Reading faster is useful only when you still understand the information you need. A question about a date requires a different approach from a question about why a writer changed their mind.
The strategic-reading section of Cambridge B2 First Reading Mastery with Comprehensive Exam Practice distinguishes skimming, scanning, detailed reading and inference. Here is an original exercise showing how those actions work together.
Start with a purpose
Use a quick overview to establish what a passage concerns. Then identify the specific detail requested. Once you locate it, slow down enough to read the whole sentence and any qualification around it. Finding a repeated word does not finish the task.
Original reading practice
The centre planned to open its exhibition in May. Repairs delayed the opening until June, although the online catalogue appeared in May as planned. Visitors could book tickets from April.
Keep related dates separate
Three activities have dates: booking, publication and opening. A scan can locate the months, but detailed reading connects each month to the right event. The contrast introduced by “although” explains why two schedules differ.
Check the event and its date
When did the exhibition open? June. May was the original plan, not the completed opening.
What happened in May? The online catalogue appeared.
Why was the opening delayed? Repairs. The passage does not say how much those repairs cost.
Review how you found the answer
If you chose May for the opening, the problem was not failing to find a date. It was failing to distinguish intention from outcome. Record that exact error so that your next practice session targets meaning rather than simply pushing for greater speed.
Try another short passage and label each event before answering. Gradually reduce unnecessary rereading while retaining the final evidence check. An untimed accuracy exercise can be useful before you introduce a timer.
Explore Cambridge B2 First Reading — Course 1 to see the course outline, current availability and enrolment options. Use the worked exercise above to identify a skill you would like to practise next.
Your next step
Cambridge B2 First Reading — Course 1
Explore the complete course outline and related practice topics.
Source: Cambridge b2 - 159-2.epub, Jobins Training. Examples labelled original or illustrative were written for this article. Independent exam preparation; no affiliation with or endorsement by the examining body. Practice does not predict an official score.