CELI 3 reading

Three reading tasks, and a clock you share

The three tasks are multiple choice over two texts, a set of binary matchings across two contrasted texts, and one text with open-ended questions. The middle task is the distinctive one: two texts that take different positions, and ten judgements about which text says what. It punishes reading each text separately and remembering neither.

Because Parte A and Parte B are timed together, your pacing decision is made before you start, not during. The awarding body publishes the combined duration and the reading item count, and both are printed on this page with their source.

Reading two texts against each other

The habit worth building for CELI 3 is comparative: read two pieces on the same subject and articulate where they disagree. Even done informally, that trains exactly the judgement the contrasted-texts task measures, and it is a very different exercise from summarising one text well.

LingoRead supplies the daily Italian passage at your level with comprehension questions, audio and tap-to-translate. It generates one passage at a time rather than contrasted pairs, so pair it with the official CVCL sample papers for the task format.

Honest scope

Reading is a published share of the whole exam and this page prints that share with its source. LingoRead trains the reading component only; the writing, listening and oral parts are outside it. University recognition is decided by the institution, not by a preparation page.