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2. ‘I’m a pretty quiet creature as a rule,’ said the horse—‘very patient with people—don’t make

much fuss.’
a. What impression did the horse have about the veterinarians it had met before?

b. According to the horse, what kind of person should be an animal-doctor?

c. Why did the horse make a fuss?

d. Why was the horse relieved to meet Dr Dolittle?

Time to think and answer

1. Do you think it would be fun to learn animal language and understand their gestures?

What are the advantages if people were to understand animals better? life skill critical thinking

2. If you could learn to speak an animal language, which animal would you like to
communicate with? Write in about 100 words the reasons of your choice. life skill logical thinking

Time to study language

There are two ways of conveying the spoken words of one person to another person.

For example,
• The doctor said, ‘I knew that parrots can talk.’

Here, the exact words of the speaker are repeated. The words spoken by the speaker are

between quotation marks (‘…’). Such a sentence is said to be in direct speech.

Now, read this sentence.

• The doctor said that he knew that parrots could talk.

Here, the words of the speaker are being conveyed by someone in their own words.
This sentence is said to be in indirect speech.

Let us understand the rules for indirect speech.

1. The words of the speaker are not enclosed within quotation marks. For example,

• Polynesia said, ‘I want a cracker.’ (direct speech)

Polynesia said that she wanted a cracker. (indirect speech)

2. The conjunction that is usually used between reporting verb and reported speech in
indirect speech. For example,
• Polynesia said, ‘I want a cracker.’ (direct speech)

Polynesia said that she wanted a cracker. (indirect speech)

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