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Reading · Correspondence

CELPIP Reading practice: a workshop change explained

Read an original email and solve three questions using precise evidence, with every option explained.

By MockMaple · Updated

Try the prompt

Read the email. Choose the best answer to each question before opening the explanation.

  • This short teaching exercise practises correspondence skills; it is not a complete official-format test part.

Plan your approach

  1. Identify why the sender is writing.
  2. Separate changed details from unchanged details.
  3. Match each answer to exact evidence.

Read the source

Subject: Saturday bicycle workshop Hello participants, Because the courtyard is being repaired, Saturday’s bicycle maintenance workshop will take place in Room 2 at the community centre. The start time is still 10 a.m. Please use the side entrance; the main doors will be closed until noon. Bring your bicycle if you can. If transporting it is difficult, we will have two demonstration bicycles available for people to share. You do not need to buy tools because the instructor will provide them. We originally planned to finish at noon, but we have added a thirty-minute question period. You are welcome to leave at noon if you have another commitment; you will not miss any of the planned demonstrations. Please reply only if you can no longer attend. We do not need another confirmation from people who are coming. Best wishes, Nadia Workshop coordinator

Why these choices work

A response or interpretation to improve

The message mentions noon several times, so the workshop must start at noon.

Assign each time to an event

10 a.m. is the start. Noon is when the main doors open and when demonstrations finish. 12:30 p.m. is the end of the added question period.

Read conditions carefully

Bring your bicycle if you can is not an absolute requirement. The next sentence supplies an alternative.

Vocabulary in context

commitment

An arrangement or responsibility you have agreed to.

You may leave if you have another commitment.

Choose the right alternative: Appointment usually refers to a scheduled meeting; commitment can include other duties.

Usage note: Here commitment is a responsibility, not simply enthusiasm.

confirm

State that an arrangement or fact is correct or definite.

You do not need to confirm your attendance again.

Choose the right alternative: Cancel means withdraw from an arrangement, not confirm it.

Usage note: Notice the negative: no further confirmation is requested.

Explore vocabulary, synonyms and idioms

Check your understanding

Choose an answer to see the evidence and an explanation for every option. These checks are not a proficiency score.

1. What has changed?
2. What will someone miss if they leave at noon?
3. Who should reply?
All answers and explanations

What has changed?

Answer: The workshop location.

Evidence: Saturday’s bicycle maintenance workshop will take place in Room 2

  • The start time.: The start time is still 10 a.m.
  • The workshop location.: The workshop moves from the courtyard to Room 2.
  • The need to bring tools.: Tools are provided; the email does not describe a change to that arrangement.

What will someone miss if they leave at noon?

Answer: The additional question period.

Evidence: we have added a thirty-minute question period

  • All demonstrations.: The email explicitly says they will not miss planned demonstrations.
  • The first half hour.: They would have attended from the 10 a.m. start.
  • The additional question period.: The extra thirty minutes after noon are for questions.

Who should reply?

Answer: Only people who can no longer attend.

Evidence: Please reply only if you can no longer attend.

  • Only people who can no longer attend.: This matches the explicit instruction.
  • Everyone who plans to come.: The coordinator says another confirmation is unnecessary.
  • Only people borrowing a bicycle.: Borrowing a demonstration bicycle is not given as a reason to reply.

Try a new situation

Summarize the email in three lines: where to go, what to bring and whether you need to reply.

Use your own notes or voice recorder, then check your work:

  • Can you underline evidence for each answer?
  • Did you distinguish optional from required actions?
  • Did you interpret each time in its own sentence?
Apply this in free practice

Keep learning

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