N4 Reading · Test 3

The passage states: 「初めのころは本の場所を覚えたり、並べ方を教えてもらったり、することがたくさんあって大変でしたから、一日がとても短いと思いました。」In the beginning, there were many things to do—memorizing where books go, learning how to arrange them—and it was tough, so the day felt very short. When you are busy with many tasks all day, time seems to fly. Option 4 captures this idea of being busy with physical work (arranging books and magazines) all day, which is the direct cause the passage gives for the day feeling short.

• 1The passage says she worked three days a week (一週間に三日), not for one week total. This misreads the duration of the part-time job and is unrelated to why the day felt short.
• 2The passage does not mention customer service (接待) being tough at this stage. The tasks mentioned are memorizing book locations and learning arrangement methods, not dealing with customers. Also, this option contains a grammatical error (接待のは should be 接待するのは).
• 3While it is true that it was 「初めのころ」(the beginning) and she had not yet gotten used to the work, the passage explicitly states the reason as 「することがたくさんあって大変でしたから」(because there were many things to do and it was tough). The direct cause is busyness, not unfamiliarity. The next paragraph confirms she later got used to it (だんだん慣れましたが), but the stated reason for the short day is the volume of tasks.

• 一日いちにち — one day
• 短みじかい — short
• 覚おぼえる — to memorize, to learn
• 並べ方（ならべかた） — way of arranging (books)
• 大変たいへん — tough, hard

The clerk asked 「袋に入れましょうか。」(Shall I put it in a bag?) and the customer replied 「いいです。」The clerk interpreted this as 「入れたほうがいいです」(It would be better to put it in = yes, please), but the text says 「違いました」(that was wrong). In Japanese, 「いいです」is ambiguous: it can mean 'yes, that's fine' or 'no, that's okay, I don't need it.' Since the clerk's 'yes' interpretation was wrong, the customer meant 'no, I don't need a bag.' Option 2 correctly states this: 「袋が要りません」(I don't need a bag).

• 1This says the customer wanted a bag (袋が要ります). But the clerk thought the customer wanted a bag and was wrong, so the customer did NOT want one.
• 3This says the customer asked the clerk to put the book in a bag (袋に入れてください). This is essentially the same as the clerk's mistaken interpretation, which the passage explicitly says was wrong (違いました).
• 4This says the customer would put it in the bag themselves (自分で袋に入れます). The passage does not suggest this; the customer simply declined the bag service.

• 袋ふくろ — bag
• 要いる — to need
• いいです — That's fine / That's okay (ambiguous: can mean yes or no depending on context)

The passage explains: 「ペットがベッドと聞こえたのです。」The customer was looking for pet (ペット) books, but Yan Min misheard 「ペット」(petto) as 「ベッド」(beddo), which is related to furniture (家具). So she mistakenly guided the customer to the furniture book section. Option 4 correctly identifies the cause: she misheard the customer's words.

• 1The passage does not say she was unfamiliar with the store layout. The mistake was a mishearing, not a navigation error due to not knowing the store.
• 2The passage does not mention that pet books were next to furniture books. The error was caused by mishearing, not by book placement.
• 3The passage says the customer was looking for pet books, not that the customer asked about furniture books. The customer asked about pets, and Yan Min misheard it as beds.

• 家具かぐ — furniture
• 案内あんないする — to guide, to show someone around
• ペット — pet
• ベッド — bed
• 聞きこえる — to be heard, to sound like

The passage explicitly states: 「いちばんうれしかったのは、自分で働いてお金をもらったことです。」(The happiest thing was receiving money by working herself.) Option 2, 「自分の力でお金を手に入れたこと」(getting money through her own effort), directly matches this statement. The phrase 「自分で働いて」(working by herself) is paraphrased as 「自分の力で」(through her own power/effort), and 「お金をもらった」is paraphrased as 「お金を手に入れた」.

• 1The passage mentions that being praised by store staff (店のみんなに「よくがんばっていますね」と言ってもらって) made her happy (うれしかった), but it was NOT the happiest thing. The passage clearly says the happiest thing was earning money herself.
• 3The passage says she gained good experience that cannot be learned at school (学校では勉強できない、よい経験ができました), but this is not described as the happiest thing. The happiest thing was earning money.
• 4The passage says she learned about customer service methods (お客さんへのサービスのしかたも知ることができました), but again, this is not the happiest thing. The happiest thing was earning money herself.

• 自分じぶん — oneself
• 働はたらく — to work
• 手に入れる（てにいれる） — to obtain, to get
• 力ちから — power, effort, ability