CELPIP Tips: Reading Part 2 – Reading to Apply a Diagram
Today we’ll look at Part 2 of the Reading Test which asks you to select answers based on the images and information found in a diagram.
Test-takers will have 8 minutes to complete Part 2 of the Reading Test.
The first step is to glance over the diagram and make note of important points.
For example, travelling by train, plane, or car seem to have various benefits. On the other hand, travelling by bus only appears to have undesirable points.
Next, it’s important to briefly compare some of the information.
In this case, look at the prices and duration of each mode of transportation.
The first set of questions are arranged within an email as multiple choice fill-in-the blank questions.
From the first two sentences we can figure out: who? Janice and Peter who seem to be co-workers, what? and where? they are planning to travel to a conference, when? in a week, why? Peter is writing the email to make a plan about how they should travel.
Let’s look at the complete sentence for Question #1. *It is very important to read the complete sentence before choosing your answer.
#1: “Buses are the ____ because the fleet is old and there are no stopovers.”
The four choice are: most desirable, most flexible, least comfortable, and least effective.
Based on the information found in the diagram, we can eliminate the fist 2 options. Taking the bus is not the most desirable because the other types of transportation have more perks such as scenic views, free movies, and freedom to explore. The bus is also definitely not the most flexible because it only offers morning trips, and it has no stopovers.
This leaves us with 2 choices, comfort and effectiveness. The bus is effective in terms of low cost and reasonable travel duration. In terms of comfort, the train, plane , and car appear to be more comfortable than the bus based on the descriptions in the diagram.
The next set of questions are about what we can ascertain from the email. In other words, what is implied about the relationship between Janice, the recipient of the email, and Peter who is writing the email?
Question #8 shows the importance of learning and improving our vocabulary skills. We can eliminate unhelpful because Peter’s email is clearly helpful.
If you know the meaning of sympathetic but are unsure of what apathetic means, the ‘a’ at the start of the word likely indicates the opposing meaning or something close. For example, sympathetic means ”showing that you understand how others feel” while apathetic means “showing or feeling no interest or concern.“
Therefore, cooperative is the best choice because Peter’s email shows us that he is working with Janice to figure out and plan their work trip together.