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B1 Preliminary Reading Part 1: signs and notices

B1Reading40 questionsUpdated

B1 Preliminary Reading Part 1 gives you very short texts — a sign on a door, a label, a note left on a kitchen table, a message on a phone — and asks what each one means. The trap is never the vocabulary; it is that one option repeats words from the text without repeating the message.

What this task tests

  • Whether you can take the main point from a text of one or two sentences.
  • Your control of the compressed grammar of public notices: imperatives, passives and missing verbs.
  • Whether you can tell the writer apart from the reader — who must do what, and who is being told.
  • Recognition of everyday functions: warning, permission, prohibition, instruction, apology.
  • Whether you resist an option that copies words from the text but changes the meaning.
  • Understanding of small function words that carry the whole message: only, except, until, unless, before.
  • Whether you can read a time or a condition accurately when it is buried in one line.
  • Recognition of politeness formulas — ‘customers are kindly asked’, ‘we regret that’ — and what they really require.
  • Speed: whether you can finish very short items quickly enough to protect the later parts.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Read the text before the options

    Cover the three or four options and read the short text twice. Say the message to yourself in your own words — ‘the shop opens again this afternoon’ — before you look at anything else.

  2. Step 2:

    Ask who it is for

    Decide who wrote it and who has to act. A notice from staff to customers and a note from one flatmate to another behave differently, and half the wrong options confuse the two.

  3. Step 3:

    Test each option against your own sentence

    Compare each option with the sentence you made, not with the original text. An option that matches the text word for word but not your sentence is the distractor.

  4. Step 4:

    Watch the one word that changes everything

    ‘Only’, ‘except’, ‘before’, ‘until’ and ‘unless’ carry the whole meaning of a short notice. Reread the text looking just for those words before you commit.

  5. Step 5:

    Move on fast

    These items are worth the same as the long-text questions but take a fifth of the time. Give each one under a minute and bank the time for Parts 3 and 4.

  6. Step 6:

    Decide what kind of message it is

    Name the function before you choose: is it forbidding something, giving permission, apologising, or giving an instruction? Two options often belong to the wrong function entirely, and naming it removes them.

  7. Step 7:

    Expand the missing words

    Notices drop words. Read ‘Staff only beyond this point’ as ‘Only members of staff may go past here’. The full sentence exposes which option is really saying the same thing.

  8. Step 8:

    Look for the condition

    If the text contains an ‘if’, a ‘when’ or an ‘unless’, the answer will almost certainly depend on it. Underline the condition and check which option repeats it rather than ignoring it.

  9. Step 9:

    Eliminate before choosing

    Cross out the two options you can prove wrong. Choosing between the two that remain is a far better bet than picking from four, and it makes an unavoidable guess much stronger.

  10. Step 10:

    Trust your first reading

    If you have reread a short text three times and still see two answers, take the one that matched your first paraphrase. Rereading short texts produces doubt, not information.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisThe sign says ‘No food beyond this point’, so we must eat quickly.

    ThisThe sign says ‘No food beyond this point’, so we must finish eating here.

    ‘Beyond this point’ is about place, not speed. Candidates read the prohibition but attach it to the wrong idea.

  • Not thisPlease to keep the door closed.

    ThisPlease keep the door closed.

    Notices use the bare imperative after ‘please’. The infinitive with ‘to’ only appears after a verb like ‘asked’ — ‘Visitors are asked to keep the door closed’.

  • Not thisThe café will be close on Monday.

    ThisThe café will be closed on Monday.

    ‘Closed’ here is an adjective describing the state. ‘Close’ would be the action, and after ‘will be’ it is wrong.

  • Not thisI choose option B because it has the same words as the text.

    ThisI choose the option that says the same thing in different words.

    Repeated vocabulary is the commonest signal of a distractor in Part 1, not a signal of the answer.

  • Not thisThe notice says the pool opens at 8 except at weekends, so it opens at 8 on Sunday.

    This‘Except at weekends’ means Sunday is different, so 8 o’clock does not apply.

    ‘Except’ reverses the rule for the cases it names, and candidates read past it because it is one short word.

  • Not thisVisitors must to sign in at reception.

    ThisVisitors must sign in at reception.

    Modal verbs are followed by the bare infinitive. ‘Must to’ is one of the commonest written errors at B1 and appears in notice language constantly.

  • Not thisThe sign says ‘No entry’, so I can’t to go in.

    ThisThe sign says ‘No entry’, so I can’t go in.

    Same rule as ‘must’: after can, could, should and must the verb has no ‘to’.

  • Not thisWe are sorry for the inconvenient.

    ThisWe are sorry for the inconvenience.

    ‘Inconvenient’ is the adjective; the noun after ‘for the’ is ‘inconvenience’. Public apologies use the noun.

Language this task keeps reusing

out of order
Broken, not working — used on machines, lifts and toilets.
in advance
Before the time something happens: ‘Book in advance.’
be due to
Be expected or scheduled: ‘The train is due to arrive at 6.’
temporarily
For a short time only, not permanently.
refund
Money given back when you return something or a service fails.
queue
A line of people waiting; also the verb ‘to queue’.
available
Ready to be used, bought or booked.
apologise for
Say sorry for something: ‘We apologise for the delay.’
remind
Tell someone again about something they should not forget.
unattended
Left alone, with nobody looking after it.
further notice
Until we say something different: ‘Closed until further notice.’
inconvenience
Trouble or difficulty caused to other people; the noun used in apologies.
proceed to
Go to — formal, used in airports and stations.
permitted
Allowed: ‘Photography is not permitted.’
collect
Go and get something that is being kept for you.
charge
Ask someone to pay an amount; also the amount itself.

Practice: signs and notices

40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.

A sign on a shop door says: CLOSED FOR STAFF TRAINING. WE REOPEN AT 2 PM TODAY. What does the sign tell customers?

2Complete the notice with one word.

This lift is out of. Please use the stairs.

3Complete the notice with one word.

Tickets must be bought in; you cannot pay at the door.
A note on the kitchen table says: Ben — I’ve taken your bike because mine has a flat tyre. Back by six. Sorry! Anna. What has Anna done?
Decide whether each statement about Reading Part 1 is true or false.
  • The texts are short, so the question is usually about the whole message.
  • The safest option is the one that repeats the most words from the text.
  • Signs often leave out verbs entirely, as in ‘No parking’ or ‘Staff only’.
3 to go

6Complete with a verb meaning ‘told again’, in the passive.

Passengers areto keep their tickets until the end of the journey.
A label on a jacket says: DO NOT WASH. DRY CLEAN ONLY. What must the owner do?

8A notice in a college library says: Laptops borrowed from this room must be returned to the front desk by 5 pm. Write one sentence explaining what a student has to do.

9Complete the announcement with one verb (British spelling).

Wefor the delay to the 9:15 service to Bristol.
A message says: Hi Sam — football’s off, the pitch is flooded. Coach says Sunday instead. Don’t come to the park. What should Sam do?

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Frequently asked questions

How long should Part 1 take?

Around five minutes in total. Each text is one or two sentences, so if you are still rereading after a minute, choose the option that matches the message you first understood and move on.

Why do two options often look right?

One of them usually copies vocabulary from the text while changing a small word — a time, a place, or who has to act. Compare each option with your own paraphrase, not with the original wording.

Do I need to understand every word of the sign?

No. Public notices repeat a small set of expressions, so learning twenty of them — out of order, in advance, unattended, refund, temporarily — covers most of what appears.

Where do I find texts like these to practise with?

Everywhere you go. Photograph signs in stations, hotels and shops, and rewrite each one as a full sentence. That rewriting habit is the exact skill the task rewards.

Why do the texts sound so formal?

Public notices use passives and formal verbs — are requested, is not permitted, will be removed — because they address everyone rather than one person. Learn the handful of formulas and the formality stops being a barrier.

Do personal messages work the same way as signs?

Almost. The difference is that a message has a named reader with something to do, so ask what the reader must now change about their plans. That question answers most message items directly.