Telling strange tales

Most of the space in the newspaper is taken up by the major stories of the day. These days that means war, disease, politics, crime and sports. However, on any day there are short, often interesting stories that are fun to share. This lesson is based on five of those.

First, read each of the stories and notice the words in bold print. Use the way they are used in the story to match them with the following meanings.

1. a famous escape artist
2. a serious crime
3. any small animal of the group with strong sharp front teeth
4. behaving violently, especially in a public place
5. biting or chewing something so that it gradually disappears
6. brave, exciting or interesting acts
7. carrying a weapon, especially a gun
8. changed direction suddenly
9. creates a threat or problem that has to be dealt with
10. found oneself in a particular place or situation
11. moved by shaking your hips and shoulders
12. ran suddenly often because of fear
13. to bring or get something back, especially from a place it should not be
14. to move in a violent or uncontrolled way

Now that you have learned the vocabulary for all the stories, read it again so that you understand it completely.

OUR STORIES FROM THE BANGKOK POST

‘Amok’ cow shot

A cow that escaped from a cattle market on Thursday enjoyed only a brief taste of freedom before it was shot dead by police who said they had no choice but to target the runaway animal as it bolted through Chippenham in southern England. "The animal was running amok and a decision was made to dispatch an armed response unit to try to contain it," a police spokesman said. "It was obvious the animal could not be captured and posed a significant danger to human life." Police tried to drive the cow into a field but it turned and charged officers. — AP

Pretend that you are the police spokesperson holding a press conference to explain what happened and why the cow had to be shot. Be prepared to answer questions from members of the press and public.

Mouse halts plane

Zurich — A missing mouse grounded a Swiss airliner for more than a day as airline officials pumped carbon dioxide into the plane's cargo hold to kill the rodent Houdini . The mouse, being transported to a laboratory from Mexico, escaped from its container on a flight from Boston to Zurich on Wednesday, a spokesman for Swiss International Air Lines said on Friday. To prevent the rodent from gnawing on cables or cargo on future flights, the airline pumped carbon dioxide into the Airbus hold and let it stand for 24 hours. The spokesman said using cheese or a cat to retrieve the mouse — nicknamed Speedy Gonzalez — "would have taken much more time" and that it would not have suffered. The mouse was never found. The airline had to cancel a flight from Zurich to New York and back as a result, and diverted a flight from Geneva to pick up stranded passengers. — Reuters

Pretend that you are the spokesperson for the airline holding a press conference to explain what happened and why it was necessary to use carbon dioxide to get rid of the mouse. Be prepared to answer questions from members of the press and the public.

‘Spider Granny’

Hong Kong — An 80-year-old widow scaled the outside of a Hong Kong high-rise block to retrieve a pair of jeans which fell from her ninth floor apartment, police said yesterday. "Spider Granny" shimmied down a drainpipe after her son's jeans fell from a washing line outside her apartment block onto a balcony two floors down. She got stuck as she tried to climb back up, however, and had to be rescued by firemen who pulled her to safety on the seventh floor, police said. The woman's 42-year-old son, whose jeans cost him about 1,000 baht, was sleeping at the time of his mother's exploits in Hong Kong's Kwai Chung district on Monday. The widow told police afterwards she shimmied down the drainpipe because she didn't wanted to disturb her neighbours downstairs by knocking on their door. — dpa

Pretend you are the son in this story. Explain to your neighbours why your mother went down the drainpipe to retrieve your jeans. Be prepared to explain why you were asleep and didn’t wake to help her.

Alligator in car

Tampa — Leslie Strickland said she had nothing but good intentions when she loaded a badly hurt two-metre-long alligator into the back seat of her car and took it home. The 49-year-old American woman had hit the animal with her car on Friday night and went back to rescue it on Saturday — but wound up spending a night in jail, charged with possession of an alligator, a felony in Florida. Police also charged her with driving with a suspended licence and leaving the scene of an accident, leaving the injured alligator in the back seat. "I knew I was in trouble, and I panicked and I left," Ms Strickland said. When the alligator started to thrash its tail she veered off the road and hit a mailbox. The game commission later removed the alligator from the car but it died later. — AP

Pretend you are the woman in this story and you have been asked to appear on a television talk show to tell your story. Be prepared to answer questions from the audience about how the accident happened and why you left the scene.