Practice English Reading Exercises for B2 – Travel Mishaps & Problem Solving
Reading 1
You are going to read a magazine article about a tourist whose luggage was lost on the first day of his holiday.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
The Warmth of Strangers
Touching down at Keflavik Airport in Iceland, I was practically buzzing with anticipation. I had spent months planning this winter escape, visualising myself trekking across glaciers and marvelling at the Northern Lights. Because I had flown out of Madrid during an unseasonably warm autumn week, I was dressed in nothing more than a thin cotton t-shirt, shorts, and light trainers. I hadn’t bothered to pack a jacket in my hand luggage, assuming I would simply retrieve my heavy winter coat from my suitcase upon arrival. I confidently pictured myself emerging from the airport ready to embrace the freezing temperatures.
My idealistic vision began to crumble as I reached the baggage reclaim area. I stood by the carousel for nearly an hour, watching the same battered backpacks circulating until the conveyor belt eventually ground to a halt. When the service desk confirmed that my luggage had been mistakenly routed to Berlin and wouldn’t arrive for at least forty-eight hours, panic set in. I stepped out of the terminal doors and the icy Icelandic wind hit me like a physical blow. The reality of my situation became painfully clear: I was stranded in a sub-zero climate, completely unprotected against the elements.
Navigating my way to the budget hostel in the city centre was an absolutely miserable ordeal. My teeth were chattering violently, and my fingers had turned an alarming shade of blue by the time I pushed open the heavy front door. To make matters significantly worse, I was travelling on a remarkably tight student budget. If I had possessed a larger emergency fund, I could have easily rushed to the nearest outdoor store and purchased temporary winter gear. Instead, I realised with mounting despair that replacing basic items like a woolly jumper would completely wipe out my spending money.
Sitting in the hostel common room, shivering uncontrollably, I was on the verge of tears. I had already looked up the cost of an early flight home, feeling entirely defeated. It was at this low point that Magnus, the towering manager who was manning the reception desk, wandered over. He had been quietly observing my distress from across the room. After I explained that my bags were missing and I had absolutely no money to replace my clothes, he gave a sympathetic nod. “We can’t have you freezing,” he declared. This was the unexpected lifeline that turned my afternoon around.
Within ten minutes, Magnus had rallied the rest of the hostel staff and several long-term guests. They immediately began digging through their own backpacks and the hostel’s lost-and-found bin. Before long, I was presented with an array of mismatched, highly eccentric winter clothing. I ended up wearing a bright purple knitted jumper that was at least three sizes too big, slightly worn ski trousers, and a neon green hat. Catching a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror, I looked utterly ridiculous, but the thick layers were wonderfully warm.
Strolling through the snowy streets of Reykjavik later that evening, my earlier misery had entirely evaporated. I may have looked like a walking jumble sale, but I felt remarkably liberated. The stressful ordeal successfully stripped away my reliance on carefully curated travel wardrobes, teaching me a valuable lesson. I realised that the success of a journey isn’t determined by the possessions you bring with you, but by your ability to adapt to unforeseen challenges. The generosity of those strangers saved my holiday from ruin, proving that human kindness provides more warmth than the most expensive winter coat ever could.
1 In the first paragraph, what does the writer admit to doing wrong?
(A) He packed his winter coat in the wrong piece of luggage.
(B) He failed to research the weather conditions at his destination.
(C) He did not keep any warm clothing with him in the cabin.
(D) He wore inappropriate clothes for his departure from Madrid.
2 How did the writer feel about replacing his missing clothes?
(A) He was frustrated that the local outdoor stores were closed.
(B) He was worried that buying new items would ruin his travel budget.
(C) He was angry that the airline refused to pay for his new winter gear.
(D) He was reluctant to buy a woolly jumper he would only wear once.
3 What does the word ‘This‘ refer to in the fourth paragraph?
(A) The manager deciding to intervene and help him.
(B) Looking up the prices of flights to go back home.
(C) The fact that he had absolutely no money left.
(D) The hostel manager observing him from across the room.
4 What is implied about the clothes the writer received from the staff?
(A) They were very stylish but impractical for the cold weather.
(B) They were reluctantly given away by the other hostel guests.
(C) They were visually unappealing but served their purpose well.
(D) They were too large for him to walk around the city comfortably.
5 How did the writer’s attitude change during his evening walk?
(A) He felt embarrassed because he looked like a walking jumble sale.
(B) He felt free because he no longer cared about his outward appearance.
(C) He felt proud that his carefully planned travel wardrobe was unnecessary.
(D) He felt relieved that his original suitcase had finally been found.
6 What is the writer’s main purpose in writing the article?
(A) To warn travellers about the frequency of lost luggage on budget airlines.
(B) To show how an unforeseen disaster led to a positive realization about travel.
(C) To explain why packing warm clothes in hand luggage is highly recommended.
(D) To criticize people who place too much importance on expensive fashion.
Answer Key & Explanations
1 C: The text explicitly states, “I hadn’t bothered to pack a jacket in my hand luggage,” which was his critical error. Distractor A is a partial truth trap; he packed his coat in his checked suitcase, not necessarily the ‘wrong’ piece of luggage, but his mistake was not having access to it. Distractor B is false; he knew it would be freezing. Distractor D contradicts the text, as his clothes were appropriate for the warm weather in Madrid.
2 B: The writer states, “I realised with mounting despair that replacing basic items like a woolly jumper would completely wipe out my spending money.” This matches the worry about ruining his budget. Distractor A is an over-inference; he couldn’t afford the stores, not that they were closed. Distractor C is unstated. Distractor D is a false match; he didn’t buy a jumper because of money, not because he’d only wear it once.
3 A: The pronoun ‘This’ directly follows Magnus’s sympathetic reaction and his declaration: “We can’t have you freezing.” Therefore, ‘This’ refers to Magnus stepping in to assist him. Distractors B, C, and D refer to actions and details that occurred chronologically earlier in the paragraph and do not fit the grammatical subject of the lifeline that turned his day around.
4 C: The writer notes that the clothes were “mismatched” and “highly eccentric,” making him look “utterly ridiculous,” but he adds that “the thick layers were wonderfully warm.” This means they were unappealing but effective. Distractor A is the exact opposite of the text. Distractor B contradicts the text; they “immediately began digging,” showing eagerness, not reluctance. Distractor D is a partial truth; the jumper was too large, but there’s no indication it stopped him from walking around comfortably.
5 B: The writer notes that he felt “remarkably liberated” despite looking like a “walking jumble sale,” indicating his freedom from caring about his looks. Distractor A is the opposite; he looked like a jumble sale but was not embarrassed (he felt liberated). Distractor C is a false match; his travel wardrobe was stripped away, not deemed unnecessary from the start. Distractor D relies on outside assumptions; the text never states his bag was found during the walk.
6 B: The entire article focuses on the emotional journey from the despair of losing his luggage to feeling liberated and realizing that “the success of a journey isn’t determined by the possessions you bring.” Distractor A is an over-inference; he doesn’t blame budget airlines. Distractor C is too specific and serves only as a minor detail in the first paragraph. Distractor D is a partial truth, but his tone is reflective about his own growth, not critical of others.
Reading 2
You are going to read a magazine article about a traveller who got lost in the woods after his smartphone died.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
Hopelessly Lost Offline
When I rented a small, traditional wooden house in a remote valley just outside Kyoto, I was looking forward to a week of peaceful solitude. On my third morning, I decided to tackle a demanding hiking trail that wound through the surrounding cedar forests. I had always prided myself on my innate sense of direction, but honestly, my confidence was largely derived from the glowing blue dot on my smartphone’s GPS app. I set off with a remarkably light backpack, politely refusing the hand-drawn paper map the guesthouse owner had offered me. I figured that as long as I had a full battery and a solid satellite connection, nothing could possibly go awry.
For the first few hours, the hike was absolutely everything I had hoped for. The path meandered past ancient stone statues and tranquil streams, offering breathtaking views of the vast valley below. I was so deeply engrossed in capturing the perfect photographs for my social media followers that I completely failed to monitor my device’s battery life. It was only when I reached an unmarked fork in the trail and pulled out my phone to check the route that I noticed the blank, unresponsive black screen. It had died completely. I pressed the power button repeatedly, desperately hoping for a miraculous reboot, but my digital safety net had vanished without a trace.
Initially, I brushed off the inconvenience, assuming I could simply retrace my steps back to the main road. However, as the late afternoon wore on, the dense canopy of cedar trees began to block out the fading sunlight, and the winding paths all started to look incredibly identical. I spotted an elderly farmer tending to a small patch of vegetables and hurried over to ask for directions. Unfortunately, my total lack of Japanese and his lack of English resulted in a frustrating exchange of confused gestures. This only heightened my anxiety, making me clearly realise how entirely dependent I was on a fragile piece of technology. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and a cold knot of panic began to tighten in my chest.
If I had paid more attention to my physical surroundings instead of staring at a screen all morning, I wouldn’t have been in such a terrifying predicament. I forced myself to sit down on a fallen log and take a few deep breaths to clear my racing mind. I suddenly remembered a survival documentary I had watched, which claimed that flowing water invariably leads to larger human settlements. I closed my eyes and listened intently, trying to filter out the rustling leaves and the loud pounding of my own heart. Faintly, but unmistakably, I heard the rhythmic rushing of a river somewhere to my immediate left.
Trusting my raw senses rather than a satellite, I abandoned the confusing dirt trails and headed straight toward the sound. The terrain was steep and unforgiving, requiring me to carefully slide down muddy banks and push through thick, thorny bushes. My clothes were badly torn, and my legs ached with exhaustion, but the growing roar of the water spurred me on. Eventually, I broke through the treeline and spotted the wide, fast-flowing river below. More importantly, further down the bank, I recognised a distinctive, red-painted wooden bridge spanning the water, which I knew was only a short walk from my guesthouse.
Trudging back into the quiet village just as the street lanterns flickered on, I was completely exhausted but surprisingly exhilarated. The intense panic that had gripped me in the forest had been entirely replaced by a profound sense of empowerment. Getting hopelessly lost had stripped away my modern conveniences and forced me to rely on my own survival instincts. I realised that while smartphones are undeniably useful tools, true exploration requires us to lift our heads, observe our environment, and trust in our own resilience. I had left the house as a typical tourist blindly following a screen, but I returned as a traveller who had truly engaged with the landscape.
1 Why did the writer feel confident when he started his hike?
(A) He was relying entirely on his mobile phone to guide him.
(B) He believed he possessed a naturally excellent sense of direction.
(C) He had brought a detailed paper map provided by his host.
(D) He had spent a week researching the paths in the remote valley.
2 What caused the writer’s phone to run out of battery?
(A) He had struggled to find a solid satellite connection in the valley.
(B) He had kept the screen on while navigating an unmarked fork.
(C) He had pressed the power button repeatedly during the hike.
(D) He had been using it too much to take pictures of the scenery.
3 What does the word ‘This‘ refer to in the third paragraph?
(A) The sudden disappearance of the sunlight.
(B) The failure to communicate with a local person.
(C) The rapid drop in the evening temperature.
(D) The realisation that all the paths looked identical.
4 In the fourth paragraph, the writer expresses regret because he
(A) had forgotten the survival advice he had seen in a documentary.
(B) had allowed his racing mind to stop him from hearing the river.
(C) had failed to take notice of the landscape while hiking earlier.
(D) had spent the entire morning walking in the wrong direction.
5 How did the writer eventually manage to escape the forest?
(A) He headed in the direction of a noise he had identified.
(B) He continued carefully along the muddy dirt trails.
(C) He used his raw senses to locate a nearby satellite station.
(D) He followed a red wooden bridge that led through the trees.
6 What is the writer’s main conclusion about his experience?
(A) Modern technology should be completely avoided when exploring remote areas.
(B) Facing a difficult situation helped him connect more deeply with his surroundings.
(C) Travellers must always carry a paper map if they want to survive in the wild.
(D) The physical exhaustion of getting lost outweighs the thrill of exploration.
Answer Key & Explanations
1 A: The text states that “my confidence was largely derived from the glowing blue dot on my smartphone’s GPS app,” meaning he relied on his phone. Distractor B is a False Match; he says he “prided himself” on his sense of direction, but admits his confidence actually came from the phone. Distractor C is the Opposite; he refused the map.
2 D: The writer explains he “was so deeply engrossed in capturing the perfect photographs… that I completely failed to monitor my device’s battery life.” This matches D. Distractor A is an Over-Inference; a bad connection is mentioned in paragraph 1 as something he thought he had, but it didn’t drain the battery. Distractor B is a False Match; he checked the phone at the fork after it died.
3 B: In the sentence “my total lack of Japanese and his lack of English resulted in a frustrating exchange of confused gestures. This only heightened my anxiety”, the pronoun refers back to the failed interaction with the farmer.
4 C: The writer states, “If I had paid more attention to my physical surroundings instead of staring at a screen all morning, I wouldn’t have been in such a terrifying predicament.” This is a paraphrase of failing to take notice of the landscape (C). Distractor A is the Opposite; he successfully remembered the advice.
5 A: The writer abandoned the trails and “headed straight toward the sound” (the rushing river), which led him out of the trees. This matches A. Distractor B is the Opposite; he abandoned the dirt trails. Distractor D is a Partial Truth; he saw the bridge once he escaped the trees, but he didn’t follow it through the trees to escape.
6 B: The writer concludes that getting lost “forced me to rely on my own survival instincts” and that he returned “as a traveller who had truly engaged with the landscape,” which aligns perfectly with B. Distractor A relies on Extreme Language; he says smartphones are “undeniably useful tools,” so he doesn’t think they should be completely avoided. Distractor D is the Opposite; he was “surprisingly exhilarated.”
Reading 3
You are going to read a magazine article about a woman’s experience of falling ill while travelling alone.
For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
A Cup of Tea in a Crisis
When I first arrived in the bustling capital, I was determined to immerse myself in the local culture. For the first few days, my trip was an overwhelming success. I spent hours wandering through vibrant markets and sampling everything the lively street food stalls had to offer. It was intoxicating to be surrounded by such unfamiliar sights. On my third evening, I spotted a tiny, crowded food stand that locals were flocking to. Believing I had discovered an authentic culinary gem, I confidently ordered a spicy seafood noodle soup. It tasted spectacular, and I went to bed feeling thrilled with my adventurous spirit, completely unaware of what awaited me.
The nightmare began just after 3:00 a.m. I woke up abruptly with a sharp, twisting pain in my stomach, followed shortly by a wave of intense nausea. Within an hour, I was violently ill, shivering uncontrollably on the bathroom floor of my budget hotel. As the hours dragged on, I realised it must have been the seafood soup I had eaten earlier. If I had played it safe and stuck to a busy restaurant, I wouldn’t be suffering so intensely now. I managed to drag myself back to the narrow bed, staring up at the peeling paint on the ceiling, feeling drained of all energy.
By mid-morning, the situation had only deteriorated. The most daunting challenge was not the physical pain, but the intense isolation. My cheap accommodation didn’t offer room service, and there was no phone beside the bed to call reception. Even if I had possessed the strength to walk down the steep stairs, I wouldn’t have known what to say. My grasp of the local language was limited to basic greetings, which would hardly be sufficient to explain my medical emergency. I felt a crushing wave of homesickness wash over me; all I wanted was my own bed and someone to look after me.
As the afternoon sunlight filtered through the thin curtains, the sheer vulnerability of travelling solo hit me hard. I drifted in and out of a feverish sleep, convinced that I was going to be stuck in this indefinitely. The sounds of the city traffic outside, which had seemed so exciting just a day before, now felt abrasive. I felt foolish for having romanticised the idea of travelling on a shoestring budget. If I had booked a more expensive hotel, I could easily have arranged for an English-speaking doctor to visit me. Instead, I was trapped in a humid room.
Just as I was about to give up hope of any relief, there was a soft knock at the door. A moment later, Maria, the elderly housekeeper who I had briefly smiled at the day before, peeked into the room. Seeing my pale face and the untouched bottle of water on my nightstand, she immediately grasped the severity of the situation. Without uttering a single word, she turned around and vanished down the corridor. Ten minutes later, she returned carrying a tray with a steaming mug of strong herbal tea, a plate of plain white rice, and fresh towels.
Maria gently propped up my pillows and handed me the warm mug. She didn’t speak my language, and I didn’t speak hers, but the profound empathy in her eyes communicated everything I needed to know. Over the next twenty-four hours, she checked on me regularly, silently replacing my water and offering reassuring smiles. Her unexpected kindness was a turning point, not just for my physical recovery, but for my mental state. Looking back, while the illness was undoubtedly the lowest point of my journey, the immense gratitude I felt towards that kind stranger remains my most cherished memory.
1 What led the writer to eat at the specific food stand mentioned in the first paragraph?
(A) She was convinced it was a high-quality option because many residents were eating there.
(B) She was determined to sample everything the lively street food stalls had to offer.
(C) She had been recommended an authentic culinary gem by the local people.
(D) She wanted to prove her adventurous spirit by eating unfamiliar seafood.
2 Looking back on the onset of her illness in the second paragraph, the writer feels
(A) annoyed that her budget hotel did not serve food.
(B) regretful that she did not opt for a more conventional place to eat.
(C) shocked that she woke up abruptly with a sharp twisting pain.
(D) convinced that she should have avoided seafood entirely.
3 What does the word ‘this‘ refer to in the fourth paragraph?
(A) the distressing condition she found herself in
(B) the feverish sleep she was experiencing
(C) the cheap hotel room she had booked
(D) the city traffic outside her window
4 In the third paragraph, the writer implies that asking for assistance would have been impossible because
(A) she did not have the vocabulary required to describe her symptoms.
(B) there was no phone beside the bed to call reception.
(C) the staff at her cheap accommodation refused to provide room service.
(D) she was completely unable to walk down the steep stairs.
5 What did the housekeeper do when she first checked on the writer?
(A) She immediately comprehended the writer’s predicament without verbal communication.
(B) She returned with a steaming mug of herbal tea after a brief conversation.
(C) She expressed concern over the untouched bottle of water on the nightstand.
(D) She recognised the writer as the person she had smiled at the previous day.
6 What is the writer’s main conclusion about her experience?
(A) The profound compassion of a local worker became the most valuable part of her trip.
(B) Getting violently ill is an inevitable risk of romanticising budget travel.
(C) You should always ensure you can speak the local language before travelling solo.
(D) Her mental state was much more difficult to recover from than her physical illness.
Answer Key & Explanations
1 A: The text states she spotted a stand “that locals were flocking to” and believed she had “discovered an authentic culinary gem”. Option A correctly paraphrases this. Distractor B uses exact words from earlier in the paragraph but refers to her general actions over the first few days, not why she chose that specific stand. Distractor C is a false match; she wasn’t recommended the stand, she spotted it herself. Distractor D is a partial truth; she felt thrilled with her adventurous spirit after the meal, but proving it wasn’t the reason she chose the stall.
2 B: The writer states, “If I had played it safe and stuck to a busy restaurant, I wouldn’t be suffering so intensely now,” indicating regret over her choice of dining location (Option B). Distractor A is unstated and irrelevant to her feelings about the onset of the illness. Distractor C uses exact wording from the text but describes a physical fact, not her retrospective attitude or opinion. Distractor D is too extreme; she regrets the vendor, not necessarily all seafood.
3 A: The writer says she was “convinced that I was going to be stuck in this indefinitely” directly after describing her vulnerability, isolation, and illness. “This” refers to her overall miserable predicament. Distractor B uses exact nearby words but it doesn’t make sense to be “stuck in a sleep indefinitely”. Distractor C is a partial truth (she is stuck in the room), but in context, “this” encapsulates the feverish, vulnerable state she is enduring. Distractor D refers to a detail in the following sentence.
4 A: The text states, “Even if I had possessed the strength to walk down the steep stairs, I wouldn’t have known what to say” due to her limited grasp of the language. Option A captures this ultimate barrier. Distractor B is true (there was no phone), but it wasn’t the final reason assistance was impossible—the language barrier was. Distractor C changes the meaning; the hotel didn’t “refuse”, they simply “didn’t offer” it as a budget location. Distractor D is a partial truth, but the text explicitly notes that her lack of language would have prevented help even if she could walk down the stairs.
5 A: The text notes that upon seeing the writer, she “immediately grasped the severity of the situation” and left “without uttering a single word.” Option A is a precise paraphrase. Distractor B contradicts the text by mentioning a “brief conversation.” Distractor C uses exact text words (“untouched bottle of water”) but adds “expressed concern”, which implies she spoke or communicated about the water, which she didn’t. Distractor D over-infers; the writer remembers smiling at the housekeeper, but there is no evidence the housekeeper recognised her from this.
6 A: In the final paragraph, the writer concludes that “the immense gratitude I felt towards that kind stranger remains my most cherished memory,” aligning perfectly with Option A. Distractor B is a detail from paragraph 4, not the final conclusion of the story. Distractor C is an over-inference and a false lesson; while language was an issue, the text’s conclusion is about human empathy transcending language. Distractor D creates a false comparison not found in the text; she says the kindness helped both, but never states the mental recovery was harder.