CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Riverside Concert at Sunset

The speaker has to describe a busy outdoor concert for a listener who cannot see the picture. With a band, a food scene and several groups of fans, the hard part is choosing an order and keeping each person's location clear.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Riverside Concert at Sunset

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 an outdoor concert by a river at sunset, where a big beach ball is flying toward a man holding a plate of nachos, to someone who cannot see it.

Plan (60 sec)

Big picture: a park by a river at sunset, with string lights, an arched bridge, and food trucks on the right.
Centre: a man in a blue flowered shirt sits in a lawn chair with nachos and a drink; a huge striped beach ball flies at him; a woman in a big sun hat ducks.
Left: a little girl in blue headphones dances on a red blanket while her grandmother claps.
Right: two girls share a box of popcorn; there's a red cooler.
Background: a band in cowboy hats plays on a lit stage, and people dance on the grass.

Useful vocabulary

outdoor concert, stage, band, string lights
lawn chair, picnic blanket, beach ball, nachos, food truck

Phrases

"In the centre of the picture,..."
"On the left-hand side,..."
"Behind them,..."

Avoid

Saying what the ball will hit; that is Part 4.
Listing people without saying what they're doing.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

This is an outdoor concert in a park along a river, at sunset, with strings of lights hanging over the whole crowd and a long arched bridge in the background where a few cyclists are crossing. On the main stage, a country band is playing under purple and green lights, and there are two food trucks parked off to the right. In the foreground, though, the real action is a huge rainbow-coloured beach ball sailing straight toward a grey-haired man in a blue Hawaiian shirt. He's sitting in a folding chair, balancing a tray of nachos and a drink on his lap, and his eyes are wide, so he's clearly just spotted it. The woman beside him, in a wide white sun hat, is already crouching and grabbing her hat. Off to the left, a little girl wearing blue ear protectors is dancing on a red blanket while her grandmother claps along, and on the right, two girls are laughing over a box of popcorn.

165 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: the speaker sets the wide scene first, then turns with "though, the real action is" to guide the listener straight to the beach ball.
Vocabulary: "sailing straight toward", "balancing a tray of nachos" and "blue ear protectors" are exact word choices that paint a vivid picture.
Task Fulfillment: background details such as "a long arched bridge" with cyclists and "two food trucks" join the people, giving a full and accurate description.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows an outdoor concert in a park beside a river, and it looks like the sun is going down because the sky is orange. In the background, there's a band playing on a big stage with colourful lights. In the front, a big colourful beach ball is flying toward a man with grey hair. He's sitting in a lawn chair, wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt, and he's holding a big plate of nachos and a drink. He looks really surprised. Next to him, a woman in a white sun hat is ducking and holding her head. On the left, a little girl wearing blue headphones is dancing on a red blanket, and an older woman is clapping. On the right, two girls are laughing and sharing popcorn.

129 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: adding "the sun is going down because the sky is orange" sets the scene before moving logically from the stage to the front, left and right.
Vocabulary: details like "a blue Hawaiian shirt", "a lawn chair" and "a white sun hat is ducking" let the listener picture each person clearly.
Task Fulfillment: the main people are covered well, but the bridge, food trucks and lights are missed, and "He looks really surprised" stays general.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

This picture is outdoor concert in a park near the river. On the stage there is a band. They play guitar and drum, and some wear cowboy hat. In the front a big beach ball is flying to a man. He sit on chair and hold a plate of nachos and a drink. He look scared. Beside him a woman with white hat is covering her head. On the left a little girl with headphone is dancing and old woman is clapping. On the right two girls eat popcorn.

89 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "a band", "a big beach ball" and "two girls eat popcorn" name things without colour or detail, so the listener gets only a rough sketch.
Listenability: "He sit on chair", "He look scared" and "old woman is clapping" drop verb endings and articles, though the location words keep the layout clear.
Content/Coherence: the speaker moves stage, front, left, right, but each spot gets one short line, so the funny moment with the ball and nachos is underdeveloped.

These are original CELPass examples written at each level. The CLBs are our estimates, not official CELPIP scores. How we estimate CLB