How to Get 11/11 in CELPIP Reading Part 1 (3 Easy Steps)

If you are preparing for CELPIP, here is something you need to know: CELPIP Reading Part 1 is the easiest section of the reading test. While Parts 2, 3, and 4 will challenge you, Part 1 should be a perfect score every single time. The problem? Most test-takers don't have a clear strategy, and they end up losing easy points. In this post, I'm going to give you my 3-step method to nail CELPIP Reading Part 1 so you can score 11/11 and get the CELPIP reading exam off to the right start.

In CELPIP reading part 1, you have to:

• Read a friendly email/letter

• Answer 11 questions

Here’s how to score high in CELPIP Reading:

Once you follow these steps, you will easily increase your CELPIP reading score. So, let’s look at these in detail…

Step 1: Skim the Text First

When you first look at the text, try and answer these questions quickly:

• Who is the writer?

• Who is the reader?

• What is their relationship?

• What is the general topic?

When you read, just read the first and two last sentences of each paragraph. This will give you a clear idea of what the text is about. For example, in the picture below you can see the topic and conclusion sentences. Now you know what each paragraph is about, in a general sense.

Step 2: Read the Questions, Find Key Words

Now that we have an idea of what the text is about (remember, we haven’t read a full paragraph, yet) we check out the questions and start identifying some key words.

With this picture here, I have identified key words in red. We want to catch:

• Places

• Feelings

• Names, people, subjects

• Times

Now we know what each question is about. We know the first question is about how Marco is feeling and the second question is about Marco’s employers.

Based on Step 1, do you think you know where the answers are? We are talking about Marco and his employers. I think the answers for these are in the second paragraph. Check out the topic and conclusion sentences here:

We know this paragraph is about Marco and a job, this must be where the answers are. This brings us to Step 3: Scan.

Step 3: Scan for Answers and Eliminate Wrong Options

After skimming in step 1 and getting key words in step 2, we now start scanning for the key words in the text. We already know that the answer is in the second paragraph because the topic and conclusion sentences told us that. Now we know what paragraph to read, we can scan that paragraph for more information connected to the questions. We will scan for:

• Anything about Marco’s feeling

• Anything about his employer

When we do this, we need to pay attention to synonyms, and we need to eliminate incorrect answers.

What are synonyms? A different word with the same meaning.

Answer these questions:

• Is there anything suggesting Marco is sad about moving to Japan? No.

• Is there anything suggesting Marco is nervous about speaking Japanese? Yes.

Remember I said we need to think about synonyms? That will help us now.

In this text, it does not say anything about Marco not being sure about his job or anything about him being happy to be leaving his parents. Because of that, we have eliminated those two incorrect answers. This question just got a lot easier!

Now, we just need to decide if Marco is sad about moving to Japan or is he nervous about speaking Japanese. In the text it says that:

“He’s (Marco) is a little apprehensive about communicating in Japanese.”

• What’s another word for communicating? Speaking.

• What’s another word for apprehensive? Nervous.

We have our answer! Marco is nervous/apprehensive about speaking/communicating in Japanese!

Let’s try this same method for the other question, the one about his employers. Remember, we need to scan the text and find information connected to the employer and other key words. Quickly scan the paragraph below for anything connected to the words in red.

Here’s what I found:

Based on the above information, I think we can eliminate three of the four answers, do you agree?

Here’s why I eliminated those answers:

• Nothing is mentioned about the firm not supporting his inexperience.

• Yes, Marco is new to this industry. However, if the employer was not supportive, they wouldn’t hire him.

• The employer is providing Marco with a translator. This shows they are doing a lot to help Marco with his adaptation.

• The employer is not inexperienced with disasters. They specialize in rebuilding cities after large disasters. This suggests they are in fact experts, or specialists.

Final Thoughts: Follow the 3 Steps Every Time

Whenever you are doing this question, follow my three steps to success. Here’s a little infographic to help you remember what to do:

Okay my future poutines, I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope it helps you in your journey for a perfect CELPIP score. Don't forget to comment and let me know if you have any questions.

All the best,

Ronan

The CELPIP Teacher