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CELPIP Reading Part 1 has 6 questions on an email and 5 blanks in a reply. Eight techniques to answer both halves faster and more accurately, with a plan for the 11 minutes.
Part 1 gives you one message and asks you to do two different jobs with it. First you answer questions about the message. Then you complete a reply to it.
Most people practise the first job. The second job is worth almost half of the points, and it needs a different way of reading.
The reply sits below the six questions. On a small screen you may have to scroll to find it. Under time pressure, some people never reach it and lose 5 points without reading a word. Always scroll to the end of the page before you start.
Correspondence is writing that goes between two people. A message from a friend, an email to your landlord, a note from someone you work with. All of these are correspondence.
So Part 1 is never an article or a news report. It is always one person writing to another, and then the other person writing back.
CELPIP's study pack describes these messages with four words: conversational, social, friendly and familiar. Keep that in mind. It matters in the second half.
This plan is ours, not CELPIP's. It is a starting point. Change it once you know where your own time goes.
| Step | Time |
|---|---|
| Read the whole message | 1 to 2 minutes |
| Answer the 6 questions on the message | 3 and a half to 4 minutes |
| Complete the 5 blanks in the reply | the rest, about 4 to 5 and a half minutes |
| Check every answer, leave nothing empty | 1 minute |
Notice that the reply gets as much time as the message questions, or more. Five blanks can take longer than six questions, because the answer is often not written anywhere.
🎥 CELPIP Reading Part 1: 8 techniques, 4 for the email and 4 for the reply (13:34)
One real Part 1 practice set, solved with the same eight techniques this page teaches. Watch the traps work on a full-length message.
Jump to: 0:56 every question is 1 point · 1:23 what correspondence means · 2:00 the 11-minute plan · 2:39 technique 1 · 3:50 technique 2, notes · 4:44 technique 3 · 5:33 technique 4 · 7:01 the reply is a different test · 8:11 meaning · 9:02 tone · 10:07 strength · 11:01 grammar · 11:45 all 8 together
We wrote this short example for the page. A real Part 1 message is much longer: the free practice message on our platform is about 400 words.
Hi Farah,
Thanks again for looking after Milo while we were away. I know he was a lot of work! Our flight was changed at the last minute, so we landed in Calgary instead of Edmonton and drove the last three hours. We got home late on Sunday night.
I'd like to pick Milo up on Tuesday after work, around 6. If that's too late, Wednesday morning also works, but I'd rather not leave him with you for another night. I've left $40 in the envelope on your table for his food. Please keep the rest.
See you soon,
Daniel
These four are for the 6 questions about the message. They are ours.
Before you look at a single question, read the message from the greeting to the name at the end. Read quickly, and look for two things.
Who is writing to whom. The greeting tells you who receives it. The name at the end tells you who wrote it. Here, Daniel is writing to Farah.
Why they are writing. Daniel is thanking Farah for looking after his pet, and arranging to collect it.
Once you have read it, those two answers take about ten seconds. Reading the whole message also gives you the full story, and you will need the full story for the reply.
At the test centre you get paper and a pen. You cannot mark the text on the screen. CELPIP's study pack says: "You will not be able to make notes, highlight, etc. on the computer screen."
You do not need to copy the message. It stays on the screen. Write one kind of note only: when the message has two things of the same type, write both down with a label. Two places, two dates, two people, two prices.
In Daniel's message there are two places and three days:
Calgary = landed Edmonton = planned Sunday = got home Tuesday 6 = pickup Wednesday = backup
Many wrong options come from pairs. They take a real word from the message and put it in the wrong place.
When a question asks for a fact, go back to the sentence that gives it. Read that sentence and the one before it. Do not answer from what you remember.
Where did Daniel's plane land?
Edmonton · Calgary · Vancouver · Toronto
Edmonton is in the message. It is the airport they planned to fly to, not the one they landed at. Your pair notes answer this in two seconds.
When does Daniel want to collect Milo?
Sunday night · Tuesday evening · Wednesday morning · Monday morning
All three days are in the message. Only one is the pickup. Wednesday is a backup that Daniel says he would rather not use.
Watch for the small words that change a fact: only, except, at least, no later than, unless, before, after, until, and am or pm. Not later than 5 pm and not until 5 pm are opposite times.
Some wrong options sound logical and safe. They fit the story. But if you cannot point to the words in the message that say it, it is not the answer.
Why is Daniel writing to Farah?
to complain that Milo was difficult · to thank her and arrange a time to collect Milo · to ask her to keep Milo for another week · to pay her for a service
To pay her for a service sounds possible, because he left $40. But the money is for Milo's food. Nothing in the message says he is paying Farah. You cannot point to it, so drop it.
Now the second job. Below the questions is Farah's reply, with 5 blanks.
Here is what surprises people. You can understand the message perfectly and still lose points on the reply. Many blanks are not answered by a line in the message. They are answered by what the person writing the reply is trying to do.
Some blanks still need a fact from the message: a time, a price, an item. For those, go back to your pair notes. For the rest, run four checks on every blank, in this order.
Hi Daniel,
Welcome home! Please don't worry, Milo was [A] all week. Tuesday at 6 is [B] for me, so there's no need to come on Wednesday. Thanks for the $40, but it's [C]. His food only cost about $25, so I'll give you the change when you come. We should [D] soon!
Farah
These four are also ours. Use them on every blank.
Ask what the reply writer wants to do in that sentence. Thank? Agree? Say no politely? Make the other person feel better?
[A] great company · a lot of work · very hard to find · at your house
Farah starts with Please don't worry. She is making Daniel feel better. Only great company does that. A lot of work is Daniel's own phrase from the message, and here it would say the opposite of what Farah means.
Many guides say Part 1 is formal. For most messages, that is not true. CELPIP describes these messages as conversational, social, friendly and familiar, and the reply follows the message.
So do not choose a level yourself. Look at the greeting, the ending and the way the writer talks, and pick the option that sounds like the same kind of person.
[D] arrange a formal meeting · discuss this matter in writing · get a coffee together · request compensation
Daniel wrote Hi Farah and See you soon. They are friends. Three of these options belong in a letter to a bank. If the message is a formal notice, the reply is formal too. The rule is not "friendly". The rule is "the same as the writer".
Words that show how strong a statement is come in three levels. Do not make a statement stronger or weaker than it is.
| Level | Words | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Strong | must, have to, required | there is no choice |
| Middle | should, recommended | good advice |
| Weak | may, might, could, would rather, prefer | a choice or a wish |
Daniel writes I'd rather not leave him with you for another night. That is a wish, not a rule. So an option like Daniel must collect Milo on Tuesday is too strong, and it is wrong even though Tuesday is the right day.
[B] required · perfect · too late · not possible
Required is too strong for two friends agreeing a time. Too late and not possible do not fit so there's no need to come on Wednesday. Perfect is the only option that agrees with the rest of Farah's sentence.
Put the option into the blank and read the complete sentence, from the capital letter to the full stop. Many wrong options stop making sense once you read them in their sentence.
[C] not enough · too much · a loan · required
Thanks for the $40, but it's not enough. His food only cost about $25. That sentence does not work: $25 is less than $40. Read it with too much and everything fits, including the next part, I'll give you the change.
These are the wrong options you will meet most often. The names are ours.
| Trap | What it looks like | The technique that catches it |
|---|---|---|
| Half-match | a real name or place from the message, in the wrong role | 2 and 3 |
| Date or time shift | a real date from the message, but for a different event | 2 and 3 |
| Helpful addition | an idea that fits the story but is not in the message | 4 |
| Stronger or weaker | may becomes will, a wish becomes a rule | check 3 |
| Wrong voice | a formal phrase inside a friendly reply | check 2 |
1. Pairs only (5 min). Open any Part 1 message and do not answer anything. Just write the pairs with their labels. Then check how many of the six questions your notes would have answered.
2. Reply only (10 min). Do only the five blanks of a practice set. For each blank, write which of the four checks decided it: meaning, tone, strength or grammar.
3. The full 11 minutes. Do a complete Part 1 set with the timer on, using the plan above. Write down how long the reply took you. That number tells you which half to practise next.
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