Practice English Reading Exercises for A1 – Health, Food & The Body
Reading 1
Read the story. Write words to complete the sentences about the story.
You can use 1, 2 or 3 words.
The dirty toy train
Last Sunday afternoon, Mary and her family were in the kitchen. They wanted to have lunch together. Mary’s baby brother, Ben, sat on his small chair. He had a beautiful new toy train. It was a present from their uncle. The toy train was red and black, and Ben liked it a lot.
Examples
Mary and her family were in the ………kitchen……… last Sunday afternoon.
The family wanted to have ………lunch……… together.
Questions
1 Ben, who is Mary’s ………………………… , sat on his small chair.
2 Ben got his new toy train from his ………………………… .
3 The colours of the new toy train were ………………………… .
Their mother walked into the kitchen with a big bowl of hot pasta. She put some pasta in a small green bowl for Ben. “Eat your lunch, Ben,” she said. But Ben was very naughty. He didn’t want to eat his food. He picked up his green bowl and threw it! The hot pasta fell on his new toy train. The red train was very dirty now.
4 Ben’s mother brought a big bowl of ………………………… into the kitchen.
5 Mother put Ben’s food into a ………………………… .
6 The naughty baby didn’t want to eat his ………………………… .
7 The hot pasta fell on the ………………………… and made it very dirty.
Mary looked at the dirty toy and said, “Oh no, Ben!” Ben started to cry because his train was full of pasta. Their dad quickly stood up and washed the toy train with some water and a towel. Soon, the train was clean again. Dad gave the toy back to Ben, and the happy baby smiled.
8 Ben started ………………………… because his new toy had pasta on it.
9 Dad washed the dirty train with a towel and ………………………… .
10 The ………………………… smiled when his dad gave the clean toy back.
ANSWER KEY
1 baby brother 2 uncle 3 red and black
4 hot pasta 5 small green bowl 6 food 7 new toy train
8 to cry 9 some water 10 happy baby
Reading 2
Read the story. Write words to complete the sentences about the story.
You can use 1, 2 or 3 words.
Fred’s messy painting
Last Sunday, Fred was in his bedroom. His favourite hobby was painting. He wanted to paint a big picture for his grandmother’s birthday. He used red, blue and yellow paint. He painted a beautiful house and a big garden.
Examples
Fred was in his bedroom ………last Sunday……… .
Fred’s favourite hobby was ………painting……… .
Questions
1 Fred wanted to make a picture for his ………………………… .
2 Fred used red, blue and ………………………… for his picture.
3 In the picture, there was a house and a ………………………… .
Fred worked on his picture for two hours. It was a great picture, but Fred was very messy! He had blue paint on his nose and red paint in his hair. His hands were very dirty. His mother came into the room and laughed. “Look at your dirty clothes, Fred!” she said. “You cannot sit on the sofa in those.”
4 Fred worked on his painting for ………………………… .
5 Fred had some blue paint on his ………………………… .
6 When his mother came into the room, she ………………………… .
7 Fred’s mother said he could not sit on the ………………………… .
Fred went to the bathroom to clean himself. He washed his face and his dirty hands with some soap. Then, he took off his messy T-shirt and jeans. He put on a clean green sweater. Fred gave the picture to his grandmother in the evening, and she loved it!
8 Fred washed his dirty hands and his face with ………………………… .
9 Fred took off his messy clothes and put on a ………………………… .
10 Fred’s grandmother got the picture in ………………………… .
ANSWER KEY
1 grandmother’s birthday 2 yellow paint 3 big garden
4 two hours 5 nose 6 laughed 7 sofa
8 some soap 9 green sweater 10 the evening
Reading 3
Read the story. Write words to complete the sentences about the story.
You can use 1, 2 or 3 words.
Tom’s cold drink
It was a very hot afternoon in August. Tom and his family went to a fun fair in the town park. Tom played on the grass with his younger brother for a long time. The sun was very strong, and soon Tom felt very thirsty. He didn’t have any water in his bag.
Examples
Tom and his family went to a fun fair on a ………very hot afternoon……… .
The fun fair was in the ………town park……… .
Questions
1 Tom played with his …………………… on the grass.
2 Because the sun was strong, Tom soon felt …………………… .
3 Tom couldn’t drink anything because he didn’t have any …………………… in his bag.
Tom stopped playing because he felt dizzy. His head hurt a lot. “I am too hot,” he told his father. His dad said, “You must sit down.” Tom sat under a big old tree to rest. His dad walked quickly to a small shop near the park. He wanted to buy a drink for Tom.
4 Tom stopped playing his game because he …………………… .
5 Tom talked to his father because his …………………… a lot.
6 Tom went to rest under a …………………… .
7 Tom’s dad went to a …………………… to get a drink.
A few minutes later, Dad came back with a large glass of cold lemonade and a cheese sandwich. Tom drank all the sweet lemonade quickly. After that, he wasn’t thirsty or dizzy anymore. He ate his sandwich and smiled. “I feel much better now,” he said. The family walked home happily.
8 Dad brought a cheese sandwich and a large glass of …………………… for Tom.
9 After his drink, Tom wasn’t …………………… anymore.
10 Tom said he felt …………………… after he ate the sandwich.
ANSWER KEY
1 younger brother 2 very thirsty/thirsty 3 water
4 felt dizzy 5 head hurt 6 big old tree/old tree/tree 7 small shop/shop
8 cold lemonade/lemonade 9 thirsty or dizzy 10 much better/better