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CELPIP Reading Course · Lesson 5 of 8

Part 3: Reading for Information

By CELPass Editorial Team · 2 min read · Updated

Part 3 is an informational article in four paragraphs, A–D. You match nine statements to the paragraph they come from, or choose E if none contains it.

Summarise each paragraph first

Spend a couple of minutes reading the text and noting a 2–4 word summary of each paragraph: A, history; B, how it works; C, costs and problems; D, future plans. These labels let you place most statements quickly.

Match meaning, not words

Statements are paraphrases. "Early versions were expensive to build" may match a paragraph saying "the first models cost a fortune to produce" with no shared words. Meanwhile, a paragraph that does share the word "expensive" may be about something else. Lesson 7 practises paraphrase.

When to choose E

Choose E only after you have checked the likely paragraphs. A statement can be close to a paragraph but add a detail the text never says (a number, a cause, a comparison). If that extra detail is not in any paragraph, the answer is E.

Key points

  • Label each paragraph before matching.
  • Match by meaning; shared words can mislead.
  • E means not stated anywhere, not just hard to find.

Exercise

Paragraph C: "Volunteers planted 2,000 trees along the river last spring, though roughly a quarter did not survive the dry summer." Is each statement in C, or E?

  1. "Some of the new trees died."
  2. "The trees were paid for by the city."
  3. "The planting took place in the spring."
Show answers
  1. C (paraphrase of "a quarter did not survive")
  2. E, if no other paragraph mentions who paid
  3. C

Practise with free questions

Free questions in the CELPIP format, with answers and no account needed. Try a few now, while the lesson is fresh.

All lessons in this course

  1. How CELPIP Reading Works and Is Scored
  2. The Question Types and How to Approach Each
  3. Part 1: Reading Correspondence
  4. Part 2: Reading to Apply a Diagram
  5. Part 3: Reading for Information
  6. Part 4: Reading for Viewpoints
  7. Paraphrase and Trap Answers
  8. Pacing and Your Test-Day Plan

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