B1 Preliminary (PET) Reading Test 2 – Part 4

Five sentences are missing from an article about a neighbourhood book-swap library. Choose the right sentence for each gap and learn how pronouns and linking words connect a text.

Questions 16–20Gapped text (A–H)5 marks

Five sentences have been removed from the text below. For each question, choose the correct answer (A–H). There are three extra sentences which you do not need to use.

The little library on Elm Street

Two years ago, my neighbour Mrs Kaplan had an idea. She noticed that lots of people in our street had shelves full of books they had already read. 16 So she asked her son to build a small wooden cupboard with a glass door, and she put it on a post outside her house.

The rules were simple: you could take any book you liked, and you could leave a book for someone else. 17 Within a week, however, it was full, and Mrs Kaplan had to ask her son to add a second shelf.

Soon the little library became much more than a place to swap books. People started stopping to chat while they looked at the shelves. 18 I’d lived in the street for six years, but I had never spoken to most of my neighbours before.

Children love it too. Mrs Kaplan keeps the bottom shelf for picture books so that the youngest readers can reach them easily. 19 Some of them have even left drawings inside the books for the next reader to find.

Last month, the local newspaper wrote an article about the library, and now two other streets in our town have built their own. 20 She says she just wanted to give her old books a new home.

Sentences

AShe thought it was a shame that nobody else could enjoy them.
BThe library is open every day from nine until six.
CEvery Saturday morning, a group of them sit on the wall outside and read together.
DMrs Kaplan is surprised by all the attention.
EMany of them were written by local authors.
FAt first, only a few people used it.
GThe article included a photo of the shelves.
HThat’s how I got to know many of the people who live near me.

Explanations

16Question 16

A. them refers to the books people had already read, and A gives the reason for her idea: the next sentence starts with So, which shows a result. E also talks about the books, but it gives no reason for building the cupboard.

17Question 17

F. The next sentence says Within a week, however, it was full. However shows a contrast with something before it: at first only a few people used it. B is wrong: the library is a cupboard outside a house, not a building with opening hours.

18Question 18

H. The writer has just said that people started to chat at the shelves, and the next sentence explains that before this, the writer had never spoken to most of the neighbours. H says how that changed.

19Question 19

C. them refers to the youngest readers in the sentence before, and Some of them in the next sentence continues talking about the same group of children.

20Question 20

D. The next sentence starts with She says, so the gap must mention Mrs Kaplan. D mentions her, and She says she just wanted… follows naturally from her surprise at all the attention. G is about the newspaper article, so after it She says would not refer to anyone.

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About Reading Part 4

In Part 4 you read a text with five sentences removed and choose the missing sentence for each gap from eight options. Three sentences are not used. There is one mark for each correct answer. Source: Cambridge English – B1 Preliminary exam format.

Read the sentences before and after each gap.
Pronouns (it, them, she) and linking words (however, so) are your best clues.
When you finish, read the whole text again to check that it makes sense.