Practice English Reading Exercises for A2 – Recycling & Waste Management

Exercises:   12345

Reading 1

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Bringing Old Electronics Back to Life

Fourteen-year-old Toby has a very unusual hobby. While his classmates enjoy buying the newest mobile phones and tablets, Toby prefers looking for broken electronics. He loves finding old radios or broken laptops and making them work again. His interesting hobby began two years ago when he successfully repaired his grandfather’s broken watch.

To learn how to fix things, Toby uses his computer. He spends hours watching videos on the internet. In the beginning, repairing things was quite difficult for him. One day, he actually broke a laptop screen while he was trying to clean it. However, Toby was very patient. He practised every weekend until his skills improved.

Toby doesn’t ask for any money for his hard work. When his friends give him their broken electronics, he always returns the items to them for free. Sometimes, he finds old computers in the street, fixes them, and gives them to a local school. His teachers think he is doing an amazing job.

Toby feels incredibly happy because he is helping to protect the environment. He knows that throwing away electronics is terrible for our planet. Next year, he wants to start a club at school to teach other teenagers how to fix their own things. When he is older, he hopes to become a mechanical engineer.

1   How did Toby’s hobby start?

     (A) He bought the newest mobile phones and tablets.

     (B) He loves finding old radios or broken laptops.

     (C) He fixed an item that belonged to a relative.

2   What happened when Toby first started fixing electronics?

     (A) He broke a laptop screen while watching videos on the internet.

     (B) He damaged a piece of equipment by accident.

     (C) He practised every weekend to use his computer.

3   What does Toby do with the things he repairs?

     (A) He asks for money for his hard work.

     (B) He lets people have them without paying.

     (C) He finds old computers in the street for his friends.

4   What is Toby planning to do next year?

     (A) Show other students how to repair devices.

     (B) He is helping to protect the environment.

     (C) He hopes to become a mechanical engineer.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) The newest mobile phones and tablets

     (B) How to become a mechanical engineer

     (C) A teenager who rescues broken devices

Reading 2

For each question, choose the correct answer.

A Second Life for Glass Jars

Thirteen-year-old Lily lives with her parents and little brother. Her family loves eating jam for breakfast, so they buy a lot of it. Usually, when a jar is empty, her parents just throw the glass in the bin. But recently, Lily had an interesting lesson about the environment at school, and she decided to change her family’s bad habit.

One Saturday morning, Lily collected five dirty jars from the kitchen. She washed them carefully with hot water. Then, she asked her dad to help her take the paper labels off. He thought it was a silly idea at first, but he agreed to help. After that, Lily painted the lids in beautiful, bright colours to make them look nice.

Next, Lily showed her mum how useful the jars could be. Before, her mum always kept things like pasta, sugar, and rice in open plastic bags. Lily poured the food into her beautiful new jars. Her mum was very surprised because the kitchen cupboards looked incredibly tidy and organized.

Now, nobody in Lily’s family throws glass away. They keep every single jar! Even her little brother uses a small one to hold his pens and pencils on his desk. Lily feels extremely proud. She loves looking at the colourful jars and knowing she did something good for the planet.

1   Why did Lily decide to keep the empty jars?

     (A) Her family loves eating jam for breakfast.

     (B) She learned something new in her class.

     (C) She wanted to throw the glass in the bin.

2   What did Lily’s dad think about her project in the beginning?

     (A) He washed them carefully with hot water.

     (B) He painted the lids in beautiful colours.

     (C) He believed she was doing something foolish.

3   Why was Lily’s mum surprised?

     (A) She kept things in open plastic bags.

     (B) The food storage space looked very neat.

     (C) Lily poured the food into beautiful new jars.

4   What does Lily’s little brother do with his jar?

     (A) He uses it to store his writing tools.

     (B) He uses it to do something good for the planet.

     (C) He uses it to hold glass that nobody throws away.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) The best jam for a family breakfast

     (B) How to clean your dirty cupboards

     (C) Giving old kitchen items a new purpose

Reading 3

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Leo’s School Garden Project

Fourteen-year-old Leo has always loved growing plants. He spends most of his weekends working in his family’s garden. However, last term, he noticed a big problem at his school. After lunch, the students threw a lot of leftover food into the normal rubbish bins. Leo thought this was a terrible waste and wanted to change things.

He decided to build a compost bin for the school garden. A compost bin is a dark box where old food turns into special dirt for plants. He spoke to his science teacher, Mr. Harris, about his idea. Mr. Harris loved it and gave Leo some wood to build the box. Leo spent his whole weekend making it.

At first, there was a problem. Many students didn’t know how to use the new bin. They threw plastic bottles and sweet wrappers into it. Leo knew he had to do something, so he painted colourful posters. The posters explained what things could go in the bin, like apples and bananas, and what couldn’t. After that, everyone used it correctly.

Now, the compost bin is full of fantastic, dark soil. The school uses it to grow huge tomatoes and carrots in the garden. Leo feels extremely proud of his project. Next year, he is going to start a gardening club so more students can learn how to grow their own food.

1   What made Leo want to change things at his school?

     (A) He saw that students put unfinished meals in the trash.

     (B) He wanted to spend most of his weekends working.

     (C) He had a big problem in his family’s garden.

2   How did the school get the new compost bin?

     (A) Mr. Harris spent his whole weekend making it.

     (B) Leo constructed it himself with stuff from his teacher.

     (C) Leo gave some wood to his science teacher.

3   What was the problem with the bin in the beginning?

     (A) Leo didn’t know how to use the new bin.

     (B) Other students painted colourful posters on it.

     (C) People put the wrong kind of rubbish inside it.

4   What do we learn about Leo in the final paragraph?

     (A) He hopes to show other children how to produce vegetables.

     (B) He uses the bin to grow huge tomatoes and carrots.

     (C) He wants to eat his own food in the gardening club.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) How to cook food from the school garden

     (B) A student’s project to help the environment

     (C) The science teacher who built a wooden box

Exercises:   12345