Practice English Reading Exercises for A2 – Business, Retail & Entrepreneurship

Exercises:   12345

Reading 1

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Chloe’s Fashion Dream

Fifteen-year-old Chloe loves fashion, but she is different from her classmates. While her friends spend their weekends buying expensive dresses and T-shirts at the shopping centre, Chloe prefers making her own. She spends hours in her bedroom changing old items into exciting new designs. Her biggest dream is to start her own clothing company and be a young boss.

Her journey began last year during a school art project. Chloe designed and made a very unusual jacket. When she wore it to school, all her friends loved it. Many of them asked Chloe to make similar jackets for them. She suddenly understood that she could actually sell her designs to other teenagers.

Right now, Chloe is working hard to grow her small business. She needs a better sewing machine, so she is saving the cash she earns from her part-time job at a local café. Her parents are very supportive. They usually spend their Sunday mornings driving Chloe to different markets to find cheap materials and colourful buttons.

Next autumn, Chloe is going to start a business course at her local college. She hopes to learn how to manage money and advertise her clothes online. Chloe knows that running a company will be difficult, but she is ready for the challenge. She cannot wait to see people wearing her brand in the future.

1   How is Chloe different from the other teenagers at her school?

     (A) She spends her weekends buying expensive dresses.

     (B) She enjoys creating her own clothes.

     (C) She likes spending time at the shopping centre.

2   What happened after Chloe wore her new jacket to school?

     (A) She made a similar jacket for a school art project.

     (B) She gave her unusual jacket to one of her friends.

     (C) She realised other people would pay for her clothes.

3   How do Chloe’s parents help her with her business?

     (A) They take her to places to get the things she needs.

     (B) They give her cash to buy a better sewing machine.

     (C) They work with her at a local café on Sunday mornings.

4   What is Chloe planning to do next autumn?

     (A) Take a class to learn about running a company.

     (B) Find a job to advertise her clothes online.

     (C) Start wearing her brand to her local college.

5   What is the best title for this article?

     (A) How to make an unusual jacket

     (B) The best markets for buying cheap materials

     (C) A young designer’s plans for the future

Reading 2

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Tom’s Global Business Dream

Sixteen-year-old Tom has a different hobby from most boys in his class. While his friends spend their weekends playing football or watching films, Tom prefers visiting large shopping centres in his city. However, he does not go there to spend his money on new clothes or video games. He loves watching how the busy shops work and looking at what customers buy.

Tom knows exactly what he wants to do in the future. His biggest dream is to manage international stores all over the world. To achieve this goal, he knows he has to study business at a good university when he finishes school. He wants to learn how to open big shops in different countries and lead large teams of workers.

To prepare for his future career, Tom is studying very hard. He knows that speaking different languages is extremely important for international business, so he practices Spanish and French every evening. Last summer, he also found a weekend job in a local shoe shop. He wanted to understand how to help customers and learn about selling things. His manager said he was a great worker.

Next October, Tom is going to visit a famous university in London with his parents. The university is having a special open day for teenagers who want to learn about business. Tom is going to take his notebook and ask the teachers lots of questions. He hopes to get excellent marks in his exams so he can start his exciting global career.

1   Why does Tom visit large shopping centres?

     (A) to look at how places sell things

     (B) to spend his money on new clothes

     (C) to spend weekends playing football

2   What does Tom think he needs to do to achieve his dream?

     (A) get a place on a university business course

     (B) manage international stores all over the world

     (C) open big shops in different countries

3   Why did Tom get a job last summer?

     (A) to gain some useful experience with buyers

     (B) to practice his Spanish and French every evening

     (C) to show his manager he was a great worker

4   What is Tom planning to do in October?

     (A) find out more about an educational programme

     (B) ask the teachers for excellent marks in his exams

     (C) move to London to start his exciting global career

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) A teenager’s plans to run global shops

     (B) The best universities to study business in London

     (C) How to get a weekend job in a shoe shop

Reading 3

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Leo’s Online Shoe Shop

Leo is a fifteen-year-old boy who loves fashion. His bedroom is full of different trainers. One day, he decided he wanted to understand how people buy and sell things on the internet. He didn’t have much money to start a big business, so he chose to sell second-hand shoes online.

First, Leo asked his friends and family members to give him their old trainers. Many of the shoes were very dirty, so he spent hours cleaning them carefully in his garden. After that, he used his mobile phone to take great pictures of the clean shoes. Finally, he uploaded the photos to a popular shopping website.

In the beginning, nobody bought anything from his shop. Leo felt a bit sad, but he didn’t stop trying. He changed the information under the pictures and wrote better descriptions of the shoes. A few days later, a woman bought a pair of black trainers. Leo was so excited when he received the money!

Now, Leo has a successful small online shop. He doesn’t spend the money he earns on expensive clothes or video games. Instead, he uses it to buy more second-hand shoes to sell. He hopes to learn more about e-commerce and study business at university when he is older.

1   Why did Leo decide to sell shoes?

     (A) He wanted to start a big business.

     (B) He wanted to learn about internet shopping.

     (C) He needed to buy different trainers.

2   What did Leo do first when he got the old trainers?

     (A) He washed them outside his house.

     (B) He gave them to his friends and family members.

     (C) He used his mobile phone to take great pictures.

3   How did Leo finally get someone to buy his shoes?

     (A) He bought a pair of black trainers for a woman.

     (B) He decided to stop trying in the beginning.

     (C) He improved the texts about the items.

4   What does Leo do with his money now?

     (A) He buys more things to sell.

     (B) He spends the money he earns on expensive clothes.

     (C) He pays to study business at university.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) How to clean second-hand shoes

     (B) A young person’s online business

     (C) The best shopping website for video games

Exercises:   12345