Lesson 7 of 127 min read

Part 3 Mastery: Reading for Information

CELPIP Reading Part 3: four paragraphs, nine statements, and option E for information that is not stated. CELPIP's 10-minute plan, a one-word map for each paragraph, and how to know when the answer is E

Part 3 gives you one text in four paragraphs and nine statements. For each statement you decide which paragraph says it. If no paragraph says it, the answer is E.

That sounds simple. The difficulty is that the text almost never uses the same words as the statement, and some statements are true in real life but are still not in the text.

What Part 3 looks like

  • One text, four paragraphs, marked A, B, C and D. CELPIP's study pack describes it as "A four-paragraph informational text about a person, place, event, or process." The tone is "formal, educational, descriptive," and it is "factual and objective, not an opinion piece."
  • 9 statements. For each one, you choose the paragraph that contains the information.
  • Option E is for information that is not in the text. CELPIP's own advice: "Choose E if the information is not stated in the reading." In practice tests, E is usually written as Not given in any of the above paragraphs. It means the same thing.
  • About 10 minutes. Each correct answer is 1 point. A wrong answer does not lose points, so answer all nine.

There are 9 statements and only 5 letters, so some letters are the answer more than once. Do not avoid a letter because you have already used it.

CELPIP's own 10-minute plan

StepTimeWhat to do
Preview1 minutefind the topic of the text and the main idea of each paragraph
Read and answer8 and a half minutesuse the paragraph topics to find the right paragraph, scan with keywords and paraphrase, read carefully, choose E if it is not stated
Review30 secondsmake sure every statement has an answer

The first minute is the most important one. If you know what each paragraph is about, you do not need to read the whole text nine times.

🎥 CELPIP Reading Part 3: when the answer is E (12:27)

A real Part 3 practice set: one word for each paragraph in the first minute, statements matched through different words, and two statements that are E, one of them true in real life.

Jump to: 1:04 the format · 2:10 one word for each paragraph · 3:16 you cannot highlight the screen · 4:53 different words, same meaning · 5:54 one word in two paragraphs · 7:21 true in real life, not in the text · 8:56 when the answer is E, and when it is not · 10:42 the plan

The example on this page

We wrote this short text for the page. A real Part 3 text is longer, but it works the same way.

ParagraphText
AMaple syrup begins as sap from sugar maple trees. The sap only flows in early spring, when the nights are below freezing and the days are above it. For most producers the season is short, often only four to six weeks.
BTo collect the sap, producers drill a small hole in each tree and put in a spout. On small farms, the sap drips into buckets that hang from the spout. Larger producers connect their trees with plastic tubing, which carries the sap from hundreds of trees to one tank.
CFresh sap is mostly water, so it has to be boiled for many hours. It takes about 40 litres of sap to make one litre of syrup. The boiling is done in a large, flat pan called an evaporator, and most of the water leaves as steam.
DFinished syrup is sorted by colour and taste. Syrup made early in the season is usually light in colour with a mild taste. Syrup made later is darker and has a stronger flavour.

Step 1: one word for each paragraph

This method is ours. It turns CELPIP's preview minute into something you can write down.

Read the first one or two sentences of each paragraph and write one simple word on your paper that tells you what it is about. Do not copy difficult words from the text. Use your own easy word.

For the example:

Notepad
A = season    B = collect    C = boil    D = colour

It takes about a minute, and you use it nine times. On test day you cannot highlight anything on the screen, so this map lives on the paper you are given.

Step 2: look for the meaning, not the same word

Take the most important word in the statement. Then ask which paragraph's word it belongs to. Expect the text to say it differently.

Statement: Some producers use a system of pipes instead of containers.

Pipes and containers are not in the text. But pipes means the same as tubing, and containers means buckets. Your map says B is about collecting. The answer is B.

Statement: Warm days and cold nights are needed for the sap to move.

Sap flows ... when the nights are below freezing and the days are above it. Different words, same idea. The answer is A.

This is where most points are lost. In the free Part 3 practice set on our platform, the two statements people miss most are both matches like these, where the text uses a different word for the same thing.

Build a habit: when you learn a new word, learn two other ways to say it. Help and relief. Destroyed and wiped out. Every year and annually.

Step 3: read the sentence carefully before you choose

When you think you have found the paragraph, read the sentence and the one before it. Check that the text says everything in the statement, not only part of it.

Three things change meaning most often:

How strong the statement is. Some, most, all, often, always. Helped is not solved. If the statement is stronger than the text, the text does not support it.

Which way the cause goes. A happened because of B is not the same as B happened because of A.

The same word in the wrong paragraph. A word from the statement can appear in two paragraphs. Only one of them says the same idea.

Statement: Producers have to work quickly because the collecting season does not last long.

Producers and collect both appear in paragraph B, so B looks right. But B is about how they collect. The idea that the season is short is in A: often only four to six weeks. The answer is A.

When the answer is E

Ask one question: can I point at the words in the text that say this? If you cannot, the answer is E. That test is ours, and it works on every statement.

Statement: Indigenous peoples were making maple syrup long before Europeans arrived.

This is true in real life. It is not in the text. No paragraph mentions who first made syrup or when. The answer is E.

Statement: Drilling too many holes can damage a maple tree.

This sounds very likely, and it fits paragraph B. But paragraph B only says producers drill a hole and put in a spout. It says nothing about damage. The answer is E.

Three rules for E:

  • True in real life does not matter. Only the text matters. You are not being tested on what you know.
  • "It feels right" does not matter. If you are thinking it probably happened or that makes sense, and you cannot point at the words, choose E.
  • "I don't understand it" is not a reason for E. A difficult statement can still match a paragraph. Before you choose E, check the paragraph whose word is closest.

A small step of logic is fine. If a paragraph says most of the water leaves as steam, it supports a lot of liquid is lost during boiling. That is our rule, and it matches how the practice keys work. A big step that needs your own knowledge is not fine.

Practice

1. One-word map (5 min). Take any Part 3 text. Give yourself one minute to write one word for each paragraph. Then check your map against the statements: how many could you place from the map alone?

2. Two ways to say it (5 min). For five statements, write down the key word and the different word the text used for it. Keep a list.

3. Defend every E (5 min). For each statement you marked E, write one short line: I looked in __ and __, and neither says ___. If you cannot write the line, look again.

4. The full 10 minutes. Do a complete set with the timer on, using CELPIP's plan.

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