Colin and the Frog

8/11/2019 Colin and the Frog

1/3

Colin and the FrogMina ja teised

Tugevused ja nrkused, viisakusreeglid

Loodus ja loodus kaitse

Keskkonnhoidlik ja sstlik kitumine

Colin was out for a walk at night in a lonely part of town when there was a sudden rustle in the

hedge. For a moment Colin stood absolutely still. Then he saw in the light from a street lampthat a large frog was sitting at his feet. It turned round, then hopped slowly away across the road.

Collin followed it. There was something very pleasant about meeting a living creature in this

dark empty place. The frog stopped once again and once more changed direction. This time it set

off down the middle of the road.

Collin saw a light coming nearer probably a bicycle and realized that the frog was in danger

of being run over. e picked the frog up gently in both hands, and carried it over to the hedge at

the side of the road. e found a gap big enough to put his arms through and s!uatting down, put

the frog through the hedge into the wet grass on the other side. It kicked sharply against his

hands and disappeared in the darkness. Colin stayed in his s!uatting position, listening to hear if

the frog returned. Frogs, he had read, were becoming very scarce because so many waterways

were being dried out or were polluted. This frog at least had a good chance of survival.

e heard bicycle tires on the gravel and someone stopped and got off. " strong light made it

impossible for Collin to see. e rose to his feet, shielding his eyes with his hand.

#$ood evening, sir.% The voice belonged to a policeman.

#$ood evening,% said Collin, #I do wish you&d put that light out.%

The light continued to shine full in his face.

#'ut for a walk, are you, sir(%

Collin hated being called #sir%. It made him certain that the man was being sarcastic.

#)es, I&m out for a walk.%#*alk this way often, do you, sir(%

#+ot very often.%

#o you know whose property that is, the other side of the hedge(%

Collin shook his head. #+o, I don&t,% he said. The policeman looked at him carefully.

#)ou&re not from this town, are you, lad(

#+o.% #-ad% was better than #sir%, Collin thought. ut still patronizing.

#/cotch, are you(%

#/cottish, corrected Colin. %)es. From undee. ut we live here now.%

The policeman took out a notebook from his pocket.

#)ou&d better tell me your name, lad.%

#ut why( I&ve done nothing wrong.%#Collin 0cIver.%

#"ddress(%

#Thirty1seven 0anor /treet. ut...%

#Thirty seven 0anor /treet,% the policeman repeated slowly as he wrote.

Then he looked up.

#-ive there with your parents(%

#)es.%

#ow long have you lived there(%

#/ince we came from /cotland, about eighteen months.%

#undee, you said. *hat was your address in undee(%

#Fourteen, lair Terrace. -ook...%#$ot a 2ob, have you(%

#)es, I work in a bookshop.%


2/3

#*hat bookshop(%

#oes it matter(%

#Whatbookshop(%

#The children&s bookshop in igh /treet, if you must know. It&s run by 0rs elen "nthony. I&ve

been there since I left school in the summer. "nything else(%

#on&t be cheeky, lad.% The policeman snapped his notebook, shut and put it back into his

pocket. Then he again turned his torch light on to Colin&s face. #"ll right. +ow, suppose youtell me what you were doing down there by the hedge. on&t say you were out for a walk,

because you weren&t. )ou were s!uatting down.% The policeman turned his torch away from

Collin&s face, down to the place where he had been s!uatting, and inspected it for a moment or

two as if hoping to see something important there. e returned the light to Collin&s face then

switched it off.

#Come on, lad, # he said in the darkness. #-et&s have it. $iving the place the once1over, were

you( Coming back later with your friends to see what you could find(%

#+o3% Colin was furious. #0ost certainly not3%

#*hat then( *aiting for a couple of girls to come along( +ice dark road, isn&t it( 'r even

better, a girl on her own. 4h(

Colin was really losing his temper now. e felt like hitting him. #If you mustknow,% he said,tight1lipped with anger. #I was putting a frog through the hedge.%

#" what(%

5" frog, man3 F161'1$3frog %

#+o need to be rude, son.%

#+o need(% Collin&s /cottish sense of 2ustice had been much offended.

e saw red. #+o need( $ood -ord, you have my name, my address, my place of work, my

employer what more d&you want( I came out for a walk1 and as far as I know there&s no law

against that and I very nearly stepped on a frog and you may know or may not know that the

number of frogs is !uickly decreasing. /o I picked it up and put it through the hedge so it

shouldn&t get stepped on or run over.% Collin flung out his arms. # +ow what&s the matter with

that( *hat was I supposed to do( /tep on the frog( 'r look round first to see that I wasn&t being

watched by a policeman( )ou tell me3%

Collin stuck out his chin angrily, half e7pecting the policeman to carry him off to the station.

ut to Collin&s astonishment the policeman 2ust laughed !uietly as he hooked his torch back on

to his belt.

#*ell,% he said, #I&ve heard some funny ones, but frogs3%

e shook his head in amusement.

#I&m glad you think it&s funny,% said Colin still mad.

#*e&ve got our 2ob to do,% said the policeman, irritated with Colin for his lack of humour.

#If you are fond of taking evening walks, sir, I would suggest that you do it in the better1lit parts

of the town. $oodnight.%e got on his bike and went away.

y "lison 8rince

TALKING TOGETHER

9 *hat was Colin doing by the hedge(

: ow did he notice that someone stopped and came up to him(

; The policeman showed a very suspicious attitude. $ive e7amples.

< *hy do you think he was sure that Collin was doing something wrong(

= *hy was Collin trying to save the frog(

> ow did Collin feel towards the policeman(

? ave you been wrongly accused when you were doing something !uite all right( *hat happened then(

/84"@ A8 B *6ITI+$


3/3

*ork in pairs. 6etell the story to each other with the help of the pictures and the key1words.

*rite a summary afterwards. 9=D wordsE

*alk, road, nearly, step on sth, frog

anger, run over, carry, hedge, hop away

icycle, policeman, light, sarcastic, sir, lad

+otebook, !uestion, name, address, parents, work

Torch, Colin&s face, hedge, suspicious, furious, offended

-augh, funny story, still mad, bicycle, ride away

USING A DICTIONARY

0indmapping

0ake up a mind map using the key word animals.

Include about 9=1:D words. "bout half of them should be the words that you didn&t know before.

0ake sure you learn how to pronounce them too.

*ork in pairs and look at your classmate&s map. ow many words did you learn from your

classmate(

LANGUAGE UNCTIONS$etting "ngry and @eeping Cool

In the story you&ve 2ust read, Colingotvery angr!and had difficulties in "##$ing %ool

-earn the phrases below. +otice that there are different words for being more or less angry.

$et annoyedupset

-ose one&s temper

$et mad

/ee red

Calm down

@eep cool

Take it easy

8ull oneself together

Some School Jokes

Teacher You missed your school yesterday, didnt you

!u"il #ot a $it sir%

Sally &ould you "unish a "u"il 'or something she didnt do

Teacher (' course not%

Sally )ood, * havent done my home+ork%

The class +as asked to +rite an essay on the su$ject o' motorcars%

(ne "u"il handed in the 'ollo+ing%

My 'ather $ought a ne+ car last +eek and no+ it +ont start%

This is a$out t+enty +ords% The other one hundred and eighty are +hat he said a$out it

and are not 'or "u$lication%

Documents

Colin and the Frog