CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Football Players Racing Down the Field

This picture shows a football player sprinting with the ball while his teammates chase behind him in a packed stadium. The tricky part is describing the uniforms and movement precisely, because most players wear the same colours and are all running in one direction.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Football Players Racing Down the Field

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 football game on a sunny day: a player in a navy jersey running with the ball, his teammates running behind him, players in white further back, and fans filling the stands.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "This is a football game in a big stadium, and one player is running with the ball."
Foreground right: the player wears a dark helmet, a navy jersey with red on the shoulders, white pants with a red stripe, and white gloves; the ball is tucked under his arm.
Behind him: two teammates in the same navy and white uniform are sprinting after him.
Middle: more players in navy, and players in white jerseys further back.
Background: the stands packed with fans, many wearing orange.
Setting: green artificial turf with white lines, a clear sky, bright sunshine.

Useful vocabulary

jersey, helmet, teammates, opposing team
sprint, tucked under his arm, stands / bleachers, turf

Phrases

"In the foreground,..."
"Right behind him,..."
"The stands are..."

Avoid

Explaining football rules; just describe the action and uniforms.
Forgetting the crowd; the orange stands are a big part of the picture.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

This is a football game in a large stadium, and the picture captures a really exciting moment. In the foreground on the right, a player is sprinting toward us with the ball tucked firmly under his right arm. He's wearing a dark helmet with a face mask, a navy jersey with red trim on the shoulders, white pants with a red stripe down the side, and white gloves, and his face looks completely focused. Just behind him, two teammates in matching navy and white uniforms are charging along, one of them reaching out with his arm. Further back on the field, there are more players in navy, as well as several from the opposing team in white jerseys. The stands are packed with spectators, and a lot of them are wearing orange, so the background is a sea of colour. The turf is bright green with crisp white lines, and the sky is clear.

154 words

Why it scores high

Vocabulary: Precise terms like "face mask," "red trim," "opposing team" and "a sea of colour" show a wide, natural range.
Content/Coherence: Adding small observations such as "his face looks completely focused" and "one of them reaching out with his arm" brings energy to the scene.
Listenability: "In the foreground on the right," "Just behind him" and "Further back on the field" guide the listener smoothly from near to far.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a football game in a big stadium on a sunny day. In the front, a player is running fast with the ball tucked under his right arm. He's wearing a dark helmet, a navy jersey with red on the shoulders, white pants with a red stripe, and white gloves. Right behind him, two of his teammates in the same uniform are running to keep up. Further back, there are more players in navy, and some players from the other team are wearing white jerseys. The stands in the background are full of fans, and many of them are dressed in orange. The field is bright green with white lines.

112 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: The answer moves from the ball carrier to his teammates, other players, the stands and the field in a clear order.
Vocabulary: Sport-specific phrases like "tucked under his right arm," "jersey" and "teammates" sound natural and accurate.
Task Fulfillment: The main player's direction and expression aren't described; saying he's running toward the camera would make the action easier to imagine.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

This picture is a football game. One player is running with the ball. He wear a black helmet and dark blue shirt with red, and white pants. He hold the ball with his arm. Behind him two other player from the same team is running also. Far away there is players with white shirt. There is many people in the stadium watching, and many of them is wearing orange. The grass is green and the weather is sunny.

78 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "He wear," "He hold," "two other player... is running also" and "many of them is" show repeated verb and plural errors.
Content/Coherence: The answer never says where the main player is in the picture or that he's running toward us, so the layout is unclear.
Listenability: Simple sentences with few connectors, and "running also" at the end of a sentence, make the speech sound stiff.

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