The B1 Goethe Reading Exam (Lesen) — Full Structure, Teil by Teil

Reading (Lesen) is often seen as the section that can "carry" your overall score — but without a clear grasp of the structure and time management, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume of vocabulary.

This post covers the official structure of the Lesen section in the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 exam — 5 Teile, 30 questions, 65 minutes. If you want the full picture before exam day, pair this with our overview of all 4 B1 skills and our B1 practice materials with answer keys.

The reading exam tests your ability to understand texts ranging from everyday life to basic social and academic topics. Time: 65 minutes. Questions: 30, split evenly across 5 Teile — each with a different format that calls for its own reading strategy.

You'll read a short text (about 300 words) — a diary entry, blog post, or forum post — where the writer shares a personal experience or opinion. Your task: mark 6 statements as Richtig (True) or Falsch (False).

Tip: watch for negation words (kein, nicht, nie) and frequency/degree adverbs (fast, kaum...). Sometimes a single small detail flips the meaning of the whole sentence — the same kind of trap we mentioned in our Hören guide.

You'll read a mainstream article or informational text (culture, science, everyday life in Germany...), then answer 6 multiple-choice questions (a, b, or c). The vocabulary here is heavier and more academic than Teil 1. Read the questions first, then scan the text for keywords — don't try to understand every unfamiliar word before choosing an answer.

You're given 7 situations describing what 7 different people need, and 9 short ads (labeled a to i). Match the best ad to each person. There's always exactly one situation with no matching ad — in that case, the answer is 0. Teil 3 requires reading small details closely (time, location, conditions...) rather than just matching surface keywords.

You'll read a debate topic (e.g. "Should pets be allowed in apartment buildings?") and 7 short comments from 7 different people. Your task: decide whether each person agrees (Ja) or disagrees (Nein) with the topic. Teil 4 doesn't ask what you think — it asks what each commenter thinks. Separate their personal opinion from the general topic; paraphrasing and synonyms show up a lot in this format.

You'll read an administrative text — official rules, pool regulations, school policy, or safety instructions — then answer 4 multiple-choice questions (a, b, or c). Teil 5 is usually shorter but easy to lose points on if you skim — key information often hides in exceptions or conditions (nur wenn, außer, nicht erlaubt…).

Getting a solid grasp of the exam structure and question types is the first step to mastering the B1 exam. We'll share more about real exam-room experience in an upcoming post. If you have questions about any of these 5 sections, leave a comment below!