CELPIP Speaking Task 3 · Describing a Scene · question 10 of 20
A Beach on a Hot July Day
A CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice question (Describing a Scene), with a model answer below. No sign-up needed. Read the task, take 30 seconds to prepare, then speak for 60 seconds, out loud, as you would on the test.
The task
Describe some things that are happening in this scene at a beach as well as you can. The person with whom you are speaking cannot see it.
- Read the scene, prepare during the preparation time, then speak aloud for the speaking time.
The scene
On the real test you see a picture. Here the scene is described in words, so describe it as if you were looking at it.
It is a hot, sunny afternoon in July at a busy sandy beach on a large lake. The sky is bright blue with no clouds, and the water is calm. On the left, a lifeguard in a red shirt is sitting high up in a white wooden chair and looking through binoculars. Below the chair, two children are building a sandcastle with green and yellow buckets. In the centre, a group of four teenagers is playing volleyball over a low net, and one of them is jumping to hit the ball. On the right, a woman is lying on a striped towel under a large blue umbrella, reading a book, while a man beside her is rubbing sunscreen on a little boy's back. In the background, a man is standing on a paddleboard far out on the water, and a small ice cream stand with a pink roof has a long line of people in front of it.
- Preparation
- 30 seconds
- Speaking time
- 60 seconds
- Question
- 10 of 20
A simple way to build your answer
- Describe the heat through what people are doing: umbrellas, sunscreen, ice cream.
- Use action verbs for the volleyball game: jumping, hitting, playing.
- Mention the lifeguard first or last; the lifeguard is easy to place and gives a clear starting point.
Model answer · CLB 9
158 words · no sign-upOkay, so this is a crowded beach on a lake, and it's a really hot July afternoon. There isn't a cloud in the sky. On the left, there's a lifeguard in a red shirt sitting up high in a white wooden chair, watching the water through binoculars. Down below him, two kids are building a sandcastle with green and yellow buckets. In the centre of the picture, four teenagers are playing volleyball over a low net, and one of them is jumping up to hit the ball. On the right, a woman is stretched out on a striped towel under a big blue umbrella with a book, and next to her a man is putting sunscreen on a little boy's back. It seems like they're a family. Further out on the lake, a man is standing on a paddleboard, and back on the sand, there's a long lineup at a little ice cream stand with a pink roof.
Why this answer works
- Describes the heat and the sky together, so the setting is vivid from the first lines.
- Uses the lifeguard's high chair to anchor the left side and then moves down to the children.
- Includes the Canadian word 'lineup' and natural phrasing such as 'stretched out'.
Get your own answer scored by AI: free account, no card
The model answer shows the target. To find out where your own recording lands, answer this question in the practice runner and get a CLB level for each criterion. A free account includes 3 AI-scored answers every 30 days.