Updated 2026-09-12intermediate

New TOEFL Reading: Read in Daily Life Practice #003 — Laundry Room, Choir, Interview, and Museum Tours

Free practice for the new TOEFL Reading section's short daily-life texts: 4 everyday texts and 12 questions with an answer key.

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How to use this practice: Each text is something you could actually receive — an email, a notice, a memo, a post. Read it once at normal speed, then answer the three questions under it. Watch the options that reuse a word from the text: matching words are the most common trap in this part.
1

Text 1 — Notice

Read the text, then answer the three questions below it.

Notice: Laundry room work, Hartley Hall basement

Hartley Hall Residence Office

The basement laundry room will be rebuilt between November 4 and November 22. All eight machines will be replaced, and the room will be closed for the full three weeks.

During the work, residents may use the laundry room in Brennan Hall, a four-minute walk across the courtyard. Your student card will open the Brennan door during the closure, and the cost per wash is the same.

Because Brennan will serve two buildings, we ask Hartley residents to use it between 6:00 AM and 11:00 AM or after 7:00 PM. Brennan residents have been asked to avoid those hours. Nobody will be turned away outside them, but expect to wait.

The new machines will accept card payment. The old coin slots are gone, so please spend any laundry tokens you still have before November 4. Tokens will not be refunded after that date, though the office can exchange up to ten of them for card credit if you come in before the closure begins.

Please remove anything stored on the basement shelves by November 1. The shelves will be taken out and will not return.

Q1 · Detail
What should a Hartley resident do with unused laundry tokens?
  1. A. Keep them, because the new machines still accept tokens
  2. B. Spend them before November 4, or exchange up to ten for card credit
  3. C. Return them to the Brennan Hall office for a full refund
  4. D. Leave them on the basement shelves before November 1
Answer
Correct: B
Q2 · Inference
What can be inferred about a Hartley resident who does laundry at Brennan at 2:00 PM?
  1. A. The student card will not open the Brennan door at that hour.
  2. B. The wash will cost more than it does in Hartley.
  3. C. Residence staff will ask the student to come back later.
  4. D. A machine may not be free right away.
Answer
Correct: D
Q3 · Purpose
Why does the notice mention the basement shelves?
  1. A. To tell residents to clear them before a set date, because they are being removed
  2. B. To offer extra storage while the laundry room is closed
  3. C. To explain where the eight old machines will be kept
  4. D. To warn that stored items may be damaged by the new machines
Answer
Correct: A
2

Text 2 — Social Media Post

Read the text, then answer the three questions below it.

Dev_in_the_Alto @devalto - 12h

I joined a community choir in September with no musical training at all. I could not read a single line of music. Last night we sang our first concert and I have not stopped thinking about it.

What surprised me was how little of rehearsal was about singing. Most of it was learning to count, to breathe where the conductor wants you to breathe, and to hear the part next to you without following it by accident. Nobody told me that the hardest thing in a choir is staying on your own line.

Also, for anyone who thinks they cannot sing: our group has sixty people. On any given night about ten of us are unwell or tired, and the sound still works. That is the whole point of singing together.

We hold open rehearsals in January for new members, no audition. If you have been telling yourself for years that you would like to try, this is the part where I tell you to actually go.

128 replies - 340 reposts - 4.1K likes

Q4 · Purpose
Why did the writer post this?
  1. A. To advertise tickets for the choir's first concert
  2. B. To ask experienced singers how to read music faster
  3. C. To describe her first months in a choir and encourage others to join
  4. D. To explain why a choir needs sixty members to sound good
Answer
Correct: C
Q5 · Detail
According to the post, what took up most of rehearsal time?
  1. A. Counting, breathing on cue, and holding one's own part
  2. B. Learning to read music before the first concert
  3. C. Rehearsing with the ten members who were unwell
  4. D. Preparing for the January open rehearsals
Answer
Correct: A
Q6 · Inference
What can be inferred about someone who wants to join this choir in January?
  1. A. They will need to prove they can read music before attending.
  2. B. They can attend a rehearsal without being tested first.
  3. C. They must wait until sixty places have been filled.
  4. D. They will be asked to sing alone in front of the group.
Answer
Correct: B
3

Text 3 — Email

Read the text, then answer the three questions below it.

Subject: Interview times for the summer data internship

From: Oyelaran Recruiting Team

To: Applicants shortlisted on April 9

Thank you for your application. You are one of eighteen candidates invited to interview for six summer positions.

Interviews run on April 22 and April 23, online, and last fifty minutes. Please choose a time in the booking link below by Friday, April 12. Slots are taken in the order they are booked, and we cannot open extra days.

The interview has two parts. The first thirty minutes are a conversation about a dataset we will send you the evening before; you do not need to prepare slides, and we would rather see your questions about the data than a finished analysis. The last twenty minutes are yours to ask us anything.

You may use any language you like for code we discuss. We are not testing a specific tool.

If none of the times work because of an exam, reply to this message and say so. We will hold one slot on each day for exam conflicts until April 15, after which those slots open to everyone.

You will hear the outcome by April 30 whether or not you are offered a place.

Q7 · Expected Action
What should a candidate whose exam clashes with every slot do?
  1. A. Book any slot and ask to change it after April 15
  2. B. Wait for the reserved slots to open to everyone
  3. C. Reply to the email and explain the conflict
  4. D. Prepare slides on the dataset and send them instead
Answer
Correct: C
Q8 · Inference
What can be inferred about booking an interview time?
  1. A. Booking early matters, because slots cannot be added later
  2. B. Every candidate is guaranteed a time on both days
  3. C. Times are assigned by the recruiting team, not by candidates
  4. D. Candidates who book late will interview in person instead
Answer
Correct: A
Q9 · NOT / EXCEPT
All of the following are stated in the email EXCEPT
  1. A. The interview lasts fifty minutes.
  2. B. The dataset arrives the evening before the interview.
  3. C. Candidates may use any programming language.
  4. D. Successful candidates will be told before unsuccessful ones.
Answer
Correct: D
4

Text 4 — Schedule

Read the text, then answer the three questions below it.

Weekend guided tours - Pellham Museum of Industry

Saturday and Sunday, valid through August 31

All tours start at the ticket desk. Tours are included with admission unless marked otherwise.

  • 10:30 AM - Highlights (45 min): the main hall, the water wheel, and the printing press. Best for a first visit.
  • 12:00 PM - Machines in Motion (30 min): two working machines are started up. Not recommended for visitors sensitive to noise.
  • 1:30 PM - Behind the Ropes (60 min, $8): the workshop floor and the storage rooms, which are closed to general admission. Sixteen places, booked at the desk on the day.
  • 3:00 PM - Family Tour (40 min): hands-on, aimed at ages 6 to 11. An adult must stay with the group.

The 12:00 PM tour does not run on the last Sunday of the month, when the machines are serviced.

Groups of ten or more should email ahead; a guide can usually be added, but not on the same day.

Strollers can be left at the desk. The workshop floor has two steps at the entrance and is the only part of the building without step-free access.

Q10 · Detail
Which tour costs extra?
  1. A. Highlights
  2. B. Behind the Ropes
  3. C. Machines in Motion
  4. D. The Family Tour
Answer
Correct: B
Q11 · Inference
What can be inferred about a visitor who uses a wheelchair?
  1. A. They cannot take any tour that starts at the ticket desk.
  2. B. They should join the Family Tour instead of the Highlights tour.
  3. C. They may have difficulty with the 1:30 PM tour.
  4. D. They must email the museum ten days before visiting.
Answer
Correct: C
Q12 · Inference
A family arrives on the last Sunday of July and wants to see the working machines. What can be concluded?
  1. A. They can see them on the 3:00 PM Family Tour instead.
  2. B. They will need to pay eight dollars to see them that day.
  3. C. They should book sixteen places at the desk in the morning.
  4. D. That tour will not run, because the machines are being serviced.
Answer
Correct: D