CEFR B2 Reading Practice: A Text with Questions [2026]

Reading at B2 level goes beyond following the facts. You are expected to handle longer, more complex texts, weigh a writer's opinion, and understand what is implied as well as what is stated. This guide gives an original, workplace-style passage at the right level, comprehension and inference questions, answers, and the reading skills worth building at B2. Read it once for the overall message, then again to catch the detail and the writer's point of view.

A reading passage

When our company introduced a four-day week last year, the reaction was mixed. Managers worried that fitting five days of work into four would simply pile pressure onto already busy staff, while some employees suspected that the change was a clever way to cut costs. Six months on, the picture is more encouraging than the doubters expected, though not without complications.

Productivity has, if anything, risen slightly. With one less day available, meetings have become shorter and rarer, and people guard their time more carefully. Staff report feeling less exhausted, and fewer have left the company than in previous years. However, the benefits are not evenly shared. Departments that deal directly with clients have found the shorter week harder to manage, since customers still expect a response five days a week. For them, the new arrangement has meant careful rotas rather than a genuine day off. The lesson, perhaps, is that a policy which suits one part of an organisation may not suit all of it.

Comprehension and inference questions

Answer these, then check below.

1. How did managers and employees first react to the four-day week?
2. What happened to productivity after the change?
3. Why have meetings changed?
4. Which departments have found the new week difficult, and why?
5. Does the writer think the four-day week has been a complete success? How do you know?

Answers

1. The reaction was mixed: managers worried about extra pressure, and some employees suspected it was a way to cut costs.
2. It has risen slightly.
3. Because people have less time, so meetings have become shorter and less frequent.
4. Departments that deal directly with clients, because customers still expect a response five days a week.
5. No. The writer calls the result "more encouraging than the doubters expected, though not without complications", and shows that the benefits are "not evenly shared", which signals a balanced rather than fully positive view.

Question five is the core B2 skill: the writer never says plainly "this was a partial success", but the careful wording makes that attitude clear. Reading that attitude, not just the facts, is what B2 asks of you.

Reading skills to build at B2

Three skills stand out. Distinguish fact from opinion, noticing where the writer moves from what happened to what they think about it. Read for attitude, watching how words like "if anything" or "not without complications" reveal a point of view. And infer conclusions the writer implies but does not state. A wider vocabulary makes all of this easier, and our guide to B2 vocabulary covers the words that appear most in texts of this kind.

Reading widely at the right level is what builds B2 into something stronger. A step down sits B1 reading practice. Our guide to the English levels from A1 to C2 explains what each stage involves, so you can choose material that challenges you without leaving you lost.