CELPIP Reading Course
Lesson 29 min
Efficient reading for tests requires deliberately switching between two modes:
Skimming = reading for the gist. You move fast, skip most words, read first sentences and key nouns. Purpose: to understand what the passage is about and where different types of information are located.
Scanning = reading for a specific target. You move your eye down the page looking for one piece of information — a name, a date, a number, a keyword. Purpose: to answer a specific question without re-reading the whole passage.
Most candidates only have one speed. They read everything at the same pace — too slow for skimming, too thorough for a timed test.
To skim effectively, you need to trust that the first sentence of a paragraph usually tells you what the paragraph is about. Academic and formal writing (which CELPIP Reading passages use) is almost always organised this way.
Exercise: Take any article from a Canadian newspaper website (Globe and Mail, CBC News). Set a timer for 90 seconds. Read only the headline and the first sentence of each paragraph. Then close the article and write down:
If you can answer all three, you skimmed effectively. If you can't, increase your focus on the first sentence of each paragraph — that's where the information you need is.
CELPIP Reading questions often ask about specific details: a date, a person's name, a specific condition or exception. These are scanning questions — the answer is in the text, you just need to find it quickly.
Scanning technique:
What slows scanning down: Reading in full sentences when scanning. Your eye should move faster than reading pace — you're looking for visual patterns, not processing meaning continuously.
Not all questions require scanning. These question types require slower, more careful reading:
Budget your time accordingly. Don't spend 2 minutes on a detail question and 20 seconds on an inference question. They're worth the same mark.