English Base

Test 012

Reading Practice: The Community Garden

Reading Text

The weeds on the empty plot behind Marta's house were as tall as a person. Nobody had used the ground for years, and broken bricks lay between the dry grass. In April a notice appeared: the office would lend the land to residents who wanted to grow vegetables. Marta had never planted anything bigger than a window box, but she wrote her name on the list that evening.

Twelve neighbours met on a Saturday morning, and while some were cutting the weeds, others were measuring the ground. The group built raised beds from old wooden boards that a nearby shop had given them for free. Each family would look after one bed, and the harvest would be shared if anyone had too much. By the end of May, ten neat beds stood in rows where the weeds had been.

The shed came next: a small green building that holds tools nobody wanted to keep at home. Inside there are spades, forks, a wheelbarrow, and a hose that is always tangled. If you borrow something, you write your name in the notebook on the shelf. Marta says the notebook has been more useful than the tools, because it has taught people to return them.

Watering was the hardest problem, because the July sun dried the soil in a single day. The group made a schedule, and each household now waters every bed twice a week, not only its own. In September the first soup was cooked in a big pot and filled with carrots and onions from the beds. Marta has learned that a garden is mostly patience, and that neighbours who water together soon share other things too. If the office lends the land again, the group will already know what to do.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. What was the plot like when the story begins?

✗ IncorrectThe text describes tall weeds and dry grass, not a lawn. The ground had not been used for years.

✓ CorrectThe text says the weeds "were as tall as a person" and that "broken bricks lay between the dry grass".

✗ IncorrectThe ten beds appeared later, by the end of May. At the start the plot was simply empty and overgrown.

✗ IncorrectTools were kept in the shed, which the group built later. Before that, nobody used the ground at all.

Question 2. Whose land was the empty plot?

✓ CorrectThe notice said "the office would lend the land to residents who wanted to grow vegetables".

✗ IncorrectThe neighbours only borrowed the land, so they could not own it. It stayed in the hands of the office.

✗ IncorrectThe shop only gave the group old wooden boards for free. It had nothing to do with the land itself.

✗ IncorrectThe plot was behind Marta's house, but it was not hers. She had to write her name on a list to take part.

Question 3. Why did Marta put her name on the list?

✗ IncorrectHer experience was very small: she "had never planted anything bigger than a window box".

✗ IncorrectNothing in the text is about selling. The group planned to share the harvest among the families.

✓ CorrectShe had only grown a window box, yet "she wrote her name on the list that evening", so the idea attracted her at once.

✗ IncorrectThe notice simply invited residents to grow vegetables. Nobody gave Marta a special role.

Question 4. What were the neighbours doing on Saturday morning?

✗ IncorrectThe shed "came next", so it was built after the beds. On that Saturday the work was clearing and measuring.

✗ IncorrectThe soup was made in September, after the vegetables had grown. In April there was nothing to cook.

✗ IncorrectThe notebook rule belongs to the shed, which did not exist yet. That system started later.

✓ CorrectThe text says "while some were cutting the weeds, others were measuring the ground".

Question 5. Where did the wood for the raised beds come from?

✗ IncorrectThe boards were old and free, not new. The office lent the land, but it did not buy materials.

✓ CorrectThe beds were made "from old wooden boards that a nearby shop had given them for free".

✗ IncorrectThe shed was built after the beds, and the text never says it was made of old wood from somewhere else.

✗ IncorrectWhat lay in the grass was broken bricks, not wood. The boards arrived as a gift from the shop.

Question 6. What was agreed about the harvest?

✓ CorrectThe plan was that "the harvest would be shared if anyone had too much".

✗ IncorrectThe tools were already in the shed and cost the group nothing. There is no talk of selling vegetables.

✗ IncorrectEach family looked after only one bed, so nobody could keep the produce of all of them.

✗ IncorrectThe office only lent the land. The vegetables belonged to the families who grew them.

Question 7. What does the word "neat" mean in "ten neat beds stood in rows"?

✗ IncorrectThe beds were made from free old boards, so "neat" cannot describe their price here.

✗ IncorrectThe text says the beds were built from wooden boards, so the material is wood, not metal.

✓ CorrectThe beds "stood in rows" where weeds had been, so "neat" means tidy and in good order.

✗ IncorrectThe beds were ready for planting, not unused. Families already looked after them.

Question 8. What can be found inside the shed?

✗ IncorrectThe pot and the soup belong to the autumn scene. The shed holds tools for garden work.

✗ IncorrectNo rope appears anywhere in the text, and the residents' list was made in spring to borrow the land. Neither belongs in the shed.

✗ IncorrectThe tools were shared by the group and nobody wanted to keep them at home. They were not Marta's own.

✓ CorrectThe text lists "spades, forks, a wheelbarrow, and a hose that is always tangled".

Question 9. What should you do if you borrow something from the shed?

✓ CorrectThe rule is simple: "If you borrow something, you write your name in the notebook on the shelf."

✗ IncorrectThe office lent the land but has no part in the daily life of the garden. The notebook is the only record.

✗ IncorrectNothing is exchanged or left as a guarantee. Only a name is written down.

✗ IncorrectThe text gives no time limit. It says only that people have learned to bring things back.

Question 10. Why does Marta think the notebook is more useful than the tools?

✗ IncorrectThe notebook records tools, not vegetables. The text mentions no counting of the harvest.

✓ CorrectShe says it "has been more useful than the tools, because it has taught people to return them".

✗ IncorrectThe shop gave wooden boards, not a notebook. Nobody says where the notebook came from.

✗ IncorrectThe group shares far more: the land, the beds, the tools, and the water. The notebook is just one part of it.

Question 11. Why did the group introduce a watering schedule?

✗ IncorrectThe text says the hose is "always tangled", which is a small joke, not a reason for the schedule.

✗ IncorrectThe office is mentioned only in connection with the land. It gave the group no instructions about water.

✓ Correct"Watering was the hardest problem, because the July sun dried the soil in a single day", so a schedule was needed.

✗ IncorrectNobody is described as forgetting. The schedule simply divides the work fairly between households.

Question 12. How much watering does each household do?

✓ CorrectEach household "waters every bed twice a week, not only its own".

✗ IncorrectThe number of waterings is two a week, not one, and the duty covers all the beds, not just one.

✗ IncorrectThe schedule sets two waterings a week, not a daily morning round; mornings are never mentioned.

✗ IncorrectThe schedule is fixed by day, so nobody decides by looking at the soil. Every bed is watered on the duty day.

Question 13. What was in the first soup?

✗ IncorrectThe soup was made from vegetables grown in the beds. Potatoes are never mentioned, and nothing was bought.

✗ IncorrectBy September there were carrots and onions to pick, so the pot was not empty.

✗ IncorrectThe text describes a vegetable soup from the garden, not a meal of bread and cheese.

✓ CorrectThe pot was "filled with carrots and onions from the beds".

Question 14. What has Marta learned from the garden?

✗ IncorrectThe garden is watered twice a week, and Marta's lesson is not about daily watering at all.

✓ CorrectShe has learned "that a garden is mostly patience, and that neighbours who water together soon share other things too".

✗ IncorrectShe says the notebook, a kind of habit, has been more useful than the tools. Her conclusion is about patience and people.

✗ IncorrectThe text never suggests that the plot was too small. Marta is pleased with what the group has built.

Question 15. What will the group do if the office lends the land again?

✗ IncorrectThe shed is never described as too small. The text makes no plans for building at all.

✗ IncorrectThe group is happy with this plot and its ten beds. There is no wish to move.

✓ CorrectThe last sentence says: "If the office lends the land again, the group will already know what to do."

✗ IncorrectThe list belonged to the first spring. Nothing suggests that a second list will be needed.
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