Practice English Reading Exercises for B2 – Modern Domesticity, Lifestyle & Household Challenges 6
Reading 1
You are going to read a magazine article about a teenager who becomes a strict vegan.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
A Recipe for Forgiveness
When I announced my decision to adopt a strictly vegan lifestyle, it was met with a chorus of groans from my stubbornly carnivorous family. For them, a meal without meat or dairy was simply a light snack. Almost overnight, our previously relaxed family dinners transformed into a logistical nightmare. I stubbornly refused to use the same pans that had touched animal products, which meant my parents had to juggle twice as many pots on our small stove. While I felt incredibly passionate about my new ethical choices, my family saw my sudden dietary shift as a massive inconvenience. This inevitably led to a palpable tension whenever we gathered around the kitchen table, replacing our usual lively conversations with strained silences.
Looking back, I must admit that my attitude was less than helpful. Armed with documentaries and statistics I had found online, I took every opportunity to lecture my parents and younger brother about the environmental impact of their daily diets. I felt an undeniable sense of moral superiority, genuinely believing that my new perspective was the only acceptable way to live. Consequently, I was quick to judge them. To their credit, my parents tried their absolute best to accommodate my demands, buying expensive plant-based alternatives and attempting to modify traditional family recipes. However, their well-intentioned efforts were frequently met with my harsh criticism if the ingredients weren’t entirely perfect or certified organic.
The inevitable climax of this tension occurred during my grandfather’s birthday dinner. Knowing how isolated I had been feeling recently, my mother spent the entire afternoon meticulously preparing a special mushroom risotto just for me, completely separate from the traditional roast chicken the rest of the family was having. When she proudly placed the steaming, fragrant bowl in front of me, I was genuinely touched by her effort. I took a few bites and enthusiastically praised its rich, savoury flavour, asking her what her secret ingredient was. Smiling brightly, she casually mentioned that she had added a tiny dash of leftover chicken broth to enhance the taste, completely unaware of the dietary implications.
The moment those words left her mouth, my appreciation instantly vanished, replaced by a sudden surge of ideological fury. I dropped my fork loudly onto the table and pushed the bowl away, angrily accusing her of deliberately trying to sabotage my beliefs. I loudly argued that if she had actually cared about my lifestyle, she would have checked the label or understood what being a vegan truly entailed. The colour quickly drained from my mother’s face, and her eyes welled up with tears. She stammered a quiet apology, explaining that she simply hadn’t thought about it and only wanted the dish to taste delicious for me. Unwilling to listen, I stormed upstairs, leaving a stunned silence in my wake.
Sitting alone in my bedroom, my heart pounded with lingering adrenaline. However, as the initial anger slowly subsided, a heavy blanket of guilt washed over me. I began to think about the hours my mother had spent researching the recipe and standing over the hot stove, desperately trying to ensure I was included in the family celebration. She had made a genuine mistake, one that was born out of culinary habit rather than malice. I realised then that in my rigid quest for absolute perfection, I was unfairly hurting the people who loved me most. The dinner table shouldn’t be a battlefield. Taking a deep breath, I walked back downstairs to apologise, having finally understood that family harmony was far more important than harsh judgment over an innocent error.
1 What was the immediate result of the writer’s decision to become vegan?
(A) Preparing meals for the household became a highly complicated process.
(B) Her family completely stopped having conversations at the dinner table.
(C) Her parents refused to let her use their traditional cooking equipment.
(D) Her family was forced to eat light snacks instead of proper meat dishes.
2 How does the writer feel about her past behaviour towards her family?
(A) Proud that she managed to educate them about environmental impacts.
(B) Critical of herself for acting as though she was better than them.
(C) Disappointed that they didn’t try harder to modify traditional recipes.
(D) Frustrated that they wasted money on expensive plant-based alternatives.
3 Why did the writer’s mother prepare a mushroom risotto?
(A) To teach the writer how to cook a traditional vegan meal.
(B) To make the writer feel included during a special family occasion.
(C) To secretly trick the writer into consuming an animal product.
(D) To use up some leftover ingredients from the grandfather’s birthday.
4 What does ‘it’ refer to in the fourth paragraph?
(A) the harsh criticism the writer often gave her parents
(B) the specific recipe she had found for the mushroom risotto
(C) the fact that chicken broth is not an acceptable vegan ingredient
(D) the reason why the writer’s appreciation had suddenly vanished
5 What did the writer realise while sitting alone in her bedroom?
(A) She needed to find a better way to explain veganism to her mother.
(B) Her mother’s actions were driven by routine rather than bad intentions.
(C) She should have cooked her own meal for her grandfather’s birthday.
(D) Her parents would never truly understand her quest for perfection.
6 What is the writer’s main purpose in writing the article?
(A) To argue that a vegan lifestyle is too difficult to maintain in a meat-eating home.
(B) To explain how a dietary misunderstanding permanently damaged her family bond.
(C) To highlight the importance of compromising on one’s strict personal beliefs.
(D) To show how she learned to value her relationships over ideological perfection.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 A: The text states that “family dinners transformed into a logistical nightmare” and parents had to “juggle twice as many pots” because she wouldn’t share pans, making meal prep highly complicated. Option B is an extreme false match; conversations were replaced by “strained silences,” but they didn’t completely stop speaking forever. Option C is the opposite; the writer refused to use the pans, not the parents. Option D is a false match; the family considered vegan food to be “light snacks,” but they didn’t start eating them.
2 B: The writer admits her attitude was “less than helpful” and that she felt “an undeniable sense of moral superiority,” indicating she is now critical of acting like she was better than them. Option A is incorrect because she is reflecting negatively on lecturing them. Option C is the opposite; she states her parents “tried their absolute best… attempting to modify traditional family recipes.” Option D is a false match; they bought the alternatives to accommodate her, and she wasn’t frustrated by the cost.
3 B: The text says, “Knowing how isolated I had been feeling recently, my mother spent the entire afternoon meticulously preparing a special mushroom risotto just for me,” to ensure she was “included in the family celebration” (as noted in paragraph 5). Option A is unstated. Option C is the opposite of the mother’s intentions, as she was “completely unaware of the dietary implications.” Option D is a partial truth trap; she used leftover broth, but this wasn’t her primary motivation for cooking the dish.
4 C: The mother apologises, explaining that “she simply hadn’t thought about it,” referring to the dietary implications of using chicken broth in a vegan dish. Option A is a false match referring to paragraph 2. Option B is incorrect; she was thinking about making the recipe delicious, but the ‘it’ she forgot was the vegan restriction on the broth. Option D is illogical in the context of the mother’s apology.
5 B: The writer reflects that her mother “had made a genuine mistake, one that was born out of culinary habit rather than malice.” This perfectly matches the idea that her actions were driven by routine, not bad intentions. Option A is an unstated assumption. Option C is plausible in the real world but not mentioned in the text. Option D contradicts the writer’s newfound empathy and shift away from judging her parents.
6 D: The entire narrative builds to the conclusion that “family harmony was far more important than harsh judgment over an innocent error,” demonstrating her choice to value relationships over her rigid quest for perfection. Option A is a false conclusion. Option B is the opposite of the text, as she goes downstairs to apologise and heal the bond. Option C is a partial truth, but D captures the emotional and relational focus of the story much more accurately.
Reading 2
You are going to read an extract from a short story about a teenager dealing with a dispute between neighbours.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
The Neighbourhood War
The boundary between our garden and the Harrisons’ property was clearly defined by an ancient oak tree. For years, its sprawling branches had provided welcome shade, but this autumn, it became the root of a spectacular neighbourhood dispute. The conflict started when the tree, which technically belonged to our neighbours, began shedding an unprecedented volume of leaves directly onto my father’s prized lawn. Instead of discussing the issue calmly, my parents took immediate offense. I watched in utter disbelief as my dad angrily threw the leaves back over the wooden fence, muttering about disrespect. As a sixteen-year-old trying to maintain a low profile, the sheer embarrassment of witnessing my parents behave so irrationally was overwhelming.
Over the next fortnight, the situation rapidly deteriorated. My mother, usually a highly reasonable woman, drafted a formal letter of complaint, demanding that the Harrisons cut down the offending branches. In response, Mr Harrison strategically placed a brightly painted garden gnome facing our kitchen window, its cheerful smile seeming to mock my father’s frustration. The adults were officially at war. If they hadn’t been so stubbornly proud, they could have easily resolved the matter in five minutes. Instead, the petty retaliation escalated daily. I felt a mounting sense of frustration at their immaturity. Why were teenagers constantly lectured about peaceful conflict resolution, while adults were apparently allowed to throw spectacular tantrums?
The ongoing feud soon began to severely affect my everyday life. Previously, I had spent my weekends reading peacefully on our patio, but now, the garden had been transformed into a hostile zone. I couldn’t even step outside without my dad emerging to complain loudly about the ‘leaf invasion’, just in case the neighbours were listening. It was an absurd situation that made me dread coming back from school. Furthermore, I was terrified that my classmates would eventually find out about the ridiculous squabble and turn my family into the laughing stock of the neighbourhood.
Eventually, I realised that waiting for the adults to regain their senses was a hopeless strategy. Someone had to break the deadlock, and it clearly wasn’t going to be my parents. From my bedroom window one Saturday afternoon, I spotted the Harrisons’ daughter, Maya, sitting on her side of the fence. She looked just as exasperated as I felt, staring miserably at the piles of crispy brown leaves gathering around her feet. I knew that if I wanted to reclaim my peaceful weekends before the winter arrived, I had to take matters into my own hands.
Gathering my courage, I snuck out of the back door and approached the wooden boundary. ‘Hey,’ I whispered loudly, making absolutely sure my dad wasn’t lurking nearby. Maya looked up, her expression a mixture of surprise and relief. I quickly proposed a secret peace treaty. I reasoned that if we both agreed to spend an hour bagging up the leaves, taking the burden away from our stubborn parents, they would have nothing left to argue about. Maya agreed instantly, letting out a quiet laugh. She confessed that her parents had been driving her equally crazy with their endless complaining.
The following morning, before our parents had even woken up, Maya and I quietly set to work. We armed ourselves with rakes and large plastic bags, efficiently clearing the boundary line of any debris. When my father finally emerged with his morning coffee, fully prepared to resume his glaring match, he stopped dead in his tracks. Seeing the two of us cooperating to solve the problem peacefully left him entirely speechless. The neighbourhood war ended without a dramatic apology, but the sudden, embarrassed silence from both households was a clear victory. Sometimes, the only way to teach adults a lesson is to show them how to act like mature ones.
1 What caused the initial conflict between the two families?
(A) The writer’s father purposefully threw rubbish over the neighbour’s fence.
(B) An unusually large amount of leaves fell into the writer’s garden.
(C) The neighbours refused to drink tea and calmly discuss the boundary.
(D) The Harrisons decided to cut down an ancient oak tree in their garden.
2 How did the writer feel about the adults’ behaviour in the second paragraph?
(A) Amused by the strategic placement of the neighbour’s garden gnome.
(B) Sympathetic because the dispute was incredibly difficult to resolve.
(C) Angry that his mother had decided to write a formal letter of complaint.
(D) Frustrated by their hypocritical approach to handling arguments.
3 What does the word ‘It‘ refer to in the third paragraph?
(A) The fact that he was unable to relax in his own home.
(B) His father’s annoying habit of watching the neighbours.
(C) The large pile of leaves invading the garden patio.
(D) The possibility of his classmates discovering the feud.
4 What can be inferred about Maya from the fourth paragraph?
(A) She had been tasked with cleaning up the leaves by her parents.
(B) She was waiting by the fence specifically to talk to the writer.
(C) She was finding the family quarrel just as annoying as the writer was.
(D) She wanted to reclaim her own peaceful weekends from her parents.
5 The writer suggested a ‘peace treaty’ in order to
(A) prove to Maya that he wasn’t afraid of his father.
(B) eliminate the primary reason for their parents’ arguments.
(C) force their parents to finally apologise to each other.
(D) demonstrate that teenagers are better at cleaning than adults.
6 What is the writer’s main conclusion at the end of the text?
(A) Arguments between neighbours can rarely be resolved without an apology.
(B) Teenagers should always avoid getting involved in adult disputes.
(C) Young people sometimes need to demonstrate sensible behaviour to adults.
(D) Working together on physical tasks is the best way to make new friends.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 B: The text states the conflict started when the tree “began shedding an unprecedented volume of leaves directly onto my father’s prized lawn.” Distractor A uses exact words (“threw the leaves”) but places it as the initial cause, whereas the father did this in reaction to the leaves falling. Distractor C is a literal interpretation of a metaphor (“Instead of discussing the issue calmly” – previously conceptualized as a “cup of tea” in real life, but not stated as a literal refusal here). Distractor D is the opposite of the truth; the mother demanded they cut it down, but they hadn’t done it.
2 D: The writer points out the hypocrisy by asking why teenagers are “constantly lectured about peaceful conflict resolution” while adults are “allowed to throw spectacular tantrums,” which matches being frustrated by their hypocritical approach. Distractor A is a partial truth; a gnome was placed, but the writer was frustrated, not amused. Distractor B is the opposite; the writer thought they could have “easily resolved the matter in five minutes.” Distractor C is a specific detail, not the summary of his overall feeling regarding their behaviour.
3 A: In the preceding sentences, the writer complains that the garden became a “hostile zone” and he couldn’t step outside without his dad complaining. “It was an absurd situation…” refers to this overall inability to enjoy his home life due to the adults’ behaviour. Distractors B and C are false matches referring to specific nouns rather than the whole situation. Distractor D refers to information that comes after the pronoun.
4 C: The text says Maya “looked just as exasperated as I felt, staring miserably at the piles of crispy brown leaves”, which strongly implies she found the situation equally annoying. Distractor A is an unstated assumption; she is staring at them, but there’s no mention she was told to clean them. Distractor B is an over-inference; she was sitting there, but nothing suggests she was waiting for him. Distractor D assigns the writer’s specific motivation (“reclaim my peaceful weekends”) to Maya.
5 B: The writer proposed the treaty reasoning that by bagging the leaves, they would be “taking the burden away from our stubborn parents, they would have nothing left to argue about.” Distractor A is a false match; he made sure his dad wasn’t lurking, but not to prove he wasn’t afraid. Distractor C is opposite to the outcome, as the war ended “without a dramatic apology”. Distractor D is unstated.
6 C: The final sentence summarizes the global takeaway: “Sometimes, the only way to teach adults a lesson is to show them how to act like mature ones.” Distractor A is the opposite; the text explicitly states the war ended “without a dramatic apology.” Distractor B contradicts the narrative, as the teenager’s involvement solved the problem. Distractor D is a partial truth/too specific; they worked together, but making friends wasn’t the main thematic conclusion of the story.