Practice English Reading Exercises for B2 – Modern Domesticity, Lifestyle & Household Challenges 4
Reading 1
You are going to read an extract from a short story about a teenager who disables a tracking app on her phone.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
The Digital Leash
For the past year, my smartphone had felt less like a useful gadget and more like an electronic ankle monitor. My parents, driven by a mixture of deep affection and irrational anxiety, had installed a location-tracking app called ‘SafeRadius’ on my device. They claimed it was purely for emergency purposes, a necessary precaution in an unpredictable world. However, the reality was a suffocating lack of privacy. If my dot on their digital map lingered at the local bakery for more than twenty minutes, I would inevitably receive a text asking why I hadn’t started walking home yet. I knew they genuinely cared, but their constant surveillance was beginning to make me feel like a prisoner in my own hometown.
The breaking point arrived on a chilly Friday afternoon. My best friends, Maya and Sam, had impulsively decided to go to the cinema to catch the latest superhero film. It was an entirely innocent plan, but I knew my parents would veto it instantly, citing my upcoming biology exam as an excuse to keep me housebound. Desperate for a taste of normality, I made a drastic decision. I messaged my parents to say I was staying behind at the school library for a study session. Then, with trembling hands, I went into my phone’s settings and disabled the location services. It was a surprisingly simple action that immediately sent a rush of adrenaline through my veins.
Walking towards the cinema with Maya and Sam, I experienced a dizzying mix of liberation and dread. For the first time in months, my exact coordinates weren’t being beamed to my mother’s tablet. Sitting in the darkened auditorium, eating popcorn and laughing at the on-screen explosions, I felt like a normal teenager. Yet, beneath the thrill of rebellion, a persistent knot of guilt gnawed at my stomach. Every time my phone vibrated with a random notification, my heart would leap into my throat, convinced it was an angry demand for my whereabouts. The movie was highly entertaining, but I spent half of it anticipating the disastrous consequences of my deception.
My fears were entirely justified. The moment I switched my location services back on while walking down my street, my screen lit up with a barrage of missed calls and frantic messages. When I tentatively pushed open our front door, my parents were standing in the hallway, their faces a chaotic blend of sheer panic and furious disappointment. My father demanded an explanation, holding up his phone to show the frozen timeline of my location. I could have easily resorted to a classic teenage tantrum, shouting about how unfair they were being, but I knew that reacting childishly would only reinforce their belief that I needed constant supervision.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to remain calm. I confessed exactly where I had been and apologised sincerely for lying to them. However, I didn’t stop there. Looking them straight in the eye, I explained how the tracking app was damaging our relationship. I told them that by monitoring my every move, they were preventing me from learning how to be independent. I needed them to trust me to make smart choices, rather than relying on a piece of software to keep me safe. To my surprise, the anger in their eyes gradually faded into a thoughtful silence. While they didn’t delete the app immediately, we reached a compromise: they would only check it if I failed to answer their calls, finally giving me the space I desperately needed.
1 What does the narrator say about her parents’ use of the tracking app in the first paragraph?
(A) They only used it to protect her in genuine emergency situations.
(B) It caused her to doubt whether they actually cared about her well-being.
(C) It resulted in her feeling heavily restricted in her everyday life.
(D) They installed it because she spent too much time at the local bakery.
2 Why did the narrator decide to turn off her location services?
(A) She assumed her parents would use her schoolwork as a reason to keep her at home.
(B) She wanted to prove to her friends that disabling the settings was a simple action.
(C) She was frustrated that her friends had impulsively changed their Friday plans.
(D) She needed to go to the school library for a study session without being disturbed.
3 What does the word ‘It’ refer to in paragraph 2?
(A) sending a message to her parents
(B) disabling the location tracking feature
(C) making a drastic, rebellious decision
(D) feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline
4 During the movie, the narrator’s emotional state was
(A) focused entirely on the entertaining on-screen explosions.
(B) completely ruined by the constant vibrating of random notifications.
(C) frustrated that she had to keep her smartphone switched off in the dark.
(D) divided between the enjoyment of independence and anxiety about getting caught.
5 When the narrator arrived home, she deliberately chose not to
(A) look at the frozen timeline her father was showing her on his phone.
(B) explain why she had ignored the barrage of frantic text messages.
(C) display an immature outburst of anger about the unfair situation.
(D) accept the furious disappointment clearly visible on her parents’ faces.
6 What is the main message the writer conveys in the final paragraph?
(A) Apologising for a lie is the only way to avoid receiving a severe punishment.
(B) Having a calm, rational discussion can effectively help to rebuild mutual trust.
(C) Parents should never use tracking apps if they want their children to be independent.
(D) Teenagers must delete tracking software to force their parents to give them space.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 C: The text states that “the reality was a suffocating lack of privacy” and that the constant surveillance made her “feel like a prisoner in my own hometown,” which paraphrases being heavily restricted. Distractor A is a False Match; the text notes they claimed it was for emergencies, but in reality, they used it to monitor everyday things.
2 A: The narrator disabled the app because she knew her parents would veto the cinema plan, “citing my upcoming biology exam as an excuse to keep me housebound.” Distractor D uses exact words from the text (“school library for a study session”), but this was the lie she told her parents, not her actual reason for turning off the app.
3 B: The pronoun “It” refers directly to the preceding action: “I went into my phone’s settings and disabled the location services.” This was the “surprisingly simple action” she took.
4 D: The narrator describes a “dizzying mix of liberation and dread,” noting she “felt like a normal teenager” but also had a “persistent knot of guilt” and spent half the movie “anticipating the disastrous consequences.” Distractor B is an Over-Inference; while the vibrations made her heart leap, she still found the movie “highly entertaining,” so her state wasn’t completely ruined.
5 C: The narrator states she “could have easily resorted to a classic teenage tantrum, shouting about how unfair they were being,” but decided not to because “reacting childishly would only reinforce their belief that I needed constant supervision.” Distractor A is a False Match; her father held up the phone to show her the timeline, but there is no mention of her refusing to look at it.
6 B: By taking a deep breath, remaining calm, and explaining her feelings maturely, the narrator was able to turn her parents’ anger into a “thoughtful silence” and reach a compromise, showing that rational communication builds trust. Distractor C is too extreme; they compromised on using the app, rather than concluding it should “never” be used.
Reading 2
You are going to read a magazine article about a teenager’s experience of adopting a minimalist lifestyle.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
The Minimalist Experiment
It was on a gloomy Sunday afternoon that my parents announced our house was going to undergo a radical transformation. Inspired by a documentary they had recently watched, they had decided we were going to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. The ambitious goal was to ruthlessly discard fifty per cent of our worldly possessions by the end of the month. If they hadn’t looked so entirely serious, I would have burst out laughing. My bedroom was a chaotic sanctuary filled with accumulated treasures, and the mere thought of parting with my belongings sent a sharp wave of anxiety through me. I was deeply attached to my things, viewing them as a vital extension of my own identity.
The initial phase of the clear-out was surprisingly painless. We tackled the communal areas first, dragging bags of unworn clothes, outdated magazines, and broken kitchen gadgets out to the driveway. As we watched the pile grow, a competitive spirit unexpectedly took over. We were actively looking for things to throw away, cheering whenever someone discovered a forgotten box of junk. However, my parents warned me that this enthusiasm would undoubtedly fade once we started sorting through our personal spaces. I shrugged off their concerns, confidently believing I was fully prepared to part with a few old jumpers.
I soon realised how wrong I had been. The true test of my resolve arrived when I opened the large storage boxes shoved beneath my bed. Inside lay the physical evidence of my childhood: a tangled mess of action figures, faded board games, and stuffed animals. I pulled out a slightly battered teddy bear named Barnaby, who had accompanied me on every family holiday until I was ten. Suddenly, the task felt impossible. Staring at the pile, I experienced a period of agonizing hesitation. How could I casually discard objects that had provided me with so much comfort? Doing so felt like I was deliberately throwing away my own precious memories.
I sat on the floor for what felt like hours, paralysed by indecision. Every time I picked up a plastic car, a specific memory would vividly flash through my mind. My mother must have noticed my prolonged silence, as she gently stepped into the room. She didn’t pressure me to throw anything away; instead, she quietly pointed out that holding onto objects out of guilt wasn’t the purpose of the experiment. She explained that true minimalism wasn’t about stripping away joy, but making space for things that genuinely mattered. It was a concept that I struggled to fully comprehend at that precise moment.
Looking back down at Barnaby, I finally asked myself a crucial question: when was the last time I had actually thought about this bear? The honest answer was years ago. The comforting memories of my childhood holidays were safely stored in my mind, not sewn into the fabric of an old toy. With a sudden burst of determination, I placed the bear into the donation box, quickly following it with the rest of the forgotten toys. As the box filled up, the heavy weight on my chest began to lift. Instead of the sadness I had anticipated, an incredible sense of relief washed over me.
By the end of the weekend, my bedroom looked completely unrecognisable. The surfaces were clear, and the room somehow felt twice as large. The most surprising change, however, was internal. Stripping away the unnecessary clutter had left me feeling remarkably mentally clear and physically unburdened. I had been convinced that losing my possessions would somehow diminish who I was. In reality, letting go of the past simply meant I was no longer weighed down by it, leaving me free to enjoy the present without constant distraction.
1 How did the writer feel about the proposed minimalist experiment in the first paragraph?
(A) She thought her parents were playing a practical joke on the family.
(B) She was inspired by the documentary to transform her chaotic sanctuary.
(C) She felt extremely worried because her belongings felt like a part of who she was.
(D) She felt eager to ruthlessly discard the accumulated treasures in her bedroom.
2 What is the writer’s attitude towards the clear-out in the second paragraph?
(A) She underestimated how difficult it would be to clear out her own room.
(B) She was completely unenthusiastic about throwing away items from communal areas.
(C) She was annoyed that her parents were turning the task into a competition.
(D) She warned her parents that sorting through personal clothes would cause problems.
3 What does the writer imply about Barnaby the bear in the third paragraph?
(A) She kept him because he was still incredibly soft and in perfect condition.
(B) Throwing the bear away felt like erasing a significant part of her personal history.
(C) He was the only toy she had consistently played with until she was ten years old.
(D) She felt relieved to finally find him hidden inside the large storage boxes.
4 What does the word ‘It‘ refer to in paragraph 4?
(A) holding onto objects out of guilt
(B) the underlying philosophy of minimalism
(C) the purpose of the experiment
(D) stripping away joy
5 What caused the writer to finally donate her childhood toys?
(A) She wanted to quickly fill up the donation box to impress her parents.
(B) She anticipated that throwing them away would bring her a profound sense of sadness.
(C) Her mother forced her to answer a crucial question about the old teddy bear.
(D) She realised that her emotional connection to the past did not depend on physical items.
6 What is the writer’s main message in the final paragraph?
(A) Getting rid of unnecessary material possessions can lead to a positive psychological shift.
(B) Having a smaller bedroom makes it much easier to enjoy the present moment.
(C) People should constantly discard half of their belongings to avoid everyday distraction.
(D) Losing your childhood possessions will inevitably diminish who you are as a person.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 C: The text states that the “mere thought of parting with my belongings sent a sharp wave of anxiety through me” because she viewed them “as a vital extension of my own identity.” Option A is a False Match; she says she would have burst out laughing if they hadn’t looked serious, meaning she knew it wasn’t a joke. Option B is a Partial Truth; the parents were inspired, not the writer. Option D is the Opposite; she was anxious, not eager.
2 A: The writer “shrugged off their concerns, confidently believing I was fully prepared,” showing she underestimated the difficulty of the task ahead. Option B is the Opposite; she mentions a “competitive spirit” taking over and “cheering.” Option C is a False Match; she participated in the competition rather than being annoyed by it. Option D is Information Misplaced; the parents warned the writer, not the other way around.
3 B: The writer states, “How could I casually discard objects that had provided me with so much comfort? Doing so felt like I was deliberately throwing away my own precious memories.” Option A is a False Match; the bear was “slightly battered,” not in perfect condition. Option C is an Over-inference; he accompanied her on holidays, but there’s no proof he was her only toy. Option D is the Opposite; she felt “agonizing hesitation,” not relief, upon finding the toys.
4 B: The pronoun “It” refers to the concept explained in the previous sentence: “true minimalism wasn’t about stripping away joy, but making space for things that genuinely mattered.” Options A, C, and D appear in the text but do not logically fit the sentence as the “concept that I struggled to fully comprehend.”
5 D: The writer donates the toys after realizing, “The comforting memories of my childhood holidays were safely stored in my mind, not sewn into the fabric of an old toy.” Option A is Unstated; there is no mention of wanting to impress her parents. Option B is a False Match; she anticipated sadness, but this isn’t why she donated them. Option C is a False Match; the writer “asked myself a crucial question,” not her mother.
6 A: The main takeaway is that “Stripping away the unnecessary clutter had left me feeling remarkably mentally clear and physically unburdened,” highlighting a positive internal/psychological shift. Option B is a False Match; she felt the room was “twice as large,” not smaller. Option C is Too General/Extreme; the family discarded half of their things once, but the text doesn’t suggest doing this “constantly.” Option D is the Opposite; she initially thought it would diminish her, but “In reality” it did not.