Lesson 6, Part 2: Reading to Apply a Diagram
~8 questions · ~11 minutes · roughly 21% of the Reading test
The most under-taught part of the CELPIP test. Most prep courses skip it or give it a paragraph. It’s also, once you know the method, one of the most reliably scorable parts, because the answers are facts sitting in a table, not interpretations.
What this part actually is
You’re shown a visual: a schedule, price list, brochure, floor plan, event listing, or labelled diagram. Alongside it is a message or email from someone who is applying that information to a real situation.
Your job comes in two halves:
| Questions | What you do | |
|---|---|---|
| First half | 5 blanks | Complete the email using information from the diagram |
| Second half | 3 statements | Complete statements about the email, multiple choice |
Total: 8 questions.
Why it’s different from every other Reading part
Parts 1, 3 and 4 test comprehension: understanding meaning, inference, opinion, tone.
Part 2 tests information location and application. There is nothing to interpret. The answer to “what time does the swim class run?” is a cell in a table. Either you find the right cell or you don’t.
This is good news. It means:
- There are no ambiguous answers, no “most supported” judgement calls
- Careful, systematic reading beats clever reading
- It’s the part where a well-drilled candidate can reliably score full marks
The bad news: the traps are precise and quiet. Adjacent rows, footnote conditions, and near-miss age ranges catch people who read fast.
The method: email first, diagram second
This is the single most important habit in this lesson.
Most candidates read the diagram first, trying to absorb everything. That’s wasted effort, a schedule might contain forty pieces of information and you’ll need five.
Read the email first. It tells you what you’re looking for. Then go to the diagram and retrieve only that.
Step by step
1. Scan the diagram’s structure, 30 seconds, not more. Don’t read the data. Read the shape: What is this? What are the column headings? Is there a notes section, footnotes, or small print? How is it organized, by day, by category, by price?
2. Read the email properly. Who is writing, to whom, and what situation are they applying the diagram to? Note the constraints they mention, ages, days they’re free, budget, membership status.
3. For each blank, identify what kind of information is missing. A day? A time? A price? A room? A person? Knowing the category before you look narrows the search enormously.
4. Go to the diagram and retrieve it. Find the row first, then the column. Row, then column, in that order, every time.
5. Check the notes section before you commit. This is where the traps live. Discounts, conditions, age restrictions, “drop-in only,” “materials not included.”
Worked example
Study the diagram, then read the email.
Riverside Community Center, Fall Program Guide
Program Days Time Ages Location Fee Beginner Swim Monday & Wednesday 4:00 – 5:00 pm 5 – 8 Pool $85 Youth Basketball Tuesday & Thursday 5:30 – 7:00 pm 9 – 14 Gym A $110 Adult Yoga Mon, Wed & Friday 7:00 – 8:00 pm 16+ Studio 2 $95 Seniors’ Fitness Tuesday & Thursday 10:00 – 11:00 am 60+ Studio 1 $60 Pottery Workshop Saturday 10:00 am – 12:00 pm 12+ Craft Room $130 Family Skate Saturday 1:00 – 3:00 pm All ages Arena $8 drop-in Please note • All programs run for 10 weeks beginning 14 September. Registration closes 5 September. • Center members receive 15% off all program fees. Membership is $40 per year. • Drop-in programs cannot be reserved in advance and are subject to available space. • A parent or guardian must remain on site for any participant under 10 years of age. • Participants in the Pottery Workshop must supply their own apron. All other materials are included.
The email
Hi Sonia,
I finally looked through the community center guide. For Amir, who’s seven, the Beginner Swim class looks ideal, it runs on Monday and (1) afternoons, so it wouldn’t clash with his music lesson on Tuesdays.
One thing worth knowing: because he’s under ten, (2) will need to stay at the center for the whole hour rather than dropping him off.
Leila turns nine next month, so she’d just make the age range for Youth Basketball. That one’s held in (3), not in one of the studios, so make sure she knows where to go.
I was also tempted by something for myself. The Adult Yoga runs three evenings a week and the listed fee is (4), though we’d pay less than that given our membership.
We shouldn’t leave it too long, though, registration (5) on 5 September.
Talk soon, Rana
Working through the blanks
| # | What kind of information? | Where to look | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A day | Beginner Swim row → Days column | Wednesday |
| 2 | A person | Notes, the under-10 rule | a parent or guardian |
| 3 | A location | Youth Basketball row → Location column | Gym A |
| 4 | A price | Adult Yoga row → Fee column | $95 |
| 5 | A verb about registration | Notes, registration date | closes |
Notice what happened with blanks 2 and 5: neither answer is in the table. Both come from the notes section. That’s deliberate, and it’s how this part separates careful readers from fast ones.
Notice blank 4: the email says “the listed fee is __, though we’d pay less given our membership.” The answer is $95: the listed fee, not the discounted price. The sentence tells you which one it wants. Candidates who rush and calculate 15% off get it wrong by being too thorough.
The three statements
The second half gives you statements to complete about the email. Example:
Q6. Rana suggests that Amir’s swim class ___
- (a) would conflict with his music lesson
- (b) fits around his existing commitments ✅
- (c) is too expensive for the family
- (d) takes place at the weekend
Q7. Regarding Leila, Rana points out that ___
- (a) she is too young for the program
- (b) she has only just become old enough ✅
- (c) she should choose a different sport
- (d) the class is held in a studio
Q8. Rana’s main concern about timing is that ___
- (a) the programs start too early in September
- (b) the classes overlap with each other
- (c) the registration deadline is approaching ✅
- (d) the sessions run for too many weeks
These test the email, not the diagram. They’re closer to ordinary comprehension, but the paraphrase rule still applies. Notice (b) in Q6: the email never says “existing commitments,” it says “wouldn’t clash with his music lesson.” Same meaning, different words.
The five traps
| Trap | How it looks | Defense |
|---|---|---|
| Adjacent row | You want Youth Basketball, your eye lands on Adult Yoga | Find the row first and confirm the program name before reading across |
| The footnote condition | The table says $85; the notes say members get 15% off | Always read the notes before committing |
| Near-miss age or date range | Leila is 9; ranges are 5–8 and 9–14 | Check both boundaries, not just one |
| The overlapping time | Two Saturday programs, 10am–12pm and 1–3pm | Read the full range, not the start time |
| Over-calculating | Working out the discount when the sentence asked for the listed price | Re-read the sentence around the blank. It tells you which value it wants. |
The over-calculation trap catches strong candidates specifically. Knowing the discount rule feels like being thorough. But the sentence said “the listed fee is ___, though we’d pay less” - it explicitly signals it wants the pre-discount number. Always let the sentence decide.
Reading the sentence around the blank
Blanks are grammatical as well as factual. The words either side tell you what form the answer takes.
“…it runs on Monday and ___ afternoons” → needs a day, singular, to pair with Monday ”…___ will need to stay at the center” → needs a person or role “…registration ___ on 5 September” → needs a verb
If your answer doesn’t fit grammatically, it’s wrong: even if the fact is right. This is a free check and it catches real errors.
Timing: ~11 minutes
| Phase | Time |
|---|---|
| Scan the diagram’s structure | 30 sec |
| Read the email | 1.5 min |
| Five blanks | ~5 min (1 min each) |
| Three statements | ~3 min |
| Check the notes against your answers | 1 min |
That final minute is worth protecting. Re-read the notes section and ask: does any of this change an answer I’ve given? On a typical diagram, one or two of your answers depend on a footnote.
Grade your own Part 2
- I read the email before the diagram
- I identified what kind of information each blank needed before searching
- I found the row first, then the column
- I read the notes section and checked it against my answers
- I re-read the sentence around each blank to confirm grammatical fit
- I didn’t calculate anything the sentence didn’t ask for
- I checked both ends of every age or date range
- I finished inside 11 minutes
7+ ticks and this part becomes reliable marks.
Your practice
Open one set on Celpora and put today’s lesson to work.
Practice Part 2: Diagram. 8 questions · 9 min · instant score + explanations
