Which sentence best states the main idea?

Teodor keeps one spare loaf every day as a promise he made to himself after failing to help someone. (The story links the extra loaf to the winter night he had nothing to give, and Teodor himself calls it a promise. The other choices are details or ideas the text never states.)

How long has Teodor run the bakery on Sedge Street?

Nineteen years. (The first sentence says nineteen years.)

Why does Teodor turn back to his oven while people are still thanking him?

So they do not feel they owe him anything. (The last line explains it: that way nobody has to look grateful, they can just eat. He steps away so the person is not forced to perform thanks.)

As used in the passage, grateful means:

showing that you feel thankful to someone (People are saying thank you, and Teodor does not want them to have to look grateful, that is, to show visible thanks.)

The Extra Loaf: Level 2 Reading Comprehension Questions

Teodor has run the bakery on Sedge Street for nineteen years. He counts his flour, his salt, and his orders. Then he bakes one loaf more than he needs. He does this because of a winter long ago, when a woman knocked after closing time. She had no money, and he had nothing left to sell. He remembers her face better than he remembers that whole year.

So now the extra loaf sits on the top shelf, wrapped in brown paper. Most days nobody comes for it, and Teodor gives it to the birds in the square. His nephew calls this waste. Teodor says it is not waste; it is a promise. The bread is not the point. The shelf is.

Once or twice a month, someone does come. A student. A man leaving a night shift. A mother with a stroller and no coins. Teodor never asks questions. He takes the loaf down, hands it over, and turns back to his oven while they are still saying thank you.

That way, he says, nobody has to look grateful. They can just eat.

Comprehension questions