"It is wintertime. The weather is cold, but the ants are doing fine. They have their warm home, and they have a lot of food to e
at. They can wait for the warm weather in spring. The reason the ants have a lot of food is because they worked in the summer.
So now they have grain to eat. Grain is a kind of plant. People plant it and cut it and then they use it to make bread. The ants get the grain in summer, because that is when grain grows. The ants live in the fields where the grain grows. When the wind blows, some grain falls and the ants rush to get it. They do not eat it right then. They save it because they need to be able to have food in the winter months when plants do not grow. This goes on all summer.
The ants work hard every day. They pick up the grain, they carry it to their home. Every ant helps. Each ant carries one piece of grain. It is hard work. They carry more than they need to eat every day. They carry grain they will eat in winter, too. They play sometimes, but most of the time they work.
The grasshoppers live near the ants, and they love summer. They hop and play and they laugh at the ants. They say, “We have fun every day while you work every day. Come and play. You can get grain later.” But the ants say, “No, we have to work.”
Soon it is winter, and the grasshoppers are cold. They are hungry, too. They do not have food to eat. Since they played all summer, they did not save food for winter.
One day, a grasshopper came to see the ants and he was very hungry. “Please, ants, could you help me a little bit? I am just so hungry!” said the grasshopper.
The ants asked him, "Why didn’t you work in summer? We did. Remember, how you played while we worked? You made fun of us and said, ‘All work and no play is no good.’ Well, now we have food and you are hungry.”
The grasshopper said, "I didn't have the time. The weather was so lovely that I spent all the days singing. I couldn’t help but have fun. We had such a good time.”
The ants said, “We are sorry you have no food. We have a lot because we worked hard. You have none because you played. But, we will give you some food because we are good, kind neighbors. We want you to live, so we will help you now. But learn from us. Playing is a lot of fun. But you need to work to live.”
The grasshopper thanked the ants. The grasshopper had learned a lesson. It is fun to play, but you need to save for winter, too. You need to work if you want to eat. Next summer, he would work and play, too, just like the ants."
Which sentence from the story is an example of an opinion?
"We want you to live, so we will help you now"
"Grain is a kind of plant"
"The grasshoppers live near the ants"
"It is fun to play, but you need to save for winter, too"
Based on the story above, which cause and effect relationship best describes the conflict in the story?
The ants don't like the grasshopper, so they took all its food.
The grasshopper has no food because he played all Summer and refused to work.
The ants are kind, due to the fact that they shared their food with the grasshopper.
The Summer was rough, so nobody has food for Winter.
This story talks a lot about working hard. Based off the connotations and tone of the story, the author thinks that hard work should be seen as...
something to be avoided in favor of fun activities
something that is important and should be a priority
something overachievers do, and not for everyone
a way of getting others to like you and depend on you
Which of the following sentences is correct?
The ants, unlike the grasshopper, spends the summer working.
The ants, unlike the grasshopper, spending the summer working.
The ants, unlike the grasshopper, spend the summer working.
The ant, unlike the grasshoppers, spend the summer working.
Which would be an appropriate thesis statement for an essay on why the grasshopper should work hard like the ants?
In the ant and the grasshopper, the ants are right to spend the Summer working in order to survive the Winter.
I think the grasshopper needs to work harder so the ants don't have to help him.
Working hard is important because if you don't then you won't do well in life.
The story is about grasshoppers who just play while the ants work, then the grasshoppers don't have food.
