A1 Reading Plan · Week 1 · Day 4 of 30

The Ant and the Grasshopper

From Aesop's Fables·~200 words·~2 min read

The ant works all summer. The grasshopper sings. Then winter comes and only one of them eats.

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One fine day in winter some Ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently up came a Grasshopper and begged them to spare her a few grains, "For," she said, "I'm simply starving." The Ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. "May we ask," said they, "what you were doing with yourself all last summer? Why didn't you collect a store of food for the winter?" "The fact is," replied the Grasshopper, "I was so busy singing that I hadn't the time." "If you spent the summer singing," replied the Ants, "you can't do better than spend the winter dancing." And they chuckled and went on with their work.

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Question 1 of 5vocabulary
What does 'damp' mean in the story?
Question 2 of 5vocabulary
What does 'starving' mean in the story?
Question 3 of 5vocabulary
What does 'spare' mean when the Grasshopper begs them to 'spare her a few grains'?
Question 4 of 5comprehension
What did the Grasshopper do all summer?
Question 5 of 5comprehension
Why were the Ants busy in winter?
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Source: V. S. Vernon Jones translation, public domain. The original tale, not a simplified or adapted version.
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