50 THE BIG MAN AND THE LITTLE BIRDS

One day a tall man went for a ride.

He was going along a country road.

Some friends were with him.

Near the road was an apple tree.

He saw two little baby birds in the road.

They had just tumbled out of their nest in the apple tree.

The mother bird was flying about, near them.

But she could not put them into the nest.

“Tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet! ”she cried.

She wanted the men to help her.

“Let us help the bird, ”said the tall man.

“No, we can not stop, ”said his friends.

But the tall man jumped from his horse.

He put the little birds back into the nest.

“Tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet! ”said the mother bird.

She was trying to thank the man.

Then the tall man jumped up on his horse.

He soon caught up with his friends.

“I had to help the bird, ”he said.

“I could not have slept tonight if I had not helped her.”

The tall man was named Abraham Lincoln.

(Edna V. Riddleberger)

Word list

country: far from the city

Abraham Lincoln: a very famous American president

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) Where were the tall man and his friends riding their horses?

2) What time of year do you think it was? Why?

3) What did the tall man do with the baby birds?

4) What did the tall man mean when he said “I could not have slept tonight if I had not helped her”?

5) Who is a very kind person who you know? Tell about him or her.

B) What's the word? Using the clues, write the correct words from the story.

1) fell: t _ _ _ _ _ _

2) not short: t _ _ _

3) a sound that birds make: t _ _ _ _

4) not large: l _ _ _ _ _

5) do something for someone: h _ _ _

C) True or false? Read these sentences carefully, write true or false for each one.

1) _____ Abraham Lincoln fell out of a tree.

2) _____ Abraham Lincoln's friends helped the birds.

3) _____ Abraham Lincoln was very tall.

4) _____ Abraham Lincoln was happy to help the birds.

5) _____ Abraham Lincoln fell off his horse.