Reading to Apply a Diagram

A diagram, schedule or form beside a short message. You read across the two, not down one.

How the task works

Time

9 minutes

Counts as

8 questions, asked as 5 then 3

Preparation

None

Section

Reading

A diagram, form, schedule or floor plan sits beside a short message. Eight questions in nine minutes, asked as five then three.

The reading is horizontal: neither the diagram nor the message answers a question on its own.

Strategy that works

Read the message first, then go to the diagram with a question in mind.
Headings, footnotes and asterisks on the diagram are where the answers hide.
Watch for a constraint in the message — a budget, a date, a preference — that rules out most of the diagram.

What costs marks

Answering from the diagram alone because it looks like the data.
Missing a footnote that changes a price or a time.
Assuming the options in the drop-down appear in the same order as the diagram rows.

Practise it

Worked examples of this task, with answers and explanations, are on the CELPIP reading samples page. The rest of the section is set out on the CELPIP reading description page.

Common questions

How long do I get?

9 minutes.

Do I type the answers?

No. Reading answers are chosen from drop-down lists, and a wrong answer costs nothing, so never leave one blank.

Written by Kirill O'Nayd

English test expert and educator at TestSucceed, where he builds the CELPIP practice tasks and mock tests and has spent years taking apart how Canada's immigration English tests award their points. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.