you are speaking cannot see the picture.

How to plan your answer

What they want

Describe a long, bright airport terminal: travellers rolling suitcases toward the gates, a big departures board, check-in counters on the left, shops and benches on the right.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "This is a huge airport terminal with a high, arched glass roof."
Centre: a big blue departures board hangs from the ceiling, with a sign for gates B1 to B31 and an arrow.
Foreground: a woman in a blue T-shirt and jeans pulls a black suitcase; a man with a black backpack walks beside her.
Left: rows of check-in counters with red signs; a man in a white shirt wheels his luggage past them.
Right: shops with shelves of products, and dark benches where people wait, like a man in a red T-shirt.
Close: "Everyone seems to be heading toward their gates."

Useful vocabulary

terminal, departures board, gate, concourse
carry-on, check-in counter, skylight, heading toward

Phrases

"Hanging from the ceiling,..."
"Off to the right,..."
"Most of the people are..."

Avoid

Only saying "many people walking"; pick two or three travellers and describe their clothes and luggage.
Skipping the people sitting; contrast walking and waiting.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

This is a spacious airport terminal, and the first thing you'd notice is the ceiling: it's very high and arched, with a long skylight running right down the middle, so the whole hall is full of natural light. A steady stream of travellers is heading down the concourse toward the gates. Hanging in the centre, there's a large blue departures board with a sign above it pointing to gates B1 through B31. Closest to us, a woman in a blue T-shirt and jeans is wheeling a black carry-on, and a man in olive pants with a black backpack is striding along on the left. Further back on the left, there's a long row of check-in counters with red signs. Over on the right, there are a few shops with shelves of products, and in front of them, some people are relaxing on dark leather benches. One guy in a red T-shirt and shorts is sitting at the end, looking a bit bored as he waits.

165 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: Opening with the ceiling, "a long skylight running right down the middle," explains the bright light and sets the scene before the people.
Vocabulary: Precise words like "concourse," "carry-on," "a steady stream of travellers" and "striding along" fit the airport setting perfectly.
Listenability: Distance markers such as "Closest to us," "Further back" and "Over on the right" guide the listener smoothly, ending on a human detail: "looking a bit bored."

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a large, modern airport terminal with a high glass roof. Lots of travellers are walking down the main hall, and many of them are pulling suitcases. In the centre, there's a big blue departures board hanging from the ceiling, with a sign that says gates B1 to B31. In the front, a woman in a blue T-shirt and jeans is rolling a black suitcase, and a man with a black backpack is walking on her left. On the left side, there are check-in counters with red signs. On the right, there are some shops and a row of dark benches, where a few people are sitting and waiting, including a man in a red T-shirt.

118 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: The board "hanging from the ceiling" serves as a centre point, and the answer then moves front, left and right in a logical order.
Vocabulary: Terms such as "terminal," "departures board" and "rolling a black suitcase" are accurate and sound natural.
Task Fulfillment: The check-in area is described only by its "red signs"; one traveller or action there would make the left side as vivid as the rest.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

This picture is in a airport. It is very big and bright, and the roof is made of glass. Many people is walking with suitcase. In the middle there is a big screen for the flights, and it say B1 to B31. One woman with blue shirt is pulling black suitcase. On the left side there is counters for check-in. On the right side some people sitting on the bench. One man have red t-shirt. I think they are waiting the flight.

82 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "a airport," "many people is walking," "one man have" and "waiting the flight" show article, agreement and preposition errors.
Content/Coherence: The left side gets only "counters for check-in" with no people, and the shops on the right are never mentioned at all.
Listenability: Short, choppy sentences like "One man have red t-shirt" stand alone without linking words, so the details don't connect into one scene.

The CLBs are estimates of the level each sample was written at, not official CELPIP scores. How we estimate CLB