UNIT TWO

CHICKEN’S LIFE

Activity 1: Speaking practice

(a) Read the following tongue twisters several times at different reading speeds

I saw a kitten eating a chicken in the kitchen

The kitten caught the chicken in the kitchen

(b) Language can be used to express the feelings of the speaker either through words or a change of voice. Say HELLO in the following speech situations. Then, determine the change of tone in each situation.

1. A friend you meet regularly
2. A friend you have not seen for a long time
3. Someone doing what he should not be doing
4. To find out if someone is following a telephone conversation

3. Find other words or phrases that can be said differently by changing the voice to express a different meaning.

For instance, come here (said in a falling tone) functions as a request, but come here (said in a rising tone) functions as a command.

4. in pairs, act out the following dialogue.

Organic chick:Hey! You, good-for-nothing chick.

Broiler: What did you call me?

Organic chick:I called you good-for-nothing chick. One of my brothers told me that is what they call you.

Broiler: Why do they call me that?

Organic chick:Because you're always kept inside, and you don't want to get out.

Broiler: Of course, yes! I'm kept inside; yet I enjoy thetreatment I get. Actually, I live like a queen.

Organic chick:Really? Living like a queen?

Broiler:Yes, I do. I don't work and get sick. My family isprotected from dangerous creatures like snakes, kites, foxes and squirrels.

Organic chick:Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You're funny. I know now how you got the name. You're a slave, not a queen.

Broiler : Me? A slave? And who are you to say so?

Organic Chick: I'm a real queen.

Broiler: What? A queen? I forgot that I'm in the world full of wonders.

Today I've met a queen whose life depends on foraging in dump sites.

Organic Chick: Yes, a queen. From dawn to dusk, I'm free to go anywhere. I choose who to chat with and have fun

Broiler: Do you also choose whether to be eaten or not?

Organic chick: No, I don't. I don't make it easy for them to do that either. They have to call many village children to catch me. I run so fast while flapping my wings and cackling.

Broiler: It doesn't matter, my friend. We're both their meat.

They keep us for that purpose. We're neither queens nor slaves.

Organic chick: You're probably right. We're both meat, yet I'm a funny kind of meat as children enjoy chasing me for slaughter.

Questions

1. how do broilers and organic chickens differ?
2. What type of chickens are kept in your area?
3. From the dialogue, read and write the sentence that contains the words or and yet

Activity 3: Reading practice

Read the story below, and answer the questions that follow.

Fluffy, the rooster

Fluffy was a young rooster who lived on a big farm with others of his kind. He spent his pleasant days foraging for food or dozing off in the shade when the afternoon sun was very hot. He played and enjoyed taking a dust bath with other chickens.

One early morning, he was woken up by the cries of his fellow chickens cock­a-doodle-do, cheep-cheep-cheep, cluck-cluck-cluck. He was still feeling sleepy; yet he managed to wake up. He thought he should just go back to sleep after a while.

He was startled by the opening of the latch in his pen. As it was still dark, he could not recognize the two figures he saw. He then heard a familiar voice. It was the farmer's voice. The farmer was with a stranger. The two men, came in with a torch that had a bright light. Fluffy did not like being awakened early in the morning. He thought something was going to happen. He did not want to be anyone's meal or at least not on that day. He felt someone grabbing his two wings. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. He was then put in a cage.

He is my favorite rooster. I believe you'll be good to him," the farmer said sadly. "Thank you very much. I'll take good care of him," the other man responded.

Fluffy was shocked! Who was that man? Where was he taking him and why? These and many other questions kept running through Fluffy's mind. He was put in the man's car and the two men bade each other farewell. He was leaving his brothers, sisters and friends behind. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, yet he did not want to cry. "I must be strong," Fluffy consoled himself.

On the way, Fluffy looked closely at the man and wondered who that man was. He had the strongest muscles Fluffy had ever seen. So, he decided to name him Muscle-Man. The man looked scary, yet he had the gentlest voice. He kept on singing different songs as he drove.

He drove for a while. When he arrived home, he was welcomed happily by his family: his pretty wife and three children. His family exclaimed, "What a beautiful rooster!" The rooster had the fluffiest golden feathers they had ever seen. He was different from the other black roosters and hens that they had around their farm.

Trouble started immediately when Fluffy was put in a coop with the other chickens. Other roosters saw how all the hens looked at Fluffy with loving eyes. They felt jealous. They all agreed to teach him a lesson. As soon as Muscle-Man left the coop, they surrounded Fluffy and attacked his soft feathers viciously with their sharp beaks. He squawked to alert Muscle-Man, yet no one came to his rescue. With deep wounds and torn flesh, Fluffy gathered his strength and ran to a corner to save his life. He felt very sad as he missed his family. He realised then that there was no place like home. Even if there was not much food, he knew that he was loved.

Two days later, Muscle-Man found blood stains on Fluffy's feathers. He put him in a separate coop with four black hens. The four hens loved and adored him. They played with him and made him feel loved.

He knew that he could be very happy and start his own family. The problem came when he crowed. He scared everyone around because he sounded like a zombie screaming.

Fluffy and his four hens had a lot of chicks. He was happier than ever. The four hens treated him so well that he forgot the pain of being taken away from home. While at Muscle-Man's home, he also forgot the mistreatment he had suffered at the hands of his fellow roosters.

Questions

(a) Write T if the statement is true and F if the statement is false

1. Fluffy began enjoying life soon after being taken to Muscle-Man's family.
2. Muscle-Man wanted Fluffy to be taught a lesson._____
3. The farmer knew that Fluffy was going to be slaughtered.____
4. Fluffy knew where he was being taken to. _____
5. "I must be strong" means that Fluffy was ready to face the challenges.

(b) Briefly answer the following questions

1. How did Fluffy spend his pleasant days?
2. Why did the other roosters attack Fluffy?
3. What did Muscle-Man do when he found blood stains on feathers?
4. What does the phrase "come to his/her rescue" mean?

Activity: Vocabulary practice

(a) Replace the underlined words in the following sentences with the words in the box that have opposite meanings

1. It was very warm outside.
2. I believe you will take care of him.
3. That man is very gentle.
4. She was a beautiful woman.
5. They said farewell to one another.
6. Please, grab that chicken.
7. She may be a little fat.
8. She was full of sorrow after hearing the news.

(b) Read the following words and construct a sentence

• Pleasant
• Cage
• Roaster
• Consoled
• Fluffy
• gentlest

Activity: Language Practice

(a) Recite the following poem.

They don't sing our praises and prides

Yet we are a better meal to them

They travel across the world to see other birds
Are we not beautiful too or are we just a meal?

I wonder and ask myself

What matters to them, sight or stomach?

Aren't we also natural alarm clocks?

We crow at dawn with no payment

But when they have a function or get a visitor

Being a natural alarm clock is forgotten

They enjoy our bodies. Calling them meat

They thank each other for the meal. but do they appreciate us?

We give them white meat

To better their health

They also consider us their source of income

What would they do without us?

(b) Use the knowledge from the poem to provide short answers to the following questions:

1 Who is speaking in this poem?

2. How does the speaker

1. Provide better health?
2. Become a source of income?

3. Why are they regarded as natural alarm clocks?

(c) Use or and yet to construct one sentence for each.

(d) Choose a word from the box to complete the sentences below.

Example

I eat rice with a spoon or with my hand.

1. Vibonde Sport Club did not play well; _____they scored a goal.
2. You can bring your work in soft copy...........hard copy.
3. I studied very hard, ............I failed the test.
4. Bring me some water.............mango juice.
5. I arrived late for work,............no one else had turned up.

Activity: Writing Practice

1. Use or and yet to fill in the blanks to complete the following story.

No one knew what had happened to him. For three days, I did not see

anyone entering his house (1) coming out of it. This was the first time I had seen no movement in his house, (2) I did not bother to find out what was going on. Two weeks later, I received information that he was in prison for theft.

2. Complete the following conversation using the words from the box.

(Glory's mobile phone rings. She is not in. It is 3:45 p.m. Her younger sister, Grace, answers the phone.)

Grace: Hello!

Majengo: Hello. Am I talking to Glory?

Grace: Sorry, this is Grace. Glory is not in yet. Who am I talkingto?

Majengo:I normally don't tell strangers my name, but, in thiscase, I guess I have to. I'm Majengo from Mwandumo.

Grace: Thank you. May I take the message for her, please?

Majengo: Of course, yes. Tell her to call me when she is back.

Grace: Can she call you any time?

Majengo: No, not anytime. She shouldn't call me late in the

evening (1) at mid-night.

Grace: Oh! I'm sorry. You seem not to be comfortable to bephoned late in the evening or at mid-night;(2) you haven't told me the time she could call you back.

Majengo: Tell her to call me at 4 p.m. (3)......................tomorrow morning

on +2551240909000.

Grace: Okay, bye.

Majengo: Bye.