Reading Comprehension

The Town Mouse A poor country mouse invited his friend, a town mouse, to his home for dinner. The town mouse arrived all dressed up. As he looked around the countryside, he muttered to himself, "What a different place this is! There are neither carriages nor stores. I see nothing but old-looking houses and fields." He was then led into a hut. Sweet corn, peas, barley and small pieces of cheese were placed in front of the guest who was grumbling with disgust. "Please help yourself, though it's not much of a meal," said the country mouse. Taking a bite of barley, the town mouse said to the host mouse, "How can you stand living on such poor food? Why don't you visit me in my town house. I will treat you to a big feast." Answer the questions. 1. Who invited the town mouse for dinner? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    2. What did the town mouse see in the countryside? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    3. What did the mice have for dinner? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    4. Did the country mouse serve good food? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    5. What did the town mouse promise the country mouse? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________  Who Should Be King  One day, the king of the beasts, the lion, was shot by a hunter. The animals of the grassland were in a state of confusion. They had to choose a king who would defend their kingdom for them. "Mr. Cheetah is the best qualified since he is the fastest runner," said some. "You shouldn't say that. Just seeing a man makes me run away," said the cheetah, declining. "Well then, how about you, Mr. Rhino? You are the strongest, aren't you?" asked another. "Oh, no! My eyesight is so weak that I quickly bump into trees," said the rhino, also declining. "Then Mr. Elephant, what do you say to being king? You are the largest," they asked. Answer the questions. 1. Who was shot by the hunter? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    2. Why didn't the cheetah want to be king? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    3. Who has weak eyesight? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    4. Why did the animal kingdom need a king? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________    5. Which was the largest animal? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

War With Birds

Long ago, on the grasslands of Africa, a lion, king of the beasts, was about to eat his prey when an eagle, king of the birds, flew down and snatched it away. "Growl. How dare he! I am declaring war against all birds. I will catch and kill them all," roared the lion. He called together his animal followers. "Listen carefully everyone! Hereafter, we are at war with the birds. We won't leave a single bird alive," he said. "We understand, our King!" shouted the animals. They were also angry with the birds because they had their food snatched away too. When night fell and the birds had returned to their nest, the animals began their attack. Since the birds could not see in the   dark, they were badly beaten and fled. Answer the questions.
1.	Who snatched the lion's food away? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
2.	What did the lion declare against the birds? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
3.	What order did the lion give to his animal followers? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
4.	Why were the animals angry with the birds? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
5.	When did the animals start their attack? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

The Ugly Duckling

One delightful summer's day, a duck sat on her nest waiting for her eggs to hatch. A shell cracked. Then one after another, the sweet creatures hatched. When the largest egg did not break, the mother duck became worried. A nosy old duck paid her a visit and said, "This one must be a turkey's egg. Just leave it." At last, the largest egg cracked and out jumped a large duckling. "How ugly ! No doubt this is a turkey's child. If you put it in the water it will never learn to swim," the old duck said. As it was such a sunny day, the mother duck decided to take her family for a swim. She jumped into the water and the little ducklings followed her, splashing about. The ugly duckling also jumped in and paddled along happily with his family. Answer the questions.
1.	Why did the duck sit on her nest? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
2.	When did the mother duck become worried? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
3.	Who thinks the largest egg is a turkey's egg? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
4.	What did the old duck say of the ugly duckling? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
5.	What is the meaning of the word "nosy"? ______________________________________________________

Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time, there lived an old mother pig and her three little pigs. The first little pig didn't like work. The second little pig was a glutton. But the third little pig was clever and hardworking. One day the mother pig said, "Now that you are grown up, go out and build your own houses." "Oh dear !" said the first little pig. "I hate working. Well, I can easily make a straw house !" But the second pig said, "A straw house can be blown away by the wind. I'll build a house of wood. It would be strong against the wind" "I'll build a house that is safe and solid and can never be blown away," declared the third pig. "It has to be a brick house." This made his brothers angry and they shouted, "Before you carry all the bricks. It will be dark and the wolf will come and eat you up!" Answer the questions.
1.	What is the meaning of the word "glutton" ? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
2.	Why did the first pig build his house of straw? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
3.	Why didn't the second pig build his house of straw? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
4.	Why did the third pig build his house of bricks? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
5.	Who were the pigs afraid of? ______________________________________________________