CELPIP Speaking Task 3 · Describing a Scene · question 11 of 20
Apple Picking at an Orchard in the Fall
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 an apple orchard 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 cool, sunny Sunday in early October at a family-run apple orchard in the countryside. The leaves on the trees around the field are turning red and yellow. On the left, a father is lifting his small son up so the boy can reach a red apple on a high branch. In the centre, a tractor is pulling a wooden wagon full of hay bales, and about eight people are sitting on the bales, smiling and waving. Next to the path, a woman in a green fleece is holding a long metal apple picker with a basket on the end. On the right, a teenage girl is taking a photo of her friend, who is holding two apples up beside her face. In the background, there is a red barn with a sign that says Pies and Cider, and a few pumpkins are lined up on a table in front of it.
- Preparation
- 30 seconds
- Speaking time
- 60 seconds
- Question
- 11 of 20
A simple way to build your answer
- Mention the season through the colours of the leaves and the pumpkins.
- Describe the tool the woman is holding; explain it in simple words if you forget the name.
- Show movement: lifting, pulling, waving, posing.
Model answer · CLB 9
159 words · no sign-upSo the scene is an apple orchard out in the countryside, on a cool but sunny day in early fall. The leaves are turning red and yellow. On the left, a dad is lifting up his little boy so he can grab a red apple from a high branch. Right in the middle, a tractor is pulling a big wooden wagon loaded with hay bales, and there are about eight people sitting on them, smiling and waving, so it must be a hayride. Beside the path, a woman in a green fleece is holding one of those long metal poles with a basket at the end for picking apples. On the right side, a teenage girl is taking a picture of her friend, who's posing with two apples held up beside her face. Behind all of that, there's a red barn with a sign saying Pies and Cider, and some pumpkins are lined up on a table out front.
Why this answer works
- Shows a useful strategy: describing an object ('one of those long metal poles with a basket at the end') when the exact name is hard.
- Draws a logical conclusion from what is visible ('so it must be a hayride').
- Ends with the barn and pumpkins, which reinforces the autumn theme.
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