FREE N4 READING · LEARNING A BUS ROUTE
地図がなくても大丈夫
Fine Without a Map
Read once, check the English, then switch style and reread. Dotted words open help, which closes when you scroll or tap outside.
、駅から遠いで働き始めたので、毎朝バスにって仕事にことになりました。
同じのバスでも行くが違うため、最初の日はのへ行くバスにりました。
すぐに間違いに気がついて降りましたが、にいた時には、もう仕事が始まっていました。
次の日、が「学校の前のバス停からるといいよ」と言って、簡単なを描いてくれました。
それから一週間は、バスにる前にをて、窓からえる建物も覚えました。
今では、をなくても、正しいバスを選んで、降りる場所が分かるようになりました。
昨日は同じへ行きたい人に道を聞かれたので、一緒にバスを待って案内しました。
初めはバスでのがでしたが、その人にお礼を言われて、この町に少しれた気がしました。
Read for meaning
今の私について、正しい説明はどれですか。
English translation
Last month, I started working at a library far from the station, so I came to commute to work by bus every morning. Even buses with the same number head in different directions, so on my first day I took one going in the opposite direction. I soon noticed my mistake and got off, but by the time I reached the library, work had already started. The next day, a senior colleague said, “You should get on at the bus stop in front of the school,” and drew a simple map for me. For the following week, I looked at the map before getting on the bus and also memorized buildings I could see through the window. Now I have learned to choose the correct bus and know where to get off without looking at a map. Yesterday, someone who wanted to go to the same library asked me for directions, so I waited for the bus with them and showed them the way. Although I had been anxious about commuting by bus at first, being thanked by that person made me feel a little more at home in this town.
Useful vocabulary
- library
- to commute; to attend regularly
- number
- opposite
- direction
- senior colleague; someone with more experience
- map
- to guide; to show the way
Grammar in context · to reach a new state; to become able to do something
～ようになる
A verb before ようになる describes a change into a new state or habit. Here, the narrator has reached the point of knowing the correct route without a map. With potential verbs, this pattern often describes becoming able to do something through learning or practice.
今では、をなくても、正しいバスを選んで、降りる場所が分かるようになりました。
ALSO NOTICE · A SECOND USEFUL PATTERN
：～に聞かれるbe asked by someone
聞かれた describes the narrator receiving a question. The person wanting to visit the library asks the narrator for directions. This reverses the narrator's earlier role as someone needing help.
FROM THIS STORY · POLITE
昨日は同じへ行きたい人に道を聞かれたので、一緒にバスを待って案内しました。English: Yesterday, someone who wanted to go to the same library asked me for directions, so I waited for the bus with them and showed them the way.
Compare styles: 聞かれたので stays unchanged; 案内しました becomes 案内した. The person asking is unchanged.