Where pictures appear in TOEIC
One habit serves all three tasks:
- Listening Part 1 (Photographs): six photos, each with four unprinted statements (A–D), heard once; choose the one that best describes the photo.
- Speaking, Questions 3–4: describe a picture aloud, with 45 seconds to prepare and 30 to speak.
- Writing, Questions 1–5: one sentence per picture using two given words or phrases, with 8 minutes for all five.
Person, action or state, position
Check three things you could point to: the person, what their hands and body show, and where they are. “A woman is seated behind the counter and is checking a form” passes: all of it is visible.
A picture cannot show why someone came, how they feel or what comes next, so “because she is late” fails. A useful frame: “You can see a man with a box, but you can’t tell what is in it.”
Action or state: the verb decides
Part 1 often uses the present continuous, so verb forms matter:
- “A man is holding a box”: an action now; one “is” can serve two verbs: “is holding a phone and walking”.
- “Two people are standing”, but “nobody is sitting”: nobody takes a singular verb.
- “Chairs are stacked” or “have been stacked”: a state you can see.
- “Chairs are being stacked”: someone is doing it now. If nobody is touching them, the statement is wrong.
Guide your listener
A description works like directions for someone who cannot see the picture. One speaker starts from a fixed object; the other asks where to look next.
Maya Start with the counter in the background. The person behind it is checking a form.
Owen Where should I look next?
Maya Look to the right, near the closed door.
A 30-second picture description
Open with the whole scene, then two or three details in a clear order: left to right, front to back, or one person and nearby objects. Plan four short notes, not a script, and label any impression: “It looks like a busy morning.” A model:
“Three adults are in an equipment room. On the left, a woman is kneeling beside an open box. On the right, a man is holding a green folder. In the background, someone is looking at a clipboard.”
- “In the foreground” (nearest) and “in the background” (farthest).
- “Beside” or “next to” (never “next the shelf”), “behind”, “in front of”.
- “In the picture”, not “on the picture”.
Writing: both words, one sentence, true to the picture
You may change the forms and order of the two words, but both must appear in one grammatical sentence that fits the picture. Grammar and fit are what is scored, so a short sentence that passes is a full answer.
- hold / mat: “A woman is holding a rolled mat.”
- stand / while: “A man is standing by the shelf while a woman holds a mat”, or the other way round.
- “A man stand by the shelf while…” fails on grammar.
- hold / clipboard: “The man has a clipboard” fails: no hold.
Mistakes that cost points
Watch for these habits:
- Choosing a statement only because it names an object in the photo.
- Mixing up similar sounds: “copy” and “coffee”, “walk” and “work”.
- Listing objects in Speaking without positions.
- Joining two sentences with a comma in Writing.
- Dropping is or are, common if your first language has no separate word for them: “A man holding a box” is not a sentence.
A 15-minute picture routine
Use a timer and any photo of people at work, three times a week:
- Minutes 1–3: three sentences, each with a person, an action or state and a position.
- Minutes 4–9: plan for 45 seconds, speak for 30, record, listen back, then try a new order.
- Minutes 10–15: one sentence each for two word pairs, such as beside / box, with the three checks.
- Weekly: a practice Part 1 set; label each error as action, position, sound or guess.
What comes next
Next comes Part 2, where the best reply to a question is often indirect: “Let me check the schedule.” Then conversations that end in an agreed plan, and messages where one detail changes.