B1 Preliminary (PET) Reading – Practice Test 1 — Explanation

Welcome to this free Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) Reading practice test. It follows the real exam format exactly — the same six parts, the same question types and the same number of questions — so you always know what to expect on exam day. Every exercise gives you instant answers with short explanations, so you learn from your mistakes straight away.

The B1 Preliminary Reading paper lasts 45 minutes, has 32 questions and is worth 25% of your total mark. Work through the six exercises below in order, or jump straight to the part you want to practise.

What is the B1 Preliminary (PET) Reading exam?

B1 Preliminary is Cambridge English's intermediate-level exam. The Reading paper shows that you can read and understand everyday English: signs and messages, articles and reviews, factual texts and stories. You need to understand both the general idea of a text and its details, and to notice how a text fits together.

The six parts, one by one

• Part 1 (Questions 1–5) — Read five short texts such as messages, notices and signs. For each one, choose the option (A, B or C) that means the same thing.
• Part 2 (Questions 6–10) — Read about five people and eight short descriptions. Decide which description suits each person best. Three descriptions are not needed.
• Part 3 (Questions 11–15) — Read one longer text and answer five multiple-choice questions (A, B, C or D). These test detail, opinion, attitude and global meaning.
• Part 4 (Questions 16–20) — Five sentences have been removed from a text. Choose the sentence that fits each gap. Three sentences are extra.
• Part 5 (Questions 21–26) — Read a short factual text with six gaps and choose the correct word (A, B, C or D) for each one. This part tests vocabulary.
• Part 6 (Questions 27–32) — Read a short text with six gaps and write one word in each gap. The missing words are grammar words such as articles, pronouns, prepositions and auxiliaries.

How to get a good score

• Read the whole text first. Understand the general meaning before you look at the options.
• Beware of "distractors". Wrong options often repeat words from the text but change the meaning. Choose the option that is true, not the one that looks familiar.
• In Part 4, look at what comes before and after the gap. Linking words, pronouns and references such as this, they or however tell you which sentence fits.
• In Part 5, think about collocation — which word naturally goes with the words around it.
• In Part 6, ask what kind of word is missing: an article, a preposition, a pronoun, an auxiliary verb?
• Answer every question. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank.

Ready? Start with Part 1 below and work through all six exercises.