B1 PET – Exam 1 – Reading

Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) – Exam 1 – Reading

Part 2 – Questions 6 to 10

The people below will soon move to New York and they want to do a course at the Brooklyn Activity Centre. Read the descriptions of eight activities at this Centre. Decide which activity would be the most suitable for each person. There are THREE activities that you DO NOT need to use.

PEOPLE

6 KEZIA
Kezia is from London in The UK. She loves her city because it’s exciting and interesting. In her free time, she likes going to restaurants. She enjoys trying products and dishes from different countries.

7 FLOYD
Floyd is from Kingston, the capital of Jamaica. He lives near the Bob Marley Museum in the city centre. In his free time, Floyd likes to visit the zoo and gardens with his friends and enjoys walking to the waterfall in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.

8 BADOU
Badou is from Paris, France. During the week, he’s a student at the Sorbonne. At the weekends, he works in a bookshop in Brooklyn. Badou loves visiting museums, painting pictures and shopping when he has time.

9 JENNIFER
Jennifer is from San Francisco in the United States. She owns a small shop that sells women’s clothes, bags and shoes. She works a lot, but in her free time, she loves music, meeting friends, and going to nightclubs.

10 CARLA
Carla is from Sydney, Australia. She works in the National History Museum. She likes her job but wants to travel more in the future. She speaks Spanish quite well, and she is learning Mandarin. She wants to live in Beijing for one year as an English teacher.

ACTIVITIES

Brooklyn Activity Centre

Welcome to Brooklyn Activity Centre. Here is a list of activities you can do at our centre. Let our membership team know which class you would like to register for!
 
A) DANCE
In this class, you will learn four different types of dancing: salsa, tango, Zumba and hip-hop. Join our excellent dance teachers, Antonio and Stella, who will show you special techniques over a ten-week course. So, if you love music and are ready to have fun, join our classes on Monday and Wednesday!

B) FILM SCHOOL
This year, Jason Williams is leading our film school course. Jason is a young director and teacher. He will show you how to use a video camera, manage lights, and act in a movie. The group will make a small film at the end of the course. This is an exciting course, so sign up now!

C) HILL WALKERS
The Hill-walking Club opens on September 1st. If you love walking in the mountains, this club is for you! The first walk is to Crystal Lake on Mount Marcy. Hill walkers should wear good walking shoes and bring lots of water, a raincoat and food in a bag. If you’re ready to get exercise, join this group!

D) DOG TRAINING
This course is for you and your dog! Learn to train your dog how to sit, jump and run. Dog-training expert, Imelda Ruff, will show you techniques to train your dog for local and national shows. If your dog is successful, you can enter the big national show at the end of the year. So come to this course if you and your best doggy friend want some fun together!

E) ANCIENT CHINA
In this unusual course, we discover China’s ancient art and culture. Hyung Wei Chang will teach you about the best ancient Chinese artists, the Ming dynasty, and you will also learn about ancient Chinese buildings. On the last day of the course, the group will have dinner at The Golden Elephant on Green Street.

F) WORLD MUSIC
In this amazing course, you will listen to music from Africa, Australia, India and many other countries worldwide. You will also have the chance to try unusual instruments like the triangle. In this course, you will meet famous world musicians and go to concerts to listen to their music. This is the most expensive course, but it’s excellent.

G) COOKING
Do you love to eat? Then, maybe you should learn how to cook! Pierre Chevalier teaches you how to prepare French food in a simple way. Pierre will also teach you about Italian, Greek and Turkish food. Everyone must bring their own ingredients, but you are allowed to eat everything you make!

H) PAINTING COURSE
Nikolai Ramonov will meet all new students at Studio 4 to teach art. The course includes art history and painting. You will learn how to use oils and watercolours. You will also learn how to paint an object, a person and a landscape. Nicolai is a well-known artist in his town of St. Petersburg.

---

Answer the questions here:

Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) – Reading

There are 6 parts and 32 questions in the reading section of the Cambridge English B1 Preliminary exam. You will have 45 minutes to tackle this section. Here is a description of each reading part:

Part 1: Read five real-world texts and choose the main message.
These are short texts, like messages or notices. Each text has a question with three options. This part can get you up to 5 marks.

Part 2: Match descriptions to short texts.
There are descriptions of five people and eight short texts on a topic. Your job is to match each description to the right text. This part has a maximum of 5 marks.

Part 3: Read a longer text and answer questions.
This part requires you to understand the main idea, details, and the writer’s opinions from the text. There are five multiple-choice questions, each with four options. This part can earn you 5 marks.

Part 4: Complete a text with missing sentences.
You will read a text where five sentences have been taken out. You need to choose the right five sentences from a list of eight to fill the gaps. This part has a total of 5 marks available.

Part 5: Choose words to fill gaps in a text.
This is a shorter text with some words missing. You have to choose the right word from four options for each gap. This segment assesses your reading comprehension and vocabulary. Completing this part correctly can get you 6 marks.

Part 6: Fill gaps with a word you choose.
Here, you’ll see a short text with six gaps. It’s your job to think of the right word to fill each gap. This part has a maximum of 6 marks.

 

General tips for the Reading part of the B1 Preliminary

Understand the format of the exam

Familiarize yourself with the types of questions, number of questions and time limit for each section of the test. Practise using exam samples like the ones provided on our website or other published materials.

Get regular reading practice

Practice reading a variety of materials, such as online articles, fiction and non-fiction books to enhance your comprehension and speed. It’s important that you find materials that are appropriate for your level. You should be able to understand most of the words in the texts you read.

Work on your vocabulary

Learn new words and expressions regularly, and practice using them in context.

Use past papers

Use previous years’ papers to practise and get a feel for the types of questions you can expect in the exam.

Underline and analyse the keywords

The first thing you need to do when reading a text is to read the questions and underline the most important words. Then, analyse those words and decide which are the correct answer.

 

We are working on this!

We're developing a NEW LEARNING PLATFORM with a subscription plan that includes additional features at an affordable price. One of those features will be PDF downloads.

Learn more!