Practice English Reading Exercises for A1 – Animals, Nature & Weather
Reading 1
Read the story. Write words to complete the sentences about the story.
You can use 1, 2 or 3 words.
The Hungry Mouse
Last Tuesday night, the weather was very cold and it snowed outside. A little mouse called Squeak lived under the floor of a big farm. Squeak woke up and felt very hungry. He wanted to find some nice food for his dinner.
Examples
On Tuesday night, it was ………very cold……… and it snowed.
The little mouse was called ………Squeak……… .
Questions
1 Squeak’s home was under the floor of a ………………………… .
2 When the little mouse woke up, he felt ………………………… .
3 Squeak wanted to find some ………………………… to eat for his dinner.
Squeak walked quietly up the stairs to the dark kitchen. The family was asleep, so the house was very quiet. Squeak looked in a big cupboard, but he only found some old bread. “I don’t want bread,” he thought. “I want some yellow cheese!” Then, he saw a tall table near the window. He climbed up quickly.
4 Squeak went up the stairs to the ………………………… .
5 The house was very quiet because the family was ………………………… .
6 Inside a ………………………… , Squeak found some old bread.
7 Squeak saw a tall table that was near ………………………… and climbed up.
On the table, there was a big plate. Next to a glass of water, Squeak found a large piece of cheese! It smelled fantastic. Squeak sat on the table and ate his dinner. He wasn’t hungry or cold anymore. He went back to his home and slept happily.
8 Squeak found a large piece of cheese next to a ………………………… .
9 Squeak thought the cheese smelled ………………………… .
10 After his dinner, the little mouse wasn’t ………………………… anymore.
ANSWER KEY
1 big farm 2 very hungry 3 nice food
4 dark kitchen 5 asleep 6 big cupboard 7 the window
8 glass of water 9 fantastic 10 hungry or cold
Reading 2
Read the story. Write words to complete the sentences about the story.
You can use 1, 2 or 3 words.
The forest walk
Last Sunday morning, Lily and her grandfather went for a walk. They walked to the big forest behind their town. The weather was cloudy but warm. Lily carried her new camera in her bag because taking photos is her favourite hobby. She wanted to find some beautiful animals.
Examples
Lily walked with her ………grandfather……… on Sunday morning.
The big forest was ………behind their town……… .
Questions
1 The weather on the day of the walk was ………………………… .
2 Lily’s favourite hobby is ………………………… .
3 Lily wanted to look for ………………………… in the forest.
Deep in the forest, the trees were very tall. First, Lily took pictures of some strange plants. They had big purple leaves. Then, her grandfather pointed up. “Look, Lily!” he said quietly. There was a beautiful blue bird in a tree. It sang a happy song. Lily took her camera out quickly, but she dropped it in the long grass. She was sad.
4 In the forest, Lily took pictures of ………………………… first.
5 The strange plants had ………………………… on them.
6 Lily’s grandfather saw a ………………………… up in a tree.
7 Lily was sad because her camera fell in ………………………… .
Her grandfather picked up the camera and cleaned it with his towel. “It is fine,” he smiled. Lily looked up again. The blue bird didn’t fly away. She took three great photos of the bird and the plants. Then, they went home and showed the pictures to Lily’s grandmother. It was a fantastic day in the forest.
8 Lily’s grandfather used ………………………… to clean the camera.
9 Lily took ………………………… of the bird and the strange plants.
10 Lily and her grandfather showed their pictures to ………………………… at home.
ANSWER KEY
1 cloudy but warm 2 taking photos 3 beautiful animals
4 strange plants 5 big purple leaves 6 beautiful blue bird 7 the long grass
8 his towel 9 three great photos 10 Lily’s grandmother
Reading 3
Read the story. Write words to complete the sentences about the story.
You can use 1, 2 or 3 words.
The jumping dolphins
Last summer, Lucy and her brother Sam went on holiday with their parents. They went to a beautiful place next to the sea. One sunny morning, the family caught a small boat to visit a green island. The children were very happy because they loved going on the water.
Examples
Lucy and Sam went on holiday last ………summer……… .
The family went to a beautiful place near ………the sea……… .
Questions
1 The family traveled to a green island in a …………………… .
2 The children felt …………………… because they enjoyed being on the water.
The boat was very fast. Sam sat at the front and looked at the blue sea. Suddenly, he shouted, “Look, Lucy! What is that?” Lucy looked down and saw three grey dolphins in the water. The dolphins swam next to the boat and jumped very high. The children laughed and their dad took lots of photos with his phone.
3 Sam sat at the …………………… of the fast boat.
4 Sam looked at the …………………… and then shouted to Lucy.
5 Lucy saw …………………… in the water.
6 The dolphins jumped high and swam …………………… the boat.
7 The children’s dad used his phone to take …………………… .
After twenty minutes, the small boat stopped at the green island. The family got out and walked on the white sand. The dolphins swam away, but Lucy and Sam were very excited. They sat under a big tree and talked about the beautiful sea animals all day.
8 The boat arrived at the green island after …………………… .
9 The family got out of the boat and walked on the …………………… .
10 The children sat under a …………………… to talk about the sea animals.
ANSWER KEY
1 small boat 2 very happy 3 front
4 blue sea 5 three grey dolphins 6 next to 7 lots of photos
8 twenty minutes 9 white sand 10 big tree