Goethe B1 — Mehrfachauswahl.

You have booked a course, are moving into a flat or using a hall for the first time, and you read the rules first. The task names the situation and gives a rule text of about 200–280 words — a Hausordnung, a Kursordnung or instructions — with small headings such as “Unterrichtszeiten”, “Rauchen” or “Parkplätze”, and four items, each an unfinished sentence with the answers a, b and c. Ten minutes are recommended. The language is formal (“Es ist untersagt, …”), but the questions are simple: when, how much, who may, who must. The headings tell you where the answer is: find the heading first, then read that section to its last sentence, where an exception or a fee may stand.

The wrong answers rarely contain wrong facts; they change one word. A rule says “Die Anmeldung ist bis eine Woche vor Kursbeginn möglich, in Ausnahmefällen auch später.” The answer “nur bis eine Woche vor Kursbeginn” is falsch: “nur” cancels the exception. Another rule says “Bei Verlust des Schlüssels zahlen Sie 25 Euro”, and a sentence earlier a locker costs 10 Euro deposit. The answer “10 Euro” takes the deposit for the fee, a right number for the wrong thing. Likewise “können” and “müssen”, and a rule from the neighbouring section moved onto the wrong subject: a rule for parking cars is not a rule for bicycles.

Before you decide, find the word in the answer that could change the rule — “nur”, “immer”, “jeder”, “muss” — and ask whether the text says exactly that. Read every number together with its object: what is paid for what.