Leseverstehen: gist, detail and 'not in the text'
The Leseverstehen part tests reading comprehension at B1 using texts such as newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, letters, adverts and information leaflets. Typical formats are matching headings to paragraphs, multiple-choice items, true/false/"not in the text", ordering events and short answers in English. All answers are written in English, usually as a short phrase rather than a full copied sentence.
Three reading speeds
- Skimming for gist: read the title, the first and last sentence of each paragraph. This is the mode for heading-matching tasks, where you need the main idea, not the details.
- Scanning for a name, date or figure: let your eyes run over the text without reading every word.
- Intensive reading for detail: read the sentence with the answer plus the sentence before and after it, because the meaning usually depends on context rather than on one word.
Paraphrase is the point
Item and text rarely share words. Build the habit of finding an anchor in the text and then checking the relation: higher → overtake/exceed; cheap → affordable; refuse → turn down; banned → not allowed; only → merely/just.
Worked example
Text: "Although the 2020 festival was cancelled, organisers say ticket sales for this year have already overtaken 2019 levels." Item: "This year's ticket sales are higher than in 2019." - True: "overtaken ... levels" means gone above, and the "although" clause about 2020 is a distractor. If the item read "The festival made a profit this year", the answer would be not in the text: plausible, but the text says nothing about profit.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing "false" with "not in the text": choose false only when the text contradicts the statement.
- Heading tasks: a heading that reuses a word from the paragraph but misstates its main idea.
- Using your own knowledge of the topic instead of what the text says.
- Copying whole sentences into short-answer items where a phrase is required.
- Spending too long on one item. Evidence is local - usually one or two sentences - so move on and return later.