Read the passage carefully before attempting Exercise 1 (Multiple Choice) and Exercise 2 (Fill in the blanks dropdown) below.
Priya works at a small café called The Coffee Corner in Bristol. It is a busy place near the train station. Today is Friday, and the café is full. Priya is the only person at the counter because her colleague, Marco, is late. She takes orders, makes coffee, and cleans tables — all at the same time. She feels tired, but she smiles at every customer.
At eleven o’clock, a big group of office workers comes in. They all want sandwiches and hot drinks. Priya writes everything on a notepad because the computer is broken. The kitchen is also very busy. The cook, Benny, shouts: “We need more bread!” Priya calls the manager, Donna, for help. Donna arrives quickly and brings more supplies from the back room.
By two o’clock, the café is quiet again. Priya sits down with a cup of tea. “That was hard work!” she says to Donna. Donna laughs and says, “You did a great job today.” Priya feels happy and proud. It was a very difficult day, but she helped every customer and solved every problem.
Exercise 1
Read the passage about a busy day at work carefully. Then choose the correct answer for each question based on the text.
Example: Where does the person work?
Answer: The person works in an office.
A Busy Day at Work
Have you ever had a day at work where everything happens at once? Before you read, think about these two questions: What kinds of jobs do people do in a café or restaurant? And what problems can happen at work? Keep your ideas in mind as you read the passage below.
Reading Passage: Chaos at the Coffee Corner
Priya works at a small café called The Coffee Corner in Bristol. It is a busy place near the train station. Today is Friday, and the café is full. Priya is the only person at the counter because her colleague, Marco, is late. She takes orders, makes coffee, and cleans tables — all at the same time. She feels tired, but she smiles at every customer.
At eleven o'clock, a big group of office workers comes in. They all want sandwiches and hot drinks. Priya writes everything on a notepad because the computer is broken. The kitchen is also very busy. The cook, Benny, shouts: "We need more bread!" Priya calls the manager, Donna, for help. Donna arrives quickly and brings more supplies from the back room.
By two o'clock, the café is quiet again. Priya sits down with a cup of tea. "That was hard work!" she says to Donna. Donna laughs and says, "You did a great job today." Priya feels happy and proud. It was a very difficult day, but she helped every customer and solved every problem.
Key Vocabulary in Context
| Word / Phrase | Part of Speech | Simple Definition | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| colleague | noun | a person you work with | My colleague helps me when I am busy at the office. |
| counter | noun | a long, flat surface in a shop or café where you serve customers | She stood at the counter and took the customer's order. |
| order | noun / verb | a request for food or drink in a café or restaurant | He ordered a coffee and a cheese sandwich. |
| notepad | noun | a small book of paper for writing notes | The waiter wrote the orders on a notepad. |
| supplies | noun (plural) | things you need to do a job, such as food or equipment | The manager brought more supplies from the storage room. |
| manager | noun | the person in charge of a business or workplace | The manager helped the team when there was a problem. |
| proud | adjective | happy because you did something well | She felt proud after finishing all her work. |
| broken | adjective | not working; damaged | The coffee machine is broken, so we use a different one today. |
Reading Strategies & Comprehension Tips
Scanning for Key Information
This passage contains several names (Priya, Marco, Benny, Donna) and times (eleven o'clock, two o'clock). When a question asks who does something or when something happens, scan quickly for these words rather than re-reading the whole text.
Skimming for the Main Idea
Read only the first and last sentences of each paragraph. This tells you the passage is about a difficult but successful day at a busy café. You do not need to understand every word to get the main idea.
Using Context to Guess Vocabulary
If you do not know the word notepad, look at the sentence around it: "Priya writes everything on a notepad because the computer is broken." The word writes tells you a notepad is something you write on. Use context clues like this throughout the passage.
Understanding Cause and Effect
Look for the word because — it explains why something happens. For example: "she writes on a notepad because the computer is broken." Spotting because helps you answer questions about reasons.
Common Reading Pitfalls & Traps
Trap 1: Confusing the Characters
There are four people in the passage: Priya (works at the counter), Marco (her colleague — he is absent, not present), Benny (the cook in the kitchen), and Donna (the manager). Students often confuse who does what. Remember: Marco is mentioned but he does not help Priya — he is late.
Trap 2: The Word "Order"
The word order can mean different things in English. Here, it means a request for food or drink. It does not mean "to put things in a sequence" (first, second, third). Do not confuse these two meanings.
Trap 3: Assuming the Whole Day Was Negative
The passage describes a hard day, but the ending is positive. Priya feels happy and proud. Some students read the difficult events and choose answers like "Priya is unhappy at the end." This is incorrect — always read the complete paragraph before choosing your answer.
Trap 4: The Time Details
The passage mentions eleven o'clock (the group arrives) and two o'clock (the café is quiet). Do not mix these times up. Questions may ask what happens at a specific time, so read the time references carefully.
Quick Summary
In this passage, we follow Priya through a very busy Friday at The Coffee Corner café in Bristol. She works alone because her colleague Marco is late. A large group of customers arrives, the computer breaks, and the kitchen runs out of bread — but Priya stays calm, asks her manager Donna for help, and solves every problem. By the end of the day, she feels tired but proud. The passage uses simple, everyday vocabulary about work situations and is a great example of how people help each other in a busy workplace.
Now read the passage carefully and complete Exercise 1 (Multiple Choice) and Exercise 2 (Fill-in-the-gap dropdown) below.
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