Summary: Playing with Gorillas
Playing with Gorillas is a non-fiction text written by Oliver Graham-Jones. He is a veterinary
doctor who is narrates his funny experience with gorillas. According to Graham-Jones, most
people misunderstand gorillas. They think they are aggressive and violent creatures, when in
fact gorillas are shy and gentle animals that do not get angry unless their family is in danger.
One of the major causes of gorillas getting a bad name is the film King Kong in which a huge
gorilla is loose in New York City causing chaos and destruction.
The narrator’s first experience with gorillas is with Guy the gorilla at London Zoo. The head
keeper who looks after Guy is a wise and experienced man who would go into Guy’s cage to
play with him. This astonishes all the other employees at the zoo as they think it is dangerous.
The head keeper explains how he keeps Guy under control to the narrator. During a playing
session, if Guy starts to go out of control, the head keeper takes out a short piece of hosepipe.
Gorillas are scared of snakes. Guy believes the hosepipe is a snake and backs off immediately.
The head keeper offers to demonstrate.
The narrator and the head keeper go to Guy’s cage and the keeper gets in and starts playing
with Guy. This goes on for a little while. The play starts to get a little rough but the head keeper
does not stop. Then, Guy picks up the head keeper and starts dusting the floor with him. It is
then that the narrator hears the head keeper asking him to get the hosepipe. The head keeper
had forgotten to take the pipe! So the narrator rushes to get the pipe and head keeper gets
himself free. The keeper is thoroughly shaken but his pride does not let him admit to his
mistake. This tale, according to the narrator, shows us that gorillas are playful but do not know
their own strength.
Playing with Gorillas is a recollection of a humorous episode in the life of the narrator. The
humour in the text allows us to see gorillas in a gentler light—they are not violent, frightening
creatures but gentle and playful animals. People tend to hold a bad opinion of gorillas because
of ignorance. Fear comes from the unknown. This text demonstrates how knowledge can drive
away illogical fears.
Comprehension
A. 1. Most people react to the word ‘gorilla’. They think of a frightening, aggressive beast with huge teeth.
2. It was a major cause of gorillas getting a bad name, which they really do not deserve.
3. He walked up to Guy, who offered his hand, and they had a bit of soft play in the inner house. Then the
gorilla rushed to the outside den and made it clear that he wanted to play outdoors with the head
keeper.
4. I realised for the first time that the head keeper had forgotten to put the hosepipe in his pocket and
couldn’t stop the gorilla.
5. The head keeper came out through the outside cage, looking pink and shaken, and covered in
dust and dirt. He rose to the occasion with great dignity, however, and turned to me and said, “As
you can see, sir, I have a perfect understanding with Guy!”
B. 1. a. ‘He’ refers to the head keeper. He is speaking to the speaker of the story.
b. ‘He’ spoke in a whisper because he did not want his request for help to be heard ny too many
people. He thought it would make him look bad in front of others.
c. The speaker ran to the canteen to get the piece of rope the head keeper had forgotten. The
keeper used this rope to scare Guy the gorilla away.
2. a. The speaker is the head keeper.
b. He is referring to his way of playing and dealing with Guy the gorilla. The head keeper plays
with the gorilla for a bit and when he wants to stop, he simply scares Guy with a piece of
rope that Guy thinks is a snake. This way, the head keeper is able to play with the gorilla
safely.
c. The speaker was probably feeling foolish, embarrassed and silly.
C. 1. The keeper had meant to play with Guy the gorilla for a little while and then make his escape
using the rope. But he had forgotten to bring the rope into the cage with him. So when Guy’s play
started to get a little rough, the head keeper couldn’t stop it.
2. Guy the gorilla never wanted to hurt the head keeper. He was playing with him as usual and got a
little too excited. The game became rough and too much for the head keeper to handle but it was
Guy being playful, not intentionally hurtful. Guy was a huge gorilla and did not know how strong
he was. He hurt the head keeper without realising it. The moment the head keeper got hold of his
rope, he showed it to Guy and scared him. The head keeper was able to scare a large gorilla like
Guy by a small piece of rope. This shows us that ‘gorillas can be playful and gentle, but they do not
know their own strength.’
D. 1. People fear gorillas because they do not know them. They only know ridiculous stories made up
by films. They see how big and strong gorillas look and think they are violent. If they knew the
truth about gorillas, they would not be so scared of them.
2. Free Response. Suggested answers—fear of exams, fear of strangers, fear of the dark, etc.
3. When we are scared, we try to protect ourselves from the source of danger. So we get violent and
fight or we run away from the danger.
4. When we do not know something, we imagine a thousand different things, each scarier than
the other. In reality this unknown thing may be harmless, but it becomes dangerous in our
imagination. We do not how to deal with something unknown and that is why we are scared
of it.
Grammar
A. 2. extensively—adverb of degree
3. always—adverb of frequency
4. extremely—adverb of degree
5. away—adverb of place
6. now—adverb of time; very—adverb of degree;
7. often—adverb of frequency
B. 2. I have forgotten the song completely.
3. I have never seen a tiger.
4. The people waved their arms wildly.
5. She acted rather well.
Vocabulary
1. inter-school 2. autocorrect 3. pro-uniform 4. ex-minister 5. overexcited
6. anti-pollution
Listening Text:
Do you dream of working with animals? Neeraj Singh is a zoo-keeper. Listen to him talk about his work and why it really is as amazing as it sounds. As you listen, complete the notes in your book. I’m a mammal keeper at Hyderabad Zoo; I work mainly with carnivores. I’ve been at this zoo for nearly three years. I work an eight-hour day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but there are always animal emergencies which keep me working even after hours. I love everything about my job. No matter what mood I wake up in, the animals always manage to put a smile on my face. The best part about my job is the ‘enrichment’ I make for the animals. Enrichment is about improving the animals’ quality of life. So this could be about building new structures, ponds, puzzles and toys for the animals to play with—anything that keeps the animals happy and occupied.
I love that my days are so varied too—one day, I might be building a new platform for the lions and
the next day, cleaning out the otter pond. Plus, I’m outside all day, in all weathers—rain, hail, wind,
sunshine—which I love. I’ve always had a keen interest in animals. When I was younger, I always had pets. And when I was only 14, I started volunteering with a local farm on Saturdays. Because I knew I wanted to work with animals, I studied Animal Management in college. I learned about domestic animals, livestock and exotic animals. This was an excellent foundation for my career!
Answers:
1. Years at job: 3 years
2. Work Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3. Exception: emergencies during which he works after hours;
4. The animals always cheer him up.
5. He loves making ‘enrichment’—things that improve the quality of the animals’ life, keeping them
happy and occupied.
6. He loves that his days are varied.
7. He is outside every day in all weathers.
8. pets and animals
9. volunteering with local farm
10. Animal Management in college
Writing
Neeraj Singh, a zoo-keeper, spoke about his work and why he is passionate about it. He has been a
mammal keeper at Hyderabad Zoo for nearly three years. He works from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, except on
days when there are emergencies when he stays back. Neeraj is passionate about his job. He loves
the animals—they always cheer him up. He loves working on ‘enrichment’ activities for the animals—
things that keep them happy and occupied. Neeraj loves that he gets to do something different every
day. He also likes being outdoors in all weathers at his job. Even as a child, Neeraj was very interested
in animals and pets. He volunteered at a local farm when he was young and studied Animal
Management in college.
PLAYING WITH GORILLAS
A. Answer in brief.
1. What is the common belief about gorillas? What is the truth?
Ans: Many believe that gorillas are aggressive, ferocious and frightening creatures and can fatally
attack humans. In reality, gorillas are shy and gentle. They are playful and strong. Humans have
to be careful of gorillas only when they play, because due to their great strength, they may hurt
humans inadvertently.
2. What relationship did the head keeper and Guy share?
Ans: The head keeper was intelligent and was very friendly with Guy. He would enter the cage
and the outer den fearlessly, much to the astonishment of the onlookers. He could smartly
manage Guy if he became rough during playtime. Guy also seemed very fond of the head keeper
as he looked forward to playing with him.
B. Answer in detail.
1. What strategy did the head keeper say he adopted to divert Guy when he became playfully rough?
Ans: The head keeper was aware that Guy could become rough during playtime as he did not
know his own strength. So he always went prepared for any unexpected behaviour by Guy. The
keeper knew that Guy did not like snakes. So whenever the keeper entered the cage he would
carry a hosepipe with him which looked like a snake. If ever the keeper wanted to stop Guy from
playing, he would just show the hosepipe and Guy would retreat immediately.
2. What did the narrator witness after the head keeper entered the cage?
Ans: The narrator was curious to know how the head keeper handled that huge animal if he
got out of control. The head keeper assured him that he took all necessary precautions before
entering the cage. So he invited the narrator to watch their play. Initially the play between the
two was normal but soon Guy got rough and playfully he started dusting the floor using the head
keeper as duster. The head keeper could not stop him as he had forgotten to take the hosepipe
which was his weapon to divert the gorilla. He had to stage whisper to the author to get the pipe
and only after the narrator showed Guy the hosepipe he let go of the head keeper, who had by
that time become breathless and was totally covered in dirt and dust.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. “Aha,” he said and went to the corner of the mess and produced a short length of hosepipe….
a. Who is ‘he’?
b. Why did he produce a hosepipe?
c. How would it help him?
Ans: a. ‘He’ is the head keeper of the zoo.
b. He produced the hosepipe to show the author what he would do if the gorilla got angry
or out of control.
c. The head keeper would show the hosepipe to the gorilla that would back off assuming
that the hosepipe was a snake.
2. I realised that the keeper was out of breath and getting more than he’d bargained for.
a. Where was the author? What was he watching?
b. Why did the keeper go out of breath?
c. How did the author help him?
Ans: a. The author was outside the den watching the play between Guy, the gorilla and the
head keeper.
b. The play got a bit rough and Guy started playfully using the keeper as a duster.
c. The author quickly got the hosepipe which the keeper had forgotten to take, and
showed it to Guy. Guy backed off as soon as he saw the hosepipe.
D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
1. Was it because of his pride or his helplessness that the keeper did not stop playing with Guy?
Free response Suggested Ans: I think it could be both. The keeper had proudly claimed that he
knew how to handle a rough gorilla, so he wanted to continue playing though he was getting hurt.
But he could not last long and had no choice but to take the author’s help to extricate himself from
Guy’s clutches.
2. Are you in favour of keeping animals in captivity in the zoo? Give reasons.
Free response Suggested Ans: a. I am not in favour of keeping animals in captivity in the zoo as
animals are habituated to live in forests and they move about freely and hunt their prey. They are
happy living in their natural habitat. By caging animals we are restricting their movements and we
snatch away their right to live in the wild.
OR
b. I am in favour of keeping animals in the zoo. The zoo keepers take special care to give them all
the comfort they need. They are safer and are protected from poachers and other hunters. Some
animals are even saved from becoming extinct. The best part is that, we children, are actually able
to see the wild animals in the zoos.
E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)
Is it safe to play with gorillas? What do you think would have happened to the head keeper, had the
author not been there to help him?
Free response Suggested Ans: Many movies project gorillas as aggressive beasts with huge teeth
ready to devour anyone coming near. In reality, they seem to be gentle, harmless creatures open to
having fun with friendly people. But the fact is that they are enormous in size and can harm anyone
without intending to. In their playful mood, they may not know how to be gentle with humans who
are much smaller than them. These animals apparently do not know their own strength. The head
keeper was lucky to survive. Had the author not been there, it would have been sure death for him.
Gorillas, I think, are safe animals, but one needs to take enough precaution for any eventuality before
going near them.
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