Practice English Reading Exercises for B1 – Library Books & Fiction 5

Exercises:   123456

Reading 1

For each question, choose the correct answer.

The people below all want to find an animal protagonist story to read or listen to.

There are descriptions of eight animal stories.

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

1   Lucas wants a short novel about a wolf, told from the animal’s perspective. He is looking for a sad, emotional story that will make him cry, as he prefers deep books that touch his heart.

2   The Green family wants an animal story set in the deep jungle to read with their young children. They want a funny comedy and prefer a digital e-book format to download on their tablet.

3   Emma loves ocean life and wants a thought-provoking story about sea creatures with an environmental message. She prefers to buy a physical hardback book with a beautiful cover design for her personal collection.

4   Tariq wants a long, detailed story about a farm animal. He doesn’t have time to read text, so he wants an audio book format to listen to while travelling during his two-week holiday.

5   Sophia and Chloe are looking for a story about a bird flying across wild mountains. They want a book with traditional hand-drawn illustrations inside and need it to be completely free because they are saving money.

Animal Protagonist Stories

A The Lone Hunter

This brief book of ninety pages is a moving masterpiece. Written entirely through the eyes of a wild forest dog, it describes his difficult life in the snow. This heartbreaking tale handles heavy themes and is sure to leave readers in tears. It is a perfect quick read for a busy evening.

B Rainforest Monkeys

This hilarious comedy takes place deep within a hot tropical forest. Young children and parents will laugh out loud at the silly adventures of a group of chatting chimpanzees. You can easily download the electronic file straight to your tablet tonight, making it an excellent, amusing choice for family reading time before bed.

C Deep Blue Journey

Explore life beneath the waves in this magnificent story about a young dolphin. This serious book has an important environmental message that will make you think deeply about protecting our oceans. This special edition comes with a beautiful, solid hard cover, making it a spectacular addition to any reader’s bookshelf at home.

D Tales from the Barn

Spend your holiday with this long, detailed novel about a clever sheep living in the countryside. Spanning over four hundred pages of detailed descriptions, it is ideal for a long journey. You can download the complete spoken-word recording to listen to the narrator’s voice while you travel this summer.

E Wings of the Wind

Follow a young eagle as he flies across the highest snowy peaks. This wonderful story includes gorgeous traditional sketches and ink drawings created by hand on every page. Best of all, you can get a copy from our public website completely free of charge without paying anything at all this week.

F Country Life

This massive book offers a detailed study of a pig’s life on a traditional farm. With five hundred pages of rich text, it will keep you entertained for weeks. However, please note that it is only available as a printed paperback book, as no spoken audio version has ever been recorded.

G The Funny Shark

This cheerful book follows a friendly shark causing trouble in the sea. It is a light-hearted story full of funny jokes and silly situations to make readers smile. This volume features a solid, high-quality hard cover that looks beautiful on the shelf, though it completely lacks any deep messages about nature.

H High Sky Adventure

Fly high with a family of wild ducks exploring rocky mountain valleys. This exciting adventure story can be downloaded from our internet page for zero cost, making it completely free. The pages are filled with highly modern 3D computer images, though lovers of traditional paper sketches might prefer a different style.

Reading 2

For each question, choose the correct answer.

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

There are descriptions of eight poetry books.

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

1   Anna wants to read poems about the natural world and wildlife. She is looking for a collection written by a teenager. She prefers listening to poetry, so she needs a book that offers an audio recording.

2   David is looking for a book of funny poems to make him laugh. He wants the poems to describe normal, daily life. He also really needs a book that includes beautiful drawings next to the texts.

3   Maria wants to read romantic poems about love from the nineteenth century. She is studying foreign languages, so she needs a book that includes both the original Spanish texts and the English translations on the pages.

4   Samuel wants to read very short poems about dealing with sad emotions. He loves expressing his own feelings, so he is looking for a book that has empty pages where he can write his own poetry.

5   Lily is fascinated by busy urban life and wants poems describing modern cities. She wants to read something by a very famous writer. Because she doesn’t have much money, the book must be extremely cheap.

Poetry Books

A Forest Whispers

Experience the beauty of the outdoors through the eyes of a brilliant sixteen-year-old student. These incredible verses perfectly capture the magic of forests and wild animals. You don’t even have to read the physical pages, as you can easily download the spoken-word edition to your phone and hear the words.

B Morning Coffee

You will definitely smile while reading this highly entertaining collection. The writer finds brilliant comedy in completely ordinary situations, like washing the dishes or waiting for the morning bus. To make the reading experience even better, every single page features a wonderful, colourful illustration that perfectly matches the amusing words.

C Midnight Stars

Travel back to the 1800s with this beautiful collection of passionate verses about relationships. Originally written by a legendary European author, this edition is perfect for language learners. It presents the historical Spanish lines on the left side, with perfectly clear English versions printed directly opposite them for easy understanding.

D Rainy Days

This unique book explores difficult moods and unhappy thoughts. The verses are incredibly brief, often using only three or four lines to express deep pain. After each piece, the author has intentionally left blank areas, encouraging readers to grab a pen and create their own personal verses about their feelings.

E Concrete Streets

Written by one of the most internationally recognised authors of our time, this collection focuses entirely on crowded streets and noisy traffic. It perfectly captures the fast pace of living in a capital. Best of all, it is currently on special offer, making it an incredibly affordable choice for anyone.

F Wild Hearts

This beautiful collection of verses about oceans and mountains was created by a highly talented fifteen-year-old schoolgirl. It is a fantastic celebration of the environment. However, it is currently only available as a heavy, printed paperback book, meaning you absolutely cannot listen to these wonderful poems on your digital devices.

G City Lights

If you are fascinated by tall buildings and busy urban transport, you will love these modern verses. The paperback costs almost nothing, making it brilliant for students on a budget. However, it is the very first publication from a completely unknown writer who has never released any work before.

H Smiles and Tears

These incredibly brief verses take only seconds to read. They focus completely on joy, sunshine, and feeling fantastic about life. The final chapter provides plenty of blank space for you to practice your own writing. There is absolutely no sadness or negativity in this incredibly cheerful and uplifting publication.

Reading 3

For each question, choose the correct answer.

The people below all want to find an audiobook for fiction.

There are descriptions of eight audiobook platforms.

Decide which audiobook platform would be the most suitable for the people below.

1   Lucas wants an audiobook to enjoy during his daily train commute. He prefers stories read by celebrated movie stars and wants a book that includes background music and realistic sound effects to make the action feel real.

2   Emma is looking for a cheap or free audiobook about historical events to listen to on her upcoming long flight. She needs to be able to stream it on her phone without needing to download large files.

3   Oliver has a short daily walk and wants a detective audiobook with brief chapters under ten minutes. He loves realistic audio noises like rain or footsteps and wants an app that tracks his reading progress automatically.

4   Sophia loves science fiction stories set in space and wants an audiobook narrated by an award-winning actress. She travels through tunnels with no internet connection, so she must be able to save the files completely offline.

5   Jack wants a hilarious comedy audiobook to listen to at home. He is on a tight budget and needs something affordable. It is also important that the book features a cast of multiple famous performers voicing different roles.

Audiobook Options

A Journey to Fortune

Perfect for long bus or subway trips, this thrilling adventure story will keep you fully entertained. The entire text is beautifully read by an Oscar-winning Hollywood actor. Listeners will love the incredible sound design, featuring realistic ocean waves, storms, and dramatic music playing behind the narrator’s voice.

B Past Kingdoms

Travel back to the seventeenth century in this magnificent biographical novel. It is completely open-access, meaning you can listen immediately on our web player without spending any money or downloading heavy content to your device. It is an ideal companion for a long plane trip across the world.

C Shadows in the City

This clever murder mystery follows a police investigator through dark urban streets. The author has divided the book into quick, eight-minute sections, ideal for short daily walks. The production uses real audio clips of slamming doors and heavy footsteps, and the digital player saves your exact position automatically.

D Star Station

Explore the edge of the galaxy in this magnificent cosmic tale. A celebrated Hollywood actress delivers a fantastic performance as the main character. Our mobile application allows you to save the entire book directly to your memory card, so you can enjoy it offline with zero network connectivity.

E Office Jokes

If you want a laugh-a-minute story to enjoy in your living room, try this brilliant new release. It is currently on sale at an extremely low price. A full team of celebrated TV comedians provides the voices for the different characters, creating a hilarious and highly engaging production.

F Silent Adventures

This thrilling adventure novel is perfect for passengers on daily subway or bus rides. A very famous film actor delivers a beautiful, dramatic narration. However, the production is completely quiet except for the speaking voice, with absolutely no background music, noises, or special audio effects included.

G Alien Worlds

This spectacular space adventure is set on a distant moon. The brilliant text is read by a celebrated theater actor. It features advanced sound effects and music. However, it can only be played through a live internet stream on our website, making it impossible to listen to offline.

H Pharaohs of Egypt

This fascinating historical novel about ancient Egypt is completely free to enjoy online. It is a wonderful option for learning about the past. However, because of the high-quality audio files, it can only be accessed on a desktop computer at home and will not work on mobile phones.

Exercises:   123456