Free PSC SLE English reading practice: 60 original questions, thirty-two workplace texts and explained answers. Practise notices, email details, inference or contextual word choice. The passages and choices stay in English; choose English or French explanations with the interface switch.
By the Canada Exam Prep Editorial Team ·
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ORIGINAL BRIEF — FEEDBACK CARD More people returned the new feedback card, although most responses came from visitors who stayed for the full event. People who left early were less likely to receive it. The results therefore tell us more about the views of full-session visitors than about every attendee. At the next event, cards should also be available near the exit throughout the day.
Why put feedback cards near the exit throughout the day?
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Exam facts
Choose an untimed 20-question set, a 25-question/45-minute reading-comprehension exercise, or the 60-question/90-minute practice with contextual word choice. All are free without an account. Our original scores are not calibrated to official levels. The official invitation determines which format applies to you.
What the test covers
Find who should act, where to go and which condition changes an instruction.
Separate the requested task, excluded work, deadline and next approval.
Read limitations and recommendations without turning cautious wording into certainty.
Choose words that fit the relationship and purpose of an original workplace text.
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ORIGINAL BRIEF — FEEDBACK CARD More people returned the new feedback card, although most responses came from visitors who stayed for the full event. People who left early were less likely to receive it. The results therefore tell us more about the views of full-session visitors than about every attendee. At the next event, cards should also be available near the exit throughout the day.
The proposed change addresses access for people leaving earlier. It cannot guarantee a particular opinion or replace responses with attendance data.
ORIGINAL NOTICE — PLANT EXCHANGE The exchange accepts potted plants and rooted cuttings. Each container must show the plant’s name. Loose seeds will be collected at a different event. Drop off plants between 10 and 11 a.m.; exchanging will begin at 11:15.
The notice separates drop-off from exchanging, which begins at 11:15. The earlier window is not the duration of the exchange itself.
ORIGINAL BRIEF — WORKSHOP ACCESS Online registrations increased after the form was simplified. This does not prove that everyone now finds registration easy. People who leave before submitting are absent from the total. We propose examining those abandoned attempts before drawing conclusions about the process’s accessibility.
The brief identifies people who abandon registration as missing from the submitted-form total. Their experience is relevant to the broader conclusion.
ORIGINAL TEXT — PAINT CONTAINERS The containers are closed, (A) ____ their labels are still unreadable. We need to (B) ____ the colours before storing them.
Unreadable labels make it necessary to identify the colours. Forgetting, spilling or contradicting them does not resolve that information problem.
ORIGINAL BRIEF — LENDING REVIEW The most frequently borrowed items are not necessarily the first ones we should buy. Some are cheap to repair and available in several copies, while other items are regularly unavailable. The next purchase should consider both demand and availability rather than a single ranking of loans.
The recommendation explicitly combines demand and availability. A single loan ranking misses whether enough usable copies are already available.
ORIGINAL BRIEF — SUMMARY LENGTH The longer summary preserves the project history but hides the decision readers need to make. The shorter version makes that decision clear, yet removes a condition that could change it. A useful revision would keep the shorter structure and restore the missing condition in a separate sentence. Length alone is not the measure of a helpful summary.
The author selects a specific revision that combines a clear structure with the omitted condition. This is not a call to merge the texts in full.
ORIGINAL NOTICE — WALKING GROUP The lunchtime walking group meets beside the east gate at 12:10 on Wednesdays. New participants should arrive ten minutes early for a short route briefing. Regular participants can join at the usual time. If the temperature warning remains in effect at 11 a.m., that day’s walk will be cancelled and a notice posted on the group board.
Ten minutes before the 12:10 meeting time is noon. The 11 a.m. reference concerns the warning check, not participant arrival.
ORIGINAL EMAIL — ROUTE SIGNS Hi André, Check the arrows on the outdoor signs, but leave station numbers unchanged. The approved plan already has the correct numbering. Send direction errors to Lila before Tuesday; she will prepare correction stickers. We do not need entirely new signs. Sofia
The task is to check arrows. The message specifically excludes changing station numbers and does not request prices or participant records.
ORIGINAL EMAIL — AUDIO WALK CHECK Hi Priya, Please test tracks 2 and 5 on the outdoor audio walk before Thursday’s preview. Track 1 has already been checked, and track 4 is being rewritten. Note any place where the recorded direction does not match the path. You do not need to comment on the music. Send your notes to Ellis rather than the whole project list. Rowan
The opening request selects tracks 2 and 5. Track 1 is already checked and track 4 is still being rewritten.
ORIGINAL TEXT — AREA ALLOCATION Each team has received a specific area. (A) ____ starting, check your area letter. If it does not match your sheet, ask the coordinator for a (B) ____.
Conflicting area information requires clarification from the coordinator. The other nouns do not resolve which assigned area is correct.
About the test
English workplace messages often place a restriction in a small part of the sentence. In this bank, a notice changes where a return should go, a message assigns only certain recordings to check, and a caption task requires approval before uploading. Distinguish the requested action from background information and from steps that are explicitly excluded.
The longer English briefs ask what the evidence supports. A trial can show one advantage while leaving another cost uncertain; a higher response count can still omit a group of visitors. The context exercises use connectors and verbs to complete a clear purpose. Choose the relationship the text states, rather than an expression that merely sounds familiar.
Read the whole message before selecting an answer. An instruction may be qualified by a later sentence: an activity can continue in another place, a task can exclude one part of a document, and a request can apply only after a decision. The best answer follows all of those conditions rather than matching one familiar word.
When you review a mistake, return to the exact phrase that changes the answer. Identify whether you missed a time reference, a negative, a restriction or a contrast. Then explain why the competing choice goes beyond the text. Repeating a question is more useful when you can name that difference before choosing again.
These exercises have four choices and explanations, with thirty-two fictional workplace texts in this language bank. Each text has one or two questions. The short mixed sets combine the four skills; topic practice lets you work on one skill at a time. None of the passages describes an actual department policy or a real workplace event.
Our answer explanations are available in English or French. Switching the interface language changes instructions and explanations, while the target reading text, question and choices remain in the language you selected. To practise the other official language, use the separate reading link near the start of the page.
Use the official Public Service Commission resources to identify your booked test and try its public self-assessment or platform samples. A practice percentage here does not establish the level required by a particular position. This is an independent learning resource with no certificate, registration service or official assessment result.
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FAQ
The passages, questions and choices are in English. Explanations can be shown in English or French. Changing the site interface does not turn this into a test of the other language.
Yes. All 60 questions, explanations, missed-question retries and the printable sheet are free without an account. The thirty-two fictional texts are written for this site; no official or recalled PSC question is reproduced.
The supervised test has 60 questions in 90 minutes, with 50 scored. The unsupervised test has 25 questions in 45 minutes. Check your invitation and the matching PSC page; the public self-assessment differs again.
No. This bank is not calibrated to the PSC scale. It shows the number of these original questions answered correctly, not an A, B, C or E result, language profile or hiring recommendation.
The PSC self-assessment page links to separate English and French reading booklets, answer keys and online versions. Those official practice results are unofficial and their length and question types differ from the official examination.
No. This site provides practice only. The federal organization arranges an official assessment under PSC procedures; candidates cannot buy a test appointment from us or directly from the PSC.
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