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 Signs Practice
Sign 1
Please pay at the machine before leaving the car park. You can’t pay at the exit barrier.
What does this sign suggest?
You should pay when you get home, as long as you paid on the same day.
You can pay at the machine at the exit barrier before leaving the car park.
You have to use the payment machine before you drive out because paying at the barrier is not possible.
Sign 2
Staff only beyond this door. Visitors must wait in reception until collected.
What does the text say?
Only staff have to wait in reception until they are collected.
Visitors must go beyond this door to be collected by staff at reception.
Visitors are not allowed to go past this door and should stay at reception until someone comes for them.
Sign 3
Caution: Wet floor after cleaning. Please use the side entrance until the area is dry.
What does this sign suggest?
You must clean the floor again if it is still wet.
You should avoid this area for now and go in through the side entrance because the floor may be slippery.
The side entrance is wet after cleaning, so you must wait until it is dry.
Sign 4
Swimming pool rule: Children under 14 must be with an adult at all times.
What does the text say?
If you are younger than 14, you have to stay with an adult the whole time in the pool area.
Adults must be under 14 to swim with children at all times.
Children under 14 can swim alone if they are good swimmers.
Sign 5
To borrow a laptop, you must show your student card and leave a €20 deposit.
What does this sign suggest?
You can only take a laptop if you present your student ID and pay a €20 deposit first.
You must show your student card to borrow €20 as a deposit for a laptop.
You are allowed to borrow a laptop without a deposit if you return it the same day.
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.