Speed Reading — Croissant - Level 3 — 300 wpm

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.


This is the text (if you need help).

People can be afraid of some strange things. There is an actual fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. The latest thing to have caused fear for people in Poland is a croissant. The French, crescent-shaped roll made of flaky pastry scared some residents in the Polish city of Krakow. They mistook the pastry for a kind of dangerous animal. They called for help to get the "animal" removed from a tree opposite their apartment building. The residents were so worried that they kept their windows closed for a couple of days. The Krakow Animal Welfare Society wrote on its Facebook account that a woman called authorities to report the unidentified "predator" sitting in the tree.

Animal welfare officers phoned residents in the building. They asked them to describe the animal. One resident mistook the croissant for a bird of prey; another said the pastry was a kind of lizard. One welfare officer explained what happened. He said he went to the housing estate where the residents lived to check on the strange animal. He reported that he spotted a "brown creature sitting on a lilac branch," and that its "brown coat was shining in the sun". He added: "The poor little guy had no legs or head." When he discovered that the strange beast was a croissant, he was "almost swept off his feet by a laughing attack". He said it was better to be safe than sorry and to report any sightings of strange animals.

Comprehension questions
  1. What can people be afraid of sticking to the roof of their mouth?
  2. What shape does the article say a croissant is?
  3. Where was the croissant sitting?
  4. For how long did residents keep their windows closed?
  5. What kind of society wrote about the "animal" on Facebook?
  6. What kind of bird did a resident mistake the croissant for?
  7. What kind of branch was the croissant sitting on?
  8. What did an animal welfare officer say was shining in the sun?
  9. What did an animal welfare officer do when he saw the croissant?
  10. What did an animal welfare officer say being safe was better than?

Back to the croissant lesson.

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