An Unexpected Travel Problem B1 Reading Practice Tests Rules & Examples

An Unexpected Travel Problem

Have you ever arrived somewhere and realised something had gone seriously wrong? Travel rarely goes exactly as planned, but some problems are much harder to deal with than others. Before you read, think about these two questions: What would you do if your luggage went missing at an airport? And have you ever had to deal with an unexpected problem while travelling? Keep these questions in mind as you read the following account.

Reading Passage: The Wrong Side of Budapest

Miriam had been planning her long weekend in Budapest for three months. She had booked everything online — the flights, the hotel near the river, and even a guided walking tour for her first afternoon. When her plane landed at Budapest Ferenc Liszt Airport on a grey Thursday morning, she felt excited and ready for an adventure. However, as she stood by the baggage carousel watching suitcase after suitcase go past, she slowly began to feel nervous. Her bag wasn't there.

After waiting for forty minutes, she went to the airline's lost luggage desk, where a tired-looking man explained that her suitcase had most likely been left behind in Amsterdam, where she had changed flights. He told her it would probably arrive the following evening — which meant she would have to spend her first full day in Budapest with nothing except her hand luggage: a phone charger, a book, a thin jacket, and her passport. She had packed her warm coat, all her clothes, her toiletries, and even her travel adaptor inside the missing suitcase. It was November, and the temperature outside was just four degrees.

Although the situation was stressful, Miriam decided not to let it ruin her trip. She found a small pharmacy near her hotel and bought the essential items she needed. Then she went to a second-hand clothes market she had spotted on a side street and found a thick woollen jumper for less than five euros. It wasn't the stylish city break she had imagined, but by the time she was sitting in a warm café with a bowl of goulash in front of her, she was actually laughing about the whole thing. Her suitcase arrived the next evening, just as the man had promised — and she still had two days left to enjoy the city.

Key Vocabulary in Context

Reading Strategies & Comprehension Tips

Skimming for the Main Idea

Read the first and last sentences of each paragraph quickly before reading the full text. This will help you understand the general situation: a traveller loses her luggage but manages to deal with the problem positively.

Scanning for Key Details

If a question asks about specific facts — such as the temperature, the price of the jumper, or the city where the bag was left — scan the text for numbers and proper nouns. These are easy to locate quickly without re-reading the entire passage.

Understanding Cause and Effect

This passage is built around a problem and its consequences. As you read, notice how each paragraph shows what happened and why it mattered. For example, ask yourself: why did the missing suitcase create such a serious problem for Miriam specifically?

Making Inferences

The text tells us that Miriam was "laughing about the whole thing" by the end of her first day. The passage doesn't directly say she felt better, but you can infer that her mood had improved significantly. Look for these small clues about how characters feel, even when feelings are not stated directly.

Common Reading Pitfalls & Traps

Be Careful with Time Details

The passage mentions that Miriam's bag would arrive "the following evening." This means the evening after the day she arrived — not two days later. Read time references carefully, as exam questions often test whether you understood the sequence of events correctly.

Don't Confuse "Most Likely" with "Definitely"

The airline worker said the bag had "most likely" been left in Amsterdam. This does not mean he was certain. Students sometimes read this as a confirmed fact, but it is actually just his best guess. Watch for modal expressions that reduce certainty.

Watch for Negative-to-Positive Shifts

The passage moves from a stressful problem to a positive resolution. Some students focus only on the difficulty and miss the fact that Miriam handled the situation well and ended up enjoying herself. Exam questions may ask about Miriam's overall attitude — and the answer is more positive than the opening paragraphs suggest.

Vocabulary Confusion: "spotted" vs. "bought"

Miriam spotted the second-hand market on a side street, which means she noticed it — not that she had planned to go there. Students sometimes confuse this with her actively searching for a market, but it was actually a chance discovery.

Quick Summary

This passage tells the true-to-life story of Miriam, a traveller whose suitcase went missing on a trip to Budapest. Despite losing all her essential belongings on arrival, she managed to solve the problem practically and still enjoyed her trip. The text covers a clear problem-solution structure and includes details about feelings, decisions, and outcomes — all of which are likely to appear in comprehension questions. Now read the passage carefully and complete Exercise 1 (Multiple Choice) and Exercise 2 (Fill-in-the-gap dropdown) below.