Once upon a time, in a beautiful jungle, there lived a lion named Leo. Leo was the laziest lion in the whole jungle. He would spend his days lounging in the sun and eating as much food as he could find.
One day, the other animals in the jungle decided to have a race. They invited Leo to join, but he just laughed and said, “Why bother running when I can just catch my food whenever I want?”
The other animals were determined to show Leo the importance of exercise, so they set off on the race without him. As they ran, they passed by many different animals and saw all kinds of interesting things.
Leo, meanwhile, was still lying in the sun, feeling quite pleased with himself. But as the day wore on, he began to feel a little bit hungry. So he decided to go hunting for some food.
To his surprise, he found that all the animals were much too fast for him to catch. He was so out of shape from being lazy that he couldn’t even keep up with a slow-moving turtle!
Feeling embarrassed and hungry, Leo realized the importance of exercise and decided to start running every day. And you know what? He became the fastest lion in the whole jungle!
From then on, Leo made sure to take care of his body by exercising and eating healthy food. And he lived happily ever after, never again feeling the burden of being too lazy to keep up with the other animals.
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Vocabulary
- lazy (adjective) – not wanting to work or be active
- jungle (noun) – a dense, tropical forest
- lion (noun) – a large carnivorous cat
- exercise (noun) – activity that helps to keep the body fit and healthy
- race (noun) – a competition in which people or animals run, swim, or cycle over a set distance
- importance (noun) – the quality or condition of being significant or having great meaning
- determine (verb) – to come to a decision about something after considering it carefully
- embarrassed (adjective) – feeling ashamed or self-conscious because of something one has done
- burden (noun) – a problem or difficulty
Comprehension Questions
Please answer the following questions with your teacher or partner.
The answers are at the bottom of the page!
- Who was the laziest lion in the jungle?
- What did the other animals invite Leo to do?
- Why did Leo not want to participate in the race?
- What did the animals see as they ran in the race?
- What did Leo do when he became hungry?
- Why couldn’t Leo catch any food?
- How did Leo feel after he realized the importance of exercise?
- What did Leo do to take care of his body after the race?
Gap Fill Questions
Please fill in the gaps.
The answers are at the bottom of the page!
- The lazy lion’s name was __________.
- The other animals invited Leo to join the race to __________ him that he could have fun and be active.
- Leo responded to the invitation by saying he would __________ sleep through the whole race.
- During the race, the other animals saw __________ sorts of amazing sights.
- When the race was over, Leo was __________ to be found.
- The other animals were __________ when they couldn’t find Leo after the race.
- The other animals finally found Leo when they heard a loud __________ coming from a nearby bush.
- After the race, Leo made an effort to be more __________ and participate in all of the fun activities in the jungle.
Conversation Questions
With your teacher or partner, please ask and answer these questions:
- What did Leo like to do all day?
- What did the other animals decide to do one day?
- How did Leo feel about the race?
- What did the other animals do during the race?
- Where was Leo when the race was over?
- How did the other animals feel when they couldn’t find Leo after the race?
- How did the other animals finally find Leo?
- Was Leo disappointed when he missed the race?
- How did Leo’s behavior change after the race?
- Do you think Leo had fun participating in the activities in the jungle?
Answers
Comprehension Question Answers:
- What is the name of the lazy lion in the story? Leo is the name of the lazy lion in the story.
- Why did the other animals invite Leo to join their race? The other animals invited Leo to join their race to try and prove to him that he could have fun and be active.
- How did Leo respond to the invitation to participate in the race? Leo responded to the invitation by laughing and saying he would just sleep through the whole thing.
- What did the other animals do during the race? During the race, the other animals ran through the jungle and saw all sorts of amazing sights.
- Where was Leo when the race was over? When the race was over, Leo was nowhere to be found.
- How did the other animals feel when they couldn’t find Leo after the race? The other animals were worried when they couldn’t find Leo after the race.
- How did the other animals finally find Leo? The other animals finally found Leo when they heard a loud snore coming from a nearby bush.
- How did Leo change his behavior after the race? After the race, Leo made an effort to be more active and participate in all of the fun activities in the jungle.
Gap Fill Question Answers:
- The lazy lion’s name was Leo.
- The other animals invited Leo to join the race to prove him that he could have fun and be active.
- Leo responded to the invitation by saying he would just sleep through the whole race.
- During the race, the other animals saw all sorts of amazing sights.
- When the race was over, Leo was nowhere to be found.
- The other animals were worried when they couldn’t find Leo after the race.
- The other animals finally found Leo when they heard a loud snore coming from a nearby bush.
- After the race, Leo made an effort to be more active and participate in all of the fun activities in the jungle.
