Lesen Teil 2:
How to recognise all traps

In Lesen Teil 2 you see 5 situations (numbers 26 to 30) and 8 advertisements (letters a to h). In each situation a person is looking for something: a flat, a job, a course, insurance. Your task is to find the correct advertisement for each situation.

For each correct answer you get one point. A total of 5 points is possible.

This is your detective work: you are not only looking for the correct advertisement. You must also recognise the wrong advertisements. These wrong advertisements are called Distraktoren. They look correct – but they are wrong. We will look at exactly these traps step by step.

A Distraktor is an advertisement that looks almost correct. But something small is wrong. Perhaps a number. Perhaps a word. Perhaps a date. The examiners write these advertisements specifically like this. They want to see: do you really read carefully?

In a typical DTZ task there are 8 advertisements. You only need 4 of them (one situation gets the X). The other 4 advertisements are left over. These are the Distraktoren.

Many exam candidates make a mistake: they start immediately with the advertisements. They read the first advertisement, then the second, then the third. Later they have read all the advertisements – but they no longer know what the people are looking for. They have to read everything again. This costs a lot of time.

Underline the important words

Take a pen and underline three things in each situation:

1. WHO is looking for something? (Vater, Tochter, Frau, Sohn, Freundin ...)
2. WHAT is the person looking for? (Wohnung, Job, Kurs, Versicherung ...)
3. HOW / WHERE / WHEN? (günstig, in Berlin, am Wochenende ...)

Example: „Eine Mutter sucht für ihren zweijährigen Sohn Gesellschaft.“

Now you know exactly: a play group for children aged 2. With this clear picture in your head you go to the advertisements.

If you have a clear method, you work faster and make fewer mistakes. This is how you proceed:

Step 1: Read and underline the situations

Read all situations. Underline WHO, WHAT, HOW/WHERE/WHEN. This takes approximately 2 minutes.

Step 2: Skim the advertisements quickly

You do not need to understand every word. Just look: what is the main topic? The heading in bold type helps you a great deal. It almost always says everything important.

Step 3: First exclude, then select

This is the most important trick. Do not look for the correct answer immediately. First cross out all the advertisements that definitely do not fit. Then only 2 or 3 candidates remain. You choose from these.

Step 4: Check all conditions

If you find a suitable advertisement, check once more: does the age fit? Does the price fit? Does the time fit? An advertisement only fits if ALL the conditions from the situation match. One single wrong detail is enough – and the advertisement is not correct.

Step 5: Solve difficult tasks at the end

If a situation is difficult, skip ahead. Solve the easy tasks first. At the end you come back. Then fewer advertisements are left – and the solution becomes easier.

Step 6: Do not forget the X

One situation must receive an X at the end. If you have found an advertisement for every situation, something is wrong. Look again. One answer is certainly wrong.

When preparing for the B1 DTZ exam, similar types of traps can be observed again and again. We have compiled them for you – a total of 12 typical types. Once you know these traps, you will spot them immediately. Here is the list:

On the following pages we explain each trap. With examples for illustration. This way you learn what they look like and how to recognise them.

This trap is the most common. It appears in almost every test. The problem is always the same: in the situation a person is looking for something. In the advertisement another person is looking for the same thing. Both are looking – and nobody is offering anything.

Pay attention to certain words in the advertisement: Wir suchen, gesucht, Wir brauchen, Bewerbung, Stellenangebot, Nachmieter. If these words appear there, the advertisement is a search, not an offer.

There is also another form: a private person writes themselves. For example a 17-year-old pupil looking for an apprenticeship. Or an intern looking for a flat. Here too someone is looking – and offering nothing.

Many advertisements have an age limit. For example a course only for children aged 8 to 16. Or an account only for young people up to 25 years old. If the person in the situation is outside this limit, the advertisement does not fit.

Important words for age

Always check the limit carefully. A child of 5 years fits „ab 5 Jahre“, but not „ab 6 Jahre“. Only one year difference – and the advertisement is wrong.

Sometimes almost everything is correct: the topic, the location, the price. Only the time is wrong. „Zeit“ means three things: Tag, Uhrzeit and Dauer. Let us look at all three.

Day of the week

Time of day

You should know these words:

• vormittags / morgens – from 6 to 12 o’clock
• nachmittags – from 12 to 18 o’clock
• abends – from 18 to 22 o’clock
• Werktage – Monday to Friday
• Wochenende – Saturday and Sunday

Duration

A person needs a flat for 3 months because they are doing an internship. An advertisement offers a flat for a limited period, „Mietdauer 5 Tage bis 4 Wochen“. 4 weeks are approximately 1 month. But the person needs 3 months. The advertisement does not fit.

Money is always a topic. If a budget appears in the situation (for example „bis 1000 Euro“ or „günstig“), you must check the price in the advertisement carefully.

Rent plus additional costs

This is a particularly important trap with flat advertisements. Look carefully: are the additional costs already included in the price or do they come on top?

Important words for price

• günstig / preiswert / billig – little money
• kostenlos / gratis / umsonst – 0 Euro
• inklusive (inkl.) – already included in the price
• plus / zzgl. – on top, extra

Free and not free

In this trap the topic is correct, but the action is not. The most important word here is the verb. A person wants to mieten something. The advertisement offers something to kaufen. The topic is the same, but the action is different. The advertisement does not fit.

Typical examples of wrong actions

Sometimes exactly the same word appears in the advertisement as in the situation. Many exam candidates immediately think: „That fits!“ But be careful. The same word can have a completely different meaning.

For example: the word „Maler“ can be a profession. But it can also be a family name. The word „Fahrlehrer“ can be someone who teaches. But it can also be someone who wants to learn this profession first.

Some advertisements require certain things from the person. These are called Voraussetzungen. For example a driving licence, a school leaving certificate or work experience. If the person in the situation does not have these things, they cannot use the advertisement.

Typical Voraussetzungen

• Führerschein – car, lorry or other category
• Eigenes Auto – not just a driving licence, also the vehicle itself
• Schulabschluss – Hauptschule, Realschule or Abitur
• Berufserfahrung – often stated in years
• Computerkenntnisse – Windows, Word, Internet
• Sprachen – for example Deutsch C1 or Englisch
• Mindestalter – often 18 years

One single word decides everything here: neu or gebraucht. Both words are short, but they make a big difference. Always read carefully what it says in the advertisement.

An adjective is a small word. But it can change the whole answer. Ruhig or laut? Hell or dunkel? Klein or groß? If an adjective appears in the situation, you must check carefully whether the advertisement fits.

Important adjectives and their synonyms

A small word such as nicht, kein or leider can completely reverse the meaning of an advertisement. Anyone who reads quickly often does not see these words. But exactly these words decide whether the advertisement fits or not.

These words you must see

• nicht – makes the opposite
• kein / keine – none of it
• leider – often connected with „nicht“
• außer – everything except that
• nur – nothing else
• ohne – something is missing
• ausschließlich – only that, nothing else

In this trap the advertisement talks about the correct topic. It mentions the right words. But it does not say what the person actually needs. Exactly this absence makes the advertisement wrong.

Always ask yourself: what is the most important word in the situation? Then check: is that in the advertisement? If not, it does not fit.

Sometimes the situation has a very particular requirement. For example a doctor who speaks a certain language. Or insurance specifically for dogs. This particular requirement is like a filter. Only one advertisement passes through this filter – or none at all.

Typical special filters

• Sprache – doctor with foreign language skills
• Spezialisierung – Kinderarzt, Augenarzt, Zahnarzt
• Spezielle Zielgruppe – only for women, only for seniors, only for migrants
• Versicherung für Tiere – not every insurance covers dogs
• Eltern und Kinder zusammen – not just a course for children
• Geschwisterbetreuung – special help for older siblings

A paraphrase is an important thing. It means: you say something with different words, but the meaning stays the same. For example „Handy“ is a paraphrase of „Mobiltelefon“. „Sonnig“ is a paraphrase of „viel Licht“.

In Lesen Teil 2 you will almost always find paraphrases. The correct advertisement almost never uses exactly the same words as the situation. Anyone who only looks for the same word often does not find the answer.

Be careful with the same words

This is important: if a word from the situation appears exactly the same in an advertisement, you must be careful. This is often a trap (see Trap 6). The correct answer usually contains a synonym, not a direct word.

Paraphrases for verbs

It is particularly often not the nouns that are paraphrased, but the verbs (actions). You should know these pairs:

Many exam candidates think: I must find an advertisement for every situation. That is not correct. In every Lesen Teil 2 task there is exactly one situation that does not fit any advertisement. For this situation you write an X.

The X is not an empty answer. It is a correct answer. It earns you a point.

How do you recognise the X?

You have checked all the advertisements. None fits 100 percent. You are in doubt. Then do not try to make an advertisement „half fitting“. If nothing really fits, the answer is: X.

Typical examples of X situations

• A person is looking for someone to repair a sofa. But all advertisements are selling furniture. → X
• A person is looking for a Spanish teacher for work. All language advertisements are only for holidays. → X
• A 28-year-old is looking for a current account with a free debit card. The only suitable account is only up to 25 years. → X
• A person is looking for a Maler. No advertisement offers this profession. → X

Self-check at the end

Check at the end:

• Have I used 4 different letters and once X? ✓
• Are 4 advertisements unused? ✓
• Have I not used any advertisement twice? ✓

Now we summarise everything. These 7 rules are the most important things from the whole article. Learn them by heart. They will help you in every DTZ exam.

Rule 1: Read the situations first

Always read all situations first, not the advertisements. Underline WHO, WHAT, WHEN/WHERE/HOW. Only then do you go to the advertisements.

Rule 2: All conditions must match

An advertisement only fits if all the conditions from the situation match. If the situation has three conditions (for example profession, city, time), all three must fit in the advertisement. One single wrong detail makes the advertisement wrong.

Rule 3: The verb is more important than the noun

Not only the topic counts. The action must also be correct. „Indien“ alone is not enough – it must also be „reisen“ or „buchen“, not just „informieren“.

Rule 4: Synonyms instead of the same words

Do not look for the same word, but for the same meaning. If a word is exactly the same, this can be a warning signal. Always check the whole sentence.

Rule 5: With two similar advertisements – find the difference

Sometimes two advertisements seem to fit the same situation. That is not possible. One is correct, one is a trap. Look for the small difference: perhaps in the age, the price, the time, an adjective.

Rule 6: First exclude, then select

Cross out first the advertisements that definitely do not fit. Then only a few candidates remain. You choose from these.

Rule 7: X is a correct answer

If nothing fits, that is not a mistake. One situation must get X. Do not try to force an answer.

For the entire exam section Lesen you have 45 minutes. There are 5 parts with 25 tasks. For Lesen Teil 2 you need approximately 8 to 10 minutes. With a clear plan in your head you can manage this well.

These synonyms appear again and again in DTZ exams. Learn them by heart. They help you solve the tasks more quickly.