RW.1-3 · Key reading: messages and short texts

What this topic covers

A2 Key (KET) 剑桥A2入门考试 starts with Reading and Writing Part 1–3: short, real-world texts. Notices, text messages, signs, and one longer text with multiple-choice questions.

• Part 1: six short notices or messages; choose what each one says (A, B or C).
• Part 2: three short texts on the same topic — usually three people writing about it. Seven questions; for each question, choose the text (A, B or C) that says it.
• Part 3: one longer text with five 3-option questions.
• Memory hook: Parts 1–3 are the street 街道, not the library. Everything is a sign, a note or a message — read it like you read a shop window.
• Always check the current format in the official Cambridge handbook 官方手册; these notes teach the strategy, not the rulebook.

Part 1: read the notice like a detective

Six tiny texts: a sign, a note, a message. Each has three options, and two of them are traps.

• The trap options usually repeat words from the text but twist the meaning. The correct answer says the same thing in different words 同义转述.
• Example: "Mum: Your football is at Sam's house. He found it in the garden." — A) Sam lost the football. B) Sam found the football. C) The football is in the garden. → B. C repeats the garden word but the ball has moved on; that is the trap shape.
• Strategy 策略: read the text, say its meaning in one Chinese sentence, then find the option that matches your sentence — not the option that matches the words.

Part 2: which text says it?

Three short texts about one topic — usually three people (A, B and C) writing about the same thing: their hobbies, a journey, a club. Seven questions; each question names a detail, and exactly one text contains it.

• Skim the three texts first: one line each — who is A, who is B, who is C, and what does each one say? Then the questions tell you what to hunt 寻找.
• The question is the target, not the topic. Who says the class was too expensive? — all three may mention the class; only one mentions the price. Match the detail, not the topic.
• ⚠ The trap texts share the words of the question. If two texts say weekend, the answer is the one that says what the question actually asks about the weekend. Read to the end of the sentence.
• Memory hook: each question is a photograph 照片; only one text is the place it was taken.

Part 3: the longer text

One text, five questions, in order.

• The questions follow the text order — question 2's answer comes after question 1's answer in the text. Use the order as a map 地图.
• Find the part of the text, read two lines before and after, then choose.
• ⚠ Don't answer from your own knowledge 常识. The text is the truth, even when it's about pandas and you know everything about pandas.
• If a question asks about the writer's purpose 写作目的 or feeling, find the feeling words (amazed, disappointed, relieved), not the facts.

Watch out: traps for Chinese speakers

• ⚠ Translating word by word kills time. 60 minutes for 7 parts is tight. Read for meaning in chunks 语块, not word by word.
• ⚠ The word-match trap is designed for you. If an option copies the text's exact words, be suspicious 怀疑的: Cambridge rewords correct answers and copies wrong ones.
• ⚠ Don't leave blanks. No negative marking — a guess beats a gap.
• ⚠ Answer on the answer sheet as you go. There is no transfer time in Reading & Writing. The answer sheet is the exam; the question paper is scratch paper 草稿纸.

Try it

Read this note: "Tom — the library closes at 5 today, not 6. Bring my book back before then, or I can't renew it. — Ana"

1. Ana wants Tom to — A) return the book after 5. B) return the book before 5. C) renew the book himself.
2. The library today — A) opens at 5. B) closes earlier than usual. C) is closed.

Answers: 1 B (before then = before 5). 2 B (closes at 5, not 6 — earlier than usual). A in question 1 is the word-match trap: it repeats "5" but reverses the meaning.

Now a miniature Part 2. Three friends write about their weekend:

• A (Mia): "I stayed home and watched a film with my brother. The tickets for the match were too expensive."
• B (Leo): "My cousins visited, so we all went to the football match. Great seats!"
• C (Zoe): "I watched the match on TV with my dad. I never pay for tickets."

1. Who went to the match? 2. Who mentions the price of tickets?

Answers: 1 B — Mia and Zoe both mention the match, but only Leo went; the word match is the bait twice. 2 A — Leo's match and Zoe's tickets are both traps; only Mia says they were too expensive.

Check yourself

Answer first, then read the explanation.

1. An option copies the text's exact words. — Be suspicious. Correct answers are reworded.
2. Part 2: the question asks who went with a friend, and two texts mention friends. — Read the detail, not the topic word. Only one text says what the question asks; the other just shares the word.
3. Part 3, question 3 — its answer sits between answers 2 and 4 in the text. The order is a map.
4. A question asks how the writer felt. — Find the feeling words, not the facts.
5. Blank answer at the end? — Guess. No negative marking; a guess beats a gap.