Practice English Reading Exercises for B1 – Buying Books, Non-Fiction & Gifts 5
Reading 1
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The people below all want to find a DIY or home improvement manual.
There are descriptions of eight manuals and guides.
Decide which guide would be the most suitable for the people below.
1 Lucas has a problem with a leaking pipe and wants to learn how to repair his bathroom. He needs a manual with clear step-by-step drawings to follow. He doesn’t want to spend any cash, so it must cost nothing.
2 Maya wants to construct her own wooden tables and chairs. She needs advice on using old, recycled wood to keep her expenses as low as possible. She prefers watching a digital screen, so she wants an online video guide.
3 Sam and Alex are looking for advice on painting their living room walls. They only have a few free days, so the tasks must be quick weekend projects. They strictly want a printed paperback book to hold in their hands.
4 Chloe wants to repair broken kitchen machines and lights. It is extremely important that the manual contains strict safety warnings to prevent accidents. She wants a massive, thick reference book that covers absolutely every possible problem in the house.
5 Ben hopes to improve his garden and build outdoor paths. He has absolutely no previous experience, so the guide must be written for complete beginners. To keep his costs down, he specifically wants to purchase a used, second-hand copy.
DIY and Home Improvement Guides
A Bathroom Basics
Stop paying professionals to fix your dripping taps and broken showers! This incredibly useful digital document is provided completely without charge on our website. Every single page features fantastic, detailed visual illustrations showing exactly where to put your tools, making complex water repairs incredibly easy to understand today.
B The Clever Carpenter
Learn to create beautiful desks and beds from scratch! This excellent internet series teaches you how to collect and reuse thrown-away timber, meaning your new pieces will hardly cost a penny. Simply press play on your computer or tablet to watch the brilliant visual instructions online.
C Colourful Homes
Give your lounge a fresh, bright look with this heavy, traditional paper edition. It avoids complicated building work, focusing entirely on putting fresh colours on your interior surfaces. The best part is that all the suggested activities can easily be completed in just forty-eight hours before Monday morning!
D The Home Electrician
This gigantic, eight-hundred-page encyclopaedia is the ultimate guide to mending dead lamps and faulty cookers. Because working with power is dangerous, every chapter starts with vital rules on protecting yourself from dangerous shocks. It is incredibly heavy, but it contains every single detail you will ever need.
E Perfect Patios
Transform your messy backyard with this brilliant guide to constructing outdoor walls and walkways. It avoids complicated vocabulary, making it absolutely perfect for anyone who has never held a tool before. We currently sell older, pre-owned editions at half the original price, keeping more cash in your wallet!
F Water Wonders
Fix your own toilet and solve annoying leaks easily! This brilliant paperback is packed with dozens of colourful charts and sketches to guide your hands perfectly. However, it is a brand-new, premium publication, so you will definitely need to spend a lot of cash to purchase a copy.
G Quick Room Makeovers
If you want to brighten your living areas, these fantastic internet clips are exactly what you need. They show you exactly how to completely change your indoor style using rollers and brushes. Best of all, every single task finishes quickly in a single Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
H Modern Woodworking
Watch this amazing digital series on your screen to learn how to construct gorgeous dining tables and cupboards. The presenter gives brilliant step-by-step video instructions. However, he exclusively works with extremely expensive, brand-new pieces of oak, meaning this hobby will certainly empty your bank account very quickly.
ANSWER KEY
1 A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E
Reading 2
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The people below all want to find a book about famous musicians.
There are descriptions of eight books.
Decide which book would be the most suitable for the people below.
1 Jake is a big rock music fan and wants a book about the history of the genre. He is especially keen to understand the meanings behind famous songs. He travels often, so he needs an electronic book to read on his tablet.
2 Maria loves reading about what happens when bands travel around the world for concerts. She wants a book written by the actual musician, not a journalist. She is a visual person and expects the book to contain plenty of photographs.
3 Sam wants to learn how pop music developed over the decades. He gets bored easily, so the book must be quite brief, under a hundred and fifty pages. Because he is thirteen, the content needs to be completely safe for young readers.
4 Aisha enjoys studying how artists create their music and wants a detailed explanation of a female singer’s writing process. She prefers listening to stories while she exercises, so she is looking for a spoken-word recording rather than a printed copy.
5 Tom is looking for a solid, hard-cover book about a famous rock group’s crazy adventures while travelling across the country for live shows. He does not have much cash right now, so he needs an option that is extremely cheap to buy.
Books About Famous Musicians
A Electric Guitars
This fantastic guide explores how heavy guitar bands evolved over the decades. The author spends chapters deeply examining the poetry and hidden messages inside classic tracks. It is currently available to download straight to your personal device, making it a highly convenient option for reading on the move during your daily commute.
B Life on the Road
A legendary drummer shares his personal diary in this fantastic self-penned life story. He describes the funny and crazy situations his group experienced while flying between international gigs. Fans will definitely appreciate the large visual section, which is packed with unseen camera shots taken from his private collection over the years.
C Catchy Tunes
Discover the origins of modern chart hits in this fun, educational guide. It traces the journey of global superstars from the 1960s to today. At just a hundred and twenty pages, it is a fast read. The text is entirely free of adult themes, making it perfect for teenage fans.
D Finding the Words
Discover the creative magic of our generation’s biggest female pop star. This brilliant release explains exactly how she turns her private emotions into award-winning verses and choruses. You can purchase the complete voice edition online today, allowing you to easily hear the professional narrator tell her story through your headphones.
E Midnight Stages
Join one of the loudest guitar bands in the world as they travel in their tour bus. This exciting diary is full of unbelievable backstage events. It comes as a premium volume with a thick, protective cover. Fortunately, it is currently in our half-price sale, saving you plenty of money!
F Words of Rock
This fascinating printed volume looks at the history of heavy guitar music by studying the poetry of the songs. It provides an amazing look at what legendary singers really meant. Please note this thick paper edition is quite heavy to carry and is not sold as a digital file.
G Following the Band
A famous music journalist spent three years travelling with a popular rock group to write this amazing historical account. It is full of hilarious backstage tales and hotel adventures. The reporter also included a wonderful gallery of high-quality pictures from the shows, making it a beautiful visual record of their travels.
H Queen of the Stage
Listen to the incredible adventures of a female pop idol in this fantastic spoken-word recording. The narrator describes her busy life travelling the globe and performing in huge stadiums. While it perfectly captures the excitement of live shows, it never discusses her poetry or the deeper meanings of her actual music.
ANSWER KEY
1 A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E
Reading 3
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The people below all want to find a health, fitness and diet book.
There are descriptions of eight books.
Decide which book would be the most suitable for the people below.
1 Anna wants to build physical strength and muscle. Because she is busy, she needs quick cooking ideas that take under fifteen minutes. She is specifically looking for a book written by a qualified medical doctor.
2 Ben wants to lose some weight and get slimmer. He hates gyms and prefers exercising outside in nature. He hopes to find a fitness guide written by a famous professional sports star or Olympic athlete.
3 Chloe is interested in improving her flexibility through stretching. She doesn’t eat meat, so she needs a completely vegetarian diet plan. She also wants a book that provides online links to watch workout videos.
4 David wants to get fit at home without buying any exercise equipment. He needs advice on preparing all his meals for the whole week on Sundays. He is looking for a guide by a university professor.
5 Emma is training to complete a long-distance running race. She loves sweet things and wants recipes for healthy, sugar-free desserts. She also needs a book that includes empty pages to use as a daily fitness diary.
Health, Fitness and Diet Books
A Stronger You
Written by an experienced hospital doctor, this excellent guide explains how to lift heavy weights safely to increase your body’s power. It also features a fantastic food section with highly nutritious, healthy meals that you can easily prepare and cook in just ten minutes, perfectly fitting into a busy lifestyle.
B Fresh Air Fitness
Created by a gold-medal winning tennis champion, this fantastic book is designed for people who want to drop a few kilos. Instead of going to an indoor sports centre, it teaches you how to use parks and forests to burn fat and get thinner effectively in the fresh air.
C The Bendy Body
This wonderful guide focuses entirely on yoga and improving how easily you can reach and bend your body. It includes a delicious menu of plant-based dishes, completely avoiding all meat. Furthermore, you can scan codes on the pages with your smartphone to view helpful visual demonstrations by the experts on the internet.
D The Science of Health
An experienced academic teacher from the science department has produced this brilliant lifestyle manual. It shows you how to use your own body weight to train in your living room, avoiding expensive machines. It also teaches you how to cook seven days of healthy lunches all at once at the weekend.
E The Distance Runner
If you want to finish a 42-kilometre event, this is the ultimate manual. It features incredible baking ideas for cakes and biscuits that contain absolutely no added sugar. Additionally, the final chapter contains blank calendars and logs so you can personally record your daily jogging times and track your amazing progress.
F Power Kitchen
A well-known international rugby player shares his secrets for getting massive arms and strong shoulders. He provides lots of advice on lifting heavy objects. The chapters contain incredibly fast recipes you can finish making in twelve minutes, but there is absolutely no advice from medical professionals or health scientists inside.
G Home Training
Written by a famous sports scientist from a top college, this book proves you don’t need to purchase heavy machines to get active. The exercises are perfect for your bedroom. However, it requires you to cook fresh dishes every single evening, so it won’t help you organise your weekly food in advance.
H The Green Gym
This beautifully photographed book is filled with fantastic stretching routines to help you touch your toes and feel more relaxed. It offers brilliant cooking instructions for a completely meat-free lifestyle. Unfortunately, it is a traditional printed book with absolutely no digital content or clips to watch on your computer.
ANSWER KEY
1 A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E