ENGLISH READING SKILL TEST FOR XII GRADE
Fox and A Cat
One day a cat and a fox were having a conversation. The fox, who was a conceited
creature, boasted how clever she was. 'Why, I know at least a hundred tricks to get away from
our mutual enemies, the dogs,' she said. 'I know only one trick to get away from dogs,' said the
cat. 'You should teach me some of yours!' 'Well, maybe someday, when I have the time, I may
teach you a few of the simpler ones,' replied the fox airily.
Just then they heard the barking of a pack of dogs in the distance. The barking grew
louder and louder - the dogs were coming in their direction! At once the cat ran to the nearest
tree and climbed into its branches, well out of reach of any dog. 'This is the trick I told you
about, the only one I know,' said the cat. 'Which one of your hundred tricks are you going to
use?' The fox sat silently under the tree, wondering which trick she should use. Before she could
make up her mind, the dogs arrived. They fell upon the fox and tore her to pieces.
True Friends
Once upon a time, there were two close friends who were walking through the forest
together. They knew that anything dangerous can happen any time in the forest. So they
promised each other that they would always be together in any case of danger. Suddenly, they
saw a large bear getting closer toward them. One of them climbed a nearby tree at once. But
unfortunately the other one did not know how to climb up the tree. So being led by his common
sense, he lay down on the ground breathless and pretended to be a dead man.
The bear came near the one who was lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears, and slowly
left the place because the bears do not want to touch the dead creatures. After that, the friend on
the tree came down and asked his friend that was on the ground, “Friend, what did the bear
whisper into your ears?” The other friend replied, “Just now the bear advised me not to believe a
false friend”.
The Legend of Surabaya
A long time ago, there were two animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was the name of a shark
and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea.
Once Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat “Yummy,
this is my lunch,” said Baya. “No way! This is my lunch. You are greedy” said Sura. Then they
fought for the goat. After several hours, they were very tired.
Feeling tired of fighting, they lived in the different places. Sura lived in the water and
Baya lived in the land. The border was the beach, so they would never fight again.
One day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was very
hungry and there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very angry when he knew that Sura
broke the promise. They fought again.
They both hit each other. Sura bit Baya’s tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura. He bit
very hard until Sura finally gave up and went back to the sea. Baya was happy.
Snow White
Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Snow White. She lived with her Aunt and
Uncle because her parents were dead. One day she heard her Uncle and Aunt talking about
leaving Snow White in the castle because they both wanted to go to America and they didn’t
have enough money to take Snow White.
Snow White did not want her Uncle and Aunt to do this so she decided it would be best if
she ran away. The next morning she ran away from home when her Aunt and Uncle were having
breakfast. She ran away into the woods. Then she saw this little cottage. She knocked but no one
answered so she went inside and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside. There
they found Snow White sleeping. Then Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs
said, “what is your name?” Snow White said, “My name is Snow White.” One of the dwarfs
said, “If you wish, you may live here with us.” Snow White said, “Oh could I? Thank you.” Then
Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story and Snow White and the 7 dwarfs lived happily ever
after.
The Ant and the Dove
One hot day, an ant was seeking for some water. After walking around for a moment, she
came to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her
way up, she slipped and fell unintentionally into the water.
She could have sunk if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that the ant was
in trouble, the dove quickly put off a leaf from a tree and dropped it immediately into the water
near the struggling ant. Then the ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it
carried her safely to dry ground.
Not long after at that, there was a hunter nearby who was throwing out his net towards
the dove, hoping to trap it in this way.
Guessing what he should do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the
hunter dropped his net and the dove flew away quickly from this net.