Page 158 - New Grammar with a Smile 5

The Cat and
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the Canary

Read this passage.

A lady that I know had a fine tabby cat, and also a very beautiful canary. The cat’s name
was Bijou; the canary’s—Cherry. Now Bijou had been brought up from kittenhood with

Cherry: that is, he had been accustomed to sit on the rug beside the fire, while Cherry
sang in his cage on the table, or hanging at the window. Bijou always behaved perfectly
well, and never attempted to hurt Cherry.

The mistress of these two pets used to let the canary fly about sometimes in her
bedroom, but she never had quite a confidence enough in Bijou to do this while he was
there. One day in summer the window of the bedroom happened to be open at the top
without her noticing it, and the canary, after flying about the room a little while, passed
out of the window. It flew round and about, from tree to tree, seeming to enjoy its liberty

very much.

The lady feared she had lost it forever, but she brought out the cage and placed it on
the lawn, thinking there was just a chance that the canary might come back to the old
home of its own accord. As she stood at the window watching, she presently saw the bird
alight on the lawn. A moment afterwards she saw Bijou, who had been crouching in a
bed of flowers, spring out, pounce upon the little creature, and seize it in his mouth.

Then, to the lady’s astonishment, who expected to see the bird devoured, Bijou trotted

with it up to the cage and deposited the truant safely inside again. Cherry was dreadfully
frightened, but not at all hurt, and after shaking its rumpled feathers into their places, sat
on its perch as happy as ever.

Select the correct answer for each question.

1. Which pets did the lady have?

a. a tabby cat named Bijou and a canary named Cherry

b. a dog and a horse

c. a parrot only

d. She didn’t have any pets.

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