What makes Listening Part 5 challenging?

Following several speakers at once. Discussion vocabulary — agreeing, objecting, qualifying — is the key to tracking each person's stance.

Does the video matter in Part 5?

It adds context, but the answers come from the spoken discussion, so strong discussion vocabulary remains essential.

Listening Part 5: Discussion

Listening Part 5: Discussion is part of the Listening section of the CELPIP test. You get 8 questions and 4 minutes. It is scored by the number of correct answers.

Questions: 8
Time: 4 minutes
Prompts here: 23 published

The three-move discussion listen

1
Name the speakers and their roles as they appear
Three voices is the point of this part. Unlabelled, they merge.
2
Track each person's position separately
Fifty-two of every ninety tagged questions are detail, and most of that detail belongs to a specific speaker.
3
Note where someone changes their mind
A concession mid-discussion is the most-asked moment in this part.

Three voices, three positions — do not merge them.

The questions ask who said what, not what the group concluded.

Learn the agreement, disagreement and discussion vocabulary you need to follow a multi-speaker conversation and track who thinks what in CELPIP Listening Part 5.

Part 5 is a discussion among several people with a video component. Recognising agreement and disagreement language helps you keep each speaker's position clear.

CELPIP · Listening

A Neighbourhood Association Reviews a City Plan

One of 23 published prompts · free, no account

Instructions

The audio plays once.
Choose the best answer for each question.

Audio transcript

In the real test you hear this once and cannot replay it.

Maya: So, did either of you read the proposal about converting the Riverside parking lot into a weekend market and small green space? Daniel: I did. Honestly, I'm not convinced. I like the idea of a market, but removing the parking lot seems short-sighted. There are already complaints about parking on Saturdays. Priya: That's true, but the proposal isn't simply taking away parking. The city would add a limited number of spaces along the eastern side of the lot. The bigger change would be using the rest for local vendors, trees, and seating. Daniel: I saw that. But "limited" is doing a lot of work there. During the summer, the lot is packed. If we reduce capacity, we're basically shifting the problem to nearby streets. Maya: Unless the market actually changes how people get there. The proposal includes a shuttle from the transit station and secure bicycle parking. It's not guaranteed to work, but I think it's worth testing. Daniel: A shuttle every twenty minutes? That's hardly convenient. And who's going to pay for it? Priya: The city would cover the pilot period, apparently. After that, vendor fees and sponsorships would fund most of the operating costs. Daniel: "Most" again. What happens if sponsorships dry up? Maya: That's a fair concern. But I think we're focusing too much on whether the proposal is perfect. The city isn't asking us to approve a permanent transformation. It's a twelve-month pilot. Daniel: Twelve months is long enough to create a mess. Priya: Or long enough to collect meaningful data. That's actually what I like about the proposal. They'd track parking demand, pedestrian traffic, vendor revenue, and residents' feedback before deciding whether to continue. Daniel: Assuming they genuinely listen to the feedback. Maya: We could push for that. What if our association supports the pilot but asks for two conditions: quarterly public reports and a review six months in? Priya: I'd support that. I'd also ask them to reconsider the shuttle schedule if usage is low. Daniel: I'm still not ready to support it outright. But if there's a six-month review and they can reverse course, I could live with a trial. Maya: Then we're not really as far apart as we thought.

Questions & answer key8 questions

Listening is scored by the number of correct answers. The audio plays once, so the skill being tested is holding detail while the next sentence arrives.

1What is the main issue the three speakers are discussing?
1. AWhether local vendors should be allowed to operate without paying fees
2. ✓Whether a neighbourhood parking area should be partially converted into a community space
3. CWhether the city should increase parking fees to fund public transportation
4. DWhether residents should create their own private transportation system
Answer
B
The whole conversation is about the city's plan for the Riverside lot. Maya opens with “So, did either of you read the proposal about converting the Riverside parking lot into a weekend market and small green space?”, and everything that follows — parking capacity, the shuttle, vendor funding, the twelve-month pilot — is an argument about that plan. Vendor fees are mentioned only as a funding source, so allowing vendors to operate without paying fees is a passing detail rather than the issue; no one suggests increasing parking fees to fund public transportation; and the shuttle under discussion would be run by the city during the pilot, not a private transportation system created by residents.
2Why is Daniel initially opposed to the proposal?
1. AHe believes the proposed market will attract too few visitors.
2. BHe thinks local vendors will not be able to afford the required fees.
3. ✓He is concerned that reducing parking capacity will create problems elsewhere.
4. DHe believes the green space will require excessive maintenance.
Answer
C
Daniel's opening objection is about where the displaced cars will go: “During the summer, the lot is packed. If we reduce capacity, we're basically shifting the problem to nearby streets.” His point is not that he dislikes markets — he says “I like the idea of a market” — but that removing spaces pushes the parking problem onto surrounding streets. He never suggests the market will attract too few visitors; he raises vendor fees only later, and as a question about who funds the shuttle rather than about vendors being unable to afford them; and maintenance of the green space is never mentioned by anyone.
3What does Daniel imply when he says that “limited” is doing a lot of work there?
1. ✓The proposal may underestimate how much parking residents actually need.
2. BThe city has failed to explain where the new vendors will operate.
3. CThe eastern side of the lot is larger than the city has suggested.
4. DThe proposal contains unnecessarily complicated language.
Answer
A
Priya has just said the city would add a limited number of spaces along the eastern side of the lot. Daniel's reply is not a comment on wording; he means the word is hiding how small that number may be, and he goes straight on to say “During the summer, the lot is packed. If we reduce capacity, we're basically shifting the problem to nearby streets.” Together those lines point to the proposal underestimating how much parking residents actually need. Nobody treats the location of the new vendors as unexplained, nothing suggests the eastern side is larger than the city has said, and Daniel objects to the amount of parking left, not to unnecessarily complicated language.
4Why does Maya think the proposal is worth testing?
1. AThe city has promised to expand the parking lot later.
2. BThe market is expected to generate enough revenue to replace parking income.
3. CResidents have already agreed to use bicycles instead of cars.
4. ✓The pilot includes measures intended to encourage people to use alternatives to driving.
Answer
D
Maya's reason is that the plan tries to change how people travel there: “The proposal includes a shuttle from the transit station and secure bicycle parking. It's not guaranteed to work, but I think it's worth testing.” A shuttle and bicycle parking are measures aimed at getting people to the site without driving. She says nothing about the city expanding the parking lot later, and nothing about market revenue replacing parking income; residents have not agreed to use bicycles instead of cars either — the bicycle parking is something the pilot would offer, not a commitment anyone has made.
5What is Daniel's concern about the shuttle?
1. AIt will only operate during the summer months.
2. ✓Its frequency may not make it a practical alternative to driving.
3. CIt will increase traffic around the transit station.
4. DIts operating costs will be paid entirely by residents.
Answer
B
Daniel's first reaction to the shuttle is “A shuttle every twenty minutes? That's hardly convenient.” The objection is frequency: a service that comes only every twenty minutes may not persuade anyone to leave the car at home. He does go on to ask “And who's going to pay for it?”, but Priya answers that the city would cover the pilot period and that vendor fees and sponsorships would fund most of the operating costs, so residents paying the operating costs entirely is not his claim. He never says the shuttle would run only during the summer months, and he says nothing about traffic around the transit station.
6What does Priya consider one of the proposal's strongest features?
1. AThe city has already secured long-term sponsorship.
2. BThe market will guarantee profits for participating vendors.
3. ✓The city will collect evidence before deciding whether to continue the project.
4. DResidents will have complete control over the project's budget.
Answer
C
Priya names what she likes directly: “Or long enough to collect meaningful data. That's actually what I like about the proposal. They'd track parking demand, pedestrian traffic, vendor revenue, and residents' feedback before deciding whether to continue.” The feature she values is that the decision to continue would rest on evidence gathered during the pilot. Long-term sponsorship is exactly what has not been secured — Daniel asks “What happens if sponsorships dry up?” — no profits are guaranteed for participating vendors, and residents supply feedback rather than having complete control over the budget.
7What does Maya propose the neighbourhood association do?
1. ✓Support the pilot while requesting specific conditions for monitoring it
2. BReject the proposal until the city builds additional parking
3. CAsk vendors to finance the entire pilot project
4. DConduct its own twelve-month experiment before responding to the city
Answer
A
Maya puts a compromise to the group: “What if our association supports the pilot but asks for two conditions: quarterly public reports and a review six months in?” That is support for the pilot together with specific monitoring conditions. She does not propose rejecting the proposal until additional parking is built; she does not ask vendors to finance the entire pilot, since Priya says the city would cover the pilot period; and the twelve months belong to the city's trial, not to an experiment the association would conduct itself.
8What can be inferred about Daniel's position at the end of the discussion?
1. AHe has become enthusiastic about the proposed market.
2. BHe intends to persuade the association to reject the proposal.
3. ✓He remains opposed but agrees to support the proposal if certain safeguards are included.
4. DHe believes the city has already addressed all of his concerns.
Answer
C
Daniel begins with “Honestly, I'm not convinced.” and ends with “I'm still not ready to support it outright. But if there's a six-month review and they can reverse course, I could live with a trial.” He has not become enthusiastic about the proposed market, and he is no longer pressing the association to reject the proposal; nor has the city addressed all of his concerns, since he accepts a trial only on condition that it can be reviewed and reversed. That is remaining opposed while agreeing to go along once safeguards are attached.

Three mistakes that cost points heremost common first

1Answering with the group consensus when the question names one speaker.
2Missing that a speaker shifted position after hearing the others.
3Losing a speaker when two of the three voices sound similar.

Now do it yourself and find out where you land

You can check right and wrong on this page. What a page cannot do is tell you which question types you keep losing, under real timing.

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Questions people ask

What makes Listening Part 5 challenging?: Following several speakers at once. Discussion vocabulary — agreeing, objecting, qualifying — is the key to tracking each person's stance.
Does the video matter in Part 5?: It adds context, but the answers come from the spoken discussion, so strong discussion vocabulary remains essential.

The other 22 Discussion prompts0 free

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·Introducing AI Tools at Work
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·Hosting a University Hockey Game
·A Four-Day Work Week Pilot
·The Waste Collection Schedule

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