Read in Daily Life gives you a short everyday text, like a notice, an email or a chain of text messages, followed by two or three multiple-choice questions. It’s one of three Reading tasks on the TOEFL iBT since January 2026, and it checks how well you read the English you meet outside a classroom.
You see one short text that isn’t academic: the kind of thing you’d read on your phone, a notice board or a shop counter. ETS lists these kinds of text:
Texts run from about 15 to 150 words. A shorter text comes with two questions and a longer one with three, and the text stays on screen while you answer. The questions ask you to:
There are 5 to 15 of these questions in a test. Read in Daily Life has no timer of its own: it shares the Reading section’s clock with the other two tasks.
How it’s scored. Each question is worth one point, right or wrong. A wrong answer costs you nothing more than that point, so always choose an answer.
Try it
This text was written for this guide in the same format as the real task. Pick an answer for each question: you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Hey! Are you still coming to the study group tonight?
Yes, but I’m running a bit late. My bus broke down.
No worries. We moved to room 214, since the library’s closed for cleaning.
Got it. Should I bring anything?
Just your notes from Tuesday’s lecture. Sam’s bringing snacks.
Perfect. See you around 7:30.
Question 1 of 3
Why does Maya send her first message?
B. To check that Leo is still coming tonight. Her first message asks whether he’s still coming. The room change and the notes come up later in the chat, so they’re details, not the reason she wrote.
Question 2 of 3
What does Maya mean when she writes “No worries”?
A. She is not upset that Leo will be late. “No worries” is an everyday way of saying “that’s fine”. She’s replying to Leo’s news that he’s running late.
Question 3 of 3
What can you infer about the study group?
A. It usually meets in the library. Maya says they “moved” to room 214 because the library is closed, which suggests the library is where they normally meet. Leo will arrive around 7:30, but he’s running late, so the group must start earlier.
0/3 questions
Work out who, to whom and why. Most texts have one job: to inform, ask, invite, warn or sell. Spotting it answers the purpose question and makes the details easier to place.
Scan, don’t study. For a detail question, look for the key word from the question, like a day, a price or a room, and read only around it.
Read informal English as it’s meant. Messages and posts skip words and use everyday phrases like “no worries” or “running late”. Ask what the writer means, not what each word says.
Check every choice against the text. Wrong choices often reuse real words from the text in the wrong way. Pick the one the text actually supports.
Reading Practice Test 1 has all three Reading tasks, timed and scored on the 1.0–6.0 band scale. Free, with no account needed.
Start Reading Practice Test 1