Practice English Reading Exercises for B1 – Study Methods, Tech & Distance Learning 10
Reading 1
For each question, choose the correct answer.
My digital disaster
Last month, I had a terrifying experience that completely changed how I use my computer. I had just spent three hours writing a brilliant history essay about the ancient Romans. I was incredibly tired when I finally finished it late at night, so I just saved the file quickly. I didn’t bother giving it a proper name and just left it as ‘document1’ on my computer’s desktop, which was already covered in hundreds of other files.
The next morning at school, my history teacher asked us to email our essays to him. I confidently opened my laptop, but my heart suddenly sank. When I looked at my messy desktop, I realised I had no idea which file was my essay. I had dozens of files called ‘document1’, ‘untitled’, and ‘document2’. I spent twenty minutes desperately opening every single one, but I just couldn’t find the right one. In the end, I had to confess to my teacher that I had lost my work. He was not impressed and gave me a lower grade for handing it in late.
I felt so angry with myself that I decided I had to change my habits immediately. That Saturday, I sat down at my laptop with a cup of tea and a clear plan. First, I created a series of new digital folders. I made a different folder for every single school subject, like Science, Geography, and English, so that my work would be separated.
After that, I went through all the files on my messy desktop. I deleted the ones I no longer needed, like old photos and broken links. Then, I carefully moved the important documents into their correct folders. Most importantly, I renamed every file so I knew exactly what it was. For example, my next piece of homework became ‘History_Romans_Final’.
The whole process took me about an hour, but it was absolutely worth the effort. Since that day, I haven’t lost a single piece of homework. Knowing exactly where everything is has made me feel much less stressed about my schoolwork. I highly recommend that everyone spends a little time organising their digital life; it will definitely prevent a disaster in the future!
1 Why didn’t the writer give his history essay a proper name?
(A) He didn’t know how to spell the title of the essay.
(B) He was feeling too exhausted to do it at the time.
(C) He wanted to hide the document from his parents.
(D) He thought ‘document1’ was an easy name to remember.
2 How did the writer feel the next morning at school?
(A) annoyed that his teacher asked for an email
(B) confident because he knew he had written a great essay
(C) panicked when he couldn’t identify his history homework
(D) impressed by how many files he had created on his computer
3 What did the writer do on Saturday?
(A) He drank tea while writing a new history essay.
(B) He set up specific places to store his digital work.
(C) He went out to buy some brightly coloured folders.
(D) He asked a friend to help him fix his messy computer.
4 What rule did the writer make for himself about files?
(A) He must give them clear and descriptive titles.
(B) He should never delete any old photographs.
(C) He must keep all of his homework on his desktop.
(D) He should only keep documents that have broken links.
5 What would the writer say in a blog post about his experience?
(A) Losing my history essay was awful, but my teacher was very understanding and gave me extra time to write it again.
(B) It takes hours to organise a computer, so it’s much easier to just leave everything on the desktop and hope for the best.
(C) I used to be terrible at history, but since I started using specific folders, my grades in the subject have improved a lot.
(D) A messy computer cost me a good grade, but it taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of being digitally organised.
Answer Key & Explanations
1 (B) – In paragraph 1, the writer states, “I was incredibly tired when I finally finished it late at night, so I just saved the file quickly. I didn’t bother giving it a proper name,” which matches being “too exhausted.”
2 (C) – Paragraph 2 mentions that his “heart suddenly sank” and he “had no idea which file was my essay” and spent time “desperately opening every single one,” showing his panic at not being able to identify his work.
3 (B) – In paragraph 3, the writer explains that he “sat down at my laptop… created a series of new digital folders. I made a different folder for every single school subject,” which means he set up specific places to store his work.
4 (A) – Paragraph 4 details how the writer “renamed every file so I knew exactly what it was,” giving the example of naming a file ‘History_Romans_Final’, which means giving them clear and descriptive titles.
5 (D) – This text accurately captures the global meaning and the writer’s narrative arc: getting a lower grade due to poor digital organization, and then learning to successfully organize his files to prevent future disasters.
Reading 2
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Learning Through the Screen
When my history teacher, Mr. Harrison, told our class what our weekend homework was, I thought he was making a joke. Instead of asking us to read a long chapter in our textbook, he told us to download and play a specific historical strategy video game. He wanted us to spend at least three hours building an ancient empire. I have always loved video games, so I was thrilled. I was completely sure it would be the easiest and most relaxing homework I had ever received.
However, when I started playing the game that evening, I quickly realised it wasn’t just about fighting exciting battles. I chose to lead the ancient Romans, expecting to easily conquer my neighbours. Instead, I immediately faced a mountain of problems. My citizens were complaining because they didn’t have enough food, and I didn’t have enough gold to pay my soldiers. I had to figure out how to collect taxes, build farms, and create trade routes with other cities. It was actually incredibly complicated and required a lot of careful thinking.
As I played, something surprising happened. Without even trying to study, I began to understand exactly how difficult it was to manage a real ancient civilization. I learned that if a leader only focused on building a massive army, the ordinary people would suffer and eventually rebel against them. I had to balance the economy with keeping the borders safe. The decisions I was making on my computer screen suddenly made the events we had studied in history class make complete sense. It felt much more real than just memorising dates from a page.
Before I knew it, I had been playing for five hours. When we returned to school on Monday, our class had the most energetic discussion of the year. Everyone had experienced different challenges in their empires, and we all had a lot to say. I used to think that video games were just a fun way to waste time, but this experience completely changed my mind. I learned more about ancient economies in one weekend than I ever did from my textbook. In fact, I have just downloaded another historical game to play in my free time!
1 Why was the writer thrilled about the homework at first?
(A) He was already very good at playing this specific game.
(B) He believed it would be a simple and enjoyable task.
(C) He wanted to show his teacher his gaming skills.
(D) He enjoyed reading long chapters in history textbooks.
2 What happened when the writer started playing as the ancient Romans?
(A) He successfully conquered all of his neighbours straight away.
(B) He found it too relaxing and almost fell asleep.
(C) He discovered that the game was mostly about exciting battles.
(D) He had to deal with several difficult economic problems.
3 What did the game teach the writer about ancient leaders?
(A) They only needed a massive army to keep their people happy.
(B) They had to make difficult choices to keep their society running.
(C) They spent most of their time studying books to make decisions.
(D) They found it impossible to protect their borders from enemies.
4 What was the result of the gaming homework?
(A) The students had a very active and interesting class conversation.
(B) The teacher decided to never assign textbook reading again.
(C) The writer felt annoyed that he had wasted five hours playing.
(D) The class complained that the game was too difficult to finish.
5 What would the writer text his friend about the history assignment?
(A) I can’t believe Mr. Harrison gave us a video game for homework. It was so boring that I just read the textbook instead.
(B) That history game was impossible to play! My citizens rebelled immediately, so I gave up after just ten minutes.
(C) I thought playing a game for homework was a joke, but managing an empire actually taught me so much about history!
(D) Playing the game was fun, but I don’t think video games should be used in school because you don’t learn any real facts.
Answer Key & Explanations
1 B – In paragraph 1, the writer expresses his initial excitement by stating, “I was completely sure it would be the easiest and most relaxing homework I had ever received.”
2 D – In paragraph 2, instead of an easy game about fighting, the writer explains that he faced a mountain of problems: “My citizens were complaining because they didn’t have enough food, and I didn’t have enough gold… I had to figure out how to collect taxes, build farms…”
3 B – In paragraph 3, the writer realizes the difficulty of managing a civilization, learning that “if a leader only focused on building a massive army, the ordinary people would suffer” and that he “had to balance the economy with keeping the borders safe.”
4 A – In paragraph 4, the writer notes that upon returning to school, “our class had the most energetic discussion of the year” because everyone had a lot to say about their experiences.
5 C – This option perfectly captures the global meaning and narrative arc of the text. It summarizes the writer’s initial disbelief (thinking it was a joke/easy) and his ultimate realization that the video game was a highly effective and educational tool for learning history.
Reading 3
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Facing the Camera
When my science teacher announced that our final grades would include a ten-minute presentation in front of the whole class, my heart immediately sank. I have never been confident about public speaking. The mere thought of standing up while thirty pairs of eyes stared at me made my hands shake. I am quite good at writing long essays and passing written exams, but talking out loud in front of people has always been my biggest fear. I knew I needed to find a way to calm my nerves, or I was going to fail the assignment.
The weekend before the presentation, my older sister gave me some interesting advice. She suggested that I use my smartphone to record myself practicing my speech. At first, I thought it was a completely silly idea. I have always hated having my picture taken, so filming myself speaking sounded like an absolute nightmare. However, because I was feeling so desperate to improve my confidence, I decided to try it. I balanced my phone on some thick books on my desk, pressed the record button, and delivered my entire presentation to the empty bedroom.
Watching the video back was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. I wanted to turn it off after just a few seconds, but I forced myself to keep watching. Almost immediately, I noticed several terrible nervous habits that I didn’t even know I had. Every time I paused to think of a word, I started twisting my hair around my fingers. Furthermore, I was constantly looking down at my shoes instead of at the camera, and I was speaking incredibly fast. My scientific message was completely lost.
Over the next two days, I recorded myself five more times. With each new video, I focused on fixing those specific mistakes. I kept my hands flat on my sides, slowed down my voice, and practiced making eye contact with the phone lens. When the day of the real presentation arrived, I still felt a little nervous, but I was much more prepared. I remembered my video practice sessions and delivered my speech clearly and calmly. I finally realized that technology isn’t just for chatting with friends; it can actually be a powerful tool for self-improvement.
1 Why was the writer worried about the science assignment?
(A) She did not understand the complex scientific topic.
(B) She had a strong fear of talking in front of an audience.
(C) She was not very good at writing long essays.
(D) She thought ten minutes was too short for a presentation.
2 Why did the writer finally decide to record herself?
(A) Her teacher asked all the students to film their speeches.
(B) She wanted to send the practice video to her older sister.
(C) She was willing to try anything to help herself get better.
(D) She enjoyed taking pictures and making videos of herself.
3 What did the writer discover when she watched the video?
(A) She realized she was doing distracting things without noticing.
(B) She found out that her smartphone’s camera was broken.
(C) She noticed that her speech was far too long for the assignment.
(D) She saw that she had forgotten to include important scientific facts.
4 How did the writer feel during the actual presentation?
(A) She felt completely relaxed and had no fear at all.
(B) She felt annoyed because her classmates weren’t listening.
(C) She was anxious that she might forget her lines again.
(D) She felt slightly anxious but capable of doing a good job.
5 What would the writer say about her experience?
(A) I’m glad I passed my science class, but I will never use my phone to record myself again because it was too embarrassing.
(B) Recording myself was a very uncomfortable process, but it showed me my mistakes and helped me become a better speaker.
(C) I still hate public speaking, so I am going to ask my teachers if I can just write essays instead of doing presentations.
(D) My sister’s advice was terrible. Watching the video just made me more nervous and ruined my final presentation.
Answer Key & Explanations
1 B – In paragraph 1, the writer states that her “heart immediately sank” and explains that “talking out loud in front of people has always been my biggest fear.”
2 C – In paragraph 2, despite hating having her picture taken, the writer says, “However, because I was feeling so desperate to improve my confidence, I decided to try it.”
3 A – In paragraph 3, the writer notes that she “noticed several terrible nervous habits that I didn’t even know I had,” such as twisting her hair, looking down, and speaking too fast.
4 D – In paragraph 4, the writer explains her feelings on the day of the presentation: “I still felt a little nervous, but I was much more prepared. I remembered my video practice sessions and delivered my speech clearly and calmly.”
5 B – This option perfectly captures the global meaning and the writer’s transformation. It summarizes the initial discomfort of watching the video and the ultimate realization that using technology to identify and fix her mistakes was a powerful tool for self-improvement.