A2 Key for Schools (KET) Reading & Writing Part 4 Test – History & Origins of Food 2
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 Discovery of Potatoes
Potatoes are one of the most popular foods today, but they have an interesting history. Thousands of years ago, people in South America were the first to find them. They saw that this vegetable grew (19)…………… , safe from the cold mountain weather.
Soon, local (20)…………… learned how to plant potatoes in their fields. The plants were very easy to take care of. When Spanish travellers visited South America, they decided to (21)…………… some potatoes back to Europe with them.
At first, Europeans didn't want to eat them. But soon, the people who did the (22)…………… in European homes found that they were delicious. They were easy to prepare, (23)…………… people started growing them in their own gardens. Today, the potato is famous all over the (24)…………… .
19 A underground B inside C downstairs
20 A builders B farmers C workers
21 A catch B hold C take
22 A cooking B making C cleaning
23 A because B so C but
24 A ground B earth C world
Answer Key & Explanations
19 A (underground): This relies on semantic fit. Potatoes grow beneath the dirt in nature, which is 'underground'. 'Inside' and 'downstairs' are used to describe locations within buildings, not plants growing in the wild.
20 B (farmers): This tests semantic fit. 'Farmers' are the specific people who plant and grow crops in fields. 'Builders' make houses, and 'workers' is too general for this specific agricultural context.
21 C (take): This tests collocation and verb patterns. 'Take something back' is the correct phrase for transporting an item to the place you came from. 'Catch' and 'hold' do not fit this pattern of movement.
22 A (cooking): This tests a common A2 collocation. 'Do the cooking' is a fixed phrase meaning to prepare food for meals. 'Making' does not collocate with 'do the' in this way, and 'cleaning' doesn't fit the context of discovering that a new food is delicious.
23 B (so): This tests phrase-level meaning. The conjunction 'so' is needed here to show the result of potatoes being easy to prepare (the result is that people started growing them). 'Because' and 'but' do not fit the cause-and-effect logic of the sentence.
24 C (world): This requires understanding the broader context and fixed phrases. 'All over the world' is the correct fixed phrase to mean everywhere on our planet. 'Earth' and 'ground' do not collocate naturally in this exact structure.
Test 2
Questions 19-24
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The History of Tea in China
Tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world today. But its story began a long time ago in the (19)…………… in China.
According to an old story, a Chinese (20)…………… called Shennong discovered tea about 5,000 years ago. One day, he was sitting under a tree and decided to (21)…………… a fire to boil some water. Suddenly, the wind blew and some (22)…………… from the tree fell into his pot. The water changed to a brown colour, and it smelled very nice.
He decided to taste the (23)…………… water, and he loved it immediately. After that, people in China started (24)…………… tea every day. Today, people all over the world enjoy this famous drink, but it all started with a lucky mistake.
19 A past B history C time
20 A emperor B explorer C writer
21 A make B do C get
22 A leaves B rocks C flowers
23 A hot B sweet C cold
24 A drinking B eating C cooking
Answer Key & Explanations
19 A (past): "In the past" is the correct phrase-level expression used to talk about a long time ago. We do not say "in the history" or "in the time" without adding extra words.
20 A (emperor): Semantically, Shennong was a famous historical ruler, making "emperor" the correct factual choice. While explorers and writers existed, the specific history of Shennong identifies him as an emperor.
21 A (make): "Make a fire" is a correct and very common fixed collocation. In English, we do not use the verbs "do" or "get" to describe building a fire.
22 A (leaves): Semantically, tea is specifically made from the "leaves" of a plant. "Rocks" do not fall from trees, and while "flowers" can fall from trees, they are not the traditional ingredient used to make standard brown tea.
23 A (hot): Based on the broader context of the previous paragraph ("boil some water"), the water must be "hot". It cannot be "cold" if it was just boiling, and he did not add sugar, so it is not "sweet".
24 A (drinking): "Drinking tea" is the correct natural collocation. Because tea is a liquid beverage, you "drink" it. You do not "eat" it, and while you boil water for it, you do not "cook" tea.
Test 3
Questions 19-24
For each question, choose the correct answer.
The Origin of Hamburgers
Hamburgers are one of the most famous types of food in the world. Today, millions of people enjoy eating this delicious hot (19)…………… inside a round bread roll. But where did the hamburger actually come from?
Many people believe it began in the 19th century. Sailors travelling from Europe to America often ate flat pieces of beef with their bread. Then, in 1904, a cook at an American food market had a great idea. He began (20)…………… the cooked beef inside the bread. This meant people could eat and walk at the same time.
Soon, new restaurants opened to make this (21)…………… food for busy workers. Because it was so cheap and tasty, they started (22)…………… thousands of them every day. The meal quickly became very (23)…………… all over the United States. Today, the hamburger is a huge (24)…………… in almost every country.
19 A meat B fish C fruit
20 A leaving B putting C dropping
21 A fast B quick C early
22 A buying B paying C selling
23 A favourite B popular C friendly
24 A success B win C prize
Answer Key & Explanations
19 A (meat): This is a semantic fit. A hamburger is made of beef, which is a type of 'meat'. It is not made of fish or fruit.
20 B (putting): This fits the phrase-level meaning. The cook was taking the beef and placing it firmly inside the bread, which is the action of 'putting'. 'Leaving' means going away from something, and 'dropping' means letting it fall by accident.
21 A (fast): This is a strong collocation. The famous English expression for cheap meals cooked in a very short time is 'fast food'. We do not say 'quick food' or 'early food'.
22 C (selling): This fits the broader context. The subject of the sentence is the 'restaurants'. Businesses make money by 'selling' food to people. Customers are the ones 'buying' or 'paying' for the food.
23 B (popular): This is a semantic fit. 'Popular' means that a lot of people like it, which perfectly matches the text saying it was eaten "all over the United States". We cannot grammatically say "very favourite", and 'friendly' is used to describe a nice person, not food.
24 A (success): This is a collocation. The standard phrase to describe something that does very well and is loved by many is "a huge success". A 'win' is for a sports match, and a 'prize' is a physical object you are given in a competition.