B1 English reading practice: a short story with a crossword
B1 means intermediate English on the CEFR scale. The free sample is “Moving In”: read the story, solve the crossword made from its words and answer three questions.
At B1, you can usually:
- follow the main points of a clear text about a familiar topic
- understand what people did, how they felt and what they plan to do
- often guess a new word from the sentence around it
What you'll practise
6 words from the story. They are the crossword answers, each with a simple English meaning.
- rentnoun
- money you pay to live somewhere
- officenoun
- a place where people work
- landlordnoun
- a person who rents a home to you
- heatingnoun
- a system that keeps a building warm
- sinknoun
- a bowl in the kitchen for washing
- neighbournoun
- a person who lives near you
More B1 stories
- The Long Wait7 November 2026
- All past B1 stories
Try another level
Sample · Moving In1 · Read
B1 · Intermediate · sampleto doMoving In
Last month, Daniel moved into a small flat near the city centre. The rent is higher than he expected, but he can walk to his office in ten minutes. On his first day, the landlord gave him the keys and showed him how the old heating works. 'Be patient with it,' he said. 'It takes a while to warm up.'
The first week was harder than Daniel had imagined. The kitchen sink was blocked, and his upstairs neighbour played loud music until midnight. In the end, Daniel knocked on her door and explained the problem politely. She apologised and invited him for coffee. Now they water each other's plants when one of them is away.
Written for this page. Crossword words get underlined when you find them.
2 · Solve
to do1 acrossa system that keeps a building warm
From the story: The old … takes a while to warm up.
Across
Down
3 · Answer
to doQuestions about the story. Pick one answer for each.
Why does Daniel like where his flat is?
What did Daniel do about the loud music?
What do Daniel and his neighbour do now?
4 · Keep
to doWords you show, or get wrong twice, land here, so you know what to look at again.