HFS INTERNATIONAL, POWAI [CAIE PRIMARY] [2020 -2021]
GRADE 5 – Practice Worksheet
Directions: Read the passage. Then answer the questions below.
You may write the answers in your English Note Book.
Answers will be discussed in the next session.
Tom, the hare was given the chore of whitewashing thirty yards of fence on a sunny Sunday
afternoon. And what was worse-it was one of those warm summer days when everyone else
was out there playing ball or swimming. And there was Tom, all alone on the sidewalk with a
long-handled brush and a bucket of whitewash.
He looked at the fence. It seemed enormous and he knew it would take all day to give it only
one coat. Tom began to think of all the fun he had planned for the day, and he felt even sorrier
for himself. Soon his friends, Billy, the baboon, Sam, the hamster and Tim, the bear would come
down the street, and he shuddered to think of how they would laugh to see him whitewashing a
fence on such a beautiful day. There had to be a way out of this situation!
Tom emptied his pockets and looked at his worldly wealth - bits of toys, marbles, and trash. He
might be able to bribe someone else to help him for a while, but there wasn’t nearly enough to
buy a whole day of freedom. Tom thought for a while ---- then an inspiration burst upon him!
He picked up the brush and began to spread the whitewash slowly over the fence. In a few
minutes, Ben Rogers, the chimpanzee, came walking by, eating a big, juicy red apple. Tom’s
mouth watered at the sight of the fruit, but he kept on painting and pretended not to see or hear
Ben at all.
“Hey there, Tom, what’s up with you?”, called Ben. “It’s too bad you have to work on a day like
this. I’m just on my way to the river for a swim.”
Tom looked at Ben for a moment, then said, “what do you call work?”
“Why, isn’t that work?”, asked Ben, pointing to the fence.
“Well maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t,” answered Tom. “All I know is that it suits me just fine.”
“Come on now, don’t tell me you actually like it!”
“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t like it. It isn’t every day that one gets to whitewash a
fence.”
That put things in a new light for Ben. He began watching Tom work. Maybe there is something
to this whitewashing after all, he thought.
“Hey Tom, let me try it for a while,” Ben asked.
“No, no!” protested Tom. “Aunt Hippolly entrusted this fence to me, and I can’t just let anyone
take over such a big job.”
But Ben continued to beg on to let him have the privilege of whitewashing for just a little while.
Tom kept refusing until Ben offered him the rest of his juicy red apple. That was what Tom had
been waiting for.
Tom sat in the shade and munched the apple while Ben swished the brush back and forth,
sweating at his work. As the others came by, Tom kept trading with them, too, for a go at white
washing the fence.
By mid-afternoon, the fence was completely whitewashed, and Tom was the proud owner of all
sorts of treasures. His inspiration had certainly worked. All he had to do was make his chores
seem to be fun, and the other animals were eager to do them for him.
1. Answer the following questions:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
What work was given to Tom, the hare? What made it worse?
What made Tom feel really sorry for himself and look for a way out of the situation?
Why did he empty his pockets?
How did Tom trick Ben Rogers, the chimpanzee into whitewashing the fence for him?
What did Tom take as a bribe from Ben?
What inspiration did Tom have? How did Tom gain from this inspiration?
What message do the readers get from this fable?
Suggest a title to the fable above.
2. Identify the sentences as Simple, Compound and Complex:
a.
b.
c.
d.
He stopped eating his apple and began watching Tom work.
Tom kept refusing until Ben offered him the rest of his juicy apple.
He began watching Tom work.
Tom’s mouth watered at the sight of the fruit, but he kept on painting and pretended
not to see or hear Ben at all.
e. His inspiration had certainly worked.
3. Find words from the passage that means:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Huge
Rubbish
To eat steadily with much movement of the jaw.
Shook with fear or some strong feeling
A special right or advantage.