Describing an Unusual Situation

How the task works

A picture shows something odd or unexpected, and you describe it to someone who has to understand it without seeing it. Thirty seconds to prepare, sixty to speak. The last task on the test.

The difference from Task 3 is the oddity: you have to explain what is strange, not merely what is there.

Strategy that works

• Say what the scene is first, then what does not belong in it.
• Be concrete about the unusual element — size, position, why it is out of place.
• Speculate briefly about how it came to be that way.
• Keep going to the end. Trailing off in the last five seconds is the commonest way to lose marks here.

What costs marks

• Describing the picture as if it were ordinary and never naming the oddity.
• Spending the whole minute guessing at explanations.
• Relaxing because it is the final task and letting fluency slip.

Practise it

Worked examples of this task, with answers and explanations, are on the CELPIP speaking samples page. The rest of the section is set out on the CELPIP speaking description page.

Common questions