Questions & Answers about Сначала мы читаем текст, а потом отвечаем.
How do сначала and потом work together in this sentence?
They are time expressions used to sequence actions. Сначала means "first" or "at first," and потом means "then" or "afterwards." Using them together is the standard way to say "First we do X, then we do Y."
The translation says "and then," so why does the sentence use а instead of и?
While и means "and," Russian frequently uses а to show a shift or transition to a new action. When listing a sequence of events, the phrase а потом (and then) is the most natural way to move to the next step.
Why isn't the word мы (we) repeated before отвечаем?
Just like in English, you do not need to repeat the subject if it hasn't changed. The single мы applies to both verbs. Plus, the -ем ending on отвечаем makes it grammatically clear that "we" are the ones answering.
Is текст in the accusative case here?
Yes! It is the direct object (the thing being read). Because текст is a masculine inanimate noun (a thing, not a living person or animal), its accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary form.