A small world, a big responsibility

The Little Prince

Read and choose

Read each short passage. Choose one answer for each question. You can look back at the passage whenever you need to.

10 questions. Your name and answers will be saved for your teacher when you submit. You will see your score after submitting. Keep this page open until your work is saved.

Words to know: planet = a world in space; baobab = a kind of tree; soil = earth where plants grow; neglect = fail to look after.

0 of 10 answered

Part 1

A visitor from far away

The little prince saw the pilot's aeroplane and asked what it was. The pilot explained that it could fly. The prince laughed when he heard that the pilot had fallen from the sky. Then he asked which planet the pilot came from. The prince kept the drawing of his sheep in his pocket. He said the box in the drawing could be the sheep's house at night. The pilot offered a rope to tie up the sheep, but the prince said his home was too small for the sheep to go far.

The Little Prince standing on the edge of his small world.
1. How does the prince react when he hears that the pilot fell from the sky?
2. Which question suggests that the prince comes from another world?
3. Why does the pilot offer the prince a rope?

Part 2

A very strange idea

The prince was pleased to learn that sheep eat bushes. He wanted to know if they also ate baobabs. The pilot explained that a fully grown baobab was as large as a building. Even a whole group of elephants could not eat one. The prince laughed and imagined putting the elephants on top of one another. Then he explained his idea: baobabs are small before they grow big. A sheep could eat the young plants.

An imaginary group of elephants crowded together around a tiny planet.
4. What does the pilot compare a fully grown baobab to?
5. Why does the prince want a sheep that eats bushes?

Part 3

Tiny beginnings

On the prince's planet, seeds lay hidden in the soil. Some became useful plants, such as roses or radishes. Others became baobabs. At first, a young baobab could look like a young rose. The prince had to wait until he could recognise it, then pull it out immediately. If he waited too long, its roots would spread through the planet. Too many large baobabs could split his tiny planet apart.

The Little Prince caring for the surface of his planet.
6. Which two useful plants are named in the passage?
7. When should the prince pull out a young baobab?
8. What spreads through the planet if a baobab grows too large?

Part 4

Looking after a small world

The prince explained his daily routine. Every morning, after washing himself, he carefully cleaned his planet and removed the baobabs he could recognise. The work was easy but boring. It needed to be done regularly. He knew of a man who had neglected three small bushes. The prince asked the pilot to make a drawing to warn children about the danger. The story reminds us that a small problem can become much worse if we keep putting off the work.

Huge baobab trees and their roots covering a small planet.
9. How is the daily work described?
10. What is the main lesson of this passage?

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