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CELPIP Speaking Course · Lesson 5 of 10

Tasks 3, 4 and 8: Describing Pictures and Making Predictions

By CELPass Editorial Team · 2 min read · Updated

Three tasks use a picture. Tasks 3 and 4 share one busy scene; Task 8 shows something unusual that you describe to someone who cannot see it. The same scanning habit works for all three.

Task 3: scan in zones

Split the picture into three zones (left, centre, right, or foreground and background) and describe each in turn. Start with one sentence about the whole scene: where it is and what is going on. Then go zone by zone, describing people (what they are doing, how they look) and objects, using the present continuous: "A man is carrying…", "Two kids are chasing…".

Do not try to mention everything. Choose the most interesting three or four details and describe them well, with precise words (stroller, cashier, spilled, leaning) instead of thing, man, something.

Task 4: predict with reasons

Task 4 shows the same picture and asks what will probably happen next. Make two or three predictions, each linked to something you can see: "The waiter is carrying a full tray and the boy is running behind him, so I think he's going to trip." Use a range of future forms: is going to, will probably, might, I expect.

Task 8: describe for someone who can't see it

Task 8 shows an unusual object or situation and asks you to describe it to a specific person, often to persuade or warn them. Describe it like a stranger has never seen it: shape, size, colour, material, what it is used for and what is strange about it. Compare it with something familiar ("it's about the size of a laptop").

Key points

  • Task 3: one overview sentence, then three zones, present continuous.
  • Task 4: each prediction is tied to something visible.
  • Task 8: shape, size, colour, use and what makes it unusual, for a listener who can't see it.

Exercise

Improve each picture-task sentence.

  1. (Task 3) "There is a man. He has a thing."
  2. (Task 4) "The woman will be happy."
  3. (Task 8) "It is a strange chair."
Show answers
  1. "On the left, an older man is pushing a shopping cart piled with groceries."
  2. "The woman has just found her lost keys under the bench, so she's probably going to call her husband to tell him the good news."
  3. "It's a chair about as tall as a person, made of clear plastic, with a little shelf built into each armrest for a coffee cup."

Practise with free questions

Free questions in the CELPIP format, with answers and no account needed. Try a few now, while the lesson is fresh.

All lessons in this course

  1. How CELPIP Speaking Is Scored
  2. Planning Your Answer in 30 Seconds
  3. One Answer Structure for Every Task
  4. Tasks 1 and 2: Giving Advice and Telling a Story
  5. Tasks 3, 4 and 8: Describing Pictures and Making Predictions
  6. Task 5: Comparing and Persuading
  7. Task 6: Dealing with a Difficult Situation
  8. Task 7: Expressing and Supporting Your Opinion
  9. Fluency, Pronunciation and Pauses
  10. Common Speaking Mistakes and Your Test-Day Routine

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