【無料】中学英語の長文読解サイト【PDF配布／高校入試対策】

Hi, my name is Yuki. I am thirteen years old. I live in Tokyo with my family. My family has four people: my father, my mother, my younger brother, and me.

My father is a doctor. He works at a hospital near our house. He is very busy, but he is always kind to us. My mother is a math teacher at a junior high school. She is good at cooking. She often makes Japanese curry for dinner, and it is delicious.

My younger brother, Ken, is eight years old. He likes baseball very much. He plays baseball every weekend with his friends. We often go to the park together on Sundays.

I love my family. We eat dinner together every night. We talk about our day and laugh a lot. I am very happy with my family.

I am in the second grade of junior high school. I go to school by bicycle every day. It takes about fifteen minutes from my house to school.

In the morning, we have four classes. My favorite subject is English. Our English teacher, Mr. Smith, comes from Australia. His class is fun because he uses many games and songs. We can speak English a lot during his class.

After lunch, we have two more classes. Then we have club activities. I am in the brass band club. I play the trumpet. We practice three times a week. Our band performs at the school festival in October every year.

I usually come home around five o'clock. I do my homework and read books before dinner. I really enjoy my school life.

Last summer, I went to Kyoto with my family. We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo. It took about two and a half hours. When we arrived at Kyoto Station, the weather was very hot, but we were excited.

On the first day, we visited Kinkaku-ji Temple. Kinkaku-ji is a famous temple covered with gold. It looked beautiful in the sunlight. I took many pictures there. After that, we went to Nijo Castle. The castle has many interesting rooms, and the floors make a sound like a bird singing when you walk on them. This was made to protect the shogun from enemies a long time ago.

On the second day, we went to Arashiyama. There is a beautiful bamboo forest. Walking through the bamboo trees, I felt very peaceful. We also rode a small boat on the river. My younger brother was happy because he saw many fish in the water.

On the last day, we visited Fushimi Inari Shrine. The shrine is famous for its thousands of red gates. We climbed up the mountain through the gates. It took about two hours, and I was very tired, but the view from the top was wonderful.

I was sad to leave Kyoto, but I had a great time with my family. I want to go to Kyoto again someday.

I want to be a veterinarian in the future. A veterinarian is a doctor who takes care of animals. I love animals very much, and I have always wanted to help them.

When I was eight years old, my family got a small dog named Max. He was very cute, but one day he became sick. We took him to a vet. The vet was very kind. He examined Max carefully and gave him medicine. After a few days, Max became healthy again. I was very happy and thankful to the vet.

Since that day, I have wanted to become a vet. To become a vet, I need to study very hard. I have to learn about science, especially biology and chemistry. I also need to learn about many kinds of animals, not just dogs and cats.

I am going to enter a high school that has good science classes. After high school, I will go to a university to study veterinary medicine. It usually takes six years to finish veterinary school in Japan.

Being a vet is not easy. Sometimes I will see sick animals, and I cannot save all of them. But I want to help as many animals as I can. I also want to teach pet owners how to take care of their pets so they can be healthy and happy.

I know my dream will not come true easily. But I will keep studying and working hard. I believe that one day, my dream will come true.

A long time ago, there lived a hare and a tortoise. The hare was very proud of his speed. He often laughed at the slow tortoise. "You are so slow!" he said. "Why don't you walk faster?"

One day, the tortoise was tired of the hare's words. "I will run a race with you," said the tortoise. "I am sure I can win."

The hare laughed loudly. "You? You want to race with me? That is funny. All right, let's do it."

A fox was chosen as the judge. He marked the starting point and the goal. The race began.

The hare ran very fast. After a few minutes, he was far ahead of the tortoise. He looked back and could not see the tortoise at all.

"This is too easy," said the hare. "The tortoise is so slow. I have plenty of time. I will take a little nap under this tree."

The hare lay down under a big tree and closed his eyes. Soon, he was sleeping deeply.

Meanwhile, the tortoise kept walking. He never stopped. Step by step, he walked along the road. He passed the sleeping hare, but he did not wake him up.

Finally, the tortoise reached the goal. The fox shouted, "The tortoise wins!"

The hare suddenly woke up. He saw the tortoise at the goal. He ran as fast as he could, but it was too late.

"I am sorry," the hare said sadly. "I should not have slept. I lost the race."

The tortoise smiled. "Slow and steady wins the race," he said.

One sunny afternoon, a great lion was sleeping in the forest. A small mouse came out of his hole and started running around. He did not see the lion. He ran up the lion's back.

The lion woke up suddenly. He caught the mouse with his big paw. "How dare you wake me up!" the lion roared. "I will eat you for breakfast tomorrow."

The little mouse was very afraid. "Please, please don't eat me, great king of the forest," he said. "I am too small. You will not be full. Let me go, and someday I will help you."

The lion laughed. "You? Help me? That is the funniest thing I have ever heard. How can a small mouse like you help a great lion like me?"

But the lion was kind, and he let the mouse go. The mouse ran back to his hole, and he did not forget the lion's kindness.

Some weeks later, the lion was walking in the forest. Suddenly, he was caught in a hunter's net. The net was made of strong rope. The lion tried to escape, but he could not. He roared loudly with all his strength.

The little mouse heard the roar. He ran to the place where the lion was. When he saw the lion in the net, he understood. He started biting the rope with his sharp teeth.

He bit and bit. After a long time, he made a hole in the net. The lion was free!

"Thank you, little mouse," said the lion. "You saved my life. I was wrong to laugh at you. Even a small friend can be a great help."

The mouse smiled. "I told you I would help you someday. We are friends now."

From that day on, the lion and the mouse were the best of friends. The story teaches us that kindness is never wasted. A small act of kindness can come back to help you when you need it most.

In a small village, there lived a young shepherd boy. Every day, he took the sheep up the hill to eat grass. The boy spent many hours alone with the sheep, and he was often bored.

One day, the boy thought of a way to have some fun. He ran down the hill into the village. "Wolf! Wolf!" he shouted as loudly as he could. "A wolf is attacking my sheep!"

The villagers heard his cry. They stopped their work and ran up the hill with sticks and ropes. They wanted to save the sheep from the wolf.

But when they reached the top of the hill, they saw no wolf. The sheep were eating grass peacefully. The boy was laughing at them.

"There is no wolf!" said the boy. "I was just playing a joke. I wanted to see if you would come."

The villagers were very angry. "Don't shout 'wolf' if there is no wolf!" they said. "Don't lie to us again." Then they went back to the village.

A few days later, the boy did the same thing again. "Wolf! Wolf!" he shouted. The villagers came running up the hill with their sticks. But again, there was no wolf. The boy was laughing once more.

"Don't trick us again!" the villagers shouted. They went back angrily. The boy thought it was funny.

But the next week, something terrible happened. A real wolf came out of the forest. He attacked the sheep. He bit them and chased them around the field.

The boy was very scared. He ran to the edge of the hill and shouted, "Wolf! Wolf! Help me, please! A real wolf is here!"

The villagers heard him, but they did not believe him this time. "He is lying again," they said. "He has tricked us twice. We will not go this time."

So no one came to help. The wolf killed many sheep before he ran away into the forest.

When the boy came down the hill that evening, he was crying. He told the villagers what had happened. An old man listened to his story.

"My boy," the old man said, "no one believes a liar, even when he tells the truth. You have learned this lesson too late."

It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining, and the flowers were in full bloom. A grasshopper was sitting on a leaf and singing happily.

Just then, an ant passed by. The ant was carrying a heavy piece of corn on his back. He was working hard.

"Hello, friend ant!" said the grasshopper. "Why are you working so hard on such a wonderful day? Come and sit with me. Let's sing and dance together."

The ant looked at the grasshopper and shook his head. "I cannot," he said. "I am storing food for the winter. Winter is coming, and there will be no food in the fields. You should also store food now, while there is plenty."

The grasshopper laughed. "Winter is far away! Why worry now? There is so much food everywhere. I have time to enjoy myself. I will think about winter when winter comes."

The ant did not say anything more. He went on with his work. Day after day, he carried food back to his home. He worked from morning until evening. Meanwhile, the grasshopper sang and danced and played.

The summer passed. Then autumn came. The leaves turned red and yellow. The wind became colder. The grasshopper still played, but the food in the fields was getting less and less.

Finally, winter came. The ground was covered with snow. The wind was cold and strong. There was no food anywhere in the fields.

The grasshopper had nothing to eat. He was very hungry. He was also very cold because he had no warm home. He remembered the ant's warning, but it was too late.

He walked through the snow and found the ant's home. He knocked on the door. The ant opened it.

"Please help me, friend ant," said the grasshopper. "I have no food, and I am very cold. I will die without your help."

The ant looked at the grasshopper sadly. "I told you to store food in summer," he said. "But you only sang and danced. While I was working, you were playing. Now you have nothing, and I have only enough food for my family. I am sorry, but I cannot help you."

The grasshopper went away with his head down. He understood his mistake at last. The story teaches us that we must prepare for the future. Hard work in good times will save us in bad times.