N3 Reading · Test 3

Option 3 is correct. The sentence immediately following the underlined phrase states: 「家族の誕生日や家にお客さんが来る時などには、母と一緒にこの店で花を買っていた。」(On occasions like family birthdays or when guests came to the house, I used to buy flowers at this store with my mother.) These are 'special occasions' (特別なこと), so option 3 — 'Buying flowers at this store when there was a special occasion' — directly matches the passage.

• 1The passage says the store opened BEFORE the writer entered elementary school (「わたしがまだ小学校に入る前だった」), not at the time of enrollment. This reverses the timing.
• 2The writer bought flowers WITH THEIR MOTHER (「母と一緒に」), not together with the teacher. The teacher was the recipient of the bouquet at graduation, not a shopping companion.
• 4The passage never says the writer loved the uncle and therefore frequently bought flowers. The writer bought flowers for family events with their mother; the affection for the uncle is expressed at the end as gratitude, not as the reason for shopping there.

• 重かさなる — to overlap, to coincide
• 愛着あいちゃく — attachment, affection
• 思い出（おもいで） — memory, recollection

Option 4 is correct. Right before the underlined phrase, the passage says: 「しかし、小学生のおこづかいの中集まったお金は少しだけだった。それで、わたしたちはどきどきしながら…」(However, the money gathered from elementary school students' allowances was only a little. So, while our hearts were pounding, (we asked…)). The どきどき (nervousness/pounding heart) is caused by having very little money yet asking for an unusually large bouquet — an unreasonable request (無理なお願い). Option 4 captures this exactly: 'Even though they had only a little money, they were making an unreasonable request to the uncle.'

• 1The store's closure is mentioned at the beginning of the essay, but at the time of this elementary school memory the store was still open. The closure is not the reason they were nervous.
• 2The passage says the uncle did NOT make an unpleasant face (「おじさんは嫌な顔もしないで」), so this contradicts the text. They were nervous BEFORE asking, not because he looked annoyed.
• 3The passage never mentions that the store had few flowers. The nervousness came from having little money, not from low stock.

• どきどき — with a pounding heart, nervously
• 無理なお願い（むりなおねがい） — an unreasonable/unfair request
• おこづかい — allowance (pocket money)

Option 2 is correct. The final paragraph — the emotional climax of the essay — states: 「30年以上もきれいな花束を作り続け、あたたかい思い出を作ってくれたおじさんに、『ありがとう、お疲れ様でした。』と言いたい。」(I want to say to the uncle who kept making beautiful bouquets and warm memories for over 30 years: 'Thank you, and good work.') This clearly expresses gratitude (感謝) toward the flower shop uncle, making option 2 the writer's main message.

• 1While the teacher is mentioned in the graduation episode, the essay's focus is on the flower shop uncle, not the teacher. The teacher is part of one memory, not the main subject.
• 3The essay does convey sadness about the closure, but the primary message is gratitude toward the uncle, not merely sadness. Option 3 also ends with a period after 思う, which is a minor formatting oddity, but the content is still secondary to the gratitude expressed in the final paragraph.
• 4The passage never mentions inconvenience (不便). The focus is on memories and gratitude, not practical problems caused by the closure.

• 閉店へいてん — closing of a store
• 感謝かんしゃ — gratitude, appreciation
• お疲れ様でした（おつかれさまでした） — thank you for your hard work (expression of appreciation)