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Reading Comprehension – Test 2

A1 Beginner ReadingEnglish

This A1 reading comprehension test has two short original texts: a magazine article about a baker's day and a family story about a rainy Saturday. The 16 questions check the main idea, details, simple inference and words in context. It suits beginner learners of English and teachers who need a quick printable reading check.

Questions
16
Time
20 min
PDF
3 pages
Answer key
Included
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Read each text carefully, then choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) for each question. Choose your answers, then press “Check my answers”.

Part 1: Magazine article

Read the article about Sara. Then answer questions 1-8.

A Day in the Life of a Baker

Sara Okafor is 34 years old. She is a baker in a small town. Her bakery is next to the train station. Every day, Sara gets up at four o'clock in the morning. It is dark and quiet. She walks to work because her home is very close.

At five o'clock, she makes bread and cakes. Her favourite is apple cake. The bakery opens at seven. Many people buy bread before they take the train to work.

Sara finishes work at two o'clock in the afternoon. Then she has lunch and sleeps for one hour. In the evening, she reads books or plays with her two children. She goes to bed at nine o'clock.

  1. What is the article mainly about?

  2. Where is Sara's bakery?

  3. What time does Sara get up?

  4. How does Sara go to work?

  5. "Her home is very close." Here, close means _____.

  6. Who buys bread at the bakery in the morning?

  7. What does Sara do after lunch?

  8. What does Sara do in the evening?

Part 2: Short story

Read the story about Kenji's Saturday. Then answer questions 9-16.

A Rainy Saturday

It is Saturday, and Kenji wants to play football in the park with his friends. But when he looks out of the window, it is raining. Kenji is sad. "What can we do today?" he asks his mum.

"Let's make a pizza," she says. Kenji's little sister, Hana, wants to help too. Mum puts flour, water and salt in a big bowl. Kenji and Hana put tomatoes, cheese and green peppers on the pizza. Hana doesn't like peppers, so she puts them only on Kenji's half.

After twenty minutes, the pizza is ready. It is hot and delicious. In the afternoon, the sun comes out. Kenji smiles. "Now we can go to the park!"

  1. Why is Kenji sad at the start of the story?

  2. Whose idea is it to make a pizza?

  3. Who is Hana?

  4. What does Mum put in the big bowl?

  5. Where are the green peppers?

  6. "After twenty minutes, the pizza is ready." Here, ready means _____.

  7. How long does the pizza take to cook?

  8. What does Kenji probably do next?

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About this test

This A1 reading comprehension test has two short original texts: a magazine article about a baker's day and a family story about a rainy Saturday. The 16 questions check the main idea, details, simple inference and words in context. It suits beginner learners of English and teachers who need a quick printable reading check.

Topics covered

Reading comprehensionDaily routinesTelling the timeFamily and homeFoodWeatherWords in context

How to use this test

  1. Download the PDF and print it, or take the test online below.
  2. Answer every question without a dictionary or time pressure.
  3. Check your answers and note the topics you need to review.

Notes for teachers

Give students time to read each text once for the main idea before they look at the questions. Several distractors use words that appear in the text but answer a different question, so students must read the sentences around them. Some questions also test meaning in context, for example 'close' meaning near. For follow-up, students can write five sentences about their own daily routine, or retell the pizza story in their own words.