Read in Daily Life — two campus messages
Read a notice as if you need to act on it
The notice and email in this lesson are original campus scenarios. They are practice, not ETS questions.
Library study pods
From 4 October, pods on Level 2 can be booked online in 90-minute blocks. Same-day reservations open at 08:00. A booking is released if no member of the group checks in within 15 minutes of its start. Students who need a ground-floor pod can request one by email at least one working day ahead; a same-day allocation cannot be guaranteed. Food is not allowed, but drinks with lids are. Pods close at 20:30, although the library building stays open until 22:00. Bookings made before 4 October keep their original end times.
The notice has several clocks. Match each clock to its event: when booking opens, when an unattended booking is released, and when pods close. The building's closing time is a different fact.
A polite notice can still close the door exactly on time.
At what time do same-day pod reservations open? Copy the time from the notice.
'Same-day reservations open at 08:00.' The 20:30 and 22:00 times describe two different closing events.
Read a condition all the way to its exception
Worked case: Mei's pod reservation starts at 10:00. Nobody in her group checks in by 10:16. The booking is released: the notice allows 15 minutes after the start, not 15 minutes after someone first reaches the building.
The final sentence creates a separate exception. A booking made before 4 October keeps its original end time, even though the new pod-closing rule applies from that date. Do not apply a new rule to an old booking without checking this sentence.
If you are asked, “Can I stay in a pod until 22:00 because the library is open?”, answer no for a new booking. The pod closes at 20:30; the building closes at 22:00.
A pod booking starts at 10:00. Nobody in the group has checked in by 10:16. What happens?
A booking is released after 15 minutes without a group member checking in. By 10:16 that window has passed.
An email can separate what changed from what did not
Subject: Room change for the archive-skills workshop
Hi Mara, Friday's workshop has moved from Lab 4 to Seminar Room B because the projector in Lab 4 is being repaired. It still starts at 14:00. Please bring a laptop; printed handouts will be supplied. If you registered but cannot attend, cancel through the booking link by Thursday at noon so someone on the waiting list can take your place. Please do not reply to this message; it was sent automatically.
— Student Skills Office
Only the room changed. The start time remains 14:00. The email also separates what you bring (laptop) from what the office supplies (printed handouts).
Which TWO workshop details are correct?
The time stays 14:00 and handouts are supplied. The room changes to Seminar Room B, and participants bring a laptop.
Follow the named action channel
If you cannot attend, the email says to use the booking link by Thursday at noon. Replying to the email will not cancel the booking; it is automated. The reason is practical: cancelling releases a place for someone on the waiting list.
Do not answer from a familiar habit such as “reply to the sender.” Read the channel named in this message. A polite email can contain a firm deadline.
Mara cannot attend the Friday workshop. What should she do?
The email names both channel and deadline: booking link, Thursday at noon. It explicitly says not to reply.
Four things to mark in any daily-life text
- Purpose: Is this text informing, requesting, changing or cancelling something?
- Who and when: Which person, date or booking does each rule cover?
- Exceptions: But, although, if and before can reverse a quick first impression.
- Action: What should the reader do, and by which channel or deadline?
The correct answer is the one that fits this reader's situation and this text's exact conditions. A plausible campus custom is not evidence.
ETS lists short daily-life texts such as notices and messages in this Reading task. Task description checked on 23 September 2026: ETS TOEFL iBT Reading section.
A student may take a drink with a lid into a study pod.
The notice prohibits food but explicitly permits drinks with lids. The exception matters more than a general 'no food' impression.