Textos en inglés B1 con ejercicios y soluciones

Texto de nivel B1 con preguntas de comprensión autocorregibles, vocabulario y descarga en PDF. Formato parecido al reading del PET.

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En B1 el reading deja de ir de entender palabras y empieza a ir de entender intenciones. El texto ya no te dice «Sara trabaja en una librería»: te lo insinúa, y tú tienes que deducirlo. Este texto está escrito con esa dificultad exacta, la del Cambridge B1 Preliminary.

Ponte ocho minutos de reloj. Es el tiempo real que tendrías en un examen para un texto de esta longitud.

The job nobody wanted

When Marta finished her degree, everyone told her the same thing: apply to the big companies, get a stable contract, and worry about being happy later. She sent thirty-two applications in two months. She got two interviews and no offers.

In March, almost by accident, she saw an advert for a small company that repaired old bicycles and sold them again. The salary was low and the office was a garage. Her friends thought she was joking when she said she had accepted.

What they did not understand was that the job gave her something the big companies never offered: she was the only person doing marketing, so within three weeks she was writing the website, taking the photographs and answering customers herself. She made a lot of mistakes, and nobody had time to hide them from her.

Four years later, two of her friends from university are still applying for their first proper job. Marta now runs the marketing for a company with forty employees. In interviews, she says, people never ask about her degree. They ask about the garage.

Comprensión

Ejercicio 1 · Comprensión lectora

Elige la opción correcta. En B1 casi ninguna respuesta está literal en el texto: hay que deducirla.

  1. What did people advise Marta to do?Start her own companyLook for job security firstTravel before workingLook for job security first — «get a stable contract, and worry about being happy later». Es una paráfrasis, no una cita.
  2. How successful was her job search at first?Very successfulQuite unsuccessfulShe did not really tryQuite unsuccessful — 32 solicitudes, 2 entrevistas, 0 ofertas. Los números están para que saques la conclusión tú.
  3. How did her friends react to her decision?They were surprisedThey were jealousThey supported herThey were surprised — «thought she was joking». En reading, una reacción como esta casi siempre significa sorpresa o incredulidad.
  4. Why was the small company good for her career?It paid better than expectedShe had to do everything herselfThe owner trained her wellShe had to do everything herself — «she was the only person doing marketing». La respuesta C es una trampa: el texto dice justo lo contrario, «nobody had time».
  5. What does «nobody had time to hide them from her» mean?She saw the consequences of her own mistakesHer colleagues were unkindShe had to work overtimeShe saw the consequences of her own mistakes — la frase suena negativa pero en el contexto es positiva: aprendió porque nadie le tapó los errores.
  6. What is the writer’s main point?Big companies are bad employersExperience can matter more than qualificationsYou should never take a low salaryExperience can matter more than qualifications — lo confirma la última línea: «They ask about the garage», no por la carrera. La A es demasiado extrema: en B1, las opciones con «never» o «always» suelen ser falsas.

Ejercicio 2 · Vocabulario en contexto

Completa con la palabra del texto.

  1. She sent thirty-two ___ in two months.applications — la solicitud. El verbo es to apply for a job (nunca «apply to a job»).
  2. The ___ was low and the office was a garage.salary — sueldo mensual o anual. El sueldo por horas es wage.
  3. An ___ for a small company that repaired bicycles.advert (UK), advertisement formal, ad informal. Las tres son correctas.
  4. Marta now ___ the marketing for a company with forty employees.runs — to run a department = dirigirlo. No es «correr»: es uno de los verbos más polisémicos del inglés.
  5. Two friends are still applying for their first ___ job.proper — «de verdad», serio. Muy británico y muy frecuente en B1.

La estrategia que marca la diferencia

En B1 hay un patrón que se repite en casi todos los exámenes: la opción que copia palabras del texto suele ser la incorrecta. Los examinadores lo hacen a propósito. La respuesta buena está reformulada con sinónimos, porque lo que miden es si entiendes la idea, no si reconoces la palabra.

Prueba a hacerlo al revés la próxima vez: lee las preguntas primero, subraya el verbo de cada una, y luego busca en el texto la idea, no la palabra.

¿Vas bien? Salta a los textos B2, o mira las estrategias de reading completas.

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