Part 5B. Natural World. Animals

Part 5B. Natural World. Animals

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-  Your animal world is so funny! - Lainie was sitting on the bench and turning over the pages of the biology book which Jack had given her a day before in hope that she would find something about evohu herself, though he was hardly sure of any result and therefore just enjoyed another possibility to look at his love’s golden hair. Of course, no girl in the whole world has such wonderful hair, only she does…

-  Oh, dear, look at this! – cried Lainie. – Here, - she pointed at the page, - so funny - a f-fi-ish.
She pronounced such a simple word with difficulty!

-  It’s an eel, - Jack looked at the picture. Aha, she is studying Africa’s natural habitat.

-  Just look, - Lainie went on. – Why do your animals need all these funny things?

Jack had already got used to the girl’s sudden starts of imagination. In these cases he tried to play along by replying without any astonishment or irony.

-  These are wild horses, - he began to explain. – They need hooves to walk on the grass. These are camels. They need a hump to store food. These are elephants. They need a trunk to eat. And eels need fins to swim.

-  And what are these things? – Lainie suddenly pointed at a goat.

-  These are horns which help goats to protect themselves. And this is an udder. Baby goats get milk from it.

-  Oh, your animals need so much to survive! Perhaps, you, humans should help them, - Lainie suddenly turned her large beautiful eyes to Jack.

-  Eh, we help them. – Jack was embarrassed. – We h-have game parks and game reserves.

-  Sure, - Lainie suddenly became extremely serious - Where you continue to shoot animals until they are under complete – what’s this word – hmmm – extinction!

-  No, Lainie, you are wrong. Of course, we have hunters, but we also have wildlife funds. We have domesticated a lot of animals and now they live with us in safety.

But Lainie wasn’t convinced by Jack’s explanation
-  Live with you in small flats or cages! My father took us to your circus once. We hardly bore ten minutes of seeing these poor creatures obeying all commands of cruel tamers. I suppose, neither of you has ever imagined a bear hunting you, putting you in a cage and showing you to his cubs. Right? My father had a talk with an elephant and a beaver. They said that poaching and fur trade would soon make all of them extinct.

-  Stop, Lainie. Your imagination is even richer than your father’s. Only in sci-fi books people can talk with animals.

-  I knew, you wouldn’t understand, - said Lainie with a sigh. – It’s OK, Jack.

Her intonation always made him ashamed.
-  I’m sorry, Lainie. I didn’t mean to offend you.

-  I’m sorry too, Jack. I’ve forgotten that your knowledge about this world is so wrong. Let’s go.
Jack agreed and soon they were walking together along the shady paths of the park.


Speaking Minimum Words:
fish - риба
eel - вугор
natural habitat - природне середовище проживання
hoof-hooves - копито
hump - горб
trunk - хобот
fin - плавець (у риб)
horn - ріг
udder - вим'я
game park - заказник
game reserve - заповідник
extinction - вимирання
hunter - мисливець
tamer - дресирувальник, приборкувач
hunting - полювання
poaching - браконьєрство
fur trade - торгівля хутром

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