READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT FOLLOW.
Long, long ago, the mighty Elephant had no
trunk. His nose was short, and only as big
as a boot! But the Elephant’s child was very
curious and always asked silly questions.
One fine morning the curious baby Elephant
asked, “What does the Crocodile have for
dinner?” All together everybody yelled,
“HUSH!” in a dreadful tone, and they
shushed and shooed him away angrily. But
the baby Elephant did not understand why.
He was still curious!
Then the baby Elephant came upon the
magnificent Kolokolo bird and he sighed,
“My family has shushed and shooed me
away, but I still want to know what the
Crocodile eats for dinner!” The Kolokolo
bird answered, sadly, “Go to the banks of
the great green river if you want to find
out.” After a long and tiresome search, the
baby Elephant found the Crocodile by the
river bank. “I have been looking for you,
Mr. Crocodile!” he said with excitement,
“Will you please tell me what you have
for dinner?” The Crocodile grinned wide,
and he said, “Come closer, baby Elephant,
I’ll whisper it to you.” The baby Elephant
bent his head down to the Crocodile’s
large, toothy mouth. “I think,” growled the
Crocodile, “Today I will begin with a baby
Elephant!” And suddenly the Crocodile
caught him by his little nose. The baby
Elephant cried out through his pinched nose,
“Let go! You’re hurting me!” Stubbornly,
he sat back and began to pull as hard as
he could. As he pulled, and went back, his
nose began to stretch! They both pulled and
pulled until the baby Elephant’s nose was
almost five feet long. Finally the Crocodile
let go of his nose with a plop. The poor
baby Elephant was left with a very sore
and very long nose! At first, all the animals
made fun of his great, ugly nose. But then
he found many uses for it. He could pick
fruit from high treetops, brush away flies,
and even breathe when he was underwater!
And that is how the Elephant got his trunk.
