Read, listen and fill gaps the way the B1 exam asks: strategies with original practice texts

Two ways of reading

In your own language you already read in different ways without thinking about it. You read a message from a friend to the end, but you look down a timetable only for your train. In a German exam many learners lose this habit. They start at the first word, try to understand every sentence, stop at each unknown word, and run out of time. The fix is to decide how to read before you start, and the task decides that for you. If it asks which heading fits a text, or what the writer wants, you need global reading: a quick first pass for the main idea. Ask yourself four short questions while you read: Wer schreibt? An wen? Warum? Worum geht es? Look at what gives the most information for the least effort: the heading or subject line if there is one, the greeting (Liebe Nachbarn tells you a lot), the first sentence and the last sentence, and any names, places, days and times. Unknown words in the middle can usually wait. If a sentence such as Wir holen die Stunde am Samstag nach contains one word you do not know, the rest of the text often makes the idea clear: a lesson that did not happen is happening on Saturday instead. Only when the task asks for one fact, such as a time, a price or a condition, do you switch to detailed reading of the sentence that carries it. That is the next section.

Matching headings

A heading is a very short summary. It rarely uses the same words as the text, because then the task would test spotting, not understanding. So the right heading usually says the main idea in other words: the text says ältere Menschen and the heading says Senioren; the text says die Straße wird erneuert and the heading says Bauarbeiten. The wrong headings are built from the text too, in three typical ways. Some repeat a word that appears in the text but say something the text does not say (the text mentions a bus stop, the heading announces a new bus stop). Some name only a detail: true, but not what the whole text is about. Some go too far: the text says a road is closed until May, the heading says it is closed for ever. Work like this: read all the headings once, so you know what is on offer. Then read the first text globally and say its main idea to yourself in a few German words, before you look at the headings again. Now find the heading that says the same thing. Check it against the whole text, not just one sentence, and cross it off. If two headings seem to fit, ask which one covers the whole text and which covers only part of it. If a task has more headings than texts, some headings are left over on purpose; a heading that fits nothing is not a sign that you have made a mistake.

Keywords and paraphrases

For detailed reading you start with the statement or question, not the text. Read it slowly and mark the words that carry its meaning: the person (Arjun or his brother?), the action, the time or place, and every small word that limits it, such as nur, alle, immer, nicht, noch, schon, erst. Then go to the text and look for the place where the same topic comes up. Names, days, times and numbers are easy to find, so use them as signposts. Now comes the important step. The text will rarely use the words of the statement. Exam writers rephrase on purpose, because recognising the same idea in different words is exactly the skill being tested. So the statement says Der Kurs findet nicht statt and the text says Der Kurs fällt aus; the statement says Man muss nichts bezahlen and the text says Der Eintritt ist kostenlos; the statement says bis Mittwoch sagen and the text says bis Mittwoch Bescheid geben. A paraphrase can also change the grammar: a verb becomes a noun (sich anmelden, die Anmeldung), an active sentence becomes a passive one (Wir reparieren die Straße, die Straße wird repariert), or a negative becomes a positive (nicht vor neun Uhr, erst ab neun Uhr). When you have found the sentence, read it word by word, with the sentences before and after it. Small words matter here more than anywhere else: Warme Gerichte gibt es erst ab Mittwoch means there are none on Monday or Tuesday.

Distractors: answers built to look right

The wrong options in a reading task are called Distraktoren, things that distract you. They are not random. Each one is built from the text so that a quick reader will choose it, and most follow a few patterns. Learn the patterns and you can rule options out instead of guessing. The word is there, the meaning is not: the option repeats a word from the text but says the opposite, often because of nicht, kein or nicht mehr. The limit is changed: the text says die meisten and the option says alle; the text says manchmal and the option says immer; the text says auch Anfänger and the option says nur Anfänger. The time is changed: the text says erst ab Mittwoch, the option says ab Montag; or something that used to be true is presented as true now. The person is changed: the text says the writer's brother works in Hamburg, the option says the writer does. True, but not the answer: the option is correct according to the text, but it answers a different question. Two more rules keep you safe. First, the text is the only judge. If an option sounds sensible but the text does not say it, it is wrong in this task. Second, words such as immer, nie, alle and nur are often a sign of a distractor, but not always: sometimes the text really says nur. So do not reject an option because of one word; check that word against the text. If you have ruled out all options but one, you have your answer, and you have a reason for it.

Before the audio starts

Much of the listening work is done before the first word. Use every second you are given to read. Read the instruction, because it tells you how often you will hear each text and what kind of text it is. Read the question and underline its question word: wann, wo, wohin, warum, was soll …? That tells you what to listen for, so you are not trying to catch everything. Then read every option and notice how they differ. If the options are um 10 Uhr, um halb zwölf and um 12 Uhr, you know you are listening for a time, and you know which times to expect. If they are am Kino, beim Training and zu Hause, you are listening for a place. Now imagine the situation. An announcement at a station will contain a train, a destination, a platform and probably a change. A message on an answering machine starts with who is calling and often ends with a request: Ruf mich bitte zurück. A short radio item gives a place and a time. With that picture in your head, the words arrive more slowly, because you are expecting them. While you listen, keep your eyes on the options and mark the one you think is right, but be ready to change it. After the text, choose quickly and move on to reading the next question. If you missed something, choose the most likely option and let it go: a guess has a chance, an empty answer has none.

Signal words and the typical traps

Listening texts in an exam are built around a change. Somebody plans one thing and then does another; a train was due on one platform and now leaves from another; a time is suggested and then corrected. That is why most of the wrong options are actually spoken in the audio: you hear um zehn, but ten o'clock is the time that was cancelled. Your protection is the signal words that announce a change. aber, leider, allerdings and doch say that what follows goes against what came before. nicht …, sondern is the clearest: the information after sondern is the right one. eigentlich at B1 often means "the plan was …" and warns you that the plan will not happen: Eigentlich wollten wir am Samstag grillen, aber … stattdessen and lieber bring the new plan. A speaker who corrects himself says Moment, Ach nein, Ich meine or besser gesagt, and the second version counts. Time words change the meaning too: erst means later than expected (erst um elf), schon earlier than expected, nicht mehr no longer. So do not mark an option the moment you hear its words. Listen to the end of the sentence, and in a short text to the end of the text, then decide. Two other traps are common. A number can be close to another (fünfzehn and fünfzig, Gleis 3 and Gleis 13), so listen to the whole number. And the question can ask about one person while two people speak: who is going to do what?

Solution: Donnerstag um 15 Uhr. All three days are spoken. Dienstag is the appointment that is moved (leider verschieben). stattdessen brings two new options, and allerdings turns against Mittwoch. Donnerstag wäre besser is the recommendation. Someone who marked Dienstag at the first time they heard, or Mittwoch because it came first after stattdessen, fell into the trap the text was built around.

Solution: get off at the Hauptbahnhof and take the bus at the north exit. The announcement repeats the important part with nicht …, sondern, which is common in station announcements. Ausgang Süd is spoken, but only as the wrong place.

Practising without the exam audio. Read each transcript in this unit once, at the speed of speech, without going back, then answer. For real listening, use Qaiser's recorded classes, German radio news, and the official practice material from telc and the Goethe-Institut. With any recording, read the questions first, listen once without stopping, and only then check the transcript if there is one.

Let the word order choose the connector

Gap texts look like vocabulary tests, but most of their gaps test grammar you already know from B1. telc has a separate part of this kind called Sprachbausteine; the exam page shows how each exam is built. Whichever exam you take, the same choices decide whether your own emails are correct, so this revision pays twice. The first rule for any gap is simple: read the whole sentence, including the part after the gap, before you look at the options. With connectors the answer is very often in the position of the verb after the gap. German has three groups. The first group starts a Nebensatz and sends the conjugated verb to the end: weil, da, dass, ob, obwohl, wenn, als, damit, bevor, nachdem, während, and the W-words in indirect questions (wann, wo, warum). The second group joins two main clauses and changes nothing; after it comes a normal main clause, usually with the subject first and the verb in position 2: und, aber, oder, denn, sondern. The third group are adverbs that take position 1 themselves, so the verb comes straight after them and the subject follows: deshalb, deswegen, trotzdem, dann, danach, außerdem, sonst. So when you see …, ___ ich arbeiten muss, the verb is at the end and only the first group is possible. When you see …, ___ ich muss arbeiten, you need denn or another word from the second group. When you see …, ___ muss ich arbeiten, only the third group fits. That removes most options before you even think about meaning. Then check the meaning: weil and denn give a reason, deshalb a result, obwohl and trotzdem a contrast, ob an open yes or no question, als for a single event or a period in the past (Als ich in Lahore wohnte), wenn something repeated or in the future.

Relative pronouns in a gap

A gap straight after a comma and a noun is often a relative pronoun: Die Kollegin, ___ ich die Unterlagen geschickt habe, … Here you need the two questions from B1 unit 4. First, which noun does the pronoun point back to? Die Kollegin: feminine, singular. Second, what job does the pronoun do in its own clause? Rebuild that clause as a normal sentence: Ich habe ihr die Unterlagen geschickt. ihr is a Dativ, the person who receives something, so the relative pronoun is the Dativ feminine: der. Exam writers like this gap because the noun is feminine and the answer looks masculine. The Akkusativ is already taken by die Unterlagen, so die cannot be right. The same method works for every case: der Mann, der mir geholfen hat (Nominativ, he helped); der Mann, den ich kenne (Akkusativ); die Leute, denen ich schreibe (Dativ plural, with -en); die Firma, deren Produkte wir testen (Genitiv, whose); die Firma, bei der ich arbeite (preposition first, then the pronoun in the case the preposition needs). Look also at the end of the clause: the conjugated verb must be there. If the clause after the gap has its conjugated verb in position 2 rather than at the end, it is not a relative clause at all, and the gap probably wants a connector or an article.

• Ich komme heute später, weil mein Zug Verspätung hat.

  I am coming later today because my train is delayed.

  میں آج دیر سے آؤں گا کیونکہ میری ٹرین لیٹ ہے۔

  Verb at the end: only the Nebensatz group fits.

• Ich komme heute später, denn mein Zug hat Verspätung.

  I am coming later today, for my train is delayed.

  میں آج دیر سے آؤں گا، کیونکہ میری ٹرین لیٹ ہے۔

  Same meaning, normal order: denn.

• Mein Zug hat Verspätung, deshalb komme ich später.

  My train is delayed, so I am coming later.

  میری ٹرین لیٹ ہے، اس لیے میں دیر سے آؤں گا۔

  Verb straight after the gap: deshalb, and the meaning is a result.

• Ich war sehr müde. Trotzdem habe ich noch eine Stunde gelernt.

  I was very tired. I still studied for another hour.

  میں بہت تھکا ہوا تھا۔ پھر بھی میں نے ایک گھنٹہ اور پڑھا۔

• Obwohl ich sehr müde war, habe ich noch eine Stunde gelernt.

  Although I was very tired, I studied for another hour.

  اگرچہ میں بہت تھکا ہوا تھا، میں نے ایک گھنٹہ اور پڑھا۔

• Können Sie mir sagen, ob der Kurs morgen stattfindet?

  Can you tell me whether the class is taking place tomorrow?

  کیا آپ مجھے بتا سکتے ہیں کہ کل کلاس ہوگی یا نہیں؟

  A yes-or-no question inside a sentence: ob.

• Als ich in Lahore wohnte, bin ich jeden Tag mit dem Bus gefahren.

  When I lived in Lahore, I went by bus every day.

  جب میں لاہور میں رہتا تھا تو روز بس سے جاتا تھا۔

  One period in the past: als.

• Das ist die Kollegin, der ich bei der Bewerbung geholfen habe.

  That is the colleague I helped with the application.

  یہ وہ ساتھی ہیں جن کی میں نے درخواست میں مدد کی۔

  helfen + Dativ, feminine: der.

Prepositions and article endings

Many gaps ask for an article or an ending, and the answer comes from two neighbours. On the right is the noun: what is its gender, and is it singular or plural? On the left is whatever sets the case, usually a preposition, sometimes the verb. So in Seit ___ Woche lerne ich jeden Tag, the noun is die Woche (feminine), seit always takes the Dativ, and the Dativ feminine of ein is einer. Learn the fixed groups as you learnt them in A1 and A2. aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu always take the Dativ; durch, für, gegen, ohne, um always take the Akkusativ. The nine Wechselpräpositionen an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen take the Dativ for a place (Wo?) and the Akkusativ for a direction (Wohin?). A gap text often tests them with a pair of verbs: the parcel steht vor der Tür (where it is), but the delivery man stellt it vor die Tür (where he puts it). In written German wegen, trotz and während take the Genitiv: wegen des Streiks, während der Arbeitszeit. You will hear the Dativ after them in speech, but written exam German expects the Genitiv. Watch the contractions too: zum (zu dem), zur (zu der), beim, vom, im, am, ins. A gap before Arzt in Ich muss morgen ___ Arzt wants zum, because zu needs the Dativ and der Arzt is masculine. If an option has the right preposition but the wrong ending, it is still wrong; check both halves.

Reflexive pronouns and verbs with prepositions

A gap between a verb and the rest of the sentence is often a reflexive pronoun. First, is the verb reflexive at all? sich vorstellen, sich anmelden, sich beeilen, sich freuen, sich interessieren, sich erinnern, sich beschweren and sich bewerben are, and gap texts love them because the pronoun is easy to forget. Then choose the form. For er, sie, es, Sie and plural sie it is always sich. For ich and du there are two forms. If the sentence has no other Akkusativ object, the reflexive pronoun is the Akkusativ: Ich stelle mich vor (I introduce myself). If there is another Akkusativ object, the reflexive pronoun moves to the Dativ: Ich stelle mir die Arbeit in Deutschland interessant vor (I imagine the work to be interesting); Ich wasche mir die Hände. With wir and ihr the two forms are the same: uns, euch. A phrase or a zu-infinitive can also take the object's place: Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, in Köln zu arbeiten. The last type of gap is the preposition that belongs to a verb, adjective or noun. These pairs cannot be worked out by logic; they are learnt as units: warten auf, sich freuen auf (something coming) and sich freuen über (something here or past), sich interessieren für, teilnehmen an, sich erinnern an, sich bewerben um (a job) and bei (a company), Angst haben vor, zufrieden sein mit. The preposition then decides the case of what follows: auf den Bus, an dem Kurs (am Kurs). When the thing is a whole clause, you meet the da-word: Ich freue mich darauf, dich zu sehen. In a question it becomes a wo-word: Worauf wartest du?

• Seit einem Monat wohne ich in Köln.

  I have been living in Cologne for a month.

  میں ایک مہینے سے کولون میں رہ رہا ہوں۔

  seit + Dativ, der Monat: einem.

• Ich muss morgen zum Arzt.

  I have to go to the doctor tomorrow.

  مجھے کل ڈاکٹر کے پاس جانا ہے۔

  zu + dem = zum.

• Das Paket steht vor der Tür. Der Bote hat es vor die Tür gestellt.

  The parcel is outside the door. The courier put it outside the door.

  پارسل دروازے کے باہر رکھا ہے۔ ڈلیوری والے نے اسے دروازے کے باہر رکھ دیا۔

  stehen: Wo? Dativ. stellen: Wohin? Akkusativ.

• Wegen des Streiks fuhr am Montag kein Bus.

  Because of the strike there were no buses on Monday.

  ہڑتال کی وجہ سے پیر کو کوئی بس نہیں چلی۔

• Wir müssen uns beeilen. Der Kurs fängt gleich an.

  We have to hurry, the class is about to start.

  ہمیں جلدی کرنی ہے، کلاس بس شروع ہونے والی ہے۔

• Ich wasche mir vor dem Essen die Hände.

  I wash my hands before eating.

  میں کھانے سے پہلے ہاتھ دھوتا ہوں۔

  die Hände is the Akkusativ object, so mir.

• Ich interessiere mich für Technik und warte auf eine Antwort von der Firma.

  I am interested in technology and am waiting for an answer from the company.

  مجھے ٹیکنالوجی میں دلچسپی ہے اور میں کمپنی کے جواب کا انتظار کر رہا ہوں۔

• Danke für das Geschenk, ich habe mich sehr darüber gefreut.

  Thank you for the present, I was very pleased with it.

  تحفے کا شکریہ، مجھے اس سے بہت خوشی ہوئی۔

  sich freuen über + something already here: darüber.