Before You Read - Activity
1. Do you have a pet? If you do, you perhaps know that a pet is a serious responsibility. Read in the box below what the SPCA — the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — has to say about how to care for a pet.
Owning a pet is a lifetime of commitment (up to ten years or more if you own a dog or a cat) involving considerable responsibility. The decision to acquire one, therefore, should be made by the whole family. Without full agreement by everyone, the pet could end up unwanted.
The basic points you should keep in mind before adopting a puppy are:
- an annual dog licence in accordance with government regulations
- its annual vaccination against major diseases
- toilet training
- regular grooming and bathing
- obedience training
- don't forget you should feed your pet a balanced diet
- socialisation is very important
- a daily dose of exercise, affection and play
2. Imagine someone has gifted you a pet. With your partner's help, make a list of the things you need to know about the pet in order to take good care of it.
- The food it eats.
- Its habitat requirements
- Its exercise needs
- Health and vaccination requirements
- Grooming needs
- Social behavior and training
- Common health issues to watch for
3. Otters are found in large numbers in the marshes near Basra, a town in Iraq. Imagine you wanted to bring an otter from Iraq to London, as a pet. What special arrangements would you need to make for your pet otter?
Special arrangements needed:
- A suitable water environment for the otter to swim and play
- Proper transportation arrangements that meet airline regulations
- Veterinary checks and necessary vaccinations
- Legal permits for importing an animal
- Climate adaptation considerations (Iraq has hot summers, London has temperate climate)
- Appropriate diet that can be maintained in London
- Space requirements for the otter's active nature
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What 'experiment' did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Maxwell thought Camusfearna would be suitable for keeping an otter instead of a dog because it was ringed by water just a stone's throw from its door.
2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
He goes to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He waits there for five days because his mail had not arrived when his friend's mail had.
3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
He gets the otter as a gift from his friend. The words that tell us he likes it are: "With the opening of that sack began a phase of my life that has not yet ended", "a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation".
4. Why was the otter named 'Maxwell's otter'?
The otter was named 'Maxwell's otter' because it belonged to a race previously unknown to science and was christened by zoologists as Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell's otter.
5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was
- aloof and indifferent ✓
- friendly
- hostile
6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?
When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, the otter went wild with joy in the water, plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down the length of the bathtub underwater. Two days later, Mijbil escaped from the bedroom and turned on the tap in the bathroom by himself.
7. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Mij was to be transported to England in a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at Maxwell's feet on a flight to Paris, and then from Paris to London.
8. What did Mij do to the box?
Mij tore the lining of the box to shreds in his attempt to escape, making himself exhausted and blood-spattered.
9. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Maxwell put the otter back in the box because he had only ten minutes until the flight and the airport was five miles away. He must have felt distressed and worried about Mij's condition but had no other option.
10. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was "the very queen of her kind"?
Maxwell says this because the airhostess was extremely understanding and helpful. She suggested that he might prefer to have his pet on his knee, which showed great empathy and kindness.
11. What happened when the box was opened?
When the box was opened, Mij was out in a flash and disappeared at high speed down the aircraft, causing chaos and confusion among the passengers.
12. What game had Mij invented?
Mij invented a game with a ping-pong ball on a sloping suitcase lid. He would place the ball on the high end and dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival.
13. What are 'compulsive habits'? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of (i) school children (ii) Mij?
Compulsive habits are habits that are impossible to control.
(i) School children must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block, touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.
(ii) Mij would tug Maxwell to a low wall, jump on to it, and gallop the full length of its thirty yards on his way home.
14. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.
15. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Londoners guessed that Mij was a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard, and a brontosaur.
Thinking about the Text
1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Mij displays intelligence by learning to open taps, inventing games with ping-pong balls, and developing compulsive habits. His friendliness is shown when he sleeps in the crook of Maxwell's knees and nuzzles his face and neck. His fun-loving nature is evident in his water play and his various games. His need for love is shown through his attachment to Maxwell and his desire for physical contact.
2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
From the text, we learn that otters love water and must keep it moving, they are intelligent and can learn to manipulate objects like taps, they are playful and can invent games, they can form strong attachments to humans, they belong to the Mustelline family, and they have specific compulsive habits.
3. Why is Mij's species now known to the world as Maxwell's otter?
Mij's species is known as Maxwell's otter because it was a race previously unknown to science and was christened by zoologists as Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli after Maxwell, who discovered and wrote about it.
4. Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.
| What Mij does |
How Mij feels or thinks |
| plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash |
He feels wild with joy and believes that water must be kept on the move and made to do things. |
| Screws the tap in the wrong way |
He feels irritated and disappointed at the tap's failure to cooperate. |
| Nuzzles Maxwell's face and neck in the aeroplane |
He feels recognition, welcome, and affection towards Maxwell. |
5. Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.
True statements: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7
Supporting sentences:
- "He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise" - shows Mij as almost human
- "I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water" - shows surprise
- "There were squawks and shrieks, and a woman stood up on her seat screaming out, 'A rat! A rat!'" - comical description
- "From the head to the tip of the tail he was coated with symmetrical pointed scales of mud armour" - careful observation
- "Mij was, in fact, of a race previously unknown to science" - shows Mij is unusual
Thinking about Language
I. Describing a Repeated Action in the Past
From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate.
| Subject |
Verb |
Complement |
| Emperor Akbar |
would |
be fond of musical evenings. |
| Every evening we |
would |
take long walks on the beach. |
| Fifty years ago, very few people |
used to |
own cars. |
| Till the 1980s, Shanghai |
used to |
have very dirty streets. |
| My uncle |
used to |
spend his holidays by the sea. |
Additional sentences:
- I used to play in the park every evening when I was a child.
- She would always bring cookies for the class.
- They used to live in that old house before it was demolished.
II. Noun Modifiers
1. Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.
- An otter fixation - Noun
- The iron railings - Noun
- The Tigris marshes - Proper noun
- The London streets - Proper noun
- soft velvet fur - Adjective plus noun
- A four-footed soccer player - Adjective plus noun
2. Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can.
Sample combinations:
- stone temple, college temple
- ordinary person, plump person
- love gifts, birthday gifts, farewell gifts
- first time, birthday time
- railroad crossing, first crossing
- slack physique, plump physique
- college girls, ordinary girls, plump girls
- love thoughts, heartbreaking thoughts
- ordinary boys, college boys
- loud roar, tremendous roar
- heartbreaking scream, loud scream
- farewell expression, heartbreaking expression
- college subject, ordinary subject
- panoramic landscape, tremendous landscape
- white handkerchief, ordinary handkerchief
- first flight, tremendous flight
- incorrigible chatterbox, ridiculous chatterbox
- family profession, ordinary profession
- invigorating coffee, first coffee
- panoramic view, tremendous view
- birthday celebration, family celebration, tremendous celebration
III. Quantifiers
1. Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.
| Phrase |
Matches |
| a portion of |
fried fish |
| a pool of |
water, blood |
| flakes of |
snow |
| a huge heap of |
stones, gold |
| a gust of |
wind |
| little drops of |
water, blood |
| a piece of |
cotton, fried fish |
| a pot of |
gold, water |
2. Use a bit of/a piece of/a bunch of/a cloud of/a lump of with the italicised nouns in the following sentences.
- Can you give me some clay, please. → Can you give me a lump of clay, please.
- The information you gave was very useful. → The bit of information you gave was very useful.
- Because of these factories, smoke hangs over the city. → Because of these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.
- Two stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire. → Two pieces of stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.
- He gave me some flowers on my birthday. → He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.
Poem - Fog by Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Glossary:
on haunches: sitting with knees bent
Thinking about the Poem
1. (i) What does Sandburg think the fog is like?
Sandburg thinks the fog is like a cat.
(ii) How does the fog come?
The fog comes silently and softly, on "little cat feet".
(iii) What does 'it' in the third line refer to?
'It' refers to the fog.
(iv) Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Find three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat.
No, the poet doesn't directly say the fog is like a cat, but uses metaphor to compare them. Three things that tell us the fog is like a cat are:
- It comes on "little cat feet" - suggesting quiet, soft movement
- It "sits looking" - like a cat observing its surroundings
- It sits "on silent haunches" - like a cat sitting quietly
2. (i) Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below. Also try to say how they are alike.
| Word |
Metaphor |
How they are alike |
| Storm |
tiger |
pounces over the fields, growls |
| Train |
snake |
slithers through the landscape, follows a track |
| Fire |
dancer |
flickers and moves gracefully, has bright colors |
| School |
beehive |
busy with activity, everyone has a role to play |
| Home |
nest |
provides comfort, safety, and warmth |
(ii) Think about a storm. Try to visualise the force of the storm, hear the sound of the storm, feel the power of the storm and the sudden calm that happens afterwards. Write a poem about the storm comparing it with an animal.
The storm approaches
Like a roaring lion
Shaking the earth with its mighty voice
Trees bend like grass before its power
Lightning flashes
Like the lion's sharp claws
Tearing through the dark sky
Rain falls in sheets
Like the lion's fierce mane
Then slowly it retreats
The roaring fades to a purr
Leaving behind a washed-clean world
And the quiet after the storm
3. Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called 'free verse'.
No, this poem does not have a rhyme scheme. It is written in free verse, which means it doesn't follow a regular pattern of rhyme or meter.