N4 Reading · Test 5

The sentence is 「わたしたちはポチを家の中で（かって います）。」—'We keep/raise Pochi inside the house.' The verb 飼う（かう）means 'to keep/raise (a pet).' The ています form expresses an ongoing state or habitual action that is currently true, which fits perfectly: the family currently keeps the dog indoors. The next sentence about Pochi's favorite spot (the sofa) also confirms this is a present, ongoing situation.

• 1かうでしょう is the presumptive form ('will probably keep'). The family already has the dog (一か月前に父がもらってきました), so a future presumption is wrong.
• 3かって いますか is a question form ('Are you keeping…?'). This is a declarative essay, not a question, so it does not fit.
• 4かって いました is past progressive ('was keeping'). This implies they no longer keep the dog, contradicting the rest of the passage where Pochi is clearly still with them.

• 飼かう — to keep/raise (a pet)
• 〜ています — ongoing state or habitual action (present)

The sentence is 「ポチが父のけいたいでんわを（こわして しまった）からです。」—'Because Pochi ended up breaking father's cell phone.' The てしまう form expresses completion of an action with a nuance of regret or something unfortunate happening. This perfectly matches the context: the writer was really troubled (本当にこまりました) because Pochi chewed and broke the phone. こわしてしまったからです = 'because (he) ended up breaking it.'

• 1こわした ところだ means 'just broke' (using 〜ところだ = 'just did'). This does not connect grammatically with からです and does not convey the regret nuance needed here.
• 2こわされている is passive progressive ('is being broken'). This describes an ongoing passive state, which does not fit the past, completed event that caused last week's trouble.
• 4こわされた is simple passive past ('was broken'). While grammatically possible, it lacks the てしまう nuance of regret/unfortunate outcome that the context (本当にこまりました) calls for. The active こわしてしまった better captures the writer's feeling of trouble.

• 壊こわす — to break
• 〜てしまう — to do something completely; often conveys regret or that something happened unintentionally

The context is: 'I was always lonely because I have no siblings. But since keeping Pochi, （23）. We are always together.' The intended answer is さびしくなくなりました ('I became not lonely / I am no longer lonely'), which logically follows しかし ('but') and contrasts with ずっとさびしかったです ('was always lonely'). NOTE: As transcribed, option 2 reads 「さびしく なりました」('became lonely'), which appears to be missing 「なく」. The official answer 2 only makes sense if the original option was 「さびしく なくなりました」. See issues.

• 1さびしく なります ('will become lonely') is future tense and contradicts the context—the writer should become NOT lonely after getting Pochi.
• 3さびしく なるかもしれません ('might become lonely') also contradicts the context and uses speculative language inappropriate for describing the writer's own changed feelings.
• 4さびしく なくなったそうです ('I heard that (someone) became not lonely') contains そうです (hearsay), which is wrong because the writer is describing their own experience, not reporting hearsay.

• 寂さびしい — lonely
• 〜なくなる — to become not~; to cease being~
• しかし — but, however

The sentence is 「（それに）、元気が ない ときは、そばに 来て くれます。」—'Besides, when (I) don't have energy, (Pochi) comes to my side.' それに means 'besides / in addition' and is used to add supplementary information. The previous sentence describes Pochi seeing the writer off at the door; それに introduces an additional caring behavior—Pochi also comes to the writer's side when the writer is low on energy. This additive relationship fits perfectly.

• 2たとえば means 'for example.' The following sentence is not an example illustrating the previous one; it is an additional, parallel instance of Pochi's affection.
• 3だから means 'therefore / so.' The following sentence is not a consequence or result of the previous one; both are independent examples of Pochi's behavior.
• 4それなら means 'if so / in that case.' There is no conditional relationship between the previous sentence and the next one.

• それに — besides, in addition, moreover
• たとえば — for example
• だから — therefore, so
• それなら — if so, in that case

The sentence is 「ポチ（は）わたしたちの 大切な 家族の 一員です。」—'As for Pochi, (he) is an important member of our family.' This is a topic-comment sentence: ポチ is marked by は as the topic (something already known/established throughout the passage), and the comment states what Pochi is. Since Pochi has been discussed throughout the entire essay, は is the natural choice for this concluding statement.

• 1が marks the subject/nominative, often used for new information or to identify 'the one who…'. Here Pochi is already established as the topic, so は is more appropriate than が for this concluding general statement.
• 2で marks means/location/instrument. It does not fit the structure (noun)は (noun)です ('A is B').
• 3を marks the direct object of a transitive verb. There is no transitive verb here (です is a copula), so を is grammatically impossible.

• は — topic marker; marks what the sentence is about
• 一員いちいん — member (of a group)