How To Pass CELPIP Exam In First Attempt
The CELPIP reading test follows the CELPIP listening test. This part of the test could take anywhere from 47 to 55 minutes. Four tasks make up this part of the test. And, it is during this part of the test where you must answer questions based on information gathered from reading passages. Also, this part of the test is not included in the CELPIP LS test.
Like any reading test, this part of the exam measures your comprehension of written English. Most (if not all) parts of the CELPIP reading test are in multiple-choice. More details on what you could expect in the test will be in the next section of this article.
CELPIP Reading Test Format
The reading test format is pretty straightforward. On the left-hand side of the computer screen, you will the reading passage. The questions along with your choices of answers to each will be on the right-hand side of the screen. As mentioned earlier, this test is multiple choice.
There are four tasks. And, each task resembles common-day situations that you may find yourself in. After all, the CELPIP does test your “average day” English ability.
Task 1: Reading a Correspondence
The first task in the CELPIP reading test is reading a correspondence. In other words, this task involves reading a letter. This part of the test contains 11 questions. And, this test takes about 11 minutes to complete.
The first 6 questions will ask about certain details of the letter. Some of these questions may ask you the purpose of the letter and who it is for. You might also encounter a question or two about relations. Here is an example of a letter and 2 out of 6 possible questions:
“Dear John, Hi, how are you? Anyway, because of moving to a new apartment which is quite smaller than the old one, I realized that my big TV isn’t suitable anymore. So I want to sell it now. Suddenly, I remembered that you are really keen on watching football on a large screen TV. My TV seems to fit your lifestyle.
It’s a Smart TV 4K QLED 65 inch, model 2018 that I bought 3 months ago, with 18 months warranty. Offering unmatched viewing angles, the TV has a super-large overflow screen and consistent viewing experience from any position. As well as that it brings the ability to reproduce more than one billion colors for viewers to experience true color life.
You could check it out over the weekend. Luckily enough, there will have a great football match between Manchester and Chelsea in the Premier League this Saturday. Just come here. And, I will prepare the beer and chips.
I hope to see you soon.
Your friend,
David”
Q1. Why did David write the letter?
A. To sell a TV
B. Because he misses John
C. To complain about his apartment
D. To talk about football
Q2. How is John related to David?
A. Siblings
B. Co-workers
C. Colleagues
D. Friends
This goes on until question number 6. For questions 7 to 11, you need select possible parts of a response to the first letter. To illustrate:
“Dear David,
How are you doing, my friend? All is well on my end. Sure! (7). I have always loved
watching soccer on it. I want to know something, though. (8). I need to know the
price before I buy it from you.
Your pal,
John “
Q7.
A. I do not want the TV
B. I would love to buy it!
C. There is a football game this weekend
D. I do not want to come over
Q8.
A. How much is it?
B. Who do you think will win the game?
C. When does the warranty expire?
D. Where is your apartment?
This part is usually longer and has 3 more questions. But, all you need to know is this. This part of the test measures your ability to understand and infer from given information (predict, if you will).
Task 2: Reading to Apply a Diagram
This part of the test takes 9 minutes. It contains 8 questions. In this part of the test, you will see a diagram. And, based on this diagram, you need to select the correct answers.
Take note! The questions are not about the diagram itself. Rather, there are blank areas in an email.
And, in this email, only certain information in the diagram apply. It is your job to choose the correct answers based on the information in the diagram related to the email. Below is an example of a diagram, the email related to it, and a couple of questions.
Read the following email message. Complete the email by filling in the blanks.
Subject: Week 6 – Wakey wakey,shakey!
To: James <james@celpip-tip.ca>
From: J.K Young <young@celpip-tip.ca>
Hi, Whanau!
Hopefully, you have all managed to stay safe and dry. Remember to check in on neighbors, family, and friends to make sure they are ok after that big shake!
To share many stories for good performance, I plan to meet (1).
(2) start last week first day and if you have some time, we would love for you to join us to help get the show going! (3) if you have some skills and time you could donate! We have to party with the whole group in the last week, so (4). We’re sending (5) thoughts to those affected by the shakes, stay safe.
Q1.
A. all days in Week 9
B. in the morning on the first day.
C. on the stage every morning.
D. week 7 afternoon in the office.
Q2.
A. Prepare performance
B. Whole group
C. Playing Party
D. Dress rehearsals
You will notice something from the example. You need to find the missing parts of the email from the diagram. Interestingly, the words around the blank areas kind of give you a clue, right?
Task 3: Reading for Information
In this part task, there will be an article. This article will consist of a number of paragraphs (lettered usually from A to E). At the end of the article, you will see 9 sentences containing information. Your job is to match these sentences to the paragraphs containing the same information.
Nine questions make up this part of the test. This test takes 10 minutes.
Here is an example of what task 3 looks like. Examples of some questions also follow:
* Choose the best option according to the information given in the message.
A. The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching 122 cm (48 in) in height and weighing from 22 to 45 kg (49 to 99 lb). The dorsal side and head are black and sharply delineated from the white belly, pale-yellow breast, and bright-yellow ear patches. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat.
B. The emperor penguin is a social animal in its nesting and its foraging behaviour; birds hunting together may coordinate their diving and surfacing. Individuals may be active day or night. A mature adult travels throughout most of the year between the nesting area and ocean foraging areas; the species disperses into the oceans from January to March.
C. As the species has no fixed nest sites that individuals can use to locate their own partner or chick, emperor penguins must rely on vocal calls alone for identification. They use a complex set of calls that are critical to individual recognition between parents, offspring, and mates, displaying the widest variation in individual calls of all penguins. Vocalizing emperor penguins use two frequency bands simultaneously. Chicks use a frequency-modulated whistle to beg for food and to contact
parents.
D. In 2012 the emperor penguin was uplisted from a species of least concern to near threatened by the IUCN. Along with nine other species of penguin, it is currently under consideration for inclusion under the US Endangered Species Act. The primary causes for an increased risk of species endangerment are declining food availability, due to the effects of climate change and industrial fisheries on the crustacean and fish populations. Other reasons for the species’ placement on the Endangered Species Act’s list include disease, habitat destruction, and disturbance at breeding colonies by humans. Of particular concern is the impact of tourism. One study concluded that emperor penguin chicks in a crèche become more apprehensive following helicopter approach to 1,000 m (3,281 ft).
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
* Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
- Emperor penguins are currently in danger of extinction.
- Male and female of the emperor penguin look similar.
- The diet of Emperor penguins consists mainly of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods.
- Emperor penguins live together like humans.
- Emperor penguins rely only on voice calls due to their limited environment.
Task 4: Reading for Viewpoints
This finally brings us to the final part of the reading test. Here, you will read an article. This article contains at least two different opinions on a certain topic. You should choose the best answer based on what is given in the article.
For the final 10 questions, you will have 13 minutes to finish this part of the test. The first 5 questions will ask you about the article. But, for the last 5 questions, you need to choose the best answers based on a different article. This article contains comments or reactions to the first article.
To get a better idea of task 4, here is an excerpt of a passage and some questions:
* Read the following message.
It’s been ingrained in our heads since we were little: building strong bones is important. The problem is that these days many children aren’t getting the daily recommended diet and exercise needed to do so. And, with technology use at an all-time high, children are spending less time playing outdoors, which increases the risk of obesity.
Today, approximately 32 percent of American children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 are considered overweight or obese. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) wants to help empower families to get up, get out and get moving to ensure optimal bone growth and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and other diseases later in life.
“Building your child’s bone bank is like a college savings plan: the earlier you start investing, the better,” says AAOS spokesperson Dr. Jennifer Weiss, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles. “Parents should ensure that kids are getting adequate calcium to keep their bones strong as well as appropriate levels of vitamins D and C to allow the body to absorb the calcium.”
Choose the best option according to the information given in the message.
Q1. This article’s subject is
A. Raising a healthy child
B. How Vitamins Affect Your Child
C. Obesity Reasons for Children
D. How to Better Bones in Kids
Q2. AAOS says that
A. Children should be self-reliant.
B. Families should be responsible
C. Child must rely on medicine.
D. School manages children well
Q3. According to Dr. Jennifer Weiss,
A. Vitamins are important to child
B. The average child eats food evenly.
C. The average child eats three times a day.
D. Vitamin D is made by sunlight.
* Here is a response to the message. Complete the response by filling in the blanks.
This is so nice article! But my opinion is different. Most children have (6). In fact, children in Japan, China, and other countries consume much lower levels of calcium than their North American peers and still (7). That’s because the human body is an efficient (8). Like our hair, skin is (9) that is constantly being built, broken down, and made anew. Throughout life, bones are taking up and releasing calcium and other minerals, (10) by a variety of factors, including diet, exercise habits, hormones, genetics, and certain diseases.
Q6.
A. enough nutrients.
B. a lot of bones.
C. no problem develop bones.
D. studied a lot.
Q7.
A. growing well.
B. knowledge about bones.
C. parents are managing it
D. develop strong, healthy bones.
These are the 4 tasks of the CELPIP reading test. Now that you are more familiar with what it looks like, you might be wondering what you could improve your reading skills. This brings us to the next part of this article.
How Can I Improve My CELPIP Reading?
……is a question many potential test-takers ask themselves. Indeed, it could be difficult to read, even in your native language. But, doing well in the CELPIP reading test is possible. Here are some simple tips to get you started.
Read in English
Reading is a skill. And, like all skills, it improves with practice. You could read any material in English to practice. This could include your test prep material, magazines, comic books, graphic novels, and even a pamphlet.
Reading non-academic materials such as the ones mentioned also keeps practice light and fun. Also, this could make you do so regularly and as often as possible
Take a sample test
The main CELPIP site offers a free sample test. This can help you become more familiar with the computer-delivered format of this test. This gives you a chance to simulate what happens on the actual test.
The sample test is unscored. Yet, there is one more benefit to this. You can get a general idea of your reading ability.
Fixation is the enemy
Have you ever stopped reading a sentence because of an unfamiliar word? This is fixation. In other words, you focused (or fixated) on a word too long. This is not a problem, at least in itself. But, remember, the CELPIP reading test does have a time limit. Thus, spending too much time on one item may not be a good idea.
It is better to skip the unknown word and continue reading. Besides, it is possible to understand an entire sentence even if one word is unclear.
Time is gold
This requires no further explanation. Time is important in life and during tests. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself one minute for each question or item. No more than that.
The Two S’s – Skimming and Scanning
The two S’s stand for skimming and scanning. You may have heard these terms elsewhere. But, what is the difference? Skimming means quickly browsing the passage to get main or general ideas. Think about those times you quickly read the back of the book to know its content. That is skimming.
Scanning involves looking for keywords. Here is one way to scan. First, read the questions. Then, try to see where they appear on the reading passage.
These two skills are practiced and recommended widely. This is because they save test-takers much time. This is related to the earlier point about managing time.
Understand Information
Trying to memorize parts of a passage will not help you. Even if you could, the information could not be used in another part of the test anyway. Instead, try to get the main idea of a passage or task by skimming. Then, look at some words in the questions to match with words in the passage.
Remember. Skim. Scan. And, if possible, understand.
Anticipate the correct answer
This is an uncommon tactic. But, the test format is multiple choice. So, it may just work.
Try to answer before looking at all the options. Occasionally, you will that one choice is the same as your answer.
The passage is infallible
It is, at least in the test. What does this mean for you? During preparation and the actual exam, you will encounter a very familiar topic. It may even be a topic that you know well. Be careful when this happens.
The reading test is designed to be a comprehension test. It is not a test of knowledge. What you know may be different from the information in the passage. You should answer based on the passage. You should not answer based on your knowledge (unless you got it from the article, of course!)
Check your answers
You can practice this on two occasions. You can apply this while studying, taking the test. As you prepare, check the answers you have against key answers (if any). Your test preparation material usually contains answer keys with explanations. Doing this shows you the correct answer. And, more importantly, this shows you further techniques to obtain correct answers.
During the test, make sure of one thing. Ensure that you have clicked all of your answers. You will have no opportunity to go back to the previous section. Thus, checking is important at this stage.
To summarize, check answers against an answer key when preparing for the CELPIP. And, check to make sure you have clicked all your answers. This conveniently brings us to the final tip.
When all else fails, hazard a guess!
That is correct. Guess!
Here is some good news. There is no right-minus-wrong rule in the CELPIP reading test. In other words, you do not get a deduction for incorrect answers. So, if you do not know the correct answer, you could just randomly choose one. And, you could hope for the best. After all, you should not spend too much time remembering what you do not know.
Ready for the Reading Test?
This article talked about what you could expect to see in the CELPIP reading test. In addition, you have also read some techniques and strategies to help you as you prepare for and take this part of the test.
Like all important skills, reading requires much time and effort to master. This is just a fact.
The CELPIP reading test is not easy. And, doing well can be challenging.
But, remember. There is a big difference between challenging and impossible. Many test-takers have scored well in this part of the test. And, with the right preparation and a bit of luck, so could you.
Hopefully, this article has given you both information and a modicum of confidence.
Best of luck to you in your reading test!
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Summary The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program, or CELPIP, is an important part of anybody’s immigration application to Canada. It is an English test that measures a candidate’s functional English ability across the 4 macro-skills. These skills are listening, reading, writing and speaking. So, you’ve found out you need to take the CELPIP test – either CELPIP – General or CELPIP – General LS. Perhaps you need to pass the test to get a visa for immigration to your new life in Canada. Or perhaps you need to be able to demonstrate your English language proficiency for workplace or study purposes.
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