Hello,

Here are some reading tasks from a certification exam. 

Reading tasks

Comprensión-Escrita-Inglés-Básico-Junio-2016

Answer key 

Tarea 1 (Experts: Many female athletes aren’t eating enough)

1. F 3-4

2. F 6-7

3. T, 1O

4. F, 16-18

5. T, 19

 Tarea 2 (Dividing childcare and housework duties with your partner)

6F-7D-8A-9B

Tarea 3 (The best resort for the family)

10. busy- 11. hotels – 12. without – 13. help – 14. most – 15 for – 16. also – 17. at – 18. footpaths

Hello, 

Here is a reading test. 

Read the text about Visiting Ikea in Russia. Fill in the gaps with the words given. There is ONE WORD you do not need to use. (0) is an example.

a) journey  (EXAMPLE)
b) a big door
c) a car park
d) a room
e) a seat
f) chairs
g) coffee
h) flat
i) free
j) my sweatshirt
k) the building
l) very cold

VISITING IKEA IN RUSSIA 

Our (0)_JOURNEY_______ started in a minibus to the city of Moscow underground
station. It was not raining, but it was (1)________ and there was ice on the
street. In the open area behind the station we could see about 30 people
waiting for a bus to the IKEA shop. This particular bus is unusual for two
reasons – it is (2)________ and there is only one bus a day.
We got onto the bus and it drove over the bridge across the River Neva and
out of the city. We saw the big yellow letters IKEA on a blue background from
far away; they are on a sign that is higher than the trees. The same design is
on the side of (3)________, a very big blue box with (4)________ all around it.
We got out of the bus and walked along a special route to the entrance with a
roof over it. We went into the shop through (5)________ that turned like a
wheel. About ten people can walk inside one section of the wheel. IKEA shops
are very popular everywhere in the world, and they are made to serve very
large numbers of people.
Most places in Russia have (6)________ where you can leave your coat. On
this day there were too many people, so only children could leave their coats. I
had a heavy coat and they said that I should leave it in the room and carry only
(7)________. If you have a child aged 3 to 6 you can leave him or her in a
playroom (usually for two hours or just one hour on busy days). They give
parents a piece of paper with the time of collection because some of them
forget their children there! I don’t know what people with dogs do.
The first place we went was up the stairs to the café. Here everything is selfservice.

You take a tray and ask people to serve you food, for example
traditional Swedish meatballs. If you want (8)________, tea or a fizzy drink you
pay for a cup and afterwards you fill it from a machine. While you eat and drink
you can study the catalogue. They say that 160 million copies of the catalogue
are printed all round the world. When I lived in Spain, they delivered a copy to
each (9)________. People who want to buy a lot of things can take a big yellow
plastic bag to put the products in. There are also two different types of trolley.
The big one has (10)________ for a small child and a place to hang the big
yellow bag.

Answer key

1. very cold – 2. free – 3. the building – 4. chairs – 5. a big door – 6. a room – 7. my sweatshirt – 8. coffee – 9. flat – 10. a seat 

Hello, 

Here is a reading test. Click on the PDF to have access to it and the answer key. 

Reading Pubs in Derry

Hello, 

Here is a reading test. For each gap, choose the correct option (a, b or c). 

                                                              William Perkin

William Perkin was born in London in 1838. As a child he had many hobbies, including model
making and photography. But it was the (19) ………… of chemistry that really interested him. At
the age of 15, he went to college to study it.
While he was there, he was (20) ………… to make a medicine from coal. This didn’t go well, but
when he was working on the problem, he found a cheap (21) ………… to make the colour purple.
At that (22) ………… it was very expensive to make clothes in different colours. William knew he
could make a business out of his new colour. Helped by his father and brother, William
(23) ………… his own factory to make the colour. It sold well, and soon purple clothes
(24) ………… very popular in England and the rest of the world.

19 A class B subject C course

20 A thinking B trying C deciding

21 A way B path C plan

22 A day B time C hour

23 A brought B turned C opened

24 A began B arrived C became

Answer key: 19 > subject – 20 > trying – 21 > way – 22 > time – 23 > opened – 24 > became

Hello, 

Here is some listening and reading practice (5)

LISTENING PRACTICE 5

Click on the link below to have access to the activity, answer key and transcript. 

Muestra NB Listening 1, 2013 MOVING TO A NEW FLAT

READING PRACTICE 5 

Read the text about a famous art gallery. For questions
1–5, choose the correct word for each gap (a, b or c).
0 is the example.

The Uffizi Gallery

The gallery
The Uffizi, in the heart of Florence, is one of the world’s most famous art galleries. It contains 0 __ and sculptures by
some of Italy’s greatest artists including Michelangelo, Botticelli, Caravaggio, and Leonardo da Vinci. This incredible
building 1 __ designed by architect Giorgio Vasari in 1560. It has more than 45 halls and a secret corridor 2 __ runs
across the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge to the gardens of the Pitti Palace. It became a public art gallery in 1769.
Guided tours
With so many amazing artworks to see, a visit to the Uffizi could take several days. However, if you want to see 20–25 of
the world’s most famous paintings in a shorter time, guided tours are available. Tours with 3 __ experienced guide last
one and a half hours, and you are free to explore the gallery alone afterwards. The tours are available on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays and start at 12.30 p.m. and 1.00 p.m.
Opening times
The Uffizi is open Tuesday to Sunday between 8.15 a.m. and 6.50 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and holidays including 1
January, 1 May and 25 December.
Buying tickets
In the summertime, the gallery is very popular, and you may have to wait in line to 4 __ tickets. A faster and more
convenient way to buy tickets is online at www.florence-tickets.com. Check the website for ticket prices. Discount
tickets are available for young people, and EU teachers.
Facilities
The gallery has 5 __ facilities including a library, two gallery shops, a specialist art book shop, a post office and a café.

0 (EXAMPLE) 

a. paintings
b. objects
c. letters

1

a. were
b. is
c. was

2

a. what
b. which
c. who

3

a. the
b. an
c. a

4

a. buy
b. sell
c. have

5

a. a lot
b. plenty
c. many

Answer key 

1 c 2 b 3 b 4 a 5 c

Hello, 

Here is a reading activity. Read the text and choose the correct answer to each of the five questions. Click on the picture to have access to the text and questions. Answer key provided. 

Hello, 

Here is the reading we did in class: 

Read the texts about different jobs and match sentences A−G to paragraphs 1−5. There is one sentence you do not need. 0 is the example.

5    I often work a ten-hour shift, especially at peak times like Christmas and New Year. I don’t mind driving at night, in fact I like it. The city looks different at different times of the day, and I find that really interesting. I usually try to have a conversation with every customer I pick up. It makes the time pass more quickly.

Answer key

A – B 5 C 0 D 2 E 1 F 3 G 4

Hello, 

Here is some listening and reading practice (4)

LISTENING PRACTICE 4

Here is a video on London sightseeing. Watch the video and answer the questions. Answer key provided. 

READING PRACTICE 4

Read the text about a famous art gallery. For questions 1–5, choose the correct word for each gap (a, b or c). 0 is the example. 

The Uffizi Gallery

The gallery

The Uffizi, in the heart of Florence, is one of the world’s most famous art galleries. It contains 0 __ and sculptures by some of Italy’s greatest artists including Michelangelo, Botticelli, Caravaggio, and Leonardo da Vinci. This incredible building 1 __ designed by architect Giorgio Vasari in 1560. It has more than 45 halls and a secret corridor 2 __ runs across the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge to the gardens of the Pitti Palace. It became a public art gallery in 1769.

Guided tours

With so many amazing artworks to see, a visit to the Uffizi could take several days. However, if you want to see 20–25 of the world’s most famous paintings in a shorter time, guided tours are available. Tours with 3 __ experienced guide last one and a half hours, and you are free to explore the gallery alone afterwards. The tours are available on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and start at 12.30 p.m. and 1.00 p.m.

Opening times

The Uffizi is open Tuesday to Sunday between 8.15 a.m. and 6.50 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and holidays including 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

Buying tickets

In the summertime, the gallery is very popular, and you may have to wait in line to 4 __ tickets. A faster and more convenient way to buy tickets is online at www.florence-tickets.com. Check the website for ticket prices. Discount tickets are available for young people, and EU teachers.

Facilities

The gallery has 5 __ facilities including a library, two gallery shops, a specialist art book shop, a post office and a café.

0   Example

a    paintings   (correct answer)

b    objects

c    letters

1    

a    were

b    is

c    was

2   

a    what

b    which

c    who

3    

a    the

b    an

 c    a

4    

 a    buy

 b    sell

 c    have

5   

 a    a lot

 b    plenty

 c    many

Answer key

1 c 2 b 3 b 4 a 5 c

Hello,

 Here you have both the reading test and the listening test you took in February. 

READING (answer key provided) 

Comprensión Textos Escritos

LISTENING (answer key provided)

Comprensión Textos Orales

Pistas tarea 1 y 3

Pista tarea 2

Hello, 

Here is some reading and listening practice (3). 

LISTENING PRACTICE 3

A police inspector comes and speaks to the wife of a murder victim. Listen to the conversation and decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F): 

1. Mrs. Wilson arrived home at about six o’clock.
    True
    False

2. Mrs. Wilson thought the house was empty.
    True
    False

3. Mrs. Wilson doesn’t like her sister-in-law.
    True
    False

4. Mrs. Wilson’s husband name is Trevor.
    True
    False

5. Mrs. Wilson didn’t go into the bathroom.
    True
    False

6. Mrs. Wilson tried to wake her husband.
    True
    False

7. Mrs. Wilson waited a long time for the police to arrive.
    True
    False

READING PRACTICE 3 

Here are four people talking about eating out. After you read, answer each question with a paragraph number (1-4).

1.The last time I went to a restaurant was about 2 months ago. My wife and I wanted to celebrate our wedding anniversary with a good meal so we went to an expensive Italian restaurant in downtown Lisbon. We both had pasta to start and for the main course my wife ordered a steak and I chose fish. For dessert we both ate chocolate cake topped with fresh cream. Delicious!

2. I went to a restaurant yesterday evening with my sister’s children. It wasn’t very expensive and the menu was very limited. We all had a burger and French fries, and drank cola. It wasn’t very good.

3. My boyfriend loves spicy food so this restaurant was perfect. The waiters were all really friendly and polite, and they played traditional sitar music which was very relaxing. The menu offered vegetarian dishes as well as meat dishes served with rice and a sauce – it depended on how hot you wanted it! I chose a mild beef curry but my boyfriend had a lamb ‘vindaloo’ – he also drank 2 liters of water!!

4. My class at the university went there last weekend. It’s a very popular type of restaurant in my country. It generally offers one type of food (a kind of bread with cheese and tomato sauce) which you then choose what ingredients to add on top of it. I asked for olives and mushrooms on mine and my classmates each had something different so we could taste a piece of each person’s meal.

1. In which text did the person go there for a special occasion? 
2. In which text did the person visit an Indian restaurant? 
3. In which text did the person eat pizza? 
4. In which text did the person eat fast food? 
5. In which text did someone eat seafood? 
6. In which text did the person talk about the atmosphere of the restaurant? 
7. Which restaurant was cheap? 
8. In which text didn’t the person enjoy their meal? 
9. In which text did someone eat a very hot dish? 
10. In which text did the person have a vegetarian meal? 

Answer key 

Listening practice 3 

1f-2f-3t-4t-5f-6f-7f

Reading practice 3

1. 1 – 2. 3 – 3.4 – 4.2 – 5.1 – 6.3 – 7. 2 – 8.2 – 9.3 – 10.4