CELPIP Reading Part 1 Practice Test: Summer Hospital Volunteering

To whom it may concern,

I am writing on behalf of my daughter, Megan, who would like to apply for a summer volunteer position at Glenmore General Hospital, and I have a few questions that I hope your office can answer. Megan is in her last year at Westdale High School here in Hamilton. She has applied to a university nursing program but won't hear back until May. She has thought about many careers over the years, and this is the first one she has been completely sure about. Still, before she commits to four years of study, she'd like to see what work on a hospital ward is really like, and she would rather find out now than after she has started.

Firstly, does your hospital take volunteers her age? She turns 18 in early April, before the summer begins, but I understand that some departments set their own limits. Her older brother, Kevin, helped out in your gift shop a few years ago while he was still in school, although I imagine the rules have changed since then.

I would also like to know when applications open and how long your office usually takes to give an answer. If there is a closing date, we'd rather hear about it now than find out we've missed it!

Could you tell me what documents you ask for? I expect a police record check and proof of vaccination are required, and I know both can take a long time to get. When I needed a police check for my own job two years ago, it took almost 2 months to arrive!

In addition, if someone in your office could describe the work itself, Megan would be very grateful. She'd like to know what volunteers actually do on a ward and how many hours a week they are expected to work. Her aunt is a nurse, so Megan has heard plenty about that side of hospital life, but she knows very little about the everyday jobs that keep a ward running. Her exams finish on June 20, and apart from our usual week at the lake in August, she is free from then until the beginning of September.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Carol Reid

Dear Ms. Reid,

Please excuse the slow reply to your letter about Megan. Our office has been short of staff since the new east wing opened last spring. I was 7. Choose…sorry to learnnot fully convincedsurprised to findglad to hear that Megan wants to see the work before she decides on nursing. Volunteers must be 18 by their first shift. Megan therefore 8. Choose…meetsmay need to appeal againstis exempt fromfalls short of the age requirement for the summer program. Applications open on January 15 and close on February 28, which means she will 9. Choose…be able to wait for her university resultneed to apply before her result arrivesfinish her exams firstbe too young to apply.

Every volunteer needs a police record check and an immunization record, and we recommend that applicants start 10. Choose…when the summer program endsafter their interviewon their first shiftwell before the summer. As for the work itself, volunteers do not take part in any clinical care. The duties are 11. Choose…highly technicalpractical and socialmostly office paperworkusually done on night shifts: carrying meal trays, guiding visitors and sitting with patients who have no family nearby. If Megan has other questions, she is welcome to drop by our office on the ground floor.

Sincerely,

Joan Miller

Volunteer Services