Practice English Reading Exercises for B1 – Library Books & Fiction 3

Exercises:   123456

Reading 1

For each question, choose the correct answer.

The people below all want to find a short story collection to read.

There are descriptions of eight short story books.

Decide which short story book would be the most suitable for the people below.

1   Anna has a very busy schedule and only reads during her fifteen-minute train ride to work. She enjoys thrilling crime mysteries and is looking for a digital collection that she can easily download and view on her smartphone.

2   Tom and his father want to read together for a few minutes before bed. They are looking for a beautiful, printed hardback book to give as a gift, containing different funny situations and tales about sports competitions.

3   Elena works long hours all week and only relaxes on Sundays. She wants to listen to an audiobook collection while resting. She prefers educational tales that teach her about actual historical figures and traditional cultures around the world.

4   David has a busy routine and prefers very brief stories that take under ten minutes to complete. He loves reading about wild animals and the natural world, and needs a collection that is completely free to read online.

5   Chloe loves reading about futuristic cities and advanced technology. Because she is always busy, she needs short stories she can finish in one sitting. She also requires a book printed with exceptionally large letters due to her poor eyesight.

Short Story Collections

A Pocket Secrets

Download this modern digital application to enjoy a wonderful selection of crime and detective stories on your phone. It is perfect for tracking down clues on the move. However, please note that each complex story takes over an hour to read, and it requires a paid monthly subscription to access the text.

B A Digital Mystery

This brilliant electronic collection is perfect for your smartphone or tablet. It features brief detective puzzles that you can easily finish in five minutes while traveling. It is an excellent choice for individuals with busy routines who love solving secrets on their morning journey.

C Future Legends

This gorgeous printed hardback volume is a high-quality edition that looks amazing on any shelf. It is filled with amazing stories about futuristic societies, space travel, and advanced technology. However, the author writes very long, detailed chapters that require hours of quiet, continuous reading to finish.

D The Evening Stage

This high-quality printed edition features a beautiful cloth cover, making it a wonderful present for someone special. It contains short sections that are perfect for evening reading. The pages are packed with a mixture of laugh-out-loud comedy and exciting tales about athletic games and teamwork.

E Global Steps

Visit this open web platform to explore fascinating traditional folk stories and ancient cultures from around the world without paying anything. It is a great educational resource for learning about different countries. Please note there are no audio options available, and the historical descriptions are highly complex and long.

F Voices of the Past

Spend your weekend resting with this exceptional collection of voice-recorded files. Instead of reading, you can simply listen to stories about factual events from the past and ancient societies. It is a fantastic educational experience for people who are too occupied to read during the busy week.

G Wild Earth

This open website allows you to access hundreds of ultra-short stories at zero cost. Each tale takes just four minutes to complete, which easily fits into a hectic day. The writing focuses entirely on wild birds, forests, and protecting our environment, making it ideal for nature lovers.

H Tomorrow’s World

This exciting collection focuses on high-tech cities, robots, and rockets. The stories are fast-paced and brief, so you can easily finish a whole tale quickly. Crucially, the text is printed in massive, clear type, which is helpful for readers who suffer from poor eyesight.

Reading 2

For each question, choose the correct answer.

The people below all want to find a humorous book to read.

There are descriptions of eight comedy books.

Decide which book would be the most suitable for the people below.

1   Anna wants to read a comedy written by a famous television actor. She prefers collections of short, funny stories rather than one long novel. She is reading with her young son, so it must be for children.

2   Tom is looking for a funny science fiction adventure set in space. He loves stories that include hilarious cartoon pictures. He spends hours driving to work, so he needs a recorded audio version to listen to.

3   Maria loves reading true facts about hilarious holiday disasters. She wants a book that describes real events from a writer’s actual trips. She doesn’t want to spend money, so the book must be completely free.

4   David wants a hilarious detective story about a clever policeman trying to solve a crime. He prefers historical comedies taking place in the nineteenth century. He reads very fast, so he needs a massive, heavy book.

5   Elena is looking for a light-hearted, funny book about people’s pet dogs and cats. She specifically wants to support a brand-new writer who hasn’t published anything before. She needs a brief book under a hundred pages.

Humorous and Comedy Books

A The Giggle Jar

Penned by a highly celebrated international television star, this fantastic collection is packed with brilliant, brief tales that will make you smile. Every single quick chapter is completely safe and beautifully written for primary school kids, making it the perfect light-hearted choice to entertain your little ones before bedtime.

B Galaxy of Laughs

Get ready for a hilarious journey across the universe! This science fiction comedy is full of brilliant hand-drawn sketches of alien planets. Instead of a printed copy, it is exclusively available as a downloaded voice file. It is the perfect entertaining escape to play through your car speakers during traffic.

C Lost in the Sun

This laugh-out-loud travel journal details the factual, incredibly embarrassing moments the author experienced during his actual summer vacations abroad. You will definitely cry with laughter at these genuine global mistakes. Best of all, the digital version is provided online at absolutely zero cost, allowing everyone to enjoy it today.

D The London Puzzle

If you enjoy gigantic novels, this huge eight-hundred-page paper edition will definitely keep you busy for weeks. Set in the eighteen-hundreds, it follows an extremely funny police inspector trying to catch a clever thief. It is a brilliant mixture of classic Victorian mystery and laugh-out-loud situations that never gets boring.

E Furry Friends

Written by an unknown author releasing her very first publication, this delightful comedy explores the silly things our favourite domestic animals do at home. It perfectly captures the funny habits of kittens and puppies. At just eighty pages, you can easily finish this incredibly quick, entertaining read in one afternoon.

F Television Tails

Created by one of the country’s most well-known comedy actors, this hilarious novel explores the secret lives of talking dogs. The author shares incredible jokes about animals in this massive, heavy five-hundred-page book. While it is perfect for animal lovers, the complex vocabulary means it is strictly for adult readers.

G Moon Mistakes

This factual diary tells the absolutely true story of an astronaut making hilarious errors on a real space station. You can read the entire digital document online completely without charge. It includes some wonderful photographs, but unfortunately, there are no spoken recordings provided for those who prefer to listen.

H Inspector Chuckle

This fantastic historical comedy follows a clever investigator solving strange crimes in the early nineteenth century. Instead of one long continuous story, it is a brilliant collection of ten brief, separate mysteries. Because it contains some terrifying moments and adult humour, parents should definitely keep this completely away from young children.

Reading 3

For each question, choose the correct answer.

The people below all want to find a thriller or suspense book to read.

There are descriptions of eight thriller novels.

Decide which thriller novel would be the most suitable for the people below.

1   Elena wants a fast-paced thriller about a dangerous journey. She loves unexpected surprises at the end of the story, and she needs a short book because she currently does not have much free time to read.

2   Tariq enjoys suspense stories set in busy modern cities. He wants a very long, detailed novel to read during his holiday, and he prefers a book that includes a helpful map of the streets.

3   Lucas is looking for an exciting mystery about an international crime. He prefers books written by well-known, famous authors, and he wants a story that finishes with a positive, happy ending for the main characters.

4   Chloe wants a thriller that takes place in a cold, icy environment. She loves stories where people find themselves in scary, difficult situations, and she needs a cheap, low-cost book because she is saving money.

5   Kenji likes psychological thrillers about a dark secret inside a family. He reads on his computer, so he needs a digital version to download, and he wants a story that is hard to put down.

Suspense and Thriller Novels

A The Running Track

This exciting page-turner follows a detective on a terrifying trip across wild mountains. You will stay awake all night reading about the hazards he faces. Best of all, this brief story of only eighty pages concludes with a shocking final page that changes everything. It is a fantastic option if you want a fast, unforgettable adventure.

B Urban Shadows

Explore the dark corners of London in this realistic crime story. The plot follows an investigator moving through crowded streets to solve a puzzle. At over five hundred pages filled with descriptions, it requires a lot of patience. To help readers keep track of the action, a printed diagram showing all the locations is included.

C Global Catch

Written by the prize-winning writer Arthur Green, this brilliant masterpiece investigates a stolen diamond moving between three countries. The dangerous situations will keep you reading until the very last chapter. Unlike most dark mysteries, this novel finishes with a very cheerful final chapter where everyone is safe and smiling again. A magnificent piece of literature.

D Frozen Fears

Imagine being trapped in a broken vehicle with wild wolves outside. This frightening tale takes place during a storm in the freezing wind and deep snow of the Arctic. It is impossible to stop reading this tense story. This week, we are offering a special student discount, making it available at a heavily reduced price.

E Secrets at Home

This gripping page-turner focuses on a hidden past that parents kept from their children for decades. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes impossible to stop turning the pages. You can get this popular thriller as an electronic e-book file for your screen today, allowing you to begin reading this fascinating family drama immediately.

F The Long Winter

This historical thriller follows a scientist on a long trek across Canada in deep snow and ice. The freezing environment creates endless dangers for the team. While the book is highly exciting and has an unexpected twist at the end, it is a massive novel of seven hundred pages, so prepare for a long read.

G City Traps

Set among crowded New York skyscrapers, this fast-moving thriller is filled with action and suspense. The author includes a helpful map of the neighborhoods so readers can trace the detective’s steps. However, it is an extremely brief book of under ninety pages, designed for someone who wants to finish a mystery in one short evening.

H The Family House

A woman returns to her birthplace to uncover dark secrets inside an old family home. This gripping page-turner keeps the suspense high from the very first line, making it hard to close. Please note that this award-winning book is only printed as a premium hardback volume, so there are no online or electronic versions available.

Exercises:   123456