A2 Key for Schools (KET) Reading & Writing Part 4 Test – History & Origins of Food 4
Reading » A2 Reading Tests » A2 Key for Schools (KET) Reading & Writing Part 4 Test – History & Origins of Food
Test 1
Questions 19-24
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The History of Tomatoes in Europe
Tomatoes are very common today, but they have an interesting history. When sailors first brought them to Europe from South America, people didn't want to eat them. Instead, they put these new (19)…………… in their gardens just to look at. The first tomatoes in Europe were actually (20)…………… , not red!
At first, many Europeans were (21)…………… of eating them. Some doctors said that tomatoes were bad for you. But a few people tried them and learned that they were completely (22)…………… to eat.
Soon, people in Italy and Spain started to use them in their everyday (23)…………… . They mixed them with oil and onions to make nice sauces. Today, tomatoes are a favourite food everywhere, (24)…………… you can add them to so many different meals.
19 A trees B flowers C plants
20 A yellow B blonde C fair
21 A worried B afraid C sorry
22 A sure B right C safe
23 A cooking B making C doing
24 A so B because C but
Answer Key & Explanations
19 C (plants): This tests semantic fit. Tomatoes grow on small bushes in the ground, which are 'plants', not large 'trees'. While they produce 'flowers', people planted the whole growing plant in their gardens.
20 A (yellow): This relies on semantic fit. 'Yellow' is the correct adjective to describe the colour of an object like a tomato. 'Blonde' and 'fair' are distractors because they are only used to describe human hair.
21 B (afraid): This tests collocation. The adjective 'afraid' correctly collocates with the preposition 'of' (afraid of eating). 'Worried' takes the preposition 'about', and 'sorry' takes 'for' or 'about'.
22 C (safe): This requires understanding the broader context. The text contrasts doctors saying tomatoes were "bad for you" with people learning they were actually not dangerous. The opposite of dangerous here is 'safe'.
23 A (cooking): This tests a collocation/noun phrase. 'Cooking' is used here as a noun to describe the general activity of preparing food. 'Making' and 'doing' do not fit naturally into the phrase "everyday [blank]" without a direct object following them.
24 B (because): This tests phrase-level meaning. The conjunction 'because' is needed to introduce the reason why tomatoes are a favourite food everywhere today. 'So' introduces a result, and 'but' introduces a contrast, neither of which fits the sentence's logic.
Test 2
Questions 19-24
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The History of Sushi
Sushi is a very famous food from Japan. Today, people all over the world enjoy this delicious meal. But the story of sushi actually began a long time ago in a different place.
Many hundreds of years ago, people needed a good way to keep food (19)…………… without using a fridge. When fishermen caught fish in the (20)…………… , they did not eat it right away. Instead, they covered it in salt and cooked (21)…………… . This was very useful because it stopped the fish from going bad. When they were hungry, people only ate the fish and did not eat the other things.
Later, this clever idea travelled to (22)…………… . The people there decided to eat everything together. They found that it tasted very good, so they started (23)…………… different vegetables to make it even better. Today, anyone can visit a restaurant to enjoy this famous (24)…………… !
19 A fresh B cool C new
20 A sea B field C forest
21 A rice B soup C bread
22 A Japan B Europe C America
23 A adding B putting C keeping
24 A dish B plate C bowl
Answer Key & Explanations
19 A (fresh): "Keep food fresh" is the correct natural collocation. Food does not stay "new", and they didn't have fridges to keep it "cool".
20 A (sea): Semantically, fishermen specifically catch fish in the "sea". You cannot catch fish in a "field" or a "forest".
21 A (rice): Based on the phrase-level context of covering fish to store it for a long time, "rice" is the only logical food choice. You cannot cover fish in "soup" or "bread" for months.
22 A (Japan): Based on the broader context of the first sentence ("famous food from Japan"), the idea travelled to "Japan" to become the modern food we know today.
23 A (adding): "Adding" is the correct verb collocation when you mix a new ingredient into a recipe to improve it. You "put" something in or on something, and "keeping" does not fit the meaning here.
24 A (dish): Semantically, a "dish" is the correct word for a specific prepared meal or recipe. A "plate" and a "bowl" are just the physical objects you use to hold the food.
Test 3
Questions 19-24
For each question, choose the correct answer.
Where Coffee Grows
Millions of people around the world drink a cup of coffee every morning. They love this dark drink because it gives them a lot of (19)…………… for the day. But do you know where coffee actually (20)…………… from?
Coffee is not a plant that you can find everywhere. It usually grows on small trees. The coffee (21)…………… that we buy in the shop actually come from a small red fruit. They hide inside the fruit until they are ready to pick.
These trees cannot live in cold weather. They only grow in very (22)…………… countries like Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia. The plants need a lot of rain and warm sunshine to get big. When the fruit is ready, farmers take it off the tree and (23)…………… it in the sun. People use this to (24)…………… the delicious drink we all know.
19 A health B rest C energy
20 A arrives B comes C goes
21 A leaves B beans C pieces
22 A busy B rich C hot
23 A dry B empty C clean
24 A do B build C make
Answer Key & Explanations
19 C (energy): This is a semantic fit. A cup of coffee gives you the 'energy' to be active during the day. 'Rest' is the opposite of what coffee gives you, and 'health' is a general state of the body, not something a drink directly gives you for the day.
20 B (comes): This is a phrase-level fit. To talk about the origin or birthplace of something, we use the fixed expression 'comes from'. We do not say 'arrives from' or 'goes from' in this context.
21 B (beans): This is a strong collocation. The small hard parts of the coffee plant that we use to make the drink are always called 'coffee beans'. We do not call them coffee 'leaves' or coffee 'pieces'.
22 C (hot): This fits the broader context. The previous sentence clearly states that the trees "cannot live in cold weather". Therefore, they must grow in 'hot' countries. 'Busy' and 'rich' describe people or money in a country, not the weather.
23 A (dry): This is a semantic fit. When you put something outside in the warm sun to remove the water from it, you 'dry' it. You 'empty' a box or a bag, and you 'clean' something with soap and water, not just sunshine.
24 C (make): This is a grammatical collocation. In English, we use the verb 'make' when we prepare a food or a drink. We do not 'do' or 'build' a drink.