EIKEN Grade 5 Reading: Basic Vocabulary, Dialogue, and Short Passages
What the Reading section tests
The EIKEN Grade 5 Reading section checks basic English at CEFR A1 level. You need to understand everyday words, simple sentence patterns, short dialogues, and very short passages. Questions are multiple-choice, so the skill is not writing English but recognizing the correct meaning quickly. The written test is short, so each question should be answered by finding one clear clue in the text.
Core rules and concepts
- High-frequency vocabulary: numbers, days, months, family members, food, school subjects, places, weather, colors, and daily actions.
- Basic grammar: be verbs (I am, she is), present simple (I like, he plays), can, pronouns, this/that, and common prepositions (in, on, at).
- Question words: What, Who, Where, When, How old, How many. The question word tells you exactly what detail to look for.
- Dialogue completion: choose the reply that matches the previous line. A question with Who needs a person; a question with Where needs a place; a yes/no question needs Yes or No.
- Short reading: one to four sentences about a person, a notice, or a daily situation. The answer is usually stated directly, not inferred.
Worked example
Read: Emma is from Australia. She is thirteen. She has one sister and two brothers. She likes tennis.
Question: How many brothers does Emma have?
- one
- two
- three
Reasoning: The question asks How many brothers. The passage says two brothers. The word one belongs to sister, and thirteen is Emma's age, not a number of brothers. The correct answer is 2.
Traps that cost marks
- Matching a repeated word instead of the question: tennis appears in the text, but the question may ask about family.
- Confusing similar words: thirteen and thirty, sister and brother, library and bookstore.
- Missing negatives: I don't like fish does not mean I like fish.
- Choosing a true real-life fact: the answer must come from the text, not from general knowledge.
- Dialogue mismatch: Who is that boy? cannot be answered with It is in the box. The reply must fit the question type.