CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Shoppers Around the Produce Displays

This picture shows a crowded grocery store from above, with produce crates in the middle and shoppers pushing carts all around them. The tricky part is that dozens of people look alike from this angle, so you need clothing colours and cart contents to make individuals stand out.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Shoppers Around the Produce Displays

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 crowded grocery store seen from above: wooden crates of fruit and vegetables down the middle, shoppers with carts on both sides, checkout counters on the left and tall shelves of packaged food on the right.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "This is a big, bright grocery store, and it's packed with shoppers."
Centre: a long row of wooden crates full of oranges, apples and tomatoes.
Foreground: a woman in a black jacket and red scarf pushes a cart with leafy greens; a man in a red sweater pushes one with boxes.
Left: cashiers at the counters, big windows, and a little child standing near a counter.
Right: rows of shelves stocked with snacks, and a woman in a red jacket with a full cart.
Close: "It looks like a busy weekend shopping trip."

Useful vocabulary

produce, crates, aisle, shopping cart
checkout counter, cashier, stocked, packed with

Phrases

"In the middle of the picture,..."
"On the left-hand side,..."
"Closer to the front,..."

Avoid

Listing "people, carts, fruit" with no detail; give clothing colours and what's in the carts.
Jumping around; move centre, front, left, right in order.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

What I'm looking at is a huge grocery store, photographed from above, and it's absolutely packed. Down the centre runs a long display of wooden crates piled high with colourful produce: oranges, red apples, tomatoes and peppers. Shoppers are steering their carts along both sides of it. In the foreground, a woman in a black jacket with a red scarf is pushing a cart with some leafy greens, while just ahead of her, a man in a red sweater has a couple of boxes in his. Over on the left, there's a row of checkout counters with cashiers, big windows letting in daylight, and a little kid in a grey jacket standing near one of the counters. On the right, the aisles are lined with tall shelves crammed with snacks and packaged goods, and a woman in a red jacket is wheeling a full cart past them. Overall, it feels like a hectic Saturday morning grocery run.

157 words

Why it scores high

Vocabulary: Vivid verbs and phrases such as "steering their carts," "piled high," "crammed with snacks" and "wheeling a full cart" make the scene easy to picture.
Content/Coherence: Starting with "photographed from above" and then moving through foreground, left and right gives the listener a clear frame before any details.
Listenability: Linking like "while just ahead of her" and "Over on the left" keeps the speech flowing, and the closing "hectic Saturday morning grocery run" sums it up.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a large, bright grocery store that's full of shoppers. Right in the middle, there's a long row of wooden crates filled with fruits and vegetables, like oranges, apples and tomatoes. On both sides of the display, people are pushing shopping carts. Near the front, a woman in a black jacket and a red scarf is pushing a cart with some leafy greens in it, and a man in a red sweater has a cart with a few boxes. On the left, there are checkout counters with cashiers, and there's a small child standing by one of them. On the right, I can see tall shelves stocked with packaged food. It looks like a really busy shopping day.

120 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: The answer moves clearly from "Right in the middle" to "Near the front," "On the left" and "On the right," so a listener can map the store.
Vocabulary: Phrases like "leafy greens" and "stocked with packaged food" are accurate and natural for a grocery setting.
Task Fulfillment: The right side mentions only shelves; adding the woman in the red jacket wheeling her cart would show people, not just objects, in every area.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

In this picture I see a very big grocery store and there is many people. In the middle there are wood boxes with fruits and vegetables, like orange and apple and tomato. Many people is pushing the carts. In the front one woman have black jacket and red scarf, her cart have green vegetables. On the left side there are cashiers and big windows. On the right side there are many shelves with snacks. I think it is weekend because it is so busy.

84 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "wood boxes" replaces 'wooden crates', and agreement slips like "there is many people," "many people is pushing" and "woman have" recur throughout.
Content/Coherence: The left and right sides each get one short line, "cashiers and big windows" and "shelves with snacks," with no people or actions described there.
Listenability: Almost every sentence starts with "In the," "On the" or "Many," so the description sounds like a list rather than connected speech.

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