GeWiZz…On the Plains: Reading
Comprehension
Read through the passage carefully and answer the questions at the end
of each part.
Geraldine Giraffe, Zenia Zebra, and Wilber Wildebeest always hang out
together. They are BFFs!
One morning, they decided to go on an adventure. Zenia and Wilber wanted
to go to an area of the bushveld they hadn’t been to before.
Geraldine was a little shy and nervous.
Off the three of them sauntered into the great unknown…
Zenia was trotting along, and Wilber stopped!
“What is it? What do you smell?” panicked Geraldine.
“Shhhh! It’s probably Grumpy Grant, the buffalo,” whispered Wilber.
“I’ve heard my mom call him a ‘dugga bull’,” murmured Geraldine.
“Yes, that just means that he’s old and on his own. I’d also be grumpy if I
was on my own!” said Zenia
The next moment they heard a loud snort, a stomp, and thunderous rustling
of the leaves, and they came across…
Grumpy Grant the Buffalo
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Questions on Part 1: Level 1
1 What does BFF stand for?
a) Best Furry Friend
b) Best Friends Forever
c) Big Fluffy Friend
2 Who was shy and nervous?
a) Geraldine
b) Zenia
c) Wilber
3 Which word means the same as ‘sauntered’?
a) Stroll
b) Waltz
c) Sprint
4 Where do they live?
a) The jungle
b) The beach
c) The bushveld
5 What is a dugga bull?
a) A young buffalo
b) An old buffalo that stays on his own.
c) A herd of buffalo
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Questions Part 1: Level 2
1 What does BFF stand for?
a) Best Furry Friend
b) Best Friends Forever
c) Big Fluffy Friend
2 Who was shy and nervous?
3 Give another word for ‘sauntered’.
4 Where do the friends live?
5 A dugga bull is an old, lonely buffalo bull.
True / False
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Questions Part 1: Level 3
1 What does the abbreviation BFF stand for?
2 Who was feeling shy and nervous and why?
3 Provide a synonym for ‘sauntered’.
4 Who stopped suddenly and why?
5 What is a ‘dugga’ bull?
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Questions on Part 1: Level 1 - Answers
1 What does BFF stand for?
a) Best Furry Friend
b) Best Friends Forever
c) Big Fluffy Friend
2 Who was shy and nervous?
a) Geraldine
b) Zenia
c) Wilber
3 Which word means the same as ‘sauntered’?
a) Stroll
b) Waltz
c) Sprint
4 Where do they live?
a) The jungle
b) The beach
c) The bushveld
5 What is a dugga bull?
a) A young buffalo
b) An old buffalo that stays on his own.
c) A herd of buffalo
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Questions Part 1: Level 2 - Answers
1 What does BFF stand for?
Best Furry Friend
Best Friends Forever
Big Fluffy Friend
2 Who was shy and nervous? Geraldine
3 Give another word for ‘sauntered’. Walk/stroll
4 Where do the friends live? Bushveld
5 A dugga bull is an old, lonely buffalo bull. True
True/False
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Questions Part 1: Level 3 - Answers
1 What does the abbreviation BFF stand for?
Best Friends Forever
2 Who was feeling shy and nervous and why?
Geraldine was feeling shy and nervous because her friends wanted to go
into an area of the bushveld they hadn’t visited before.
3 Provide a synonym for ‘sauntered’.
Walk/stroll
4 Who stopped suddenly and why?
Wilber stopped suddenly because he sniffed something.
5 What is a ‘dugga’ bull?
A dugga bull is an old, lonely bull that has been ousted by the herd.
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GeWiZz…On the Plains: Reading Comprehension: Part 2
“What are you kids doing in my territory?” grumbled Grant in his deep,
menacing voice.
“We, we, we…” stammered Zenia.
Wilber cleared his throat, and said bravely, “We were just on an adventure
and we took a wrong turn, we’re really, really sorry.”
“What are the three of you doing together in any case? You’re all different!”
complained Grant, “aren’t you all supposed to stick with your own kind?”
“We may look different, but we’re all actually the same, but we do have
different strengths that make us unique,” replied Wilber proudly.
“Yes! I have eyes like an eagle that can see things clearly even when they are
far away. Zen has ears like a wild dog and can hear animals moving in the grass
far away. Wilber has a super sniffer nose like a honey badger and can smell
things the rest of us can’t! So together we can see, hear, and smell really
well!” explained Geraldine fearlessly.
“Although we’re all different, we help each other out and we are much
better together than if we just stayed with our own kind,” explained Zenia.
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GeWiZz…On the Plains: Reading Comprehension: Part 2
“Well, I don’t have any friends! I’m too old,” said Grant sadly.
“We’ll be your friends. Even though you’re old! We’d love to hear your stories
about the ‘olden days’,” said Wilber kindly.
“Oh! Alright! I suppose I do have a lot to tell, and you young ones can learn
from me,” replied Grant.
“Oh, yay!” they all replied excitedly.
From then on, the three friends went to see Grumpy Grant regularly and
loved hearing his stories about the ‘good old’ days.
And guess what friends……after that Grumpy Grant wasn’t so grumpy
anymore!
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Questions Part 2: Level 1
1 Why do you think Zenia stammered ‘We, we, we…’
a) She was feeling excited.
b) She was feeling shy.
c) She was feeling nervous.
2 Colour the blocks to match each character to their unique strength.
Geraldine Ears like a wild dog
Zenia Eyes like an eagle
Wilber Nose like a honey badger
3 Do the BFF’s befriend Grumpy Grant?
Yes/No
4 What is the moral of the story?
a) Always be kind.
b) Even though everyone is different, we can all still be friends.
c) Give grumpy people a chance.
5 Grumpy Grant shared his stories about…
a) The bush
b) The trees
c) The olden days.
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Questions Part 2: Level 2
1 Complete the sentence: Zenia stammered ‘We, we, we…’ because she
felt
2 Complete the sentences:
Geraldine has eyes like an ______________
Zenia has ears like a ______________
Wilber has a nose like a ______________
3 Why do the friends decide to befriend Grumpy Grant?
4 What is the moral of the story?
5 What can the friends learn from the stories from the ‘olden days?
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Questions Part 2: Level 3
1 Why do you think Zenia stammered?
2 What makes each of the friends unique? How do they benefit from
this?
3 What does Grumpy Grant mean when he says ‘Stick to your own
kind.’?
4 What is the moral of the story? How can we apply this to our lives?
5 Why do the friends decide to befriend Grumpy Grant? Discuss what
they would gain from the friendship.
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Questions Part 2: Level 1 - Answers
1 Why do you think Zenia stammered ‘We, we, we…’
She was feeling excited.
She was feeling shy.
She was feeling nervous.
2 Colour the blocks to match each character to their unique strength.
Geraldine Ears like a wild dog
Zenia Eyes like an eagle
Wilber Nose like a honey badger
3 Do the BFF’s befriend Grumpy Grant?
Yes/No
Yes
4 What is the moral of the story?
a) Always be kind.
b) Even though everyone is different, we can all still be friends.
c) Give grumpy people a chance.
5 Grumpy Grant shared his stories about…
a) The bush
b) The trees
c) The olden days.
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Questions Part 2: Level 2 - Answers
1 Complete the sentence: Zenia stammered ‘We, we, we…’ because she
felt
scared/nervous/afraid.
2 Complete the sentences:
Geraldine has eyes like an eagle
eagle.
Zenia has ears like a wild dog.
Wilber has a nose like a honey badger.
3 Why do the friends decide to befriend Grumpy Grant?
He is lonely and they can learn from his stories about the olden days.
4 What is the moral of the story?
Even though we are all different, we can all help each other out if we
work together.
5 What can the friends learn from the stories from the ‘olden days?’
What life was like and how different it is today.
Learn from the mistakes of the past.
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Questions Part 2: Level 3 - Answers
1 Why do you think Zenia stammered?
She was nervous/afraid/anxious.
2 What makes each of the friends unique? How do they benefit from
this?
They each have a different strength, Zenia can hear well, Geraldine can
see well and Wilber can smell well. Together they each bring a different
aspect to the friendship.
3 What does Grumpy Grant mean when he says ‘Stick to your own
kind.’?
They are all different kinds of animals and they should all stick to their
own kind, zebras with zebras, etc.
4 What is the moral of the story? How can we apply this to our lives?
The moral is that even though we are different in many ways, if we
work together we can all help each other out. We can use this in our
lives by accepting everyone as unique people, but that we’re all the
same.
5 Why do the friends decide to befriend Grumpy Grant? Discuss what
they would gain from the friendship.
They decide to befriend him because they feel sympathy for him as he
is lonely, old, and has no friends. Zenia says she would also be grumpy.
They learn about the past, and how life was different and similar to
today.
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