A2 Key for Schools (KET) Reading & Writing Part 3 Test – Teens, Tasks & Money 1
Reading » A2 Reading Tests » A2 Key for Schools (KET) Reading & Writing Part 3 Test – Teens, Tasks & Money
Test 1
Questions 14-18
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The School Shop Manager
15-year-old Will writes about volunteering at his school.
My name is Will, and I am 15 years old. I always like to help at my school. This term, the school opened a small shop in the main hall to sell things like pens, pencils, and paper to the students. Our teachers asked for a volunteer to run the shop during our morning break times. I am very good at maths, so I decided to do it.
For the first few weeks, everything was very easy. Students came to buy their stationery, and they gave me their money. We had a modern electronic cash register on the desk. When I put the prices into the machine, it quickly told me exactly how much change to give back to the students. I really enjoyed the work.
However, one Tuesday morning, we had a terrible problem. Just before the break started, the cash register suddenly stopped working. The screen went completely black. Then, a large group of students arrived to buy things. Because the machine was broken, I had to use my brain to calculate all the prices and the change. I had to think very fast!
It was quite a difficult morning, but I carefully counted the money in my head for every single student. At the end of the break, my maths teacher checked the cash box to see if I was right. I didn't make a single mistake! The next day, the school principal came to find me. He said I showed excellent responsibility and thanked me for my hard work. I am so pleased. Because the shop is getting busier, next term I am going to teach my friend how to manage it with me!
14 Why did Will decide to work in the school shop?
A He felt his maths skills made him good for the job.
B His teachers told him that he had to do it.
C He wanted to buy some new pens and pencils.
15 What does Will say about the first few weeks in the shop?
A The students always gave him the exact money.
B A modern machine made his job very simple to do.
C He enjoyed learning how to build a cash register.
16 What was the problem on Tuesday morning?
A A student broke the screen on the cash register.
B Will had to work out the numbers without a machine.
C A large group of students couldn't buy anything.
17 What did the maths teacher discover at the end of the break?
A Will didn't put enough money in the cash box.
B Will made a mistake with a single student.
C Will did all of the calculations perfectly.
18 What is Will planning to do next term?
A manage the shop with the school principal
B show a classmate how to do his job
C open a new shop to sell his own stationery
Answer Key & Explanations
14 A - Explanation: In paragraph 1, the text says the teachers asked for a volunteer and Will says, "I am very good at maths, so I decided to do it." Option B is a wrong logic trap; the teachers asked for a volunteer, meaning anyone could choose to do it, they didn't force Will to do it. Option C is a partial truth trap; the shop sells pens and pencils, but Will volunteered to run the shop, not to buy things for himself.
15 B - Explanation: In paragraph 2, the text states that "everything was very easy" and the machine "quickly told me exactly how much change to give back" (the machine made it simple). Option A is a wrong logic trap; the students didn't give him the exact money because he had to give them change back. Option C is a wrong reference trap; the cash register was modern and he enjoyed the work, but he didn't build the machine.
16 B - Explanation: In paragraph 3, the text explains the machine broke so Will "had to use my brain to calculate all the prices and the change" (work out the numbers without a machine). Option A is a wrong logic trap; the machine suddenly stopped working on its own, a student didn't break it. Option C is wrong logic; a large group arrived to buy things, but the text doesn't say that they couldn't buy them.
17 C - Explanation: In paragraph 4, the text states the maths teacher checked the cash box and Will "didn't make a single mistake!" (did all calculations perfectly). Option A is wrong logic because his maths was completely correct, meaning the money was right. Option B is a wrong reference trap using the words "single" and "mistake"; he made zero mistakes, not one.
18 B - Explanation: In the final paragraph, Will says "next term I am going to teach my friend how to manage it with me" (show a classmate how to do his job). Option A is a wrong reference trap; the principal praised his work, but Will isn't managing the shop with him. Option C is a wrong logic trap; he is going to teach his friend to manage the current shop, not open a new one to sell his own stationery.
Test 2
Questions 14-18
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Washing cars for our team
Fourteen-year-old Xena writes about raising money for her sports club.
I'm Xena, and I am fourteen years old. I love playing volleyball. Next month, my school sports team is going on a special trip to play in another city. But we had a big problem. We didn't have enough money to buy the train tickets. Because of this, my friends and I decided to do some jobs to make some money. We thought washing the teachers' cars was a fantastic idea.
We asked all our teachers if they wanted a clean car, and lots of them said yes. On Saturday morning, we arrived early and brought a lot of buckets of water and some soap to the school car park. At first, everything went really well. We worked hard together, and we easily washed five cars in just two hours. I felt very tired but happy because we were making good money.
Then, it was time to wash Mr. Harris's car. He is our math teacher, and he is quite strict in class. His car is usually a beautiful dark black colour. But my friend made a bad mistake and used the wrong soap. Suddenly, the car didn't look black anymore. The strange soap covered everything, and the car looked completely white! I was very worried because Mr. Harris was coming to get his car in a few minutes.
We knew we had to fix the problem very fast. We quickly threw lots of clean water all over the car to wash the terrible soap away. When we finished, the car sparkled beautifully in the sun. When Mr. Harris saw it, he smiled and was very pleased. He actually gave us a big tip for our sports trip. Next weekend, the team is going to wash our parents' cars to get the rest of the money!
14 Why did Xena and her friends decide to wash cars?
A They needed to get money to pay for a journey.
B They wanted to buy some new sports equipment for their school.
C They were asked to do a job by their volleyball teacher.
15 How did Xena feel on Saturday morning?
A surprised because so many teachers wanted clean cars
B annoyed because she had to start work so early
C glad because they were earning a lot of cash
16 What was the problem with Mr. Harris's car?
A The girls didn't have enough soap to clean it properly.
B It changed to a completely different colour.
C Mr. Harris arrived too early to collect it.
17 What did the girls do to fix the problem?
A They left the car in the sun so it could dry beautifully.
B They asked Mr. Harris to give them a few more minutes.
C They cleaned the soap off with lots of water.
18 What is Xena's team planning to do next weekend?
A clean cars for members of their families
B go on a train journey to another city
C give some of the money to their parents
Answer Key & Explanations
14 A - Explanation: The text states that the team didn't have enough money to "buy the train tickets" for a "special trip to play in another city," so they decided to make money. Option A correctly paraphrases this. Option B is a wrong logic trap; they are on a sports team, but they are raising money for tickets, not equipment. Option C is wrong reference; Xena and her friends decided to do this themselves, the teacher did not ask them to do it.
15 C - Explanation: The text says that on Saturday morning, Xena "felt very tired but happy because we were making good money." Option C perfectly matches this feeling and reason ("glad" = happy, "earning a lot of cash" = making good money). Option A is a partial truth trap; lots of teachers did want their cars washed, but she was happy about the money, not surprised by the teachers. Option B is wrong logic; she arrived early and was tired, but she was not annoyed.
16 B - Explanation: The text explains that because they used the wrong soap, the dark black car "didn't look black anymore" and instead "looked completely white!" Option B is a simple paraphrase of this problem. Option A is wrong logic; they had soap, but the problem was that they used the wrong soap. Option C is a partial truth trap; Mr. Harris was coming in a few minutes, but he hadn't arrived too early yet.
17 C - Explanation: To fix the mistake, the text says the girls "quickly threw lots of clean water all over the car to wash the terrible soap away." Option C matches this action exactly. Option A is a partial truth trap; the car sparkled in the sun after they finished, but leaving it in the sun wasn't how they fixed the soap problem. Option B is wrong logic; they worked very fast, but they did not stop to talk to Mr. Harris and ask for more time.
18 A - Explanation: In the final paragraph, Xena says, "Next weekend, the team is going to wash our parents' cars". Option A perfectly summarises this future plan. Option B is a partial truth trap; they are going on a journey, but that trip is "next month," not next weekend. Option C is a wrong logic trap; they are washing their parents' cars to get the rest of the money, not to give money to their parents.
Test 3
Questions 14-18
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Working in the School Library
13-year-old Yara writes about her Friday afternoon job.
My name is Yara, and I am 13 years old. This term, I decided to do something helpful at school. Every Friday afternoon, I have a special job in the school library. I am a library assistant, and I help our librarian, Mr. Smith. When students bring their books back, I put all the information into the computer system. I really enjoy reading, so I thought this would be the perfect job for me.
Most of the time, working in the library is a wonderful and relaxing experience. It is very quiet after all the other students go home for the weekend. I sit at the main desk with a cup of hot chocolate and use a small machine to scan the codes on the back of the books. It feels good to organise everything and make the library look tidy.
However, you have to be very careful with the library's old technology. Last week, we had a huge pile of books on the desk. I wanted to finish my work quickly, so I started scanning them as fast as I could. Suddenly, the computer system stopped working completely! The screen froze, and Mr. Smith had to turn everything off and start again. I felt terrible because my mistake wasted a lot of time.
Because of this, I have some important advice for any students who want to become library assistants in the future. You must never work too fast. When you scan a book, you need to stop and wait to hear a loud digital 'beep' sound. This sound means the computer has successfully saved the information. If you do this for every single book, you won't make any errors!
14 Why does Yara work in the library on Friday afternoons?
A to help put information about books into the computer
B to read her favourite books before she goes home
C to give Mr. Smith some new books for the students
15 How does Yara feel about her job most of the time?
A She gets bored because the room is too quiet.
B She enjoys chatting with the other students there.
C She thinks it is a calm and pleasant way to spend her time.
16 What happened when Yara worked too fast?
A A large pile of books fell off the main desk.
B The library's computer equipment stopped working.
C Mr. Smith told her to turn off the machine and go home.
17 What advice does Yara give to new assistants?
A listen carefully for a special noise from the machine
B scan every single book as quickly as possible
C learn how to fix the computer if it makes a loud sound
18 What is the best title for this text?
A Why our school needs to buy a new computer system
B My experience as a library assistant and how to do it well
C The fastest way to read a large pile of library books
Answer Key & Explanations
14 A - Explanation: In paragraph 1, Yara says, "When students bring their books back, I put all the information into the computer system," which makes A correct. B is a partial truth trap; she says she enjoys reading, but her job is not to sit and read books before she goes home. C is a wrong reference trap; she handles books that students "bring back" (returned books), not "new" books.
15 C - Explanation: In paragraph 2, Yara describes the job as a "wonderful and relaxing experience", which matches C (calm and pleasant). A is wrong logic; she says the library is quiet, but she doesn't get bored. B is a wrong reference trap; the text says the other students "go home", so she is not chatting with them.
16 B - Explanation: Paragraph 3 explains that when she scanned too fast, "the computer system stopped working completely," matching B (equipment stopped working). A is a partial truth trap; there was a "huge pile of books," but the text doesn't say they fell off the desk. C is wrong logic; Mr. Smith had to turn everything off, but he didn't tell Yara to go home.
17 A - Explanation: In paragraph 4, Yara advises new assistants to "wait to hear a loud digital 'beep' sound", which matches A (listen for a special noise). B is wrong logic; she explicitly says, "You must never work too fast." C is a partial truth trap; she mentions a sound, but the sound means the computer saved the information, not that it is broken and needs fixing.
18 B - Explanation: This is a global question. Throughout the blog, Yara describes her personal experience doing her library job and finishes by giving advice to future assistants on how to do it without making mistakes, making B the best title. A is a partial truth trap; she mentions the technology is old and froze, but asking the school to buy a new one is not the purpose of the text. C is wrong logic; the text is about scanning books slowly, not reading them fast.