Summary: Grandpa Fights an Ostrich
‘Grandpa Fights an Ostrich’ is an account of the first speaker’s grandfather’s time
with the East African Railways. He tells us about an exciting encounter his
grandfather had with an enraged ostrich.
Grandpa lives in a small town but his work lay some twelve miles away. He has to go
to the work-site and back on horseback every day. One day, his horse has a small
accident, so he decides to do the journey on foot. He also knows of a short-cut
through the hills that will save him about six miles.
This short-cut went through an ostrich farm-or ‘camp’, as it was called. Grandpa is
fairly familiar with ostriches and knows that male birds are very aggressive. He also
knows that his dog would scare away any bird that might try to attack him. So, he
feels quite safe.
Grandpa wants to go across the camp as fast as possible. So, he keeps a watch on the
whereabouts of the birds and sees them feeding some distance away. He runs across
open spaces between bushes. Suddenly Grandpa’s dog spots a hare and starts
chasing it. The barking of the dog and grandpa’s shouting attracts the attention of
the other birds and they start running to and fro. A male ostrich stares at Grandpa
and charges at him, lifting his short wings and holding his tail erect.
Grandpa starts running at full speed. But he cannot match the ostrich’s strides and it
is catching up. Grandpa wants to get behind a large bush only to hide from the bird.
Grandpa rushes forward and ends up in a clump of thorn bushes.
The great bird starts chasing Grandpa and is soon upon him. Grandpa struggles
frantically to avoid the deadly kicks of the ostrich. Grandpa starts circling a bush in
order to escape it. He catches hold of the bird’s wings and as the bird turns, he is
swung around. The bird is frightened and suddenly reverses its motion. This
unexpected move makes him lose his hold and Grandpa ends up on the ground.
After Grandpa falls on the ground, the ostrich comes up to Grandpa to strike him. It
is ready to deliver one of its deadly kicks. Suddenly, something frightens the ostrich
and it turns its head sharply to the left. Soon, it jumps back and runs off as fast as it
can. Grandpa wonders what caused this retreat. It is Grandpa’s dog who has come to
his rescue. Grandpa leaves the camp immediately, making sure that his dog never
leaves his side.
The mood is humorous and scary at the same time. The description of grandpa
running across open spaces is funny. At the same time, the reader anticipates that
something is going to happen with the ostriches.
UNIT 7 GRANDPA FIGHTS AN OSTRICH
Embedded Questions 1
● The speaker has obviously heard the story many times before and it is probably also a famous
story in their family.
● Free Response
Embedded Questions 2
● true
● not true
● Free Response
Embedded Questions 3
● Free Response
● It became afraid when it saw the dog.
Embedded Questions 4
● Free Response
Comprehension
A. 1. c 2. c 3. a 4. b 5. b 6. a
B. 1. a. Grandpa was afraid of the ostriches. He kept a good look-out for ostriches when on the farm. He
ran across open spaces between thorn bushes and was trying to be careful so that an ostrich
would not spot him.
b. The mood is humorous and scary at the same time. The description of grandpa running across
open spaces is funny. At the same time, the reader anticipates that something is going to
happen with the ostriches.
2. a. Grandpa got hold of one of the ostrich’s wings. This made the ostrich frightened.
b. The bird began to turn round and round so quickly that grandpa was soon swept off his feet
and his feet were swinging out from the ostrich’s body.
C. 1. Grandpa wanted to go across the camp as fast as possible. So he keeps a watch on the
whereabouts of the birds and sees them feeding some distance away. He runs across open spaces
between bushes. Suddenly Grandpa’s dog spots a hare and starts chasing it. The barking of the
dog and grandpa’s shouting attracts the attention of the other birds and they start running to and
fro. A male ostrich stares at Grandpa and charges at him, lifting his short wings and holding his tail
erect.
2. Grandpa started running at full speed. But he could not match the ostrich’s strides and it was
catching up. Grandpa wanted to get behind a large bush only to hide from the bird. Grandpa
rushed forward and ended up in a clump of thorn bushes.
3. The great bird started chasing Grandpa and was soon upon him. Grandpa struggled frantically
to avoid the deadly kicks of the ostrich. Grandpa started circling a bush in order to escape it.
He caught hold of the bird’s wings and as the bird turned, he was swung around. The bird was
frightened and suddenly reversed its motion. This unexpected move made him lose his hold and
Grandpa ends up on the ground.
4. After Grandpa fell on the ground, the ostrich came up to Grandpa to strike him. It was ready to
deliver one of its deadly kicks. Suddenly, something frightened the ostrich and it turned its head
sharply to the left. Soon, it jumped back and ran off as fast as it could. Grandpa wondered what
had caused this retreat. It was Grandpa’s dog who had come to his rescue.
D. Grandpa loves to walk. He is ready to walk to work as his horse had a small accident. He is afraid of
the ostriches and takes his dog along for safety. At the same time, grandpa is brave enough to fight
the gigantic male ostrich. He gets chased and threatened but does not give up. He is also aware of
the mannerisms of ostriches. He uses his intelligence to get hold of the ostrich’s wings, so that he
could defeat it. Grandpa is grateful to his pet dog when it saves his life from the deadly kick of the
ostrich.
Grammar
A. 1. the simple present tense
2. the future continuous tense
3. the simple past tense
4. the present continuous tense
5. the past continuous tense
6. the simple future tense
B. 2. are going 3. was living 4. leaves 5. will return
Vocabulary
1. looking into 2. look through 3. look around 4. looked over 5. look ahead
6. looked up
Writing
Suggested answer (Accept any logical answer).
Emus Wreak Havoc
Blanche Josephine
Melbourne, 07 August 2018.
Stories about strange encounters with emus have been heard on the outskirts of Melbourne. People
driving down the highway have found large groups of emus blocking their way. Incidents of emus
breaking into private lawns and gardens have been reported.
Further investigation into these strange sightings revealed that many farmhouses had been raising
emus and selling their eggs. It has been a thriving business for many, till now. But the sale of emu
eggs has decreased sharply this year. Unable to bear the recover the cost of keeping the emus, many
farmers released them. This has resulted in the emus wandering far and wide.
This highly irresponsible action on the part of the emu breeders has caused many problems for
the city as well as for the birds. Emus are an important part of the ecosystem and many are dying
due to lack of food or because they get into accidents, especially if they wander near the highways.
This could have a serious impact on the entire species, leading to them being endangered. It is also
problematic on the part of the townspeople to live under constant fear of attacks from the birds. The
government should take immediate steps to rescue all such stray emus and put them in an enclosed
shelter or sanctuary.
Listening
Listening Text
The issue of wildlife conservation is very important in India, just like it is in the rest of the world.
Like forests, wildlife is also a national resource—it helps maintain balance in nature not to mention
protecting the lives of beautiful animals and birds. There was a time when humans did not constantly
use or destroy the homes of wild animals and so their number was quite high. But now, as I’m sure
you all know, the situation is quite different.
People are becoming greedier and greedier. We destroy the habitats of wild animals so that we
can plant crops and build towns and cities. We build roads and even highways though areas where
these animals have walked and lived for many years. We do not consider that we destroy delicate
ecosystems in the process or that entire species could become endangered or extinct.
I am not saying that we have not done a great deal to protect out wildlife. We have—and there are
many wonderful projects and national parks that are dedicated to this purpose. But there is still so
much we can do and I urge you to join the fight to save our wildlife!
Answers:
conservation, resource, habitats, ecosystems, endangered
Speaking
Suggested answer (Accept any logical answer).
1. Speaker 1: I am scared. I could not sleep last night.
Speaker 2: What happened?
Speaker 1: I watched the film The Conjuring last night and could not sleep. I felt that there
was someone in my room or under my bed. What would you have done if you
were me?
Speaker 2: I would have left the lights on.
Speaker 1: My eyes hurt if the lights are on. I cannot sleep that way. Do you think I should tell my
parents?
Speaker 2: That’s a good idea. Then maybe one of your parents can sleep beside you.
2. Speaker 1: Hey, look what I found! It is someone’s record book.
Speaker 2: But this is not from our school. The monogram says ‘St Thomas School’.
Speaker 1: We must return it. The student must have misplaced it on the ‘Inter-school sports day’.
Do you think I should return it?
Speaker 2: But how are you going to do that? You will not be allowed to enter their school.
Speaker 1: We can leave it in the principal’s office. She can hand it over to the student.
3. Speaker 1: Ruskin Bond is coming to Kolkata. I would love to meet him. He is my favourite
author.
Speaker 2: But how are you going to? We live here and Kolkata is far away.
Speaker 1: What do you think of this idea—I will ask my father to take me to the ‘Kolkata Literary
Festival 2017’
Speaker 2: But there would be thousands of students like you, waiting to meet him!
Speaker 1: I have thought about this. I am going to ask our school principal and arrange for a
special pass. I could also represent my school there
GRANDPA FIGHTS AN OSTRICH
A. Answer in brief.
1. Why did Grandpa choose to walk to the work site?
Ans: The grandfather lived in a town and his work site was twelve miles away. He had to go
on horseback every day. One day, his horse was unwell as it had met with an accident. As the
grandfather knew a short cut to the work spot he chose to walk the distance.
2. What made Grandpa feel safe despite knowing that he had to cross the aggressive ostrich
camp?
Ans: Grandpa took the short cut to reach his work site though he knew very well that he had
to cross the ostrich camp which had certain aggressive male ostriches. But he still took the risk
because he had his dog with him which he was sure would scare away any bird that might try to
attack him.
B. Answer in detail.
1. What was the dog’s passion? What happened because of that?
Ans: Grandpa was crossing the ostrich camp confidently with his dog as his ‘body guard’!
Grandfather climbed through the wire fencing, keeping a good look-out and ran across the open
spaces between thorn bushes. He felt safe with the dog with him and the birds feeding some
distance away. But that secured feeling was short lived for him. He would have just crossed about
half a mile when a hare ran across the path. Chasing hares was his dog’s passion and the moment
he saw the hare he began to chase it. Grandfather’s loud call didn’t seem to stop him. Either it was
the dog’s bark or the grandfather’s shouting, the ostriches were startled and one of them saw
Grandpa and then the chase began!
2. What efforts did Grandpa take to save himself from the ostrich?
Ans: Grandpa was startled to look at the huge bird which lifting his short wings and holding his
tail erect, began running very fast towards him. He had nothing to defend himself. Only thing he
could do was to run towards the fence but that was an unequal race. The creature’s great stride
would have reached him in no time. His hope was to get behind a large bush and hide till help
reached him. He dodged the bird taking care not to get directly in front of the ostrich’s kick which
he knew would cause great damage. Soon Grandpa became really breathless and quite helpless
and started calling wildly for help as he circled the thorn bush. But there was no one around to
lend a helping hand. At that moment he almost thought his end was near.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. He stood still and stared at me for a few moments. I stared back.
a. Who is ‘he’?
b. Why did he stand still and stare at the speaker?
c. What happened next?
Ans: a. He refers to the ostrich which spotted the narrator.
b. The ostrich was distracted by the bark of the dog and the speakers loud shout and saw
that there was an intruder in its camp.
c. The ostrich lifted its wings and started running towards the narrator.
2. Needless to say, I returned his caresses most affectionately!
a. Who is being referred to by the narrator in the above line?
b. Why was he relieved to see him?
c. How did he help the narrator?
Ans: a. The author’s pet dog is referred to in the above line.
b. He was relieved to see him because he was almost in the brink of getting killed by an
ostrich.
c. The narrator was sure that ostriches were quite afraid of dogs and with the dog by his
side he would be safe.
D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
1. What more precaution do you think Grandpa should have taken before entering the ostrich
camp?
[Free response] Suggested answer: I think Grandpa was cautious enough. He was sure with
his pet dog with him he would be safe against any aggressive ostrich. Little did he expect
a hare to distract his dog and everything to go wrong after that. He probably should have
anyway avoided the farm and should have foreseen the unpredictable behaviour of animals
or birds!
2. Do you feel the ostrich chased the grandfather to prey on him?
[Free response] Suggested answer: No, I don’t think so. Ostriches don’t feed on human flesh.
The reaction of the ostrich could be just for self defense or the ostrich could have just thought of
chasing the grandfather because he was running. If Grandpa had not run or shown any obvious
fear, the ostrich possibly might have ignored the narrator.
E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)
Comments
Post a Comment