The Pig and The Chameleon Stage 4 Comprehension - Comprehension Pack.pdf

STAGE 4 Unit focus: Madagascar Text focus: Narrative The Pig And The Chameleon One day, many years ago, a pig and a chameleon sat in the rainforests of Madagascar. The pig was a clean animal who...

STAGE 4 Unit focus: Madagascar Text focus: Narrative The Pig And The Chameleon One day, many years ago, a pig and a chameleon sat in the rainforests of Madagascar. The pig was a clean animal who prided himself on never ge ng a speck of mud on him. The chameleon spent his days in the trees, so he never had to worry about such a thing. On this day, the pig was bored. He decided to torment the chameleon. “You are so slow!” the pig said. His voice was condescending. “I may be slow, but I get where I’m going,” the chameleon replied. He knew what the pig was like and didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of ge ng upset. “You’ll never get anywhere at that speed.” The pig was very persistent. Antagonising the chameleon was one of his favourite hobbies. “Oh, I get there,” the chameleon said. “At my own speed. Besides, I can travel a lot further than you. You run off like a gust of wind and tire before you reach anywhere meaningful.” Now it was the pig’s turn to be annoyed. He believed that he was one of the fastest animals in Madagascar, and now the chameleon was insulting him. He wasn’t going to stand for that. “How about we have a race, then?” he suggested. “There is a guava tree on the other side of the forest. Whoever gets there first wins.” The chameleon smiled and agreed. Anybody watching would have suspected that he had a plan. “And what will be the consequence for the loser?” he asked. “Might I suggest that they have to submerge their entire body into the pit of slimy mud by the riverbank?” As confident as he had ever been, the pig agreed to the punishment. This would be easy, he thought. He turned to face the tree and began the countdown to the start of the race. “One,” he A ding ro began. “Two, three, go!” The pig was concentrating so hard on beginning the Rea und all resources ©2021 Literacy Shed e um C u r r ic ul Th http://www.literacyshedplus.com race well that he didn’t notice something light land on his furry back just before he shouted: “Go!”. With a smile, the chameleon clung to the hairs on the back of the pig. It was a long way to the tree, and he was glad he didn’t have to walk there himself. Just as the pig was about to reach the guava tree, the chameleon let go and leapt through the air. He landed softly on one of the leaves. The pig was delighted. As far as he could tell, he had won the race easily. It wasn’t until the chameleon let out a little cough that he spun around angrily. “How could you possibly beat me?” he shouted. “I ran as fast as I could. That isn’t fair!” “How about we race back?” the chameleon suggested. “That way, we can see if I was just lucky?” The pig grunted and prepared to race back. Once again, he was so engrossed in counting down that he didn’t feel the chameleon land on his back. You can imagine his anger when they reached the tree where they had started, and the chameleon was already standing on a branch! Accepting his punishment, the pig jumped into the mud bath. The cool mud was so nice against his hot skin that he regretted never doing it before. From that day on, pigs have loved to bathe in mud. INFERENCE FOCUS 1. What evidence is there that the pig was arrogant? 2. At the beginning of the story, why did the pig get annoyed at the chameleon? 3. Why do you think the chameleon smiled when he agreed to the race? 4. Why don’t you think the pig noticed the chameleon landing on his back? 5. Why did the pig think the result was unfair? VIPERS QUESTIONS R Which animal suggested the race? R Who suggested the punishment? V Find a synonym that describes a place as important. R Where were they racing to? S Summarise how the chameleon won the race and why he did it. all resources ©2021 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com