English lessons and practice games are intended for people aged 13 and over.
Enable JavaScript to listen, practice and save progress. The lesson content can still be read below.
Lesson 81 / Images & creativity
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Choose a camera view, match colours and develop ideas from nature photos.
Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →
A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
Zoom in on the flower so we can see its petals.
Zoom in on the flower so we can see its petals.
I zoomed in before taking the photo.
I zoomed in before taking the photo.
Use “zoom in on” before the subject you want to see more closely. On a screen, “zoom in” also means to enlarge the view.
Zoom out so the whole garden fits in the picture.
Zoom out so the whole garden fits in the picture.
She zoomed out to show all three flower pots.
She zoomed out to show all three flower pots.
Use this for a wider view or a smaller image on a screen. It changes the view in the opposite direction to “zoom in”.
I based my design on a photo of a leaf.
I based my design on a photo of a leaf.
This picture is based on a real garden.
This picture is based on a real garden.
Put the idea or design between “base” and “on”. The passive form “be based on” identifies what something is built on.
Cambridge Dictionary · base on
Green and gold go together well in this design.
Green and gold go together well in this design.
Do these two colours go together?
Do these two colours go together?
Here this means that colours match, rather than that two people travel together. It also describes foods or other things that combine well.
We dreamed up a new way to display our photos.
We dreamed up a new way to display our photos.
Who dreamed this colourful design up?
Who dreamed this colourful design up?
This means inventing through imagination, rather than necessarily dreaming while asleep. Both “dreamed” and “dreamt” are past forms.
Cambridge Dictionary · dream up
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 142, 142, 10, 57, 37. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
One step forward every day
Your browser could not save your play history. Results from this session may be lost when you close the page.
Sentences using suggestions are counted as needing more practice. Review schedule based on each phrase's meaning.
OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH
Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Khoa holds the camera below eye level and looks at its rear screen showing a close-up of the flower ahead.
The picture could not load. Try loading it again before matching.
Khoa looks at the camera’s rear screen showing a wide view of the flower pots and garden bench.
The picture could not load. Try loading it again before matching.
Khoa draws a layout based on the leaf photo beside him; the two images have matching shapes.
The picture could not load. Try loading it again before matching.
Khoa places green and gold paper side by side, pleased with the colour combination.
The picture could not load. Try loading it again before matching.
Khoa imagines a leaf-and-flower collage in a thought bubble above his sketch.
The picture could not load. Try loading it again before matching.
Choose a phrase to begin.
Your browser could not save your play history. Results from this session may be lost when you close the page.
Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
I based this layout on a photo of a leaf.
I based this layout on a photo of a leaf.
That helped you dream up an unusual cover.
That helped you dream up an unusual cover.
Zoom in on the edges and see how the shapes go together.
Zoom in on the edges and see how the shapes go together.
Use “base on” as “base something on something” for the basis of an idea. “Dream up” means invent an idea; creativity can still draw on real observations.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A designer invents an exhibition poster using the shape of a real shell as its starting point.
Describe the basis of the design.
She based the poster on the shape of a shell.
The shell shape is the poster’s starting point: “based the poster on the shape of a shell”.
Complete: The poster is based ___ a shell.
on
In passive “is based on”, “on” introduces the shell as the basis of the design.
Write a sentence about inventing the idea.
She dreamed up a spiral design after looking at the shell.
“Dreamed up” describes inventing the spiral design after observing the shell, rather than dreaming during sleep.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
Progress is saved on the device. Sign in with Google to save with the same account and continue on another device.