Read the reply and skip the menus
Read Tess's reply and step over every blank. Something moved, something was lost, and someone is off the hook. You haven't opened a menu, and you already know what to look for.
CELPIP GymReading courseLesson 1 · Reading Part 1, correspondence
The reply knows what changed
Marks 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.
5 minutes to read
1
Read the reply for the news
Before you open a menu, read the reply straight through and skip the blanks. Ask what the writer is reacting to: that's the news. Then find it in the email, just after words like not, instead, now, moved or after all. Scroll through one reply and tie each blank to its line.
Why it scores. The blanks are built on what changed, so a version from before the change still looks right. Once you know the news, you know which version the reply means.
Beats the out-of-date choice
Find the news in the email
Noor's flight is Thursday, not Friday, the market's off, and Ravi's driving. Cross out the old version in your head, because it's about to come back as a choice.
Menu 7 hangs from one line
"Now arriving" can only mean the changed flight. All four days are in the email, and Friday is the plan she's just replaced. Pick what's true after the news, and point to the line.
Menu 8: only one thing was lost
Brunch, the panel and the bus are all in the email, and each fits after "a shame about". Only one was called off. Everything else in the menu is still happening.
Menu 9: same fact, new words
The reply says the brother is off the hook. The email says why: Ravi's picking Noor up, which the right choice says another way. Every menu now hangs from a line. One with no thread is the one to come back to.
The email
Hi Tess,
Change of plan: I land on Thursday now, not Friday, because the conference moved its opening talk. They've put me on a panel Saturday morning, so the market's off. I can still do Sunday brunch before my three o'clock bus. And don't ask your brother for the car: Ravi's picking me up.
Noor
The reply
Noor, good thing you warned me! Since you're now arriving 7Chooseon Thursday, come straight to us. A shame about 8Choosethe market, but my brother is off the hook now that 9ChooseRavi is collecting you. See you Sunday.
The news
- Thursday, not FridayMenu 7
- Market's offMenu 8
- Ravi's drivingMenu 9
Menu 7
- on FridayThe old plan
- on ThursdayTrue after the news
- on SaturdayThe panel
- on SundayBrunch
Menu 8
- brunchStill on
- the panelGood news
- the marketThe one that's off
- your busStill at three
Menu 9
- the market is offTrue, but not why
- your bus leaves at threeTrue, but not why
- the talk has movedTrue, but not why
- Ravi is collecting youSame fact, new words
2
Every choice fits: the situation decides
Saying a blank over in your head won't help, because all four choices sound fine in the sentence. Hold each one up to the email and ask: after the news, is this what happened? Three of them will fail, and you'll be able to say why.
Why it scores. The menus test whether you understood the email, not your grammar. A reason you can name beats a choice that only sounds right.
Beats the choice that only sounds right
The emailThe tournament moved to Elmira, so the carpool's off, but Joel's dad has room for both girls.
Thank goodness Joel's dad could run the carpoolchange the venuecoach in Elmiradrive both girls.
Does it fit the sentence?
Is it true after the news?
- run the carpoolIt's off
- drive both girlsHe has room
- change the venueNot him
- coach in ElmiraNever said
3
Wrong details belong to someone else
When an email has several people, days or places, the wrong choices are real details attached to the wrong one. Find who the sentence is about, read only that person's line, and give every other detail in the menu back to its owner.
Why it scores. Wrong choices come from the text, so they all feel familiar. Asking whose detail it is catches what recognition can't.
Beats the right detail on the wrong person
The emailAna has the tables on Friday. Ben can only come Saturday, so he's doing the signs. Joss is minding the cash box.
Ben will put up the signs.
Ana
- come on Friday
- set up the tables
Ben
- put up the signs
Joss
- mind the cash box
4
Forty seconds a question, then move
Eleven questions in eleven minutes looks like a minute each, but reading comes out of the same clock. Give the email two minutes, its six questions four, the reply and its five blanks four, and keep the last minute for going back. If a menu runs over, pick your best guess and move on. It stays on the screen, so you can still change it.
Why it scores. A wrong guess costs nothing extra, and an empty menu earns nothing. The reply's blanks come last, so time lost early costs you those.
Marks you'd lose to the clock
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 2:00 Read the email
- 4:00 Six questions
- 4:00 Reply and five blanks
- 1:00 Back
The clock, spent well
11 minutes2 minutesRead the email once, start to finish.
4 minutesIts six questions, about forty seconds each.
4 minutesThe reply and its five blanks.
1 minuteBack to any menu you guessed.
Quick hacks for Part 1
Smaller than a move, and just as easy to forget on the day.
- WordsRead the greeting and the sign-off
They tell you how the two know each other and how formal the email is. A question about tone is often answered right there.
- WordsA "not" in the question flips the hunt
Some questions ask what wasn't said or done. Find the three things that were, and the answer is the one left over.
- PadDraw the week
A day can follow from a timeline and never be stated: two days after Tuesday's meeting. Seven boxes on your pad, and place each event.
- If it slipsStuck between two? Read one sentence back
The line before the one you're staring at often holds the not or the instead that settles it.
Take this into the test
- 1Skip the menus and read the reply: what's the news?
- 2Tie each blank to a line, and choose what's true after the change.
- 3Email 2, questions 4, reply 4, then 1 to go back.