Page 47 - Reading and Writing 6

Listen and Read

Annie the Ant

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a little ant called Annie. Well,
maybe not so little. The little ant loved to climb on blades of grass and spend
time outdoors. She also loved to observe the night sky and marvel at the stars.
But Annie was always left out of ant-y things! The other ants would not treat her
nicely. This made Annie very sad, until one day, when she decided never to feel
unhappy again. She told herself that she should only concentrate on her work and
enjoy life with her family.
One day, Annie and her parents were gathering food feverishly in the garden,
so they could store it for the winter. Annie’s family lived in a little anthill in a
marvellous garden. They were about to climb up a tree when it began to rain
heavily. It was raining so hard that the tiny insects were about to be washed away
by the water.

Seeing that the ants were in trouble, a dove quickly plucked a leaf and dropped
it near the struggling ants. The ants moved towards the leaf and took shelter
beneath it until the rain stopped. However, they were soon dismayed to find that
the rainwater had washed their anthill away. The rain had flooded the garden,
and the current was so strong that Annie and her parents were swept away with
it. It seemed as if they would drown in the flood, but suddenly Annie spotted a
paper boat floating in the water. “Climb into the boat!” shouted Annie, and all
three of them clambered onto the paper boat. They sailed in the paper boat until
they reached a cosy-looking house.
The owner of the house had a dog named Fluffy, and he was standing on the
porch watching the flood. The three ants quietly climbed up his tail and entered
the house. Once they were inside, Annie and her family explored the house,
looking for the best place to rebuild their home. The living room was great, but
if they stayed there, the housekeeper would certainly dust the area and send
them out. The bathroom was too wet. The bedroom already had the owners of
the house living in it. The kitchen was too warm. The ant family finally reached
the attic of this household. “This will do perfectly!” cried Mama Ant, clapping her
hands. And so it did.

The attic was cool and dry, and, most importantly, it was empty. The ant family
built their home in the attic and lived there happily for a long time. Annie never
forgot about the dove that had saved her family from the flood and did her best
to find her so that they could become friends.

After You Read

1 Work with a partner and discuss the following questions.

1 According to the passage, who was closest to Annie?

2 Why do you think she wasn’t invited to join in ant-y things?

3 How did she decide to handle the problem?

45