N3 Japanese Reading Practice: Missed Call
This free JLPT N3 reading practice is a short train-to-station scene about a missed call. Read with furigana if needed, study the hesitation language, check the questions, then keep training with short passages in Yomigi.
出られなかった電話
母から電話があったのに、電車の中で出られなかった。駅を出てかけ直すと、「元気？」とだけ聞かれた。特に用事はなかったらしい。それでも、少し悪い気が残った。
母から電話があったのに、電車の中で出られなかった。駅を出てかけ直すと、「元気？」とだけ聞かれた。特に用事はなかったらしい。それでも、少し悪い気が残った。In English. The narrator’s mother calls, but they cannot pick up on the train. After leaving the station they call back and are asked only “Are you well?” There was apparently no particular errand—and a small guilty feeling still remains.
Key vocabulary
出られなかった でられなかった
could not pick up / could not answer (the phone)
かけ直す かけなおす
to call back / to dial again
とだけ とだけ
only (quoting a short line)
用事 ようじ
errand / business / a reason for contacting someone
らしい らしい
apparently / it seems (based on what was just learned)
悪い気が残った わるいきがのこった
a guilty / uneasy feeling remained
Grammar notes
のに for a frustrated contrast
電話があったのに…出られなかった: the call happened, but answering was impossible—mild frustration, not a logical essay contrast.
らしい for inferred information
用事はなかったらしい reports a conclusion from the short callback, not a hard fact the narrator knew in advance.
それでも
それでも keeps a leftover feeling after the “no real errand” realization—the guilt does not fully clear.
Comprehension
Why didn’t the narrator answer the first call?
They were on the train and could not pick up.
What did the mother say on the callback?
Only “Are you well?” (元気？).
Was there an urgent reason for the call?
Apparently not—there was no particular errand. A small guilty feeling still remained.
Why this level
- Interpersonal leftover feeling after a tiny phone exchange—more N3 than a plain event list.
- Uses のに, らしい, and それでも in a single short paragraph.
- Still one scene (train → station → callback), not an essay.