How the Dog Found Himself a Master

 Working with the text

A. Discuss these questions in pairs before you write the answers.

1. Why did the dog feel the need for a master? 

The dog felt the need for a master because he was tired of wandering about all by himself and being scared of those who were stronger than him. So, he decided to have a master who was stronger than anyone on the entire earth.

2. Who did he first choose as his master? Why did he leave that master? 

He chose the wolf as his first master. He left the wolf as his master because the wolf was scared of the bear. The dog wanted to serve a master who was stronger than anyone on the earth. So, he left the wolf.

3. Who did he choose next?

He chose the bear as his master.

4. Why did he serve the lion for a long time? (

He served the lion for a long time because he had no complaints. He was safe as the lion was the strongest beast and no one dared to touch the dog.

5. Whom did he finally choose as his master and why? 

He finally chose man as his master. This is because even the lion, who was the fiercest beast, was scared of humans. This convinced the dog that man was the strongest of all.

B. A summary of the story is given below. Fill in the blanks to complete it taking appropriate phrases from the box.

a dog, stronger than anyone else, the strongest of all, a wolf, the bear, afraid of man, his own master, a lion

This is the story of —–––––—————————–, who used to be —————————————. He decided to find a master —–––––––———————. First he found —————————— ——, but the wolf was afraid of –––————––———————. The dog thought that the bear was —————————————. After some time the dog met —————————————, who seemed the strongest. He stayed with the lion for a long time. One day he realized that the lion was ———————––——————. To this day, the dog remains man’s best friend.

This is the story of a dog, who used to be his own master. He decided to find a master stronger than anyone else. First he found a wolf, but the wolf was afraid of the bear. The dog thought that the bear was the strongest of all. After some time the dog met a lion, who seemed the strongest. He stayed with the lion for a long time. One day he realized that the lion was afraid of man. To this day, the dog remains man’s best friend.

Working with the language

A. Each word in the box given below indicates a large number of…

For example, ‘a herd of cows’ refers to many cows.

Complete each of the following phrases with a suitable word from the list.

School, fleet, brood, bundle, bunch, pack, flock, herd

1➤ A —————––—— of ships

=> A fleet of ships

2➤ A ___________ of flowers

=> A bunch of flowers

3➤ A _________ of chicks

=> A brood of chicks

4➤ A __________ of cattle

=> A herd of cattle

5➤ A __________ of sticks

=> A bundle of sticks

6➤ A _________ of sheep

=> A flock of sheep

7➤ A __________ of fish

=> A school / shoal of fish

8➤ A ___________ of wolves

=> A pack of wolves

B. Make nouns from the words given below by adding –ness or –ity. (For some words we need to add just –ty, or –y.)

1➤ Honest

=> Honesty

2➤ Kind

=> Kindness

3➤ Cruel

=> Cruelty

4➤ Calm

=> Calmness

5➤ Sad

=> Sadness

6➤ Active

=> Activeness

7➤ Creative

=> Creativity

8➤ Sincere

=> Sincerity

9➤ Cheerful

=> Cheerfulness

10➤ Bitter

=> Bitterness

11➤ Sensitive

=> Sensitivity

12➤ Great

=> Greatness

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D. Read the following passage and do the exercises that follow. Then complete the family tree of dogs given on the facing page.

The Dog Family

The dog family is one of the 11 families that make up the Carnivores, a large group of intelligent, flesh-eating, backboned animals. In this group are such varied animals as bears, pandas, raccoons, cats, hyenas, and even seals. The dog or canine family has many wild species like wolves, foxes, coyotes, jackals, and wild dogs.

The dog is the only domesticated member of the canine family, though now and then, someone tames a wolf, fox or coyote as a pet.

All members of the dog family are descendants of a wolf-like animal which lived about 15 million years ago. From this distant ancestor, the true dogs gradually developed. But nobody knows the exact ancestor of the modern domestic dog.

Several wild dogs look and behave like domestic dogs. The dingo or wild dog of Australia is one of these. It is possible that the dingo was a tamed dog brought to Australia long ago which then ran wild.

Dogs were the first animals tamed by humans — perhaps 20,000 years ago. Tamed dogs were brought from Asia to the New World 5,000 or more years ago. Dogs were first used for hunting.

1. Find the opposites of these words in the text above.

1➤ ancestor

=> descendant

2➤ wild

=> tame

3➤ ancient

=> modern

4➤ near

=> distant

5➤ suddenly

=> gradually

Speaking

1. Here are some points from a similar story that you might have heard in another language. Dividing the class into two groups try and tell the story in English. One person from each group can speak alternately. Your teacher will help you. As you tell it, one of you may write it down on the board.

A Mouse Maiden

• mouse changed into a girl by a magician…
• wants to marry the strongest person…
• asks whether sun or cloud stronger (why?)…
• but mountain stronger than clouds (how?)…
• but mouse stronger than mountain (how?)…
• girl asks to marry mouse, becomes a mouse again.

Answer: Do it yourself.

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