Practice English Reading Exercises for A2 – Science, Environment & Research
Reading 1
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Lucas and the Little Creatures
Fourteen-year-old Lucas has an unusual hobby. While his classmates enjoy playing football or watching films after school, Lucas prefers walking in the forest near his home. He spends his free time looking under rocks and leaves because he loves finding strange insects.
Lucas knows exactly what he wants to do when he is older. His biggest dream is to make television documentaries about bugs. Many teenagers think insects are scary or ugly, but Lucas believes they are amazing. He wants to film them and show people around the world how beautiful they can be.
Last month, Lucas got a small digital camera for his birthday. He immediately went into the garden and spent three hours filming a large green beetle. He added some music to the video and showed it to his friends. At first, they didn’t want to watch it, but in the end, they thought it was fantastic.
Next summer, Lucas is going to join a special nature club for young photographers. He knows that making good documentaries is quite difficult. However, he hopes the teachers there will help him improve his skills. He cannot wait to finish school and travel to different countries for a famous TV channel.
1 What does Lucas do after school?
(A) He searches for unusual animals outside.
(B) He enjoys playing football with his classmates.
(C) He watches films about the forest near his home.
2 Why does Lucas want to make documentaries about insects?
(A) to teach others that bugs are wonderful things
(B) because he thinks they are scary or ugly
(C) to meet people around the world
3 What happened when Lucas showed his video to his friends?
(A) They really enjoyed looking at it.
(B) They bought him a small digital camera.
(C) They went into the garden to find a green beetle.
4 Why is Lucas joining a nature club next summer?
(A) to learn how to make better films
(B) to finish school and travel to different countries
(C) to start working for a famous TV channel
5 What is the best title for the article?
(A) A teenager’s plan to film interesting bugs
(B) The most dangerous insects in the forest
(C) How to buy a small digital camera
ANSWER KEY
1 A 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 A
Reading 2
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Oliver’s Jungle Dream
Oliver is a fourteen-year-old boy with a very unusual bedroom. While his classmates have posters of pop stars or football players on their walls, Oliver’s room is full of plants. He spends all his free time looking after them. His biggest dream is to become a botanist, a scientist who studies plants.
Oliver’s love for nature started when he was younger. For his tenth birthday, his uncle gave him a large book about the South American rainforests. Oliver spent hours looking at the pictures of giant trees and strange, colourful flowers. Since that day, he has wanted to explore the jungle.
To prepare for his future career, Oliver works hard. Every Sunday morning, he goes to the local town park. He doesn’t play sports there. Instead, he helps the gardeners look after the rare flowers. He washes the plant pots and learns the difficult Latin names of everything that grows there.
Next year, Oliver is going to choose science subjects for his school exams. He knows he has to study biology at university for a long time. But he doesn’t mind the hard work. One day, he hopes to travel to the Amazon jungle and find new plant species that nobody knows about.
1 What makes Oliver’s bedroom different from his friends’ rooms?
(A) He has posters of pop stars on the walls.
(B) It is filled with lots of green things.
(C) He plays with football players there.
2 How did Oliver become interested in nature?
(A) A relative got him something to read.
(B) He travelled to the South American rainforests.
(C) He bought a large book for his tenth birthday.
3 What does Oliver do on Sunday mornings?
(A) He plays sports in the local town park.
(B) He washes the strange, colourful flowers.
(C) He gives the workers a hand with special plants.
4 How does Oliver feel about his future studies?
(A) He is happy to spend years learning at university.
(B) He wants to avoid the hard work in the Amazon jungle.
(C) He is going to choose science subjects for his classmates.
5 What is the best title for the article?
(A) The best science subjects to choose at school
(B) The giant trees of the South American rainforests
(C) A teenager’s ambition to explore plant life
ANSWER KEY
1 B 2 A 3 C 4 A 5 C
Reading 3
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Leo’s Recycling Dream
Fifteen-year-old Leo lives in a very big city. While his friends spend their free time playing video games or going to the cinema, Leo has a different hobby. He cares a lot about the environment. His biggest dream is to invent new ways to recycle the plastic waste that he sees on the streets.
To prepare for his future, Leo does something unusual at the weekends. He doesn’t just put plastic bottles in the bin. He collects them and takes them to his family’s garage. He uses the garage as a small laboratory. There, he tries to cut and heat the plastic to make useful new things, like pencil cases and plant pots. His parents always help him use the tools safely.
Last month, Leo had a chance to show his ideas at a school science competition. He built a small machine that turns old plastic bottles into strong string. Before the competition, he was worried that the machine wouldn’t work. However, when he showed it to the teachers, it worked perfectly. They loved his invention, and he won first prize!
Next year, Leo is going to study science and engineering at college. He knows that nobody can clean a whole city immediately. It will take a lot of hard work and time to solve the plastic problem. But he hopes to open a large recycling center one day and change the world.
1 What is Leo’s dream for the future?
(A) to spend his free time playing video games
(B) to find different methods to reuse plastic
(C) to clean the streets and go to the cinema
2 What does Leo do in his family’s garage?
(A) He makes new things out of old bottles.
(B) He puts all his plastic bottles in the bin.
(C) He helps his parents use the tools safely.
3 How did Leo feel before the school science competition?
(A) He was afraid that there might be a problem with his machine.
(B) He thought the teachers would love his invention.
(C) He was happy because he won first prize.
4 What does Leo understand about the plastic problem?
(A) He can clean the whole city immediately.
(B) He is going to open a large center next year.
(C) It will take a long time to fix the situation.
5 What is the best title for the article?
(A) A teenager’s plan to clean up his city
(B) How to win a school science competition
(C) The best ways to make plastic bottles
ANSWER KEY
1 B 2 A 3 A 4 C 5 A