5G – PHOTO COMPARISON
A PLAN & USEFUL PHRASES
A plan
1. Describe what is shown
in the photos/pictures
(identify the device(s),
their use; speculate about
people, their activity(-ies),
place)
2. Describe the
photos/pictures while
comparing and
contrasting them.
 theme;
 people (age, mood,
emotions, number);
 place (outside/
inside);
 activities;
 devices.
3. Answer the given
questions and give at
least 2 arguments to
support your opinion.
Useful phrases
In this photo I can see…
The first/second photo shows…
This is a photo of…
It may / might / could be…
They/he may / might / could be + doing sth
Perhaps…, probably…, maybe…, it’s possible…, it’s likely…,
I’d imagine / I guess…
It looks to me / doesn’t look to me as if they…
They look / don’t look to me as if / as though they are…
They look / don’t look like they are + doing sth…
They seem quite + adjective…
They look / don’t seem very + adjective…
In contrast to the first photo, the second photo shows…
In photo A…, but / whereas in photo B… .
One obvious difference is (that) …
Unlike the first photo, the second photo shows…
Both photos show…
In both photos, there is / there are…
The common theme in the photos is…
You can see… in both photos.
One obvious similarity is (that)…
It seems to me that…
In my opinion / view…
Personally, I think / don’t think that…
I suppose …
I believe that…
The way I see it …
For me the important thing is that…
I agree / disagree…
I partially / partly agree that
All things considered…
In conclusion…
To sum up…
SB, p. 144, Extra speaking task of UNIT 5
Photo A shows students learning maths in the classroom. I can see a teacher next to a
white board – it looks to me that she is explaining some kind of a formula. The
students are sitting behind the desks with computers.
In the second photo I can see students learning a language. They have earphones and
I’d imagine they are listening to some kind of a recording or doing a listening
exercise. The teacher is sitting behind his desk with earphones and a microphone –
he might be explaining something or giving instructions to the students.

The common theme of the photos is learning or education. In both photos we can see
computers; it seems that they are used in the lessons quite often since there is a
computer on every desk. Moreover, we can see teachers in both photos, however, the
teacher in photo A is a female (woman) and the teacher is photo B is a male (man).
One obvious difference is the subject – in the first photo it’s math, in the second – it’s
a language. In contrast to photo B, the students in the first photo are not using
earphones and the teacher doesn’t use a microphone.

It seems to me that learning science is as important as learning languages.

Personally I think that science helps us to understand the world better and also
allows us to make the world better. Scientists are always working on some new ways
to improve our quality of life, for example, look for new medicine. On the other hand,
languages help us to understand each other better. The way I see it communication is
the key when living in a society. Nowadays, a big part of communication is done with
the help of technologies. I think it is useful because it gives an opportunity to speak
with people whom you would never even meet in real life. However, online
communication doesn’t fully convey the emotions of people and can lead to some
misunderstanding, so I don’t think that it should replace communication in real life,
especially with people we see and meet frequently.