Read the text and complete tasks 1-7. In each task choose number 1, 2, 3 or 4.
“Now listen, Doctor, and I’ll tell you something. Did you know that animals can talk?” asked the parrot. “I knew that parrots can talk,” said the Doctor.
“Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages – people’s language and bird-language,” said Polynesia proudly. “If I say, ‘Polly wants a cracker,’ you understand me. But hear this: Ka-ka oi-ee, feefee?”
“Good Gracious!” cried the Doctor. “What does that mean?”
“That means, ‘Is the porridge hot yet?’ – in bird language.”
“My! You don’t say so!” said the Doctor. “You never talked that way to me before.”
“What would have been the use?” said Polynesia. “You wouldn’t have understood me if I had.”
“Tell me some more,” said the Doctor, all excited; and he rushed over to the dresser-drawer and came back with a book and a pencil. “Now don’t go too fast – and I’ll write it down. This is interesting – very interesting – something quite new. Give me the Birds’ ABC first – slowly now.”
So that was the way the Doctor came to know that animals had a language of their own and could talk to one another. And all that afternoon Polynesia gave him bird words to put down in the book. After a while, with the parrot’s help, the Doctor learnt the language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself and understand everything they said. Then he gave up being a people’s doctor altogether. Old ladies began to bring him their pet dogs who had eaten too much cake; and farmers came many miles to show him cows which had the flu, and sheep with broken bones.
One day a plough-horse was brought to him; and the poor thing was terribly glad to find a man who could talk in horse-language. “You know, Doctor,” said the horse, “that vet over the hill knows nothing at all. I am going blind in one eye. But that stupid man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. He kept on giving me big pills. I tried to tell him; but he couldn’t understand a word of horse-language. What I need is spectacles. I would like a pair like yours – only green. They’ll keep the sun out of my eyes while I’m ploughing the Fifty-Acre Field.”
“Certainly,” said the Doctor. “Green ones you shall have.” And soon it became a common sight to see farm-animals wearing glasses in the country round Puddleby; and from then on there was never a blind horse.
And so it was with all the other animals that were brought to him. As soon as they found that he could talk their language, they told him where the pain was and how they felt, and of course it was easy for him to cure them. Whenever any creatures got sick – not only horses and cows and dogs, but all the little things of the fields, like harvest mice and water voles, badgers and bats – they came at once to his house on the edge of the town, so his big garden was nearly always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him.
Once an Italian organ grinder came round with a monkey on a string. The Doctor saw at once that the monkey’s collar was too tight and that he was dirty and unhappy. So he took away the monkey from the Italian, gave the man a shilling and told him to go away. The organ grinder got very angry and said that he wanted to keep the monkey. But the Doctor wouldn’t let him and said he would look after the monkey from then on. So the Italian went away saying rude things and the monkey stayed with Doctor Dolittle and had a good home. The other animals in the house called him “Chee-Chee” – which, in monkey-language, means “ginger”.

A) Doctor Dolittle is surprised and excited that ... ...
1) parrots can speak more than one language.
2) the parrot is asking about the porridge.
3) Polynesia has never spoken to him before.
4) birds have their own language.

B) When Dolittle asks Polynesia for “the Birds’ ABC”, he wants the parrot to tell him … ...
1) how to say these three letters in bird language.
2) the whole alphabet in bird language.
3) words starting with A, B or C in bird language.
4) every word in bird language.

C) Soon after Dolittle becomes an animal doctor, … ...
1) different kinds of people bring sick animals to him.
2) animals start coming to see him themselves.
3) old women bring different kinds of animals to him.
4) he deals only with farm animals.

D) What is true about the plough-horse? ...
1) He thinks the other vet understood him.
2) He knows what is wrong with him.
3) He doesn’t know why the pills don’t work.
4) He thinks Doctor Dolittle is a stupid man.

E) The word “him” \(paragraph 4\) refers to … ...
1) the vet over the hill.
2) Polynesia the parrot.
3) Doctor Dolittle.
4) the plough-horse.

F) Dolittle takes the Italian’s monkey because ... ...
1) it isn’t being treated very well.
2) he is angry at the Italian.
3) the Italian is rude.
4) he wants to learn monkey language.

G) What is the text about? ...
1) learning new languages
2) how similar people and animals are
3) the ability to communicate
4) how to be a good doctor