CELPIP Reading Part 4: Reading for Viewpoints, with a free timed set
Part 4 gives you an article in which people disagree, and a reader's comment about it. You answer 10 questions in 13 minutes, some of them blanks in the comment.
The part at a glance
| Time | 13 minutes |
|---|---|
| Questions | 10 |
| What you read | An article giving opinions, and a reader's comment to complete. |
Try a full Part 4 set
An original practice set in the format of the test, written by MapleMock. Start the clock, choose an answer for each question, and its answer and the reason for it show as you go. When the time is up, every answer shows.
Read the following article from a news website and a reader's comment.
Riverbend's city council will vote next month on whether to demolish the six-storey parking garage on Front Street and replace it with a public park. The garage, built in 1978 and now showing its age, needs about nine million dollars in repairs to its concrete decks, while the park would cost roughly six million. The difference, supporters say, could pay for a shuttle bus between the hospital garage and the downtown core for at least ten years.
Councillor Anita Lindqvist, who proposed the plan, did not expect to be its loudest defender. "I voted to repair the garage two years ago," she said. "What changed my mind was a weekend in Kelowna, where an old car park has become the busiest square in town." She would like part of the park set aside for community garden plots, and says a playground can wait until the city sees how the space is used.
Tom Whitfield, who chairs the Downtown Business Association, surprised many members by saying he could live with the park. His concern is the timing. "If the garage closes in January, the shops lose their busiest weeks of the year the following December," he said. He has asked the council to keep the garage open until the shuttle is running, even if that means paying for a year of temporary repairs.
The city's planning department has tried to stay neutral. Its report, released last week, estimates that removing the garage would push about three hundred cars a day onto nearby streets, but it also found that most of those drivers live outside the city. Grace Liu, the senior planner who wrote it, said those visitors could use the shuttle if it ran often enough, though she admitted that the report never asked drivers why they come downtown.
Residents will have a chance to speak at a public hearing at city hall on the twelfth. The council has also opened an online survey, which had received more than two thousand responses by Friday. Councillors say they will publish a summary of the answers before the vote.
I run a bakery two blocks from the garage, and I agree with Mr. Whitfield that blank 6 matters more than whether we keep the building. My customers mostly walk in from the new apartments by the river, so the park itself doesn't scare me, and a few more trees downtown would be welcome. What worries me is that the planning report never asked blank 7 what they think. If the council goes ahead, it should promise that blank 8 before a single parking space disappears: my flour arrives by truck twice a week. I also hope the hearing on the twelfth is held at a time when blank 9 can come: an evening meeting rules out half my street, with bedtime at eight. And Ms. Lindqvist's garden plots are a lovely idea, as long as the city remembers blank 10: for me, December pays the rent for half the year.
Question 1: answer and explanation
The answer is “a vote on turning an old garage into a park”. The council will vote on replacing the garage with a park.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a plan to add levels to the hospital garage: No new levels are planned.
- a debate over raising parking meter prices downtown: Parking meters are not mentioned.
- a survey of how residents travel to work: The survey is about the plan, not about travel.
Question 2: answer and explanation
The answer is “something she saw on a trip away”. A visit to Kelowna changed her mind.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a repair bill that kept on climbing: The repair cost is in the article, but it is not her reason.
- complaints from families who want a playground: She says a playground can wait.
- the shops that want more visitors downtown: Shop visitors are the business view, not hers.
Question 3: answer and explanation
The answer is “when the garage would close, not the park itself”. He can live with the park; the timing worries him.
Why the other options are wrong:
- losing a park to more parking downtown: He accepts the park.
- the cost of building the downtown shuttle bus: He wants the shuttle running first.
- the garden plots that Ms. Lindqvist has proposed: The plots are her idea, and he does not object to them.
Question 4: answer and explanation
The answer is “have their homes somewhere else”. Most of them live outside the city.
Why the other options are wrong:
- work in offices on the nearby blocks: Their jobs are not given.
- leave again after a fairly short visit: The report does not say how long they stay.
- would rather take a shuttle bus downtown: No preference is reported.
Question 5: answer and explanation
The answer is “has room for nine hundred cars”. The article never gives the number of spaces.
Why the other options are wrong:
- would cost more to repair than the park to build: Nine million against six.
- has stood on Front Street since 1978: It was built in 1978.
- could stay open for a year with temporary repairs: Whitfield asks for exactly that.
Question 6: answer and explanation
The answer is “how soon it all happens”. He worries about when the garage closes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the price of the repairs: Repair costs are not his point.
- the size of the new park: Park size is not discussed.
- the number of survey answers: The survey is not his concern.
Question 7: answer and explanation
The answer is “motorists who visit the area”. The report never asked drivers why they come.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the people who run local shops: The report is not said to leave them out.
- families who want a playground: The report is about cars, not families.
- residents in the new apartments: Residents can answer the online survey.
Question 8: answer and explanation
The answer is “delivery trucks can still reach the shops”. Her flour comes by truck, so deliveries must still get through.
Why the other options are wrong:
- shoppers can still find a space nearby: Her customers mostly walk.
- the online survey will stay open: She does not mention the survey.
- the playground will be built first: Lindqvist says the playground can wait.
Question 9: answer and explanation
The answer is “parents with very young children”. Bedtime keeps parents busy in the evening.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the councillors from other city wards: Other councillors are not mentioned.
- the planners who wrote the report: The planners are not said to be busy.
- people who work in the shops: Her point about bedtime is about children, not shop hours.
Question 10: answer and explanation
The answer is “the businesses that depend on December”. The closure timing threatens the shops' busiest weeks.
Why the other options are wrong:
- to keep the playground in the plan: Lindqvist says the playground can wait.
- to fix the garage before it is closed: Repairs are only Whitfield's stopgap.
- to plant trees along Front Street: Trees on Front Street are not discussed.
Tips for Part 4
- As you read the article, note who holds each opinion and why.
- A question about a view asks whose view it is: check the name before you answer.
- In the comment, each blank must agree with what the commenter says before and after it.
Practise it on the clock
The free Listening & Reading mock is open now: it has the full Reading section, with each part on its own timer.
Questions
- What is in CELPIP Reading Part 4?
- An article giving opinions, and a reader's comment to complete: 10 questions in 13 minutes.
- How long is CELPIP Reading Part 4?
- 13 minutes for 10 questions, on the part's own timer.
- Is this an official CELPIP practice set?
- No. MapleMock wrote it in the format of the test, for practice. It is not an official CELPIP set.
For all four parts and how they are timed, see the CELPIP Reading page.
See every part and task in the CELPIP test format, or how to practise for CELPIP.
These parts, questions and timings follow Paragon's published test format: see the sources on our CELPIP test format page.
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