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CELPIP Reading Part 4: Viewpoints

Identify and distinguish different opinions in an article and comment.

~13 min each
0 of 100 sets done

Practice sets

1 Gardening in Science Class FREE 2 Should Councils Keep Funding Libraries 3 Teaching Both Sides of History 4 Funding Whale Watching Tourism 5 Licensing Internationally Trained Doctors 6 Standardized Testing in Schools 7 The Aurora 700 Battery Controversy 8 Selling Canada's Fresh Water 9 Fish Plant Layoff Choices 10 Parent Conduct in Minor Hockey 11 Saving With Education Plans 12 Posting Kids Sports Online 13 Online Learning and Teacher Contact 14 Reintroducing Wolves to Wild Landscapes 15 Who Pays for Snow Removal 16 Should Birch Falls Merge 17 Front Counter Versus Back Room Volunteering 18 Skilled Trades Versus University Degrees 19 Open Plan Office Productivity Debate 20 Debating the Four Day Week 21 Artificial Lawns During Calgary's Drought 22 The Decline of Shopping Malls 23 Women in Senior Leadership 24 Risks of Round Up Apps 25 Local Food Versus Large Farms 26 Securing Canada's Power Grid 27 Soil Life and Crop Health 28 Teaching Practical Maintenance Skills 29 Baking in the Math Classroom 30 Funding Public Recreation Centres 31 A Pedestrian Plaza on Maple Street 32 Road Tours Versus Trail Rides 33 Rights for App-Based Couriers 34 A Downtown Protected Bike Lane 35 The Meridian 500 Ferry Controversy 36 Who Owns an Arctic Shipwreck 37 A Sawmill Town's Hard Choices 38 Pushy Parents in Youth Chess 39 Who Employment Insurance Leaves Out 40 Privacy and DNA Ancestry Kits 41 Camera Drones in the Parks 42 Saving Our Vanishing Landmarks 43 Regulating Short-Term Home Rentals 44 A Small Town's Olympic Bid 45 Open Water Versus Lane Swimming 46 Should Degrees Require Work Placements 47 Losing Our Sense of Direction 48 Posting Salary Ranges in Job Ads 49 Keeping Backyard Hens in the City 50 The Fading Downtown Office Tower 51 Who Should Drive the Four-Day Week 52 Smart Home Security Cameras 53 The Plant-Based Meat Debate 54 Food Safety and Product Recalls 55 Can Plants Clean Indoor Air 56 Teaching Students to Judge News 57 Teaching History Through Role-Play 58 Should Councils Keep Funding Parks 59 The Four-Day Week for Everyone 60 An Amphitheatre or Community Gardens 61 Rights for Seasonal Farm Workers 62 Closing the Neighbourhood Library Branches 63 The Zephyr 400 Safety Controversy 64 Returning the Cedar Carvings Home 65 A Mill Town's Hard Choices 66 Pushy Parents at Music Festivals 67 Who Gets Workplace Health Benefits 68 Sharing Doorbell Camera Footage 69 Keeping Backyard Hens in Town 70 Preserving Old Seed Varieties 71 The Right to Repair Debate 72 A Bridge to Gull Island 73 Indoor Versus Outdoor Climbing 74 Taking a Gap Year Before College 75 Tap-to-Pay and Our Spending 76 Unlimited Vacation at Work 77 Building Backyard Garden Suites 78 The Decline of Bank Branches 79 Closing the Workplace Skills Gap 80 Home Energy Monitoring Apps 81 Farmed Versus Wild Mushrooms 82 Electric Car Battery Safety 83 Helpful Insects Versus Pesticides 84 Teaching Teens to Cook 85 Building in Physics Class 86 Should Councils Fund Local Museums 87 Debating the First Migration Route 88 Funding Dog-Sledding Tourism 89 Solving the Affordable Housing Shortage 90 Posting Restaurant Hygiene Grades 91 The Boreal 600 Battery Controversy 92 Mining the Arctic Seabed 93 Steel Plant Layoff Choices 94 Parent Behaviour in Youth Soccer 95 Saving With Workplace Pensions 96 Tagging Wild Places Online 97 Regulating Short-Term Rentals 98 Saving Canada's Traditional Music 99 Who Should Own Farm Seed 100 Should the Highlands Become a Park
Guide

Reading Part 4 is the last and, by most accounts, the hardest part of the Reading test. You get an opinion article and then a reader comment responding to it, and you have to keep straight who believes what.

What is CELPIP Reading Part 4?

You read an opinion article, then a reader's comment responding to it. The questions come in two halves.

QuestionsTimeFormat
10 (5 on the article, 5 blanks in the reader comment)~13 minutesMultiple choice + drop-down blanks

It gets the most time of any Reading part, and it needs it: this is the part where the text carries opinion, nuance and disagreement rather than plain information.

How CELPIP Reading Part 4 is scored

One point per question, computer-scored, no penalty for guessing, from a Reading total of 38 scored questions. At 10 questions, Part 4 is the second-largest block on the paper.

For context on what those points are worth: Paragon's official score table puts CELPIP Level 9 at 31 to 33 correct answers out of 38. Note that the official bands overlap, so treat published conversion tables with care, including ones that claim 33 to 35 correct equals Level 9.

Why CELPIP Reading Part 4 is the hardest part

Because it holds two opinions in tension, and the questions are built on the gap between them. The article makes a case. The reader's comment responds: sometimes agreeing in part, sometimes disagreeing, sometimes accepting the facts but rejecting the conclusion.

The classic wrong answer here attributes to one writer a view actually held by the other, or hands back a view that the article raised specifically in order to reject it. Keeping the two voices separate is the whole task.

CELPIP Reading Part 4 strategies

  1. Establish the article's position in one sentence before you read a single question. If you cannot state it, you cannot answer questions about it.
  2. Then establish how the commenter differs. Do they reject the argument, or accept it and push further? That relationship generates the questions.
  3. Watch for views raised in order to be dismissed. "Some argue that..." is not the author's belief, and options that hand it back as their belief are the manufactured trap.
  4. For the five comment blanks, keep the commenter's stance consistent. The right word is usually the one that keeps their argument coherent, not merely the one that is grammatical.
  5. Use the full ~13 minutes. It is the longest part for a reason.

Common CELPIP Reading Part 4 mistakes

  • Attributing the commenter's view to the article's author or the reverse. The defining Part 4 error.
  • Taking a straw man as a real position. A view introduced so it can be knocked down is not a view held.
  • Arriving out of time. Part 4 comes last, so if Parts 1 to 3 ran hot, this is where the damage lands, on the part with the most questions and the most nuance.
Tip: Before the questions, note two words: what the author thinks, and what the commenter thinks. "Author: for. Commenter: for, but worried about cost." Nearly every Part 4 question is answered by that one line, and nearly every wrong answer is a swap of those two labels.

CELPIP Reading Part 4: frequently asked questions

How many questions are in CELPIP Reading Part 4?
10: five about the opinion article, then five drop-down blanks completing a reader's comment that responds to it.
How long is CELPIP Reading Part 4?
About 13 minutes, the most of any Reading part. It is also the last, so time overspent earlier in the test comes out of this one.
Why is CELPIP Reading Part 4 so difficult?
Because it holds two opinions at once. The article argues a position and the reader's comment responds to it, and the questions are built on the difference between them. The most common wrong answer attributes one writer's view to the other.
How many correct answers do I need for CELPIP Reading Level 9?
Paragon's official score table puts Level 9 at roughly 31 to 33 correct out of 38 scored questions. The official bands overlap, so treat any single-number conversion table, especially one claiming 33 to 35, with caution.
What is the biggest trap in CELPIP Reading Part 4?
The straw man: a view the author introduces only so they can reject it. An answer choice will hand it back to you as if the author believed it. If the text says "some argue that...", that is not the author's position.
Do I have to agree with the writers?
No. Your own opinion is irrelevant to CELPIP Reading. Every question is about what the text says and who said it.