Free CELPIP Reading Practice Test With Answers (All 4 Parts, 38 Questions)

From: Priya Nair · To: Mark Osei · Subject: A favour while we’re away

Hi Mark,

I hope you and Elena are settling into the new place and that the boxes are finally unpacked. I’m writing because Sanjay and I are at last taking the trip to Kerala that we have been talking about for years. We leave on Friday the 14th and come back on the 2nd of next month, so we’ll be away for almost three weeks.

I know it’s a lot to ask when you’ve only just moved in, but would you be able to keep an eye on the house while we’re gone? Mostly it would mean collecting the mail every couple of days and watering the tomatoes on the back deck if it doesn’t rain. You don’t need to worry about the indoor plants; my sister is taking them to her apartment on Thursday.

We’ve already stopped the newspaper, and the alarm company knows we’ll be away. If anything does go wrong, their number is on the fridge, next to the spare key for the shed. The shed has the watering can and the hose.

I’ll drop off our house key on Wednesday evening, if that works for you. And please help yourselves to the tomatoes. There will be far more than the two of us can eat when we get back!

Thank you so much,
Priya

A library that lends drills

A. The Hillcrest Tool Library opened four years ago in an empty bank building on Fourth Avenue. It began when two neighbours, a retired carpenter and a hospital nurse, worked out that almost every household on their street owned a power drill that was used for only a few minutes a year. They collected donated tools from 40 families and opened two evenings a week, run entirely by volunteers.

B. Today the library lends more than 1,200 items, from ladders and pressure washers to tents, sewing machines and even a popcorn maker. Membership costs $30 a year, or $10 for students and seniors, and members can borrow up to five items at a time for one week. Late returns cost $1 a day, but the library cancels the fees of anyone who volunteers for a shift.

C. The effect on the neighbourhood has been easy to see. A city survey last spring found that members had saved an average of $340 each on things they would otherwise have bought or rented. Many members, though, said the biggest benefit was meeting their neighbours. The Saturday repair café, where volunteers fix broken toasters, lamps and bicycles for free, often has a waiting list.

D. Not everything has gone smoothly. In its second year, the library lost almost a tenth of its items because borrowers never returned them, and it now asks for a credit card when people join. After a member was hurt using a borrowed saw, the library also started short safety lessons, which are now required before anyone can take out power tools. The organisers hope to open a second location next year, but they are still looking for a free or low-cost space.

Should downtown Riverton close to cars on Sundays?

Riverton city council will vote next month on a plan to close six blocks of Main Street to cars every Sunday from May to October. Under the proposal, from councillor Amira Haddad, the streets would be closed from 9 am to 5 pm, and restaurants and shops could use the road for tables and stalls. “For one day a week, families could walk downtown without worrying about traffic,” Haddad said. “Cleaner air and busier sidewalks are good for everyone, including businesses.”

Not all business owners agree. Tom Becker, who owns a restaurant on Main Street and chairs the downtown business association, says many of his Sunday customers drive in from the suburbs. “If they can’t park near us, a lot of them will simply go to the mall instead,” he said. Becker says he could support the plan if the city offered free parking on the edge of downtown and a shuttle bus to Main Street, but so far the proposal includes neither.

The Riverton Cycling Club, on the other hand, thinks the plan does not go far enough. Its president, Grace Liu, would like the street to be closed on both Saturdays and Sundays. “People need to know the street will be open to them every weekend, or they won’t change their habits,” she argued.

Dr. Lena Ortiz, who studies city planning at Northfield University, says the results elsewhere are mixed but encouraging. In the cities she has looked at, the number of people walking downtown rose quickly, while sales at some shops dropped in the first months before recovering. “The key is to measure,” she said. “Count visitors and ask businesses for their sales figures from the start, so the council can decide on facts rather than fears.”