Who is writing to whom, why now, and what do they want to happen?
CELPIP wiki
CELPIP Reading Part 1: Reading Correspondence
Part 1 is the largest reading part: a personal letter or email with questions, then a reply with blanks to complete. The reply looks like a new task, but almost every blank is a question about the original letter in disguise.
Quick answer
The reply blanks test the original letter, not the reply.
Short answer: CELPIP Reading Part 1 (Reading Correspondence) shows a personal letter or email and asks 11 questions in two stages: several about the letter itself, then a response with dropdown blanks to complete. Each blank must stay consistent with the original letter’s facts, tone, and relationship — so the working move for every blank is to locate the sentence in the original that it answers.
Eleven questions makes this the joint-largest scoring opportunity in the reading section. It is also the friendliest text type, which tempts fast reading; the misses come from the reply stage, not the letter stage.
Strategy
A practical Part 1 routine that protects section timing
Standard detail and purpose questions; anchor each to a sentence.
Before touching blanks, skim the reply to see what the responder is doing.
For each blank, find the original sentence it responds to and match facts and tone.
Question pattern
Wrong options break consistency, not grammar
Every option in a reply blank usually fits grammatically. The wrong ones contradict a detail from the original letter, overstate the relationship, or shift the tone from friendly to formal. Consistency with the first text is the test; grammar is the disguise.
What the 11 questions test
The writer's purpose and situation, specific details, implied tone and relationship, and whether a reply stays consistent with all of it.
What to review after practice
For each missed blank, find the original-letter sentence that eliminates the wrong option; if you cannot find one, the miss was tone or relationship, not facts.
Common mistakes
Part 1 answers usually weaken in the same three ways
Treating the reply as new content
The blanks are answered from the original letter; filling them from general sense produces plausible but inconsistent choices.
Skimming past the small facts
Dates, quantities, and names from the letter reappear in blanks several questions later.
Ignoring tone
A grammatically perfect option fails because the letter was casual and the option answers like a formal notice.
What to do next
Run one timed attempt, then review the evidence, not the score
Practice this part under timing
Run Part 1 inside a timed reading set so the routine and the section clock get tested together.
Open reading practiceReview with explanations
After the attempt, use evidence-based explanations to see exactly which sentence eliminates each wrong option.
Open reading explanationsFAQ
Part 1 questions
How many questions does CELPIP Reading Part 1 have?
Eleven, the joint-largest reading part: questions about a letter or email, followed by a reply with blanks to complete.
How should I handle the reply-completion blanks?
Trace each blank back to the sentence in the original letter it responds to, then pick the option that matches those facts and that tone. Options that merely sound natural are the trap.
Is Part 1 a good place to save time?
Yes, moderately: the text is the easiest in the section, so disciplined readers bank a minute here for Parts 3 and 4. But rushing the reply stage is where Part 1 marks are actually lost.