CELPIP Gym
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Reading

Read less, find more

Four parts on four clocks. Learn where each one keeps its answers, so you stop rereading and start looking.

4 lessons, 22 minutes of reading

Start lesson 1Hacks for the section

Where the marks are

38 questions in 4 parts, 43 minutes

The lessons

  1. The reply knows what changedPart 1, correspondence, 5 minMarks here go to choices that were true until the email changed them. The reply knows the latest, so these four moves tie each blank to the line it depends on.1Read the reply for the news2Every choice fits: the situation decides3Wrong details belong to someone else4Forty seconds a question, then move
  2. Let the email pick the rowPart 2, apply a diagram, 6 minMarks here go on choices that are true, just not of the row the email means. Let the email pick the row before you open a menu, then read the last three questions for the people.1Write the limits, then find the row2Small print is a filter3The last three are about people4Names match, details don't
  3. Match the idea, not the wordPart 3, reading for information, 6 minPart 3's statements rarely use the paragraph's own words, and the words they share are often bait. Four moves find the paragraph that holds the idea, or tell you none does.1A five-word label per paragraph2The repeated word is a decoy3Bridge the synonyms4Not given is a real answer
  4. Know the commenter's side firstPart 4, reading for viewpoints, 5 minPart 4's wrong answers are often true things said by the wrong person. Give everyone in the article a side, work out the commenter's before you touch a blank, and the choices sort themselves.1Map the voices in the article2Find the comment's "but"3Blanks follow the commenter, not the article4An unknown word? Read its direction

The night before

Every lesson's card on one sheet. Read it once the evening before, and leave it at home.

The reply knows what changed

  1. Skip the menus and read the reply: what's the news?
  2. Tie each blank to a line, and choose what's true after the change.
  3. Email 2, questions 4, reply 4, then 1 to go back.

Let the email pick the row

  1. Limits first, a word or two each, then cross off rows.
  2. Hold the small print up to the writer's situation.
  3. Questions 6 to 8: leave the document and read the people.

Match the idea, not the word

  1. Five words per paragraph before any statement.
  2. Shared word? Check the idea before you trust it.
  3. Topic without the claim is Not given.

Know the commenter's side first

  1. Skim for names and give each one a side.
  2. Find the comment's "but" before any blank.
  3. Keep the choices that point the commenter's way.

Hacks for the whole section

Small things that hold in all four parts. None takes practice, only remembering.

  • ClockFour parts, four clocks

    Each part's clock starts when the part opens, and takes nothing from the others. Know which one you're on before you read a word.

  • ScreenThe text never leaves the screen

    It sits on one side, with the questions on the other. So never answer from memory: look.

  • ScreenGuess now, improve later

    A menu can be changed as often as you like until the part's clock ends. Put in your best guess as you go, and come back.

  • PadYou can't mark the text

    There's no highlighter and nowhere to type a note. Names, dates and paragraph labels go on your paper.

  • MarksEvery question weighs the same

    A hard blank in Part 4 is worth what an easy question in Part 1 is. Never let one menu take three minutes.

  • If it slipsA minute left? Fill every menu

    Put an answer in each empty one first. Then spend what remains on improving a single guess.