Language for ...
pets
Worksheet
1 Warmer
Put these pets in order from 1 (your favourite) to 7 (your least favourite). Think of reasons why you like or
dislike them.
cat
dog
rabbit
bird (e.g. parrot)
hamster
tortoise
fish
2 Text
a. Complete the sentences with one of the words in the box.
kitten breed shelter claws puppy
hibernate fluffy litter fur cage
1 A is a group of baby cats, dogs or other animals that are born at the
same time.
2 A is a very young dog and a is a
young cat.
3 A animal is covered with very soft hair.
4 Some pets, such as hamsters, rabbits and birds live in a .
5 A is a temporary home for animals who have no owner.
6 Cats have quite sharp and very soft .
7 A is a group of animals that have particular characteristics that make
them different from others of the same species.
8 Animals that sleep through the winter months.
1
Language for ...
pets
Worksheet
b. Read the text and answer the questions.
1 What is unusual about Digby the dog’s eyes?
2 What does Digby try to do if one of the family walks away from the rest of the group?
3 When does Stevie the hamster wake up?
4 When Stevie got lost, where was he found?
5 Why don’t some people like black cats?
6 What happens to the black cats’ fur when they sit in the sun?
7 What are tortoises good at?
8 What does Freddie the tortoise love eating?
c. Match the verbs from the text (1–5) with the adverbial particles or prepositions (a-e) to make phrasal
verbs from the text. Then use the phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.
1 slow a out
2 spin b up
3 break c around
4 walk d down
5 pick e away
1 Hamsters like to in a wheel.
2 If hamsters of their ball, they can easily get lost.
3 Some dogs don’t like it when people from the group.
4 Hamsters don’t like it when people them
.
5 Animals usually begin to when they get old.
2
Language for ...
pets
Worksheet
PETS
Digby I have a pet dog called Digby – he’s an Old English Sheepdog and has a grey and
white shaggy coat. People often refer to him as ‘the Dulux dog’, because a dog
of the same breed appears in famous advertising campaigns for Dulux paint in
Australia, UK and South Africa.
We got Digby when he was a puppy. He has one blue eye and one brown and was
the most active one in his litter. He is now three years old – which is around 29 in
dog years – but he is still very active.
Traditionally, his breed worked on farms as sheepdogs. Because of this Digby still
has a strong sheepdog instinct and he hates it when his whole family aren’t together in the same place.
He will always try to keep us together if one of us starts to walk away in the opposite direction from the
others. He loves it when we are all together at home so he can relax in his favourite spot on his bed.
Stevie Our family has a pet hamster called Stevie. We named him after
Stevie Wonder (because Stevie Wonder is brilliant). He is a Syrian
hamster and is light brown and extremely fluffy. He is two years old
now, which is quite old for a hamster, so he is slowing down a bit. He
sleeps in the day and wakes up in the evening. He likes to spin
around in his wheel, gather food and make his bed cosy. He seems
quite annoyed when we clean his cage out as he has to start making
his bed all over again. Sometimes we put him in a big, see-through
ball and he explores the house. Once he broke out of his ball and we
had a ‘Stevie-hunt’. We were really worried as the back door was open and I was scared a bird would
catch him. In the end, we found him under the sofa. He doesn’t really like being picked up or held,
but that’s OK. It’s just nice to watch him doing hamster-stuff. He is very cute.
Professor and Ace My husband and I are the proud owners of two adorable cats, who
are brother and sister. We adopted them from a shelter in August
2013 when they were four months old. They were originally called
Jack and Jill, like the nursery rhyme, but I renamed them Professor
and Ace after characters from one of my favourite TV shows
– Doctor Who. Usually, kittens are adopted very quickly, but our
cats are both black and lots of people don’t want black cats.
Apparently, some people think black cats are
unlucky, and others think they don’t show up very well in photographs. Anyway,
I’m very lucky, as our cats are both very friendly. When they sit in the sun, their fur
turns reddish brown in the light, so I like to imagine they’re secretly tigers. There
aren’t many downsides to having them around – but they do like to sharpen their
claws on my sofa when I’m not looking. I definitely need to buy a new sofa now!
3
Language for ...
pets
Worksheet
Freddie I have a pet tortoise called Freddie. You can tell he’s male because he has a big tail.
Freddie is a Herman’s tortoise, which means he doesn’t grow very big. I’ve had
Freddie for seven years and he was one year old when I got him – he was tiny! He
could fit into the palm of my hand. Everyone thinks tortoises are slow, but actually
when it is warm they can go surprisingly fast. They are also good at digging and
hiding. Once, he got lost and we didn’t find him for six months! Freddie lives in a
greenhouse in my mother’s garden, because I only have a small flat. In the winter
he hibernates in a box. Tortoises eat fruit, vegetables and plants and I particularly
enjoy feeding him strawberries, raspberries and dandelion leaves. He loves those.
Oh, and did you know that tortoises are deaf? They have no ears.
3 Language in use
You are going to talk about pets with a partner. Think about these things:
• Have you got a pet? If so, what kind of pet is it?
• When and where did you get your pet?
• What are the good things about your pet?
• Do you have any problems with your pet?
• If you haven’t got a pet at the moment, what kind of pet would you like to have and why?
• If you haven’t got a pet and wouldn’t like to have a pet, what are your reasons for not having one and not
wanting one?
4 Communicate
Work with a partner. Ask and answer questions about your pets. Use your ideas from Exercise 3.
5 Discussion
Read these statements. Decide whether you agree or disagree with them. Think of reasons for your answers.
Then discuss your answers with a partner or in a small group.
1. ‘Zoos are bad places for animals.’
2. ‘Dogs are more intelligent than cats.’
3. ‘It is good for children to have a pet.’
