Summarizing A lion was sleeping peacefully when he felt a mouse scampering over his face. Grabbing her by the tail, he was about to devour her when she bravetly said, “Lion, if you spare my life, I will repay your kindness in the future.” The lion roared with laughter at the thought of such a tiny creature helping him-the king of the jungle. He was so amused that he let the mouse go.

Sometime later, the lion got snared in a trap. Hearing the lion’s angry roar, the mouse ran to his rescue. She gnawed away the ropes that bound him until he was free. “You ridiculed the idea of a tiny creature like me being able to repay a favor to a great creature like you,” the mouse said. “Now, you know that little friends can be great friends.”

Now, use the passage to answer the questions.

The main idea that should be included in a summary is
a lion was sleeping peacefully when a mouse woke him up
the lion was captured in a hunter’s trap and roared for help
the mouse heard the lion’s roar and freed him from the snare
the lion spared the life of a mouse who returned the favor

2. A detail from paragraph 2 to include in the summary is
A. a lion was sleeping when something ran over his face
B. the crafty hunters laid a trap and caught the unsuspecting lion
C. the mouse freed the lion by gnawing through the ropes
D. the mouse recognized the roar of her lion friend

3. What message should be included in a passage summary?
A. Even little friends can be great friends.
B. The lion is known as the king of the jungle.
C. Hunters use rope traps to capture lions.
D. Waking a sleeping lion is not a good idea.

4. Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
A lion spared the life of a muse who promised to repay the favor, proving that no good deed will ever go unpunished.
After a lion spared the life of a little mouse, the lion was captured, proving that no act of kindness is ever wasted.
A lion was amused by a mouse’s offer to repay his kindness, proving that laughter is, indeed, the best medicine of all.
A mouse repaid a lion for sparing her life by freeing him from a trap, proving that even little friends can be great friends.