Read the selection below. Then answer the questions that follow.
Pets Are Good for You
The British have long been famous as a nation of animal – lovers, from the Queen downwards. There’s a pet in nearly every family, and often the family dog or cat has a special chair near the fire, special food and a special place in the hearts of his owners. Most owners are very good to their pets; some people would say too good, like the writer of this letter to a magazine:
‘My mouth watered as I imagined the lovely soup I could make from some bones in the butcher’s window. There was a lot of meat on them, too. So, I went in and bought some. “Certainly, one kilogram of bones for you dog, madam,” said the butcher brightly. My next stop was at the fishmonger’s where I asked for some cheap fish. “For your cat?” asked the assistant. As you may have guessed, neither bones nor fish were for pets – they were for me, a pensioner. But it made me think that many animals eat better meals than people!’
Others would say that many pet owners make the mistake of treating their animals as if they were human beings:
‘We have a friend who works in a Dog Parlour where they sell coats for dogs. A customer choosing a coat, tried to describe her dog and the saleswoman suggested that she should bring the dog in so that they could fit him. Horrified, the customer replied that she couldn’t do that as it was for the dog’s birthday present and she didn’t want him to see it.’
Perhaps the British are too good to their pets, but more interesting is a recent theory among psychiatrists that pets are very good for us. Dr. R. writes:
‘The basic meaning of “pet” is an animal we keep for emotional rather than economic reasons. A pet animal is kept as a companion, and we all need companions to keep us feeling happy. But pets offer us more than mere companionship; they invite us to love and be loved. Many owners feel their pets understand them, for animals are quick to sense anger or sorrow. Often a cat or dog can comfort us at times when human words don’t help. We feel loved, too, by the way pets depend on us for a home, for food and drink. Dogs especially look up to their owners, which makes them feel important and needed.
A pet can be something different to each member of the family, another baby to the mother, a sister or brother to an only child, a grandchild to the elderly, but for all of us, pets provide pleasure and companionship. It has even been suggested that tiny pets be sent as companions to astronauts on spaceships to help reduce the stress and loneliness of space flights.
In this Plastic Age, when most of us live in large cities, pets are particularly important for children. A pet in the family keeps people in touch with the more natural animal world. Seeing an animal give birth gives understanding of the naturalness of childbirth, and seeing a pet die helps a child to cope with sorrow. Learning to care for a pet helps a child to grow up into a loving adult who feels responsible towards those dependent on him. Rightly, we teach children to be good to their pets. They should learn, too, that pets are good for us human beings.’
P.G. Wodehouse, the famous writer, was a great dog – lover, and one of the articles he wrote was about the pleasures, and problems of keeping dogs as pets.
‘The question of whether dogs have a sense of humour or no is often fiercely argued. My own opinion is that some have and some haven’t. Dachshunds have, but not St Bernards or Great Danes, apparently a dog has to be small to be fond of a joke. You never find a Great Dane trying to be a comedian.
But it is fatal to let any dog know that he is funny, for he immediately loses his head and starts overdoing it. As an example of this I would point to Rudolph, a dashchund I once owned, whose slogan was ‘Anything for a Laugh’ Dachshunds are always the worst offenders in this respect because of their funny shape. I lived in a cottage at the time outside an English village, not far from a farm where they kept ducks, and one day the farmer called on me to say that his ducks were disappearing and suspicion had fallen on my Rudolph. I was very annoyed. I said he only had to gaze into Rudolph’s truthful brown eyes to see how wrong he was in his accusation. Had he not heard of foxes? How much more likely that a fox was the bad guy in the story. The farmer was beginning to be convinced by my idea and seemed about to apologise, when Rudolph who had been listening to our conversation with the greatest interest and at a certain point had left the room, came trotting in with a duck in his mouth. Yes, dogs have their faults, but they seem unimportant compared with their virtues.’
The great virtue of pets is surely, as these writers show, that they can make us laugh or make us cry. An animal in the family helps to keep us human.
1- What are two mistakes pet owners make when dealing with their pets? Give an example from the text for each mistake.
2- List 3 different ways pets can be good for their owners, according to Dr. R. (Express your answer in your own words and do not copy from the text.)
3- How did Rudolph embarrass Wodehouse? Did Wodehouse find Rudolph's trick funny?
4- Do you think Wodehouse kept Rudolph or kicked him out of the house? Why?
Choose the most suitable answer:
5- The above text is extracted from:
a. A letter b. An autobiography c. A magazine d. A short story
6- The customer at the Dog Parlour
a. brought her dog with her to try the coat
b. wanted to make a surprise for her dog
c. wanted to buy fur for her dog
d. wanted to throw a party for her dog
7- In Wodehouse's opinion,
a. smaller dogs are funnier than biggger dogs
b. bigger dogs are funnier than smaller dogs
c. Rudolph is the funniest dog in the world
d. Rudolph was a bad dog
8- In Wodehouse's opinion,
a. dogs give more trouble than pleasure
b. dogs give more pleasure than trouble
c. all dogs are funny
d. all dogs should be kept out of the house
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