Page 171 - New Grammar with a Smile 6

5 The Bird

Read the passage.

‘Come back, Butch!’ shouted Tom as he scrambled after the brown terrier. ‘You’re not
dry yet!’ The dog raced across the field behind Tom’s house, heading for some pine
trees. Butch was not fond of his weekly bath and tried to escape at every opportunity.
‘If he gets into the woods, he’ll need another bath,’ mumbled Tom. ‘I wish Molly were
here to help.’

Just then, a girl rushed up. ‘Did he take off again?’

Turning to find his friend Molly, Tom replied, ‘Yes, and he’s probably already rolling
in dirt. We need to bring him back.’

As the two friends headed for the trees on the far side of the field, they heard Butch
barking. ‘Butch doesn’t usually bark unless there’s trouble,’ said Tom. Molly and
Tom hurried. They found Butch barking furiously at a small bird on the ground. It
flapped one wing rapidly in a desperate attempt to fly away while it held the other
wing close to its side. Tom grabbed Butch and pulled him away. Molly carefully
picked up the bird and tried to console it with a soothing voice. ‘I think its wing is
broken,’ whispered Molly.

‘Let’s take it to my house. Dad will know what to do,’ said Tom. Back at the house,
Tom’s dad looked the bird over. He agreed that the wing was broken. Carefully, he
set the wing to keep it still.

‘The bird will need looking after until its wing heals,’ said Tom’s dad. ‘Are you up for it?’
‘Oh, sure,’ both Tom and Molly replied.

‘You’ll need to keep it fed and watered every day,’ cautioned Tom’s dad.
‘We will,’ promised Tom. The two found an old birdcage in the garage and set it
on Tom’s porch. Molly put the bird inside while Tom found a water dish. Molly
suggested, ‘How about we take turns? I’ll go hunt for some worms while you stay and
watch the bird. Tomorrow we’ll switch.’

‘Okay,’ agreed Tom. The two friends took turns caring for the bird. They became
quite fond of the little bird as each day it grew stronger. After a few weeks had
passed, Tom’s dad said, ‘It looks fine.’ The bird seemed to confirm this as it fluttered

both wings.

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