Lessons from a School Exchange
About this practice test
Read a personal account of Maya’s two-week school exchange in Spain, including her arrival, school routines, classroom experiences, travel problem, and growing confidence.
What you’ll practice
Finding detail
Locate specific information and evidence.
Interpreting ideas
Connect main points and inferences.
Evaluating arguments
Assess claims, evidence, and limitations.
What to expect:
2 questions with explanations to review after submission.
Study the questions and tasks
Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.
- Practice level
- B1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.
- Question formats
- Cloze (text)
How to approach this practice
Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.
Lessons from a School Exchange
On the first Monday of her exchange, Maya left Bristol before sunrise and arrived at Oakridge School in northern Spain with a notebook, two phone chargers, and a stomach full of nerves. She had studied Spanish for four years, but she still worried about speaking Spanish in front of strangers. Her host family greeted her with coffee and toast, and her host sister Ana showed her the bus stop, the kitchen rules, and the keys she would need after school. Maya noticed that the school day felt very different from home. Lessons began at eight o'clock, the morning was broken by a short break, and there was a long lunch in the middle of the day. She also saw that the classes were smaller, which made every student seem more visible. In science, the teacher asked the class to solve problems in small groups rather than wait for long explanations. At first Maya was silent, because she did not want to make mistakes, but the other students kept inviting her to join in. They listened carefully, corrected each other politely, and wrote ideas on the board. Maya realised that the exchange was not a holiday. She had homework every night, and on wet days she had to catch a bus back to Ana's house because the school was too far to walk. One afternoon she missed the bus after staying behind to finish a project, and that mistake taught her to check the timetable before the final bell. By the end of the two weeks, Maya was more confident. She joined a local football club, practised Spanish on the way home, and stopped worrying so much about perfect grammar. The exchange did not change her into a different person, but it did change what she expected from school. She learned that being a good visitor means being curious, polite, and ready to ask for help. When she returned to Bristol, she brought back better language skills, a longer list of friends, and a new respect for different school routines.
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Question 1 · Cloze (text)
Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each gap. Complete the summary below. At the start of the exchange, Maya felt nervous about 1___. Her host family helped her settle in, and she noticed that lessons started at 2___. The school day also included a 3___ in the middle. In science, students worked in 4___ and shared ideas, so the teacher did not rely on 5___.
Return to the passage, recording or visualCheck answers and explanations
- Blank 1
- speaking Spanish
- Blank 2
- eight o'clock
- Blank 3
- long lunch
- Blank 4
- small groups
- Blank 5
- long explanations
Gap 1: “speaking Spanish” fits because Maya worried about speaking it in front of strangers. Gap 2: “eight o'clock” is the stated starting time for lessons. Gap 3: “long lunch” fits the description of the middle of the school day. Gap 4: Students solved problems in “small groups”. Gap 5: They worked together instead of waiting for “long explanations” from the teacher.
She had studied Spanish for four years, but she still worried about speaking Spanish in front of strangers
Lessons began at eight o'clock, the morning was broken by a short break, and there was a long lunch in the middle of the day
In science, the teacher asked the class to solve problems in small groups rather than wait for long explanations
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Question 2 · Cloze (text)
Complete each blank with the missing word or phrase.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each gap. Complete the summary below. Later, Maya saw that the exchange was not a 1___. She had 2___ every night and sometimes needed to catch a bus home. When she missed the bus, she learned to check the 3___. By the end, she was 4___ and understood that a good visitor should be curious, polite, and ready to 5___.
Return to the passage, recording or visualCheck answers and explanations
- Blank 1
- holiday
- Blank 2
- homework
- Blank 3
- timetable
- Blank 4
- more confident
- Blank 5
- ask for help
Gap 1: The exchange was not a “holiday”, because Maya had schoolwork and practical responsibilities. Gap 2: She had “homework” every night. Gap 3: Missing the bus taught her to check the “timetable”. Gap 4: By the end of the exchange, Maya was “more confident”. Gap 5: She learned that a good visitor should be ready to “ask for help”.
Maya realised that the exchange was not a holiday. She had homework every night, and on wet days she had to catch a bus back to Ana's house because the school was too far to walk
One afternoon she missed the bus after staying behind to finish a project, and that mistake taught her to check the timetable before the final bell
By the end of the two weeks, Maya was more confident
What to review next
Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.
A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.
Before you practise: a worked example
Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.
The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?
The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.
This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.