(Reading Practice for Grade 4 Performance Task)

The Lion and the Mouse

Once, as a lion lay sleeping in his den, a naughty little mouse ran up
his tail, and onto his back and up his mane and danced and jumped on his
head… so that the lion woke up.
The lion grabbed the mouse and, holding him in his large claws,
roared in anger. ‘How dare you wake me up! Don’t you know that I am King
of the Beasts? Anyone who disturbs my rest deserves to die! I shall kill you
and eat you!’
The terrified mouse, shaking and trembling, begged the lion to let him
go. ‘Please don’t eat me Your Majesty! I did not mean to wake you, it was a
mistake. I was only playing. Please let me go – and I promise I will be your
friend forever. Who knows but one day I could save your life?’
The lion looked at the tiny mouse and laughed. ‘You save my life?
What an absurd idea!’ he said scornfully. ‘But you have made me laugh, and
put me into a good mood again, so I shall let you go.’ And the lion opened
his claws and let the mouse go free.
‘Oh thank you, your majesty,’ squeaked the mouse, and scurried away
as fast as he could.
A few days later the lion was caught in a hunter’s snare. Struggle as he
might, he couldn’t break free and became even more entangled in the net of
ropes. He let out a roar of anger that shook the forest. Every animal heard
it, including the tiny mouse.
‘My friend the lion is in trouble,’ cried the mouse. He ran as fast as he
could in the direction of the lion’s roar, and soon found the lion trapped in
the hunter’s snare. ‘Hold still, Your Majesty,’ squeaked the mouse. ‘I’ll have
you out of there in a jiffy!’ And without further delay, the mouse began
nibbling through the ropes with his sharp little teeth. Very soon the lion
was free.
‘I did not believe that you could be of use to me, little mouse, but
today you saved my life,’ said the lion humbly.
‘It was my turn to help you, Sir, answered the mouse.
 The Foolish Fish
In a huge pond, there lived many fish. They were arrogant and never
listened to anyone. In this pond, there also lived a kind-hearted crocodile.
He advised the fish, “It does not pay to be arrogant and
overconfident. It could be your downfall." But the fish never listened to
him. “There is that crocodile, advising us again," they would say.
One afternoon, the crocodile was resting beside a stone near the
pond, when two fishermen stopped there to drink water.
The fishermen noticed that the pond had many fish. “Look! This pond
is full of fish. Let’s come here tomorrow with our fishing net," said one of
them. “I am surprised we have not seen this place before!" exclaimed the
other.
The crocodile heard all this. When the fishermen left, he slowly
slipped into the pond and went straight to the fish. “You all had better leave
this pond before dawn. Early morning those two fishermen are going to
come to this pond with their net," warned the crocodile.
But the fish just laughed and said, “There have been many fishermen
who have tried to catch us. These two are not going to catch us either. Do
not you worry about us, Mr. Crocodile," they said in a mocking voice.
The next morning, the fishermen came and threw their net in the
pond. The nets were big and strong. Very soon all the fish were caught. “If
only we had listened to Mr. Crocodile. He had only wanted to help. For our
arrogance we have to pay with our lives," said the fish.
The fishermen took the foolish fish to the market and sold them for a
good profit.
 Cactus Story
Once upon a time, there lived a group of flowers. They were Tulip,
Sunflower, Cactus, Cosmos, and Daisy. All the flowers were teasing the
Cactus. The Sunflower said, "Hey, look! Cactus does not have flowers.
Haha! So ugly!" The Cosmos said, "Don't come close to me. You make me
ugly!" The Tulip said, "I'm so lucky that I'm not Cactus.” The Daisy said,
"Euu! So ugly!"
Soon, it was a rainy day. All plants were happily drinking water. But,
Sunflower said, "Hey, Cactus! You need not drink because you cannot
bloom any flower”. The Cosmos said, "Only pretty flowers can drink the
water." On hearing this, Tulip and Daisy started to laugh. Poor Cactus kept
quiet and felt sad. Cactus felt so sad that once she tried to be part of them.
She tried to put anything on her but she failed.
As the hot summer approached, the garden began to dry up. All the
flowers were suffering under the hot weather except the Cactus. Cactus
asked her fellow flowers, "Hey, are you okay?" The Sunflower told her, "The
weather is too hot, I'm thirsty!" The Cosmos said, "Help! The Sun is killing
me!" The Tulip said, "Please water me or else I'll die!" The Daisy cried, "I'm
thirsty!"
But all the flowers were amazed at the Cactus. Finally, the Sunflower
asked, "Cactus, why don't you feel thirsty?" "Because I have a long root that
spreads out just under the ground in search of water. Without leaves, less
water is lost through my body. So, I can store a lot of water,” Cactus replied.
"If you don't mind, I have water and I can help you all,” Cactus told
the other flowers. Cosmos, Daisy and Tulip said, "We are sorry, Cactus!"
The Sunflower said, "I'm sorry, Cactus! We treated you so badly and yet you
are still willing to help us!" Cactus replied, "No problem! I'm doing what I
know is right!" Four of them apologized to Cactus because they felt guilty of
what they had done to Cactus.
After what had happened, all the flowers stopped teasing Cactus but
are proud of her for saving their lives. Suddenly, a fairy appeared in front of
them. The fairy said," I have seen what you have done to the others and I'm
touched by your actions. Now, I'm helping you to grant your wish to come
true."
As the fairy moved her magic wand, the Cactus had got a beautiful
flower like the rest of the plants. All of them lived happily together.