Read the two stories, and then answer the question that follows.
Story #1
How Snake Lost His Legs (From Illuminate)
An African Fable
Since the beginning of time, Snake was a lazy creature. The other animals of the savanna would toil from sunrise to sunset to find food and water, while Snake would simply hide by the watering hole and wait for prey to cross his path. In fact, Snake was so lazy that he unintentionally changed his own fate.
One day, Moon, the ruler of the animals, came down from the sky and called a meeting of all creatures to impart some important news. Snake loved his comfortable hiding place by the water’s edge and did not see the purpose in moving when Mantis, his only friend, would surely come and tell him the news. After all, what could possibly be so important? So, Snake tucked his little legs beneath his long body (for snakes had legs back then) and settled down into the mud.
Across the savanna, the animals gathered underneath the Baobab tree and listened anxiously to Moon. She told them that the water would soon disappear and the earth would turn to sand. The savanna would become a dry and lifeless desert in which nothing could survive. Moon advised the animals to take their families and travel to the other side of the cliff in the east where they would find a new savanna to call home.
The animals immediately set out on their long journey, but faithful Mantis traveled back to the watering hole to find Snake. He told his friend of the impending danger, but Snake just snorted and refused to move. He had no intention of leaving his spot, especially when the cliff in the east was such a long walk away. Surely Moon was exaggerating and the rains would eventually come back. Snake had plenty of water at the hole in the meantime.
But as the days wore on, it grew warmer and warmer. Worse yet, it did not rain for weeks and the watering hole dried up in front of Snake’s eyes. Snake rose unsteadily and looked to the cliff in the east. He took a step forward, but his foot sank heavily into the sand. He tried to step with another foot and achieved the same result; he was stuck!
Snake cried out to Moon for help, begging and pleading until finally she took pity on him. Moon took away Snake’s legs and made his body slippery enough to slide easily through the hot sand. At last, he was able to move again, and he hurriedly slithered toward the cliff in the distance.
Snake lost his legs that day, but he did not lose his tendency for laziness, for to this very day we can still find him lying by the watering hole, waiting for his food to come to him.
Story #2
Lazy Day Sunday (From Illuminate)
It was a lazy Sunday, and Matilda was trying to catch up on the sleep she missed all week. After all, getting up at 7:00 every morning was downright inhuman, and the oversized pillow in the corner of the sofa was a cloud in the sky, calling her to float away with it.
Perhaps that’s why she made the not-so-wise decision to ignore her mother’s request as she ran out to the supermarket. It was a simple request to turn off the oven at 5:30 and pull the roast out to cool, but that cloud in the sky was calling her name. Matilda had opened one eye at 5:35, but she hadn’t really noticed the time, and Mom would be home soon anyway.
Of course, when 6:15 arrived and the smell of smoke began to waft through the living room, she came down from her cloud a little. Where was Mom anyway, and wasn’t there something she had to do?
At 6:20, the smoke alarm went off, and Matilda began to regret the last hour. Suddenly remembering everything her mother had ever said in her entire life, she sprinted into the kitchen and slid right into her little brother, Max.
“Fire!” he shouted through the haze of the smoke-filled kitchen.
“Shh, it’s just a little smoke from the oven.”
But Max had already run out of the kitchen to the sound of the blaring alarm.
Attempting to ignore the chaos around her, Matilda tried to save the roast first (“save” being the operative word, because the charred remains were barely recognizable). Groaning, she pulled on some oven gloves and opened the door, releasing a new wave of thick smoke into the room.
“Mom is going to be so . . .”
She never got to finish her thought because suddenly a spray of white foam enveloped both her and the roast. For a long moment, all she could do was blink as the foam dripped from her chin and hands. Then she slowly turned to find Max holding a fire extinguisher and grinning from ear to ear as he shouted, “I saved you!”
“Max, what are you doing! I wasn’t on fire. . . . What’s that noise?”
The sound of sirens filled the street, and both Matilda and Max ran for the front door. Outside, a group of firefighters, ambulance workers, and, yes, Matilda’s panic-stricken mother (for she had just gotten home from the supermarket) were running for the door.
Taking a deep breath, Matilda turned the knob to face the consequences, vowing that next time she would just listen to her mother. But in her own defense, it was a lazy Sunday, after all.
Question: Which of the following choices best reveals the similarities between the two stories?
(1 point)
Responses
Both stories include characters having to put out fires.
Both stories include characters having to put out fires.
In both stories, both characters almost caused disasters for themselves or others due to laziness.
In both stories, both characters almost caused disasters for themselves or others due to laziness.
Both stories have a theme of the importance of listening to your parents
Both stories have a theme of the importance of listening to your parents
The settings in both stories are identical.