Reading - Signs & Notices
B1
Cambridge English B1 Exam
Look at the text of each sign. What does it suggest? Select the option that best captures the meaning of the sign.
Library Rules Signs
Sign 1
Please keep your voice low in the reading area. Phone calls must be taken outside the library.
What does this sign suggest?
Keep your voice low in the reading area, and phone calls must be taken inside the library.
You must leave the library if you want to talk to your friends.
You should speak quietly here, and you have to make calls outside.
Sign 2
Quiet zone: laptops are allowed, but please use headphones. No speaker sound is permitted.
What does the text say?
Quiet zone: laptops are allowed, and speaker sound is permitted if you use headphones.
You should turn off your laptop to keep the area quiet.
You can use a laptop here, but you must listen through headphones, not speakers.
Sign 3
Please do not move chairs or tables. Noise can disturb other library users.
What does this notice suggest?
You must leave the furniture where it is because it may bother other people.
Please do not move chairs or tables, so you can disturb other library users.
You are not allowed to sit at the tables unless you ask a librarian first.
Sign 4
Study rooms are for quiet work only. Group discussions should take place in the café area.
What does this sign suggest?
You must book the café area before you can discuss anything.
Study rooms are for quiet work only, so group discussions should take place in the study rooms.
You should work silently in study rooms, and talk in groups somewhere else.
Sign 5
Mobile phones must be on silent. If you need to answer, please step into the hallway.
What does the text say?
You have to keep your phone silent, and you should go outside the room to take a call.
You are not allowed to bring a mobile phone into the library at all.
Mobile phones must be on silent, so you need to answer your phone in the hallway.
About Reading Signs & Notices — Cambridge English B1
This Cambridge English B1 Reading Signs & Notices exercise shows short public messages — signs, labels, emails and notes. For each one, choose the option that best explains its meaning.
It tests your understanding of everyday English and the real purpose behind short, functional messages you meet in daily life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Reading Signs & Notices?
You read a short message such as a sign, label or note and choose the option that best explains what it means or wants you to do.
What does it test?
Understanding the purpose and meaning of short, real-world English messages.
Any tips for Signs & Notices?
Ask yourself who wrote the message and why — the correct option matches its real purpose, not just individual words in it.
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What to do
This part of the reading test consists of five images with messages. Each image has 3 possible answer options. What does the notice say?
Read the notices and messages first. Don’t look at the choices until you understand the texts.
Compare each option with the text before choosing your answer. Remember that the wrong, answers might seem to be correct at first, so it is important to read the chosen option again to check that the meanings match.
Strategy
- Read the text and decide what situation it could appear in.
- Look at the images, the design often suggests the correct answer.
- Read the three options.
- Compare each option with the text before choosing an answer.
- Read the chosen option again to be sure it is a right answer.