Practice English Reading Exercises for A2 – School/Community Green Projects

Exercises:   12345

Reading 1

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Sam’s Green News

Sixteen-year-old Sam lives in a beautiful small town near the sea. He loves going to the beach to swim at the weekends. However, he often sees a lot of empty plastic bottles on the sand. Sam wanted to change this, so he decided to start a monthly email newsletter to talk about local environmental problems.

Every four weeks, Sam spends a few hours on his computer. First, he walks around the town and takes photos of the rubbish. Then, he writes short articles about the problems and gives people easy solutions. Finally, he sends the interesting newsletter to his friends, family, and his neighbours.

Last month, Sam wrote an article about plastic shopping bags. The owner of a local supermarket read the newsletter and thought it was a brilliant idea. He immediately stopped giving plastic bags to his customers. Instead, shoppers had to bring their own cloth bags from home. This made Sam feel fantastic.

Now, Sam’s newsletter is very popular, and hundreds of people read it. Next month, he is going to write about ways of saving water at home. He hopes that other teenagers will read his stories and start their own newsletters, too. He believes that young people can help to keep the planet clean.

1   Why did Sam start his newsletter?

     (A) Because he loves going to the beach to swim.

     (B) He wanted to stop the seaside from being dirty.

     (C) He needed to talk about local environmental problems.

2   What does Sam do before he writes his articles?

     (A) He gets pictures of the things people throw away.

     (B) He spends a few hours on his computer.

     (C) He gives people easy solutions.

3   What happened after the supermarket owner read the newsletter?

     (A) Sam wrote an article about plastic shopping bags.

     (B) He gave plastic bags to his customers.

     (C) People started carrying their items in different bags.

4   What is Sam planning to do next?

     (A) Start their own newsletters, too.

     (B) Share ideas on how to use less water.

     (C) Read his stories and start their own newsletters.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) How to bring your own cloth bags from home

     (B) A teenager’s news helps his town

     (C) The owner of a local supermarket

Reading 2

For each question, choose the correct answer.

A Greener Park for Everyone

Thirteen-year-old Lily lives opposite a beautiful park. She often goes there at the weekend to meet her friends. But last month, she felt very upset. There was rubbish on the grass and near the trees. People had nowhere to put their empty plastic bottles or newspapers because there were only two old bins for general waste.

Lily wanted to change this, so she wrote a letter to the local council. She explained that the park needed special bins for recycling. Before she posted the letter, she showed it to her classmates and neighbours. She asked them to add their names to the bottom of the page. More than a hundred people signed it!

After two weeks, the council answered. A woman phoned Lily and invited her to a meeting. Lily felt quite nervous, but she spoke clearly. She told the council that teenagers care about the environment and want to recycle. The council thought she was right and decided to buy ten new recycling bins.

Today, the new bins are in the park. The grass is completely clean, and people always put their plastic and paper in the right places. Lily feels extremely proud of what she has achieved. Next spring, she hopes to work with the council again to plant some lovely colourful flowers around the park.

1   Why was Lily unhappy last month?

     (A) She had to leave empty plastic bottles near the trees.

     (B) She couldn’t meet her friends at the weekend.

     (C) There weren’t enough places for people to throw things away.

2   What did Lily do before sending her letter?

     (A) She wrote her classmates’ names at the bottom of the page.

     (B) She got lots of other people to support her idea.

     (C) She asked a hundred people to write to the local council.

3   At the meeting, what happened?

     (A) A woman decided to buy ten new recycling bins.

     (B) Lily felt slightly afraid but shared her ideas well.

     (C) The local council felt quite nervous.

4   What is the situation in the park today?

     (A) Visitors are successfully separating their rubbish.

     (B) People are planting lovely colourful flowers around the park.

     (C) Lily always leaves her plastic and paper on the grass.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) How to write a letter to the local council

     (B) The best place to meet friends at the weekend

     (C) A teenager’s successful project to clean up a park

Reading 3

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Sam’s Green School Movie

Fourteen-year-old Sam has always loved taking photos and making short videos. Last term, his school decided to stop using plastic things like bottles and bags. They wanted to help the environment and keep the town clean. Sam thought this was a brilliant idea, so he decided to make a documentary film about his school’s green project.

First, Sam used his father’s camera to interview people. He asked his science teacher and some of his classmates a lot of questions. Then, he filmed the school cafeteria. It was great to see the workers changing all the plastic cups to heavy glass ones. Sam spent three weeks filming everything during his lunch breaks.

After that, Sam had to finish the film on his laptop in his bedroom. This was actually the most difficult part of the whole project. His computer was quite old and slow, so it took a long time to put the video together. Fortunately, his best friend gave him some great music to play in the background.

Finally, the head teacher showed Sam’s documentary in the school hall. Over two hundred students watched it, and they clapped very loudly at the end. Sam felt very proud of his hard work. Because the film was so popular, next year, he is going to make another movie about planting trees in his town.

1   What did Sam’s school do last term?

     (A) They decided to make a documentary film.

     (B) They loved taking photos and making short videos.

     (C) They chose to end their use of plastic materials.

2   What did Sam do in the school cafeteria?

     (A) He recorded the staff getting different drinking glasses.

     (B) He used his father’s camera to interview people.

     (C) He started changing all the plastic cups.

3   What was the hardest part of the project for Sam?

     (A) finding some great music to play in the background

     (B) building the video on a machine that was not fast

     (C) putting the video together with his best friend

4   How did the students react to Sam’s film?

     (A) They showed they liked it by making noise with their hands.

     (B) They felt very proud of his hard work.

     (C) They decided to make another movie about planting trees.

5   What is the best title for the article?

     (A) How to play music in the background

     (B) A teenager’s movie about a green school

     (C) The best computer to put a video together

Exercises:   12345