12.1 Extended Reading Practice

Extended Reading Practice

This is a full practice set. Chapters 5 and 6 taught the mechanics of each reading and listening format; here you simply do the work on three fresh passages that grow in length. Every N5 reading question lives inside the 40-minute Language Knowledge (Grammar) and Reading block, and they come in three shapes: the 短文 (tanbun), a short notice or sign of about 80 characters; the 中文 (chuubun), a diary or letter of roughly 200 to 250 characters; and 情報検索 (jouhou kensaku), information retrieval from a schedule, menu, or poster.

For all three the same discipline wins points: skim once for the topic word, map the question word — いつ (when), どこ (where), いくら (how much), だれ (who), どうやって (how) — to the matching line, and let a particle or a negative decide between two close answers. Do each passage below before reading the walk-through.

Pacing and Scoring

Reading does not have its own pass mark. It is bundled with grammar into Language Knowledge (Grammar) and Reading, and that whole section must clear 38 out of 120 points while the overall total reaches 80 out of 180. Because the 40-minute block covers grammar first and reading last, weak readers run out of clock and leave easy 情報検索 points on the table. Budget roughly: read the question stem before the passage, so you know which field to hunt for. A 短文 should take under a minute; a 中文 about two; and a 情報検索 display is fastest of all once you learn to jump straight to the row the question word names. Never read a poster top to bottom — locate the いくら line, or the ※ condition, and answer.

Passage 1 — 短文 (Short Notice, ~80 characters)

Japanese

「おしらせ エレベーターは こしょうちゅうです。いま つかえません。 かいだんを つかって ください。 ようじが ある ひとは、３かいの じむしつまで きて ください。」

Romaji: Oshirase. Erebeetaa wa koshou-chuu desu. Ima tsukaemasen. Kaidan o tsukatte kudasai. Youji ga aru hito wa, san-kai no jimushitsu made kite kudasai.

English: Notice. The elevator is under repair. It cannot be used right now. Please use the stairs. If you have business here, please come to the office on the 3rd floor.

Question 1: この おしらせを よんだ ひとは、３かいに どうやって いきますか。 (A person who read this notice — how do they go up to the 3rd floor?)

Walk-through: The bait is the noun エレベーター (elevator), which appears first and tempts a hurried reader. But the deciding words are the negative つかえません (cannot be used) followed by the request かいだんを つかって ください (please use the stairs). The verb ending 〜てください marks the instruction the notice actually gives, so the answer is by the stairs (kaidan), not by elevator. Whenever a sign pairs a negative with a 〜てください request, the request line holds the answer.

Question 2: エレベーターは なぜ つかえませんか。 (Why can the elevator not be used?) One vocabulary word settles it: こしょうちゅう (故障中, out of order / under repair). The suffix 中 (ちゅう) on a noun means 'in the middle of,' a frequent N5 sign pattern also seen in ちゅうしゃちゅう (parking in progress) and かいぎちゅう (in a meeting).

Passage 2 — 中文 (Email, ~220 characters)

Japanese

「ゆきさんへ こんにちは。おげんきですか。わたしは せんしゅう あたらしい アパートに ひっこしました。えきから あるいて ５ふんで、とても べんりです。ちかくに スーパーと こうえんが あります。でも、へやは すこし せまいです。らいしゅうの どようび、あたらしい へやに あそびに きませんか。ごご２じごろ えきの きたぐちで まっています。へんじを ください。 マリアより」

Romaji: Yuki-san e. Konnichiwa. Ogenki desu ka. Watashi wa senshuu atarashii apaato ni hikkoshimashita. Eki kara aruite go-fun de, totemo benri desu. Chikaku ni suupaa to kouen ga arimasu. Demo, heya wa sukoshi semai desu. Raishuu no doyoubi, atarashii heya ni asobi ni kimasen ka. Gogo ni-ji goro eki no kita-guchi de matte imasu. Henji o kudasai. Maria yori.

English: To Yuki. Hello. How are you? Last week I moved to a new apartment. It is a five-minute walk from the station, so it is very convenient. There is a supermarket and a park nearby. But the room is a little small. Next Saturday, won't you come over to see my new place? I will be waiting around 2 p.m. at the north exit of the station. Please send a reply. From Maria.

Question 1: マリアさんは どこで ゆきさんを まちますか。 (Where will Maria wait for Yuki?)

Walk-through: Four place nouns appear — アパート, スーパー, こうえん, and えき — so you must find the one attached to the waiting verb. The clause えきの きたぐちで まっています uses で to mark the place of the action (waiting) and の to link えき (station) + きたぐち (north exit). The answer is the north exit of the station, not the apartment or park. The particle で is the giveaway: it marks where an action happens, so it points straight at the meeting spot.

Question 2: マリアさんの あたらしい へやの わるい ところは なんですか。 (What is the bad point about Maria's new room?) The email is mostly positive — べんり (convenient), a supermarket and park nearby — until the contrast marker でも (but). Everything after でも carries the drawback: へやは すこし せまいです (the room is a little small). N5 中文 passages almost always hide the negative detail after でも or しかし, so slow down the instant you see でも.

Passage 3 — 情報検索 (Class Poster)

Japanese

「にほんりょうり きょうしつ ・まいしゅう かようび と きんようび ・じかん：ごご６じ〜ごご８じ ・ばしょ：みどりく みんセンター ２かい ・りょうきん：１かい ２０００えん ・もちもの：エプロン ※はじめての ひとは きんようびに きて ください。」

Romaji: Nihon-ryouri kyoushitsu. Maishuu kayoubi to kin'youbi. Jikan: gogo roku-ji kara gogo hachi-ji made. Basho: Midori-ku minsentaa ni-kai. Ryoukin: ik-kai nisen-en. Mochimono: epuron. Hajimete no hito wa kin'youbi ni kite kudasai.

English: Japanese Cooking Class. Every Tuesday and Friday. Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Place: Midori Ward Community Center, 2nd floor. Fee: 2,000 yen per session. What to bring: an apron. Note: first-time participants, please come on Friday.

Question 1: はじめて きょうしつに いく ひとは、なんようびに いきますか。 (A first-time participant goes on which day of the week?)

Walk-through: The class runs on two days, かようび (Tuesday) and きんようび (Friday), so a careless reader picks 'both.' The 情報検索 trick is the small-print line marked ※: はじめての ひとは きんようびに きて ください (first-timers, come on Friday). The word はじめて (first time) filters the general rule down to one day, so the answer is Friday. On posters, always read the ※ note and any 'first time / members only' condition before answering.

Question 2: ２かい さんかすると、りょうきんは いくらですか。 (If you attend twice, how much is the fee?) The line reads りょうきんは１かい２０００えん — here 一回 (ikkai) means 'per one time / per session,' not 一階 'first floor.' Attending twice is 2,000えん × 2 = 4,000えん. This 一回 vs 一階 pair is a classic N5 orthography trap: identical sound いっかい, different kanji and meaning; context (a fee vs a place) decides which one is meant.

Decisive-Cue Summary

Common Traps To Avoid

• First noun is not the answer. The elevator is named first, but the stairs are the instruction.
• Never skip text after でも — the tested drawback hides there.
• 一回 (time) vs 一階 (floor) sound identical; let the surrounding word (a fee versus a place) decide.
• 'Both days' bait — a ※ condition usually narrows two options down to one.