MID-TEST ENGLISH PRIMARY 5 TERM 1 2023/2024

Part 1. Fiction: Stories from different cultures

Why Cockerels Crow: A fable from Malawi

Everyone admired Cockerel because he had a bright red spiky comb on top of his head. You could
see the red spikes from miles away. He told everyone that the red spikes were like flames that could
set everything on fire with just one touch! Nobody wanted Cockerel to set things on fire, so they did
everything they could to be friendly and respectful towards him. Cockerel loved everyone helping
him, especially when they did his chores for him. The first time, Hyena ploughed his field for him
for free! Cockerel sat in the shade and watched, without a care in the world. Cockerel was sitting
with his feet up on an old table under the trees.

1. Write the sentence in the story that show Cockerel is lazy.

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2. Write the sentence in the story that show Hyena is a hard worker.
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Hyena leant forward and touched the red spikes with his paw. ‘What a liar! Your spikes cannot
make fire!’. Cockerel was scared as his secret was now out in the open. He flapped his wings wildly
to reach a nearby tree, crowing as loudly as he could. None of the animals had ever heard such an
awful sound and covered their ears. The animals were so angry that they sent Cockerel and all the
hens to the people’s village. They could only stay there if Cockerel crowed at sunrise every
morning to wake people up, and the hens had to lay eggs for the people to eat.

3. What happen to the Cockerel when the animals knew that Cockerel is lying to them?
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4. What lesson can you learn from the story?
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The Elephant who lost his Patience: A fable from India

Once upon a time, there was a lush jungle deep in the tropics of India. There were many different
animals living in the jungle together: monkeys, oxpeckers, baboons, lions, tigers, and the largest
and grandest of them all, King Elephant. he was the most magnificent animals in the kingdom, but
he was gentle, patient, friendly and had a heart of gold. Everyone loved King Elephant. Everyone,
that is, apart from the tiniest insect.

5. Who are the characters in the story?

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This insect didn’t like anyone in the jungle. Ant was tiny, but he had small, angry eyes and would
have his pincers at anyone that went past. All day, every day, Ant would tease the monkeys about
their ears, the oxpeckers about eating ticks and flies from other animals, the baboons for their
brightly coloured faces, and the lions about their frizzy manes. All of them threatened him, and Ant
ran away as he knew they would hurt him if they got too close.

6. What did Ant do every day?

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7. Find a sentence in the story which tells that Ant is unkind!
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The one that Ant teased the most was King Elephant. It was such a piece of cake! King Elephant
was so calm and quiet that Ant knew he wouldn’t do or say anything.

‘Look at those ridiculous ears! They are so big that when you flap them, a tornado starts,’ taunted
Ant as he sat on a rock watching King Elephant take his daily shower in the waterfall. King
Elephant was hurt by the comments, but he pretended he hadn’t heard. Ant was relentless. He spoke
even louder.

8. Based on the story, why do you think Ant likes to tease King Elephant the most?
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‘You are so slow! How long does it take you to have a shower ... a whole week? You should marry
the sloth! Ant laughed so hard that he fell of the rock onto the side of the pool.

Without a word, King Elephant carefully sucked up a trunkful of water and sprayed it full blast onto
Ant. The force of the water jet was so strong that it threw Ant miles up into the air like a speeding
bullet. All the animals watched in amazement as Ant headed for outer space.

Sometime later, they saw a tiny black dot hurtling back to Earth like a rocket. It hit the rock and
then bounced into the pool of water and landed on a leaf. With the gentlest of puffs from the
beautiful trunk, the leaf slowly moved downstream and disappeared behind the bend in the river.
‘I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight everyone!’ King Elephant waved his trunk as he left the group
with their mouths on the floor.
 9. What did King Elephant do to Ant?
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10. What is the lesson from this fable?
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The First Sunrise: A fable from Australia

A long, long time ago the Earth was bleak. There was no light, no sun, so it was a very cold and
depressing place. Huge, black clouds blocked the light and warmth, and they were so low that the
animals had to crawl around and couldn’t lift their heads up high. The emus hobbled with their
heads nearly on the ground, which made their necks ache all the time. The kangaroos couldn’t hop
and felt sad because they couldn’t use their huge tails and legs for jumping around, and none of the
magpies could fly higher than several feet in the air.

11. Based on the story, describe how the Earth looked a long, long time ago.
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12. Why did the kangaroos feel sad?
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The magpies were very smart birds. As time passed, they had had enough of not being able to fly
higher than a metre above the ground. First, they gathered lots of strong sticks and branches to push
the clouds up away from the ground. At the same time, the other animals all helped by looking for
anything to prop up the lifeless sky. The magpies kept pushing with all their strength, the sky rose
higher and higher, pushing up from the small mountains until, with a mighty push, the sky rested on
top of the highest mountain in the world.

13. What did the magpies do in order to be able to fly higher?

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Suddenly, there was an explosion of warmth, light and colour, and the light and heat showered
down and covered everything like thick, golden honey covering the land. As a result, the whole sky
was filled with all shades of red, orange, and yellows. It was the first sunrise in the world and was
the most awesome thing that the animals had ever seen. They all watched in silence after the warm
rays hit their faces. The magpies were so happy that they began to sing the song that you can still
hear today. That is why each morning, as the sun rises from the east, the magpies sing their song to
say hello to the brand-new-day.

14. From the story, write a sentence which tells that the story happened in the morning.
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15. What did magpies do to show that they were happy with the sunrise?
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Part 2. Non-fiction: Biography

Poorna Malavath, the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest

Poorna Malavath was born on 10 June 2000 in a village in Telangana, India. Her family was very
poor and had no experience of mountain climbing, but she grew up to be the youngest girl to climb
to the peak of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.
At an early age, Malavath left home and attended a residential school. Here, her talent for
athletics and climbing was spotted by Dr Kumar who recommended that she join Operation Everest
(an organization that trains young Indian people in the sport of mountain climbing).
16. Whose biography is it?
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17. What is Malavath’s achievement?
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In 2013, Malavath was sent to train in Darjeeling for eight months, where she saw snow for
the first time in her life. She had to compete with 21 other climbers to be chosen for the Everest
expedition in 2014. When she first saw Mount Everest, she said to her coach, It’s not that tall. We
can climb it in a day.’
The expedition actually took 52 days. Malavath reached the summit on 25 May 2014 aged
13 years and 11 months old. She said that it felt ‘incredible’ to be there and that it was ‘a
breathtaking adventure.’
When she returned from Everest, she was honoured by the Indian Prime Minister and later,
in 2017, a film (entitled ‘Poorna’) was made about her life.
18. What did Malavath do in 2013?
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19. When did she reach the top of the mountain?
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 20. What happened when she returned from Everest?
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Mae Jemison: Reach for the stars

On 12 September 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman to blast into outer
space.
Mae was born on 17 October 1956 in Decatur, Alabama – the youngest of three children in
her family. Mae loved to dance and was a talented ballerina, but she also loved to watch Star Trek, a
TV series that included an African-American woman as a key figure on the spaceship in the
programme. Mae was a bright student and she finished high school at only 16, instead of 18.
Afterwards, she went to a top university in the USA. Later on, she trained to be a doctor and
became a ‘Flying Doctor’ in East Africa.
21. Whose biography is it?
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22. When was Mae born?
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23. Write the sentence that proves Mae was extraordinary as a child.
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In 1987, Mae was eventually chosen from 2.000 applicants to join NASA’s space programme in
Houston, Texas. Jemison finally realised her biggest dream in 1992, when she became an astronaut.
Neil Armstrong (the first man to walk on the moon) said, ‘She well and truly deserves this
magnificent achievement.’

24. What happened in 1987?

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25. When did Mae finally realize her biggest dream?
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