Unit 2 - Wild

READING
Multiple matching

You are going to read about four children who were raised by animals. Read the text quickly to find out

a. where each child was found.

b. how old each child was when they were found.

 Read the text carefully, and for questions 1 – 10, choose from the children A – D. The children may be chosen more
than once.

Which child
1. could run and jump very fast?
2. eventually returned to live in his family home?
3. hardly ever stood upright?
4. had unusual feet?
5. was not familiar with some common kinds of food?
6. did not go back to live with humans?
7. was very violent towards the people who captured him?
8. learned from animals how to look for things to eat?
9. was taken by a wild animal when very young?
10. copied the social rules and body language of the animals he lived with?

BORN TO BE WILD
For centuries, people have told stories about children who were brought up by animals and became like
animals themselves: so-called “feral children”. Tarzan of the Apes and The Jungle Book are two famous fictional
accounts. There are many other accounts which claim to be true, although it is sometimes difficult to separate
fact from fantasy and folklore.

A. In 1991, a Ugandan villager called Milly Sebba was searching for firewood when she came across
a little boy with a group of five monkeys. She summoned help and the boy was captured and
brought back to Milly's village. A villager identified the boy as John Ssebunya, last seen in 1988
at the age of two or three. Later, John claimed that he remembered monkeys coming up to him
after a few days in the forest. They taught him, he says, to search for roots and nuts and to climb
trees. Scientists are convinced that John is a genuine feral child. When left with a group of
monkeys he avoids eye contact and approaches them from the side with open palms, just as
monkeys do.

B. Jean-Claude Auger, an anthropologist, was travelling across the Spanish Sahara in 1960 when he
met some Nemadi nomads. They told him about a young boy who lived with a herd of gazelles.
After searching for several days, Auger found the herd. The boy was about 10 years old and
walked on all fours, only standing occasionally. One senior female seemed to act as his adoptive
mother. He would eat roots with his teeth and appeared to be herbivorous. When Auger chased
the boy in a jeep to see how fast he could run, he reached a speed of 50 k.p.h, with leaps of

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 about four metres. Unlike most of the feral children of whom there are records, the gazelle boy
was never taken away from his wild companions.

C. In July 1920 a leopard-boy was reported by EC Stuart Baker in the Journal of the Bombay Natural
History Society. According to his report, the boy was stolen from his parents by a leopardess in
the North Cachar Hills in India in about 1912, and three years later he was recovered and
identified. At that time, the five-year-old ran on all fours so fast that an adult man could barely
keep up. His hands and knees had hard skin on them and his toes were bent upright almost at
right angles to his feet. When he was first caught, he bit and fought with everyone and would
tear a chicken into pieces and eat it with astonishing speed, just like a wild animal.

D. A feral child was found in Transylvania, Romania, in February 2002. One morning, shepherd
Manolescu loan came upon a naked, wild-eyed child living in a cardboard box. Manolescu
reported his find to the police, who later captured the boy. He had apparently lived alone in the
forest for years, but doctors thought that he must have had some protection; perhaps he had
been looked after by some of the many wild dogs in the region. He was the size of a normal
four-year-old, but his missing front milk teeth suggested an actual age of seven. He ate whatever
he was given, but didn't recognise fruit. About a week after his capture, he was identified as
Traian Caldarar, lost three years earlier at the age of four. After being re-educated at an
orphanage, he was reunited with his mother, who lived in a remote village a few kilometers
from where he had been found.
 Find phrasal verbs a – f in the text and use the context to match them with their meanings (1 – 6).
a. bring up 1. find
b. come across 2. remove
c. come up to 3. take care of
d. take away 4. raise (a child)
e. keep up 5. approach
f. look after 6. go at the same speed

USE OF ENGLISH
Open cloze
 Phrases (a) and (b) can complete sentences 1 - 6 below, with similar meanings. Choose the correct
preposition for each phrase, using a dictionary if necessary.

1. Many teenagers are _____ Internet chat rooms.

a. addicted on/to b. hooked on/to
2. People who smoke are _____ developing serious health problems.
a. at/in danger of b. at/in risk of
3. The streets in the town centre are _____ litter.
a. full of/with b. covered of/with
4. Nobody knew _____ his strange behaviour at the restaurant.
a. the reason of/for b. the cause of/for

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5. The head teacher wanted to introduce school uniforms, but most of the teachers were not
_____.
a. in/of agreement b. in/of the same opinion
6. To be truly a great artist you cannot be _____ failure.
a. frightened with/of b. worried about/of

 Choose the correct prepositions to complete a – i.

a. My girlfriend arrived at/to the cinema ten minutes late.
b. Whether progress is always a good thing depends of/on your point of view.
c. People usually dress in/ with colourful clothes at carnivals.
d. The protests have had no effect on/to the government.
e. Madonna was married to/with a film director.
f. It took two weeks for/of my letter to arrive.
g. The film Titanic is based in/on a true story.
h. Australians are very good at/in many sports.
i. Careless cyclists are in danger with/of getting injured.

 Read the text quickly, ignoring the gaps, to find out why it isn't a good idea to keep wild animals as pets. Then read
the text again carefully and complete gaps 1 – 8 with ONE WORD each.

RAISING WILD ANIMALS

What should you do if you come (0) across an abandoned baby rabbit, bird or squirrel in your
local park? Carry (1) ___________ walking, or take it home and raise it as a pet? The answer is neither.
You should contact an animal welfare organization and let them deal (2) ___________ it. It took many
centuries (3) ___________ humans to domesticate cats and dogs. Wild animals can't become pets
overnight. As they grow up, their natural instincts will manifest themselves, and they may begin to
bite or scratch, but returning the baby animal to the park (4) ___________ this point is not a solution,
because it may not have developed the skills to survive (5) ___________ the wild. Moreover, you
might be in danger (6) ___________ catching a dangerous disease such (7) ___________ rabies or
salmonella. Finally, the baby animal may (8) ___________ looked abandoned, but its parents might
have been close by or searching for food.

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VOCABULARY
Collective nouns

 Put these nouns into groups a – d according to their collective nouns.

BANANAS BIRDS CARDS DOGS COWS ELEPHANTS FLOWERS SHEEP

a. a flock of ________________ ________________

b. a herd of ________________ ________________
c. a pack of ________________ ________________
d. a bunch of ________________ ________________

 Match nouns a – h with the groups of people they describe (1 – 8).

a. audience 1. people acting in a play or film
b. cast 2. people who play sport together, or work together
c. crew 3. people working in an organization
d. crowd 4. people watching a film, concert, play, etc.
e. gang 5. a group of experts
f. panel 6. a large group of people
g. staff 7. people working on a ship or a plane
h. team 8. a group of people who may cause trouble

 Complete these sentences with collective nouns from  and .

a. Apparently a fight broke out last night between two ________________ of football fans.
b. As we ate our lunch in the park, a ________________ of pigeons circled round and landed next
to us.
c. We had to stop the car when we came across a farmer driving a _____________ of cows down
the lane.
d. Hospital ________________ have threatened to go on strike unless they receive a pay rise.
e. The ________________ of the show includes some big Hollywood stars.
f. I always send my girlfriend a ________________ of roses on Valentine’s Day.
g. A ________________ gathered outside the cinema, hoping to see the stars at the film premiere.
h. The ________________ sat spellbound throughout the entire concert.

REVIEW
 For a - e form words from the letters in brackets to complete the sentences.
a. The ________________ (lawratfel) plunged 100 metres into the ________________ (lavyel) below.
b. To reach the lost city, the explorers had to swim across a wide ________________ (noolag) and
cut through thick ________________ (lenjug).
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c. Although the ________________ (toasc) is very beautiful, there are few ________________
(scebaeh) where you can swim safely.
d. Golden ________________ (nesud) stretched for miles across the ________________ (steder).
e. There's a small ________________ (nodp) in our garden, surrounded by ________________
(seshub).

 Complete sentences a – h with the infinitive or -ing form of these words, as appropriate.
- arrive - eat - go - relax - smoke - see - study - walk

a. My grandfather found it very difficult to give up ____________ after forty years.

b. Most people enjoy ____________ at home at the weekend.
c. After he finishes school, my brother hopes ____________ history at university.
d. She put off ____________ the dentist, even though she had toothache.
e. I'd suggest ____________ to Portugal in the spring, before it gets too hot.
f. I can't face ____________ any breakfast before 8 o'clock in the morning.
g. He called the police, but they failed ____________ before the burglar had escaped.
h. You should avoid ____________ through Central Park alone at night.

 Choose the correct form of the verb to complete each of these sentences.
a. He left school at the age of 18 and went on to do/ doing a degree at Cambridge.
b. They started playing tennis after lunch and went on to play/playing until it was nearly dark.
c. Nobody answered the door when he knocked, so he tried to tap/tapping on the window.
d. She tried to move/moving the bed but couldn't, because it was too heavy.
e. He walked halfway down the street and then stopped to tie/tying his shoes.
f. Would you please stop to talk/talking and listen!

 Complete gaps 1 – 5 in the text with the correct prepositions.

It’s easy to become hooked (1) _____________ the feeling you get when you’re up a mountain.
While your everyday life might be full (2) _____________ problems - you may be worried (3)
_____________ your bank balance, or (4) _____________ risk of losing your job - the experience of
standing on a mountain-top has a strange effect (5) _____________ most people. They immediately
forget their troubles and begin to feel on top of the world!

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