LITMIR.BIZ

      1. Bobby’s master, John, died of a disease called tuberculosis (often shortened to TB). In some parts of the world, such as South Africa, this is still a serious disease. Find out more about this disease:

      (a) How do we know when someone has TB?

      (b) What should people who think they have TB do?

      (c) How do doctors and nurses treat people who have TB?

      2. Write notes about what you have found.

      3. Use your notes to prepare a pamphlet that you would give to other learners your own age who do not know anything about TB. Give them advice on what they should do if they or anyone they know has TB. You will hand in your written pamphlet to your teacher for evaluation, but before you do this, let one of your group members read and comment on it. Change it if you think it necessary to do so.

      Caring for animals

      The story of Greyfriars Bobby shows us that people think that it is important to care for the animals that depend on us. One way of looking after our pets is to make sure that they do not stray from home or get lost. Sometimes pets do wander away and can’t find their way back. You might have seen posters like the one below in shop windows or on street lights:

      Newspapers also often have advertisements with information about animals that have been lost or found. These are usually in the Classified section. Here are some examples:

      Sometimes newspapers also have advertisements for pets looking for a new home, like the one below.

      1. Find more examples of newspaper advertisements for pets that have been lost or found, or need new homes. Share them with your group.

      2. Study the advertisements carefully. What information do most of the advertisements include? Discuss this with your group.

      3. Write your own classified pet advertisement. Show it to your group for them to comment on.

      4. Make a poster advertisement, like the one on the previous page, using the same information as in your advertisement in question 3. Show your group. The best poster from each group can be displayed in the classroom.

      Group discussion

      Remember the rules for group discussion? You will be discussing topics in groups for the rest of your life. This is another skill that you can practise over and over again. The next activity gives you an opportunity to talk about whether animals have rights. People’s opinions may differ.

      Here is an interesting article that might get you thinking.

      Dogs in the United States of America

      It was reported by an animal lover recently that six million dogs were put to sleep in the United States last year alone. The reasons given were usually one of the following:

       • the dog messed in the house; barked; bit people; was violent; chewed everything; dug up the garden; was nervous; was uncontrollable.

      The animal lover claims that all these problems could be prevented or corrected by suitable training. She says that Americans are a throw-away culture, and that this attitude has now been extended to include pets.

      1. Some people might think that it is not important for us to care for animals. Do you agree? Discuss this question in your groups. Give reasons for your opinion.

      2. Then as a group decide what the main points of your discussion have been.

      3. Report your points to the rest of the class.

      More research

      Looking things up in an encyclopedia or on the Internet is not the only way of doing research. You can also interview people who you think might be able to give you the information. Try this method in the next activity. You can use your classmates as a resource.

      1. Many Africans have animal surnames or clan names. Make a list of such names in as many languages as you can.

      2. Why do you think that people chose these names long ago?

      3. If you had to choose an animal name for yourself, what would you choose? Why?

      Write your own story

      Telling a story is more than just giving a list of events. Good writers try to involve the reader in the story. They describe people and events clearly so that the readers can imagine them in their own minds. Sometimes they also show their feelings about the story that they are telling so that the readers can share them. To do these things, writers need to choose their words carefully.

      We are going to read two short stories with the same people and events.

      1. Here is the first story:

      The cat

      Milly found a cat in the garden. It was crying and seemed to be lost. She took it to her mother. They gave it some milk. Then it cleaned itself and went to sleep. They did not know who it belonged to.

      Milly’s mother phoned all their neighbours to ask if they had lost their cat. But no one knew who the cat belonged to. Milly made a poster advertising a lost cat and stuck it on their garden gate. Her mother also phoned the newspaper and put an advertisement in the classified section.

      Two days later a man came to their house. He lived in another suburb. The cat belonged to him. The cat’s name was Felix. He had wandered away from home. The man gave Milly a reward for finding his cat.

      2. Now read the second version.

      Felix, the missing cat

      Can you imagine what it would be like to be lost and far away from home? You would probably feel hungry and frightened, and not know what to do. This is the story of a little cat who wandered away from his home, and of the kind girl who found and rescued him.

      Milly was a short girl with curly black hair. She loved animals and wished she could have her own pet.

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