This is another post in my Read & Answer series of articles where I give a short passage in Japanese followed by one or more questions to test your understanding. Besides testing vocabulary, articles in this series aim to test reading comprehension (読解力, dokkairoyku). You can see more about this series here, and a list of the other articles in it here.
This will be Level 2, which is the second easiest level and targets those who have studied roughly Japanese one or two years.
I’ve given a list of Kanji words with their definitions below the answer choices, so you only need to be able to read hiragana and katakana for this exercise. For more advanced students, I suggest trying to answer the questions without looking at the word readings and meanings.
Passage
順子へ
最近、元気にしてる？あたしは特に変わったことない。
来週の水曜日、ゆいちゃんと映画を見にいくんだけど、一緒にいかない？
何の映画かはまだ決まってないけど、何か見たいのがあったら言ってね。
一緒に行けたらいいな。
玲子
Question 1
Which of the below most appropriately describes the passage?
Answer Choices 1
a) A formal letter from a student to a teacher
b) An email from a girl to one of her friends
c) A company notice
d) A news report
Question 2
Who seems to be the author of the passage?
Answer Choices 2
a) 順子
b) 先生
c) ゆいちゃん
d) 玲子
Question 3
How does the author of the passage describe his/her life lately?
Answer Choices 3
a) Feeling depressed lately
b) Recently saw a movie with a girlfriend
c) Nothing special going on lately
d) Just got a new job
Question 4
What does the phrase「一緒にいかない？」mean?
Answer Choices 4
a) “Do you to want to go with me/us?”
b) “I’m not going.”
c) “I’ll only go with you, OK?”
d) “We’re going the same direction.”
Question 5
How would you describe the overall tone of the passage?
Answer Choices 5
a) Very formal and polite.
b) Not very modern sounding, with several uncommon expressions.
c) Friendly.
d) Cold and neutral.
Question 6
Who is the implied subject of the phrase 「元気にしてる」
Answer Choices 6
a) 順子
b) 先生
c) It cannot be inferred from the context
d) 玲子
Question 7
How many people are involved in the event that is being discussed in the passage?
Answer Choices 7
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
Bonus question: Which verb could have been written with kanji (and might look more natural that way)?
Word readings and meanings
順子: junko (a person’s name)
玲子: reiko (a person’s name)
最近: saikin (lately)
特に: toku ni (particularly, or not particularly)
来週: raishuu (next week)
水曜日: suiyoubi (Wednesday)
映画: eiga (movie)
一緒に: isshou ni (together)
何か: nanika (something)
何: nan / nani (what)
見る: miru（to watch, to see)
変わる: kawaru (to change, to be different)
決まる: kimaru (to be decided)
Correct answers
Q1: b
Q2: d
Q3: c
Q4: a
Q5: c
Q6: a
Q7: c (3 people: reiko, junko, and yui)
Bonus: 「いかない？」 could have been written as 「行かない?」.
If you enjoyed this exercise, please comment or like this post so I know to continue writing these. Also, please let me know if you want more or less difficult passages.
(Note: featured image from Pixabay.com)
This is fantastic! I’ve just printed it to take to my study session (which begins in 15 minutes XD)
Thank you!
Great! Hope it helps (:
This was EXCELLENT!
We spent a while thoroughly interpreting the text which made the questions very straightforward and we particularly enjoyed how Q7 would punish someone who hadn’t properly understood the relevant part.
The hardest bit of the text for us was “何か見たいのがあったら言ってね” but it was satisfying when we got to the bottom of it!
For the bonus question we wondered if “にいくんだけど” would be an acceptable alternative answer? (We honestly weren’t sure, but were definite on the one you have as the given answer.)
We noticed that “行” wasn’t in your kanji glossary (but obviously this didn’t matter!).
Thanks 😀
James,
I’m really glad that you (and apparently others too) got some good practice out of this. It definitely will motivate me for making another one. My main challenge is whether I keep this format or use one that actually lets you select the answers and then submit your results. That will give me more information and make checking answers a little easier. It may make it harder to print cleanly, however.
Yes, “に行くんだけど” would be another valid answer to the bonus questions.
お疲れ様でした！
Hi, there!
I liked the exercise a lot. Just one question. Regarding the following line:
何の映画かはまだ決まってないけど…
I know it says something like: “we haven’t decided yet which movie…” But I don’t quite understand what is the role that the か is playing there. Is like an embedded question?
Thanks in advance for any explanation you may give.
Hello. Thanks for the comment!
To answer your question: yes, it is an embedded question. If you use a question word inside of a sentence that itself is not a question, then you usually need a か to embed that question.
Another example: 「何が食べたいか」分からない
==> (I) don’t know what (I) want to eat.
In the above sentence, the part in brackets 「」 is the embedded question. It would be strange to omit the か.
This was a great tool! At first, I thought my skills from self studying for 4 years now would not be enough but I figured it out pretty quickly. It was fun. 続けて下さい！