telc B1 Lesen: Teil 1, 2 and 3 Explained

Lesen Teil 1: Globalverstehen (tasks 1 to 5)

You get five short texts, usually news items or notices of 60 to 90 words, and ten headings marked a to j. For each text you choose the one heading that fits. Each heading can be used only once, so five headings stay unused. Every correct answer is worth 5 points.

This part tests whether you understand the main idea. You do not need every word. The wrong headings are written to look right: they repeat a word from the text but say something different about it.

• Read the ten headings first and underline the key word in each.
• Read text 1 quickly and ask: what is this text about, in one sentence?
• Pick the heading that says the same thing in other words. A heading that copies one word from the text is often the trap.
• Cross out each heading you have used. The last texts get easier.
• If two headings seem to fit, look for the detail that makes one of them false, for example geschlossen against geöffnet.

Lesen Teil 2: Detailverstehen (tasks 6 to 10)

One longer text of roughly 300 to 400 words, followed by five questions with three choices each (a, b or c). Each correct answer is worth 5 points. The questions follow the order of the text, so the answer to task 7 comes after the answer to task 6.

• Read the five questions before the text, without the choices. Now you know what to look for.
• Find the paragraph for each question and read that part slowly.
• The correct choice rarely uses the same words as the text. Look for the same meaning: kostenlos in the question, man muss nichts bezahlen in the text.
• Watch small words that change the meaning: nur, nicht mehr, erst, früher, inzwischen.
• A choice can be true in real life and still be wrong, because the text does not say it.

Lesen Teil 3: Selektives Verstehen (tasks 11 to 20)

Ten situations describe what a person needs or is looking for. Twelve adverts, marked a to l, offer courses, services, jobs or flats. You match each situation to one advert. Each advert can be used only once. For some situations there is no suitable advert, and then you mark x. Each correct answer is worth 2.5 points.

• Underline two things in every situation: what the person wants, and the condition (when, how much, for whom).
• Scan the adverts for the topic first, then check the condition. An evening course does not help someone who works at night.
• Do the easy matches first and cross out those adverts.
• If nothing fits after a careful look, choose x and move on. Do not force a match.
• This part is fast reading. Do not read the adverts word by word from a to l for every situation.

A time plan for the 90 minutes

telc gives one block of 90 minutes for Lesen and Sprachbausteine and does not tell you how to divide it. This is the plan we use with our students. Adjust it after your first timed practice.

Common mistakes in telc B1 Lesen

• Choosing a heading because it shares one word with the text.
• Answering Teil 2 from general knowledge and not from the text.
• Using the same advert twice in Teil 3.
• Never choosing x in Teil 3, although some situations have no advert.
• Running out of time and leaving the answer sheet half empty. An empty answer scores zero, so mark something for every task.