CELPIP does not release past test forms, so "previous year questions" for this test do not exist as an archive; the provider publishes sample tests and level descriptors, and that is the official practice material. What this page adds is worked reasoning on items built to the Reading component's formats — correspondence, reading for information, and reading for viewpoints — showing not only which option is right but how the wrong ones were written. The questions are drawn from the Myndaq practice bank and are not reproductions of any official item. They sit alongside the Myndaq CELPIP course.
The component you are practising for
- Reading is 43 to 56 minutes, four parts, 38 questions, all answered on screen.
- Marking is by computer, correct or incorrect, and an unanswered question counts as incorrect — so every item gets an answer, even a guess.
- Some items may be unscored development items placed anywhere in the component, identical in format to scored ones. You cannot tell which, so treat every item as if it counts.
- The result is a level, produced from the raw score through tables the provider labels approximate. Aim at understanding, not at a target raw mark.
The sets below cover three of the reading formats the provider names — correspondence, information and viewpoints — with a full text each. The real component has more questions per text; the aim here is one worked example of each question type.
Correspondence format
An informal email from one neighbour to another. Correspondence questions test what was said, what was meant, and why the writer said it.
Text. Hi Tanya, I hope your move to the new place is going smoothly. I'm writing because the community garden committee is finally sorting out plots for the spring season, and your name came up. Last year you mentioned wanting a raised bed near the shed, and one has just opened up because the Petersons are relocating to Halifax.
Here's the thing: I need to know by Friday whether you want it, since three other people on the waitlist have asked about it too. The fee is the same as before, forty dollars for the season, payable at the March meeting. If you take the bed, I'd also ask that you sign up for one weekend of shared watering duty in July, when things get dry.
No worries at all if your schedule is too full this year — I completely understand, and I can pass it along to the next person. Just let me know either way so I'm not left guessing.
Talk soon, Marguerite
Question 1 — purpose. What is the main purpose of Marguerite's message?
- A. To ask Tanya whether she wants a newly available garden plot
- B. To invite Tanya to join the community garden committee
- C. To collect the seasonal fee from Tanya before the March meeting
- D. To inform Tanya that the Petersons are moving to Halifax
Answer: A. The committee is sorting out plots and Marguerite needs an answer by Friday — the bed and Tanya's decision are the point. D is a supporting detail (why the bed is free), C misreads the fee sentence (payable at the meeting, not before it), and B invents a role the message never offers. Purpose questions are answered by what the writer asks for, not by the most interesting fact in the text.
Question 2 — detail. How much is the fee for the season?
- A. To be decided at the March meeting
- B. Forty dollars
- C. The same amount as the waitlist deposit
- D. Nothing, since the fee is waived this year
Answer: B. Stated directly: forty dollars for the season, payable at the March meeting. A conflates the payment date with the decision on the amount, and C attaches "the same as before" to a deposit the text never mentions. Detail questions in correspondence are often answered by the one sentence with a number in it — find that sentence first.
Question 3 — inference. What does the phrase "so I'm not left guessing" most strongly suggest Marguerite wants?
- A. A definite reply from Tanya, whatever her decision is
- B. Tanya to help her decide who gets the bed
- C. Tanya to pay the fee before answering
- D. Tanya to keep the offer confidential
Answer: A. The full sentence is "Just let me know either way so I'm not left guessing" — "either way" means yes or no both suffice. B, C and D each add a request the text does not make. Inference in correspondence stays close to the words; the right option is the one you can point to.
Question 4 — tone. Which best describes the overall tone of the message?
- A. Distant and disappointed
- B. Anxious and complaining
- C. Formal and impersonal
- D. Friendly but with a clear request for a decision
Answer: D. A warm opening, "No worries at all", and a firm deadline together. Tone options are usually pairs of adjectives; both must fit. "Friendly" alone would fit several messages, but "with a clear request" is what "I need to know by Friday" adds, and no other option carries both halves.
Reading-for-information format
A five-paragraph informational text. The characteristic question asks which paragraph contains a given piece of information — a scanning task under time pressure.
Text — Community Repair Cafes.
Paragraph 1: A repair cafe is a free gathering where volunteers help visitors mend broken household items rather than throwing them away. The idea began in the Netherlands in 2009 and has since spread to towns and cities across Canada. Most events are held once a month in a public space such as a library, a community centre, or a place of worship, and they usually run for two or three hours on a weekend afternoon.
Paragraph 2: Visitors bring in a wide range of objects. Common examples include lamps with loose wiring, torn clothing, wobbly chairs, and small appliances like toasters or kettles. Volunteers with different skills work at separate stations, so a person waiting for a clothing repair sits in a different area from someone hoping to fix a bicycle. Organizers ask people to carry in only what they can lift on their own.
Paragraph 3: The service is offered at no cost, though donation jars are placed near the entrance to help cover the price of coffee, tea, and basic supplies. If a repair needs a replacement part that the volunteers do not have on hand, the visitor is usually asked to buy it and return at the next monthly session. Because of this, some fixes take more than one visit to complete.
Paragraph 4: Beyond saving money and reducing waste, the cafes are valued for the learning that happens at the tables. Volunteers explain each step as they work, encouraging visitors to try the repair themselves next time. Many newcomers to the practice leave with the confidence to handle a simple fix at home, and some later return as volunteers.
Paragraph 5: Anyone can take part without booking ahead, but organizers note that busy afternoons can mean long waits. To manage this, several groups now post a rough schedule online showing which types of repairs are handled on which weekend. Visitors are advised to check these listings before setting out, since not every skill is available at every session.
Question 5. Which paragraph identifies the country where the repair cafe idea started?
Answer: Paragraph 1. "The idea began in the Netherlands in 2009." A scanning question with a proper noun as its target is the easiest kind: scan for capital letters. Note that "Canada" also appears in the same sentence — the question asks where the idea started, not where it spread.
Question 6. Which paragraph describes how the volunteers are arranged by the type of item being fixed?
Answer: Paragraph 2. "Volunteers with different skills work at separate stations," followed by the clothing-versus-bicycle example. Paragraph 5 also talks about types of repair and weekends, which is the intended confusion; that paragraph is about scheduling across sessions, not arrangement within one.
Question 7. Which paragraph mentions that visitors should only bring items they can carry themselves?
Answer: Paragraph 2. The last sentence: carry in only what they can lift on their own. The question paraphrases — "carry themselves" for "lift on their own" — which is the standard move in this format. Match meaning, not words, and expect two questions to point at the same paragraph.
Viewpoints format
An opinion article followed by a reader's comment. Questions test each writer's position, where they agree and disagree, and what a phrase implies.
Article — Bring Back the Neighbourhood Grocer, by Diane Whitfield. When the last small grocery store on Maple Avenue closed two winters ago, our neighbourhood lost more than a place to buy milk. It lost a meeting point. Now the nearest full grocery store is a fifteen-minute drive away, and for the many seniors on our street who no longer drive, that distance is a real barrier. I believe the city should create a small-business grant that helps independent grocers open in walkable neighbourhoods like ours.
Some will say the market has already spoken, and that big supermarkets on the edge of town are simply cheaper to run. That is true. Large stores buy in volume and pass some savings to shoppers. But price is not the only thing that matters. A corner grocer within walking distance means an elderly resident can pick up fresh vegetables without arranging a ride. It means a parent can send a teenager for bread instead of loading the car. These small conveniences add up to a healthier, more connected community.
I ran a corner store myself for nine years before I retired, so I know the pressures are real. Rent, refrigeration, and staffing costs are heavy for a small operation. A modest city grant would not erase those costs, but it could help a new owner survive the difficult first two years, which is when most independent stores fail. If even three such stores opened across our older neighbourhoods, thousands of residents would gain daily access to fresh food.
This is not nostalgia. It is planning. A city that wants people to walk more and drive less should make sure there is somewhere worth walking to.
Comment by Raymond Foss. I grew up two blocks from the store Whitfield describes, so I understand the loss. But I am not sure a grant is the right tool. A grant gets a store through year one, then the money ends and the same high rent remains. If the city truly wants small grocers, it should look at property-tax relief that continues year after year, not a one-time payment. I agree completely that walkable food access matters, especially for seniors. I just think Whitfield has picked a solution that runs out exactly when the store still needs help.
Question 8 — author's viewpoint. What is the central claim Whitfield advances in the article?
- A. The Maple Avenue store should be reopened by the city.
- B. Large supermarkets should be prevented from operating on the edge of town.
- C. Seniors should be given free transportation to distant grocery stores.
- D. The city should offer a grant to help independent grocers open in walkable neighbourhoods.
Answer: D. Stated in the first paragraph with "I believe". A, B and C are each built from a real detail — the closed store, the supermarkets, the seniors — turned into a proposal she never makes. She concedes the supermarket point ("That is true"), which rules out B outright.
Question 9 — implication. When Whitfield writes that the store's closing meant the neighbourhood lost more than a place to buy milk, what point is she making?
- A. The store also served as a social meeting point for the community.
- B. The store sold products other than milk.
- C. Milk prices were too high at the old store.
- D. The community no longer needs any grocery store.
Answer: A. The next sentence is the gloss: "It lost a meeting point." B is the literal reading of a figurative sentence, which is the standard wrong option for implication questions. As in most viewpoint texts, the writer explains her own phrase immediately after using it.
Question 10 — the comment's reservation. What is Foss's main reservation about Whitfield's proposal?
- A. Property taxes should be increased for small grocers.
- B. Independent grocers are unnecessary in older neighbourhoods.
- C. Walkable food access does not actually help seniors.
- D. A one-time grant ends while the ongoing costs the store faces remain.
Answer: D. "A grant gets a store through year one, then the money ends and the same high rent remains." A reverses his tax proposal, and B and C contradict his stated agreement. Comment questions test whether you can separate what the commenter accepts from what he rejects — here he rejects only the instrument.
Question 11 — agreement. On which point do Whitfield and Foss clearly agree?
- A. That big supermarkets should be closed.
- B. That walkable access to food matters, especially for seniors.
- C. That a one-time grant is the best available tool.
- D. That property taxes should stay unchanged.
Answer: B. Foss says it in as many words — "I agree completely that walkable food access matters, especially for seniors" — and it matches Whitfield's opening concern. Agreement questions have one safe method: find the commenter's explicit concession and check it against the article. Neither writer proposes closing supermarkets, the grant is exactly what they disagree about, and Foss wants property taxes changed, not left alone.
How to use practice like this
Time the whole set. The component allows 43 to 56 minutes for 38 questions, so a little over a minute per question including reading time; if a five-question correspondence set takes you eight minutes, the full component will not fit. After marking, for every wrong answer write down which sentence of the text the correct option came from and which sentence the option you chose came from — in this test the distractors are nearly always real details from the text attached to the wrong question. Answer everything: blanks are marked wrong. Then use the syllabus and format page to see how a raw mark becomes a level, and why practising for understanding beats practising for a number.
Quick answers
Does CELPIP publish past papers?
No. The provider publishes sample tests and level descriptors. The items here are Myndaq practice questions written to the same formats, not official items.
How many Reading questions are there and how long is it?
38 questions across four parts in 43 to 56 minutes, all on screen.
Is there negative marking?
No deduction for a wrong answer, but an unanswered question is counted as incorrect, so always answer.
What kinds of text are in CELPIP Reading?
The provider describes them as correspondence, information and viewpoints — an email or letter, informational texts, and an opinion piece paired with a reader's comment. This page works one of each.
Can I tell which items are unscored?
No. Unscored development items look identical to scored ones and can appear anywhere in Listening and Reading.
