CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Skiers on a Sunny Mountain Slope

This picture shows two skiers in red heading down a sunny slope, with wooden chalets, a chairlift and snowy mountains around them. The tricky part is that the people are small and few, so you must use the buildings, lift and landscape to fill a full minute.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Skiers on a Sunny Mountain Slope

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 ski hill on a sunny day: two skiers in red jackets in front, wooden chalets on the left, a chairlift on the right, a few skiers further away, and snowy mountains behind.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "This is a ski resort on a bright, sunny day with lots of fresh snow."
Foreground: a skier in a red jacket and black pants with poles skis away from us; a smaller skier in red, maybe a child, is on the left.
Left: several brown wooden chalets with snow on the roofs.
Right: a chairlift with a tall tower and a chair hanging from the cable.
Middle: a handful of skiers spread out on the slope; ski tracks in the snow.
Background: snow-covered mountains, evergreen trees, a clear blue sky.

Useful vocabulary

ski slope / ski hill, chalet, chairlift, ski poles
ski tracks, fresh powder, evergreens, beginner

Phrases

"In the foreground,..."
"Off to the left,..."
"Dotted across the slope,..."

Avoid

Only praising the view; describe people, buildings and the lift.
Saying "a lot of skiers"; there are only a few, spread out.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

This is a ski resort on a beautiful, sunny day, and the snow looks fresh and sparkling. In the foreground, two skiers in matching red jackets and black pants are gliding down the slope with their backs to us, poles in hand. The one on the left is noticeably smaller, so it could be a child out with a parent. Off to the left, there's a cluster of brown wooden chalets, each with a thick blanket of snow on the roof. Over on the right, a chairlift runs up the hill, and you can see a tall metal tower with a chair hanging from the cable. A handful of other skiers are dotted across the slope, and the snow is covered in curving ski tracks. Tall evergreens frame both edges of the picture, and in the background, a range of snow-capped mountains stretches under a clear blue sky with just a few wisps of cloud.

155 words

Why it scores high

Vocabulary: Images such as "gliding down the slope," "a thick blanket of snow," "dotted across the slope" and "wisps of cloud" make the scene vivid.
Content/Coherence: The answer covers skiers, chalets, chairlift, tracks, trees and mountains, leaving no major part of the picture undescribed.
Listenability: "In the foreground," "Off to the left," "Over on the right" and "in the background" give the description a clear spatial path.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a ski resort on a bright, sunny day. In the front, there are two skiers in red jackets and black pants, holding ski poles and skiing away from us. The one on the left is smaller, so it might be a child. On the left side of the picture, there are some large wooden chalets with snow on their roofs. On the right, there's a chairlift with a tall metal tower, and one of the chairs is hanging from the cable. A few other skiers are spread out across the slope. In the background, there are snowy mountains covered with evergreen trees, and the sky is clear and blue.

112 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: "The one on the left is smaller, so it might be a child" makes a reasonable guess from a visible detail.
Vocabulary: Correct terms like "ski resort," "chalets," "chairlift" and "ski poles" show solid topic vocabulary.
Task Fulfillment: The ski tracks and the evergreens at the edges are left out; one more line would make the foreground as detailed as the background.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

This picture is a ski place in the mountain. The weather is very nice and the sky is blue. In front there is two people skiing, they wear red jacket and black pant. One is small, maybe it is a child. On the left there is some wood houses with snow on top. On the right there is a chair lift. Some other people is skiing far away. Behind there is big mountains with snow and trees. It look very cold but beautiful.

83 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "red jacket and black pant," "some wood houses," "some other people is skiing" and "It look" show plural, word-choice and agreement errors.
Content/Coherence: The chairlift and chalets are named but not described, and the ski tracks and evergreens in front are missing.
Listenability: "they wear red jacket" is attached to the previous sentence with a comma, and repeated "There is" openings make it sound like a list.

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