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CELPIP Reading Part 3: Reading for Information

CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: Stunt Performers

By Iris

A free Reading Part 3 practice test in the CELPIP format: 9 questions with the answer key. Choose your answers, then check them at the bottom of the page.

Questions
9
Time
about 10 minutes
Question style
Match each statement to a paragraph

Paragraph A

That chase or crash unfolding on screen was, in all likelihood, not performed by the face on the poster. Stunt performers are brought in whenever a sequence demands physical action judged too hazardous for the principal cast, and the scope of the work is broad, stretching from carefully rehearsed falls to fights choreographed for the camera and entire sequences built around fire, explosions or vehicles at speed. A double is selected to match the lead's build and characteristic manner of moving, which is precisely why the cut between the two performers slips past almost unnoticed. The credited actor retains the close-up dialogue, along with anything safe enough to film without a substitute.

Paragraph B

The craft owes a considerable debt to people who came off the rodeo circuit and the travelling circus. Yakima Canutt, the most celebrated among them, was born in Colfax, Washington, and spent well over a decade breaking broncos before he ever set foot on a film set. What he brought to the trade was technical: he devised rigs and worked out falls that let a sequence appear reckless while the performer walked away unscathed. Doubling for John Wayne in the western Stagecoach, he dropped beneath a team of galloping horses and let the coach roll clean over him. The Academy later honoured him with a special award that cited his protective equipment alongside his work in front of the camera.

Paragraph C

Safety is no longer left to individual judgment — it is all set down in writing. SAG-AFTRA has adopted rules in the United States binding whichever coordinator oversees a given stunt, and a coordinator who notices a breach of the union agreement is obliged to report it. Those same standards put an end to two long-criticized casting habits: dressing a male performer in a wig to stand in for an actress, and darkening a white performer's skin to double for a colleague of a different race. Any member who witnesses an unsafe practice can reach a confidential line the union keeps staffed around the clock.

Paragraph D

No professional body existed at all until 1961, when the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures was founded by Loren Janes and Richard Geary, both working performers themselves — Janes doubled for Steve McQueen across two decades. Membership remains by invitation only, open exclusively to coordinators, performers and second-unit directors already belonging to the Screen Actors Guild. The Academy Awards, by contrast, have moved at a far more glacial pace: a competitive award for stunt design was announced years ahead of time, yet the first will not be presented until the hundredth ceremony, in 2028, honouring films released the year before.

Paragraph 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.

  1. Someone who witnesses a safety violation can flag it while remaining anonymous.
  2. Qualified safety officers staff the telephone line the union operates.
  3. Custom-built apparatus turned a seemingly dangerous plunge into a controlled one.
  4. A now-famous fall took place during the making of a celebrated western film.
  5. One well-known figure spent well over ten years working with horses before entering the film industry.
  6. The billed star appears in none of the action sequences.
  7. A stand-in matched for build and movement keeps the substitution invisible to viewers.
  8. New rules ended two hiring habits that had drawn long-standing criticism.
  9. The Academy recognized the craft's own award later than performers had organized themselves.
0 of 9 answered

Answer key

Show all 9 answers
  1. Someone who witnesses a safety violation can flag it while remaining anonymous. C
  2. Qualified safety officers staff the telephone line the union operates. E
  3. Custom-built apparatus turned a seemingly dangerous plunge into a controlled one. B
  4. A now-famous fall took place during the making of a celebrated western film. B
  5. One well-known figure spent well over ten years working with horses before entering the film industry. B
  6. The billed star appears in none of the action sequences. E
  7. A stand-in matched for build and movement keeps the substitution invisible to viewers. A
  8. New rules ended two hiring habits that had drawn long-standing criticism. C
  9. The Academy recognized the craft's own award later than performers had organized themselves. D

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