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.
Mixed Public Signs
Sign 1
Staff must wear name badges at all times in the shop. Ask your manager if you lost yours.
What does this sign suggest?
Staff can wear name badges at all times in the shop if they ask the manager first.
Customers must wear name badges in the shop, and they should ask the manager for one.
Workers are required to keep their ID badge on while working, and should tell a manager if it is missing.
Sign 2
Wet floor near the entrance. Please use the side door until the area is dry.
What does the text say?
Because the entrance floor is slippery, you should go in through another door for now.
Please use the side door because the entrance will be wet every day.
You must wait outside until the entrance is completely dry.
Sign 3
You may bring your own food into the park, but you must take all rubbish home with you.
What does this sign suggest?
You are allowed to eat your own food here, as long as you remove your litter when you leave.
You may bring your own rubbish into the park, but you must take your food home.
You can bring your own food only if you buy a drink from the park café.
Sign 4
No cycling on this path between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Use the main road instead.
What does this notice say?
During the daytime, bicycles are not permitted here and riders should choose another route.
No cycling on this path after 5 p.m. and before 9 a.m.
Cyclists should slow down on this path because it is busy during the day.
Sign 5
To save energy, please switch off classroom lights and computers before you leave.
What does the sign suggest?
To save energy, you can leave the lights on but switch off the computers.
Before leaving the room, you should turn off the lights and PCs.
Students must not enter the classroom unless the lights are switched off.
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.