This document provides exercises and guidance for teachers to help students practice describing pictures for PET and FCE exams. It includes example pictures and gives students vocabulary and phrases to use when describing locations, buildings, people, expressions, and relationships. Teachers are instructed to have students practice in pairs and provide feedback to help them improve at describing pictures.

1. What a picture!
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Teacher’s notes and answer key
Level: PET and FCE
Aim: to practise describing a picture or pictures
Duration: 45 minutes
In PET and FCE students have to describe a picture or pictures. Students very often find this difficult and quickly freeze under exam
conditions. However with practice they can learn key phrases and vocabulary to make this sort of task much less intimidating. To
accompany this worksheet teachers should collect a good supply of pictures or photos from magazines, but a few are included here as a
starting point.
Exercise 1
Distribute one or two photos to pairs of students. Ask them to describe their first impressions using the structures given.
Exercise 2
Using the photos you have taken to the class, have students use this vocabulary to locate things in the picture.
Exercise 3
This exercise will help to expand the students’ vocabulary. Have them put the words and phrases in the correct category and then get
them to add as many more as possible to each group. If you have a good selection of photos lots of vocabulary should come from these.
Answer key:
1) outdoors
2) a busy street
3) low
4) scruffy
5) plump
6) tattooed
7) a scar
8) a teenager
9) excited
10) colleague
Follow up: Students are now ready to describe one or two pictures. Get them to practise in pairs and if possible record the results. You
can then listen to this in small groups and go over the description. Offer lots of praise for good descriptions.

2. What a picture!
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9649 Page 2 of 5
Exercise 1
First impressions.
This is a photo of …
This is a picture of …
It could be …
The first picture shows …
The second picture shows …
Exercise 2
Study the plan below and describe your photo.
In the centre there’s a …
On the right there are …
Exercise 3
Complete the spaces with the correct words and
phrases.
scruffy excited colleagues
a busy
street
tattooed
plump outdoors a scar
a
teenager
low
Where? Location?
It’s
indoors, (1) .............................. ,
in the country, in the city, in a building
a city centre, (2) .............................., a crowded room / a quiet
place
Buildings
The buildings are:
high, (3) .............................., modern, old
Who?
There’s a group of people. There’s one person / a man…
They’re/He’s/She’s:
Clothes: smart, (4) .............................., old-fashioned, trendy
Physical features: blonde, pale, dark-skinned, slim, athletic,
(5) ..............................
Special features: wrinkled, (6) .............................., European,
Oriental (7) ..............................,
Age: in his fifties, middle-aged, (8) ..............................,
Facial expression: sad, gloomy, fed up, disappointed, (9)
..............................,
Relationship: brothers, school friends, (10) ..............................
What’s it a
picture of?
On the
left …
In the
centre…
On the
right…
At the top…
At the bottom…

3. What a picture!
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9649 Page 3 of 5
Photograph by daphonque
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daphonque/1555563424/ Photograph by rayphua
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayphua/185746302/

4. What a picture!
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9649 Page 4 of 5
Photograph by Rob Qld
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob-
Photograph by wwworks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/1384954600/
Photograph by jalil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jalil/2098867964/
Photograph by lepa
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lepa/1374780715/

5. What a picture!
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9649 Page 5 of 5
Photograph by seier+seier+seier
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seier/1524490934/
Photograph by kamshots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/193846049/