Proper English Grammar
General Training Reading Workplace texts13 questionsSuggested: 13 minutes

Booking conditions: the small print of a holiday rental.

The dense small print of deposits, deadlines and cancellation terms that Section 1 of the General Training Reading paper loves to test.

How to use this. Read the booking conditions, then answer all thirteen questions. When you're done, press Check answers for your score, an approximate band, and an explanation of every answer. Section 2 texts deal with work and employment, and the wording is often reworded from the passage, so read each statement against the exact rule it tests. New to General Training? See the General Training track.

·Reading text

Riverbank Cottages: booking conditions

Please read these conditions carefully before you confirm your booking. They form part of your contract with us.

A

Booking and payment. A deposit of 25 per cent of the total cost is payable within five days of booking, and the balance is due six weeks before your arrival date. Bookings made within six weeks of arrival must be paid in full at the time of booking. A booking is not confirmed until the deposit has been received.

B

Changes and cancellation by you. A change of dates costs a £20 administration fee and is subject to availability. If you cancel more than six weeks before arrival, you lose the deposit only. If you cancel within six weeks of arrival, the full cost remains payable unless we are able to re-let the cottage for your week, in which case we refund what you have paid, less the deposit and the administration fee.

C

Cancellation by us. In the rare event that we must cancel your booking, you may choose between a full refund, including the deposit, and an alternative week of equal value where one is available. Our liability ends there: we cannot refund travel costs or any other expenses connected with the booking.

D

Arrival and departure. Cottages are ready from 4 pm on the day of arrival. Keys are collected from the office beside the old mill. On the day of departure, please leave by 9.30 am so the cottage can be prepared for the next guests. Late departures are charged at £15 for every hour or part of an hour.

E

During your stay. The number of guests must not exceed the figure shown in the cottage listing. One well-behaved dog is welcome in Willow and Heron cottages only, at a charge of £25 per stay. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the site. Barbecues may be used in the gardens but never inside or on the balconies.

F

Problems and complaints. Please report any problem to the housekeeper during your stay: the office is open from 8 am to 6 pm and most matters can be put right the same day. Complaints after departure must be made in writing within 14 days. Later complaints cannot be taken up, and we cannot resolve after your stay what was never reported during it.

·Questions 1–13

Answer the questions.

The Section 2 question types: True/False/Not Given, sentence completion and matching. Nothing is sent anywhere, your answers stay in your browser and are marked on this page.

Questions 1–6

True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information in the conditions? Choose True if the statement agrees, False if it contradicts, or Not Given if there is no information.

  • 1Guests who book five weeks before arrival must pay the whole cost straight away.

  • 2Changing the dates of a booking is free of charge if it is done early enough.

  • 3If the owners cancel a booking, they will refund the guest’s travel costs.

  • 4The key office is open every day of the week.

  • 5Dogs may stay in any of the cottages for an extra charge.

  • 6A complaint made a month after departure will not be considered.

Questions 7–9

Sentence completion

Complete each sentence using no more than two words or a number from the conditions.

  • 7The balance of the cost must be paid weeks before the arrival date.

  • 8On the day of arrival, cottages are ready for guests from onwards.

  • 9Guests who leave late are charged £15 for each or part of one.

Questions 10–13

Matching

The conditions have six sections, A–F. Which section contains the following information? Choose the correct letter.

  • 10what happens if the owners are unable to honour a booking

  • 11the cost of bringing a pet

  • 12the deadline for paying the first part of the cost

  • 13how to raise a problem after returning home

13 questions · not yet marked
·Scoring

Approximate band equivalence

This is a thirteen-question section, so the band shown is an approximation. General Training Reading needs a higher raw score than Academic for the same band, and a full paper has forty questions across three sections, so your band on the day depends on the whole test.

Score (/13)13121110987≤6
Band8.5+8.07.56.56.05.55.0<5.0
→Reading, under timed conditions

Marks lost on Reading are usually technique, not vocabulary.

Knowing the answer and scanning a busy workplace text to find it fast are different skills.

True/False/Not Given, matching, and the traps built into the distractors catch out strong readers who've never been shown the method. In a lesson we work through where your marks are actually going, and how to read for the answer rather than reading the whole passage twice. Lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English; the first step is a discounted trial lesson.

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