beachroad village homeschool examinations

STAGE 5

CAT 1- February 12TH 2024

NAME ……………………………………………………………

Greedy Hyena; A Shona Story from Africa

Dinner! Hyena crept forwards, poking his nose through the tall waving grasses. Now he had a better
view of the impala doe with her impala fawn. They had wandered a little way from the rest of the herd
so they would be easy to catch without the rest of the herd to defend them. Hyena was so hungry he
could almost taste the smell of them. In the dry season, food was scarce and he hadn’t eaten for several
days. The short little antelopes may look slim, but they had enough meat on them for a starving hyena.

Hyena crept slowly round, making the most of his mottled brown camouflaged fur against the brownish
stalks of grass. He needed to be downwind so that the mother impala wouldn’t catch his smell on the
light breeze. He knew that one hint of hyena and all he would see of his dinner would be the sharp little
hooves disappearing in a cloud of dust.

At last, Hyena was downwind and still undetected by the impala. Although it was the thought of the
young impala that made his mouth water the most, he knew that he would have a problem with the
mother. She might not have sharp teeth, but her hooves were as sharp as knives and she would fight
him for the life of her baby. That decided him. Hyena would kill the mother first, then enjoy his meal of
the baby impala. Two dead impalas were certainly better than one!

Hyena charged at the mother impala. To his surprise, she bounded off in one direction while the baby
ran in another. He paused for a moment, trying to decide which of the impala to kill first. Closer up, the
mother was fatter and younger than he had thought so he would go after her first. The baby would be
easy to find after he had dealt with the mother.

For miles, Hyena chased the impala across the endless grassy plains. It was very frustrating. She would
sometimes stand still for a moment, as if out of breath, but when Hyena came closer she would
suddenly bound up high in the air, before leaping off out of reach again. Hyena couldn’t understand it.
Suddenly he realized that the mother impala was tricking him. He knew that he would never catch her
because she could run faster than he could, and keep going for longer. However, the baby would be
easy to catch and now his mother was a long way away. Hyena trotted happily back to the place where
he had last seen the baby.

But where was it? Hyena couldn’t see any sign of the fawn. He followed its scent hungrily until at last he
stopped, defeated. When Hyena had started his chase, the fawn had run towards his father and the
herd, while its mother had led Hyena away to give the baby a chance to escape. Hyena could see the
little impala grazing on the dry grass at his father’s side. Looking at the big buck with his short sharp
horns, Hyena knew that he had no chance now of tasting the fawn’s soft young flesh.

Hyena Haiku
Matted, mottled fur.
Crazy, cackling, carnivore.
Strong, bone-crushing jaw.

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 beachroad village homeschool examinations

Read the story Greedy Hyena and answer the following questions.

1 Why was Hyena chasing the impala?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….[1]

2 Tick () the reason why Hyena did not want to fight with the mother impala.

She had sharp claws.

She had sharp hooves.

She had sharp horns.

She had sharp teeth. [1]

3 (a) When Hyena realized he could not catch the mother impala, he did not mind. Explain why.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… [1]

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(b) Find and copy one word from the story that tells us that Hyena did not mind. [1]

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4 Tick () the point of view character in this story.

Hyena

Impala buck

Impala doe

Impala fawn [1]

5 At the beginning of the story, why was Hyena so hungry?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… [1]

6 Do you feel sorry for Hyena in the story? Explain your answer. Include words and phrases from the
story in your explanation.

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [2]

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 beachroad village homeschool examinations

7 Why do you think the author chose to use ‘Hyena’, rather than ‘The hyena’?

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

8 Do you think Hyena knew that the impala were nearby before the beginning of this story? Explain your
answer. Include words and phrases from the story in your explanation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. [2]

9 Explain why the mother impala ran away from her baby. Use words and phrases from the story.

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. [1]

10 Tick () the part of this story which you thought was most exciting.

The beginning when Hyena is preparing to kill the impala.

The part where Hyena decides which impala to chase.

The part when Hyena chases the mother impala.

The part where Hyena goes back to chase the baby.

Explain how the author made it exciting and discuss whether you think it is exciting enough.

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. [2]

11 Stories like this often end with morals. Write a moral for this story.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… [1]

12 The final paragraph begins with the words But where was it? Explain why you think the author did
not use a proper sentence at the beginning of the paragraph.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

13 Read the Hyena Haiku at the end of the story. Comment on the author’s use of the sounds in words.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. [1]

14 What is the poet’s attitude towards hyenas in Hyena Haiku? Explain your answer. Include words and
phrases from the haiku in your explanation.

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 beachroad village homeschool examinations

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… [2]

15 Fables - Stories with Morals Greedy Hyena is a fable. It is a story with animal characters where good
behaviour is rewarded and bad behaviour is punished.

Write your own fable. Thinking about some of these issues may help you:

 Plot There needs to be a clear plot which develops through the fable. Good behaviour should be
rewarded, bad behaviour should be punished.
 Character The reader needs to know enough about the character to know what you, the author,
think of it.
 Setting The plot is most important, but you will need to give enough information about the
setting for the reader to understand where the fable is set.

 Spend up to 5 minutes making notes to plan your fable here.

Write your fable here;

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 beachroad village homeschool examinations

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