Учебное пособие: Сanada and Australia in Focus

After a few minutes, a banging noise started in the bushes. It was Coyote's friends.

"What's that horrible noise?" cried the fat ugly Fire Being. "Who's there?"

The three of them went to investigate. Seeing his chance, Coyote snatched up a glowing piece of fire and ran off down the mountain as fast as he could. Realising they had been tricked, the two hags screamed and chased after him. The big fat bald Fire Being just stood there, with more snot dripping from his nose. The hags were old, but they could run like the wind. They nearly caught Coyote. One of them stretched out her claws and touched the tip of his tail. The heat turned the hairs white. Coyote threw the fire into the air towards Squirrel. She caught it in her tail and scampered off over stumps and boulders. The fire scorched her so badly, that her tail curled up over her back. She was almost caught, until Chipmunk bounded up beside her.

"Me! Me! Throw it to me!"

Catching the fire, Chipmunk turned to run. One of the hags clawed her back leaving three stripes down it. Chipmunk threw the fire to Frog, but one of the Beings grabbed his tail.

"Let me go!" yelled Frog.

He squirmed and struggled so much that his eyeballs bulged and he thought his heart would burst. With one last mighty leap he tore himself free, leaving his beautiful long tail behind, still wriggling in the hag's claw. Frog threw the fire to Wood and Wood swallowed it. The Fire Beings hit Wood and kicked him and cut him with their knives, but still Wood didn't spit out the fire. At last the hags gave up and went home, mumbling to themselves: "Oh dear, I think I broke a nail". "Never mind. We'll have frog's tail soup tonight." "Mmm! That sounds nice".

Coyote called all the animals together to teach them how to get the fire from Wood.

"Fire is a gift for everyone. If you rub two dry sticks of Wood together very fast Wood will get itchy and give you some fire. From now on you will be warm in winter".

"I told you Coyote was cunning" said Frog.

"Yes, but I wonder what frog's tail soup tastes like?" asked Squirrel.

And that is why today, Coyote's tail has a white tip, squirrel's tail curls around over her back, chipmunk's coat has white stripes and frog has no tail. But everyone is warm in winter.

Comprehension check

Some words are missing from the text. Choose the most appropriate answer from the box for each gap (1-8) in the text. Do not change the words. There is one word which you do not need to use.

Chipmunk, fat, tricked, Squirrel, investigate, old, Coyote, claws

The three of them went to ________. Seeing his chance, Coyote snatched up a glowing piece of fire and ran off down the mountain as fast as he could. Realising they had been _______, the two hags screamed and chased after him. The big ______ bald Fire Being just stood there, with more snot dripping from his nose. The hags were ______, but they could run like the wind. They nearly caught ________. One of them stretched out her ______ and touched the tip of his tail. The heat turned the hairs white. Coyote threw the fire into the air towards ________. She caught it in her tail and scampered off over stumps and boulders. The fire scorched her so badly, that her tail curled up over her back. She was almost caught, until _____ bounded up beside her.

WRITIHG

Work in pairs. Compose 10 questions on the text and ask your partner.

Why Bat Has no Friends

Key words and expressions:

a claw

a beak

vigorously

to hold a council

to nod in agreement

Make up sentences with new words

Pre-reading task

How do you think? What shall we do to have a lot of friends? Do you have friends? How to be a good friend? Share your ideas.

Reading

Many years ago there was a great war between the birds and the animals. No-one knows why. It just happened. The creatures with wings flew to the battle site and made their camp. Those who had legs, walked there. Bat joined the birds.