English Reader-2

A. Now, complete the following sentences choosing the words
from the box.

a. He is a slow driver. He drives ...................................

b. Gita is a proud girl. She shows her new clothes ..................

c. Anjali has a sweet voice. She sings ...................................

d. My brother has a beautiful handwriting. He writes ............

e. The lion is a dangerous animal. It roars ..............................

dangerously sweetly proudly slowly beautifully

B. Answer the following. Use “-ly” words.

a. How does your teacher teach? (nice)
.S..h..e..t..e.a..c..h..e.s...n..i.c..e.l.y.....................................................................

b. How does the bird sing? (sweet)

...............................................................................................
c. How did you do in the exam? (excellent)
...............................................................................................
d. How does an elephant walk? (slow)
...............................................................................................
e. How did your mom shout? (angry)
...............................................................................................
f. How do you talk to people? (polite)
...............................................................................................
g. How does the sun shine? (bright)
...............................................................................................

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Remember: Not all the words that describe actions take “-ly”
at the end. Add at least three words that don’t take “-ly”.

Examples:

fast - fast good - well
................................... ......................................
................................... ......................................
................................... ......................................
................................... ......................................
................................... ......................................
................................... ......................................

4 Listening and speaking

A. Practise the conversation below in pairs.

Neelu : Geeta, can you
write fast?

Geeta : Yes, I can. But I
can’t read fast. I
read slowly.

Neelu : I can also write fast.
How do you read
books at home?

Geeta : I read books loudly. Do you also read
books loudly?

Neelu : No, I read books quietly.
Have a similar conversation with your partner.

152 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

B. Listen to the audio and put a tick mark in the correct box.
a. Is there a hospital near hear?
Yes No
b. Is the hospital far away?
Yes No
c. Is the hospital on the left?
Yes No

5 Learning English sounds

Listen and practise: Vowel /uː/

boot / loot hoot / toot two / tool tooth / took

Repeat the sentences after your teacher. Note the /u:/ sound in
the coloured words.

Mr. Owl took the tool near the pool.

He began to hoof and lost the tooth.

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6 Writing

Read and learn.
► Television is a box with a machine.
► We can see and hear music, dance, news, film and sports on TV.
► Many people have TV in their houses.
► I watch TV after I finish my homework.
► I watch cartoons.

Now, write similar sentences about radio.

1. .............................................
2. .............................................
3. .............................................
4. .............................................
5. .............................................

154 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

7 Reflecting

Which is your favourite cartoon character? Draw a picture
below.

Listening Script

Rose : Excuse me! Is there a hospital near here?
Jack : Yes, there’s one near here.
Rose : How far is it to the hospital?
Jack : It’s not far, maybe about 200 yards.
Rose : Could you please guide me?
Jack : It’s that way. Go straight ahead. It's on the right.
Rose : Thank you.

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Fruits and Vegetables

156 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

12 Eat Fruits and Vegetables,
Be Healthy

1 Warming up

New words

A. Look at the numbers on the pictures and write the
names of vegetables in the crossword puzzle.

12 3

4 6
5

7 9 11
8 10 14
13
12

15
16

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B. Match the descriptions with the fruits. Write number in
the circle. (All the fruits in the pictures are not described.)

1. I am yellow and monkeys like to peel
and eat me.

2. I am red and have a green 'hat'. You
can eat me in summer. I am juicy and
sweet.

3. If you eat me, it will keep the doctor
away. I can be yellow, green or red.

4. I come in green or blue. I may have
small seeds. I am sometimes used for
wine.

5. I am green outside and red inside. A
lot of me is just water, I have black
seeds.

6. I am very sour and yellow is the colour
of my skin.

7. I am used for making ropes. I am white
inside and brown on the outside. You
can also find milk inside me.

8. I grow on small trees. I am red and
can be used for jam.

9. My name is the same as that of a
colour. I may be sweet or sour. You
need to peel me to eat me.

158 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

2 Reading

Apple -Tree Princess

Once there was a princess named Tara. She was very special:
every day from morning until evening, she worked in a garden
near the palace. But the king was not happy.

“Should a king's daughter be working in an orchard?” he asked.

“But, Daddy,” she
replied, “my dream is
to grow a new kind of
apple tree. One that
isn't afraid of the cold
or a summer without
rain, or bugs.‘‘

“Ugh,” said the king,

“Why are you filling

your head with such

horrible things?

Much nicer to dream

about sweets from the palace table!”

Everyone knew the king loved to eat. The enormous cakes, pies
and sweet dishes were cooked in the palace kitchen for the king.
The king and his guests would eat so much that their stomachs
hurt, and most days they had a hard time getting to sleep. But
the next day, the cooks were again ordered to prepare another
mountain of sweets.

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The king grew very fat. It took four servants to lift him out of
bed in the morning. Soon he had a hard time moving around
by himself. Doctors were called from all over the kingdom to
examine him. Fat, they said, fat in the heart and liver. Similarly,
the queen's blood pressure was rising, and one after another the
ministers also became sick. All of them lack vitamins because
they had not eaten fruits or vegetables.

Soon there was no one left
to run the kingdom, and the
young princess put her foot
down.

“Enough!” she said. The king
and queen and everyone
else were put on a strict diet
of apples and nothing but
apples. Tara took over the
kitchen and gave lessons to
the cooks: the sour apples
went into salads and soups,
semi-sweet ones into juices and the sweet apples into jellies and
jam. They even learned how to make apple bread.

Before a week had passed everyone was feeling better. There were
no more headaches, no swelling, no pain in the heart and liver.

Soon everyone was well.

From then, the king said, "The apple tree is the symbol of our
kingdom. Every one shall plant one next to his home.”

(Adapted from https://www.kindbook.com/fruits-for-kids/apples-healthy-food.htm)

160 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

A Playing with words

A. Learn the meanings of the following words.
Words Meanings
princess a daughter of a king
orchard a fruit garden
bugs small insects
horrible not enjoyable
enormous very large
examine check

B. Make sentences using the given words.
a. princess : ………………………………………………...………

………………………………………………………………....…
b. orchard: ………………………………………………...….……
………………………………………………………………....…
c. bugs : ………………………………………………...…....….…
………………………………………………………………....…
d. horrible: ………………………………………………...…..……
……………………………………………………………….....…
e. enormous : ………………....…………………………...….……
……………………………………………………………….....…
f. examine : ………………………………………………...………

………………………………………………………………....…

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C. Match the pictures with their names.

Apple juice

Apple salad

Apple jam
Apple bread

Apple soup

162 New Nepal English Reader-2 Apple jelly

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B Working with the text

A. Fill in the blanks with the suitable words from the text.
a. The king's daughter worked in ………………………… .
b. The princess wants to grow ……………….. .
c. The king became fat because he ate a lot of …………… .
d. We get …………..from fruits and vegetables.
e. The princess put the king in the diet of ………………….. .
B. Answer the following questions.
a. Where did the princess spend the day?
………………………………………………………….....……
b. What is the dream of the princess?
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
c. What type of food did the king eat?
……………………………………………………………………
d. Who ran the kingdom when everyone became sick?
……………………………………………………………………
e. How did everyone become well?
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………

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C. Who said to whom?

Who said? To whom?
1. Should a king's ……………… ………………

daughter be working in ………………..
………………
an orchard?

2. Enough! ………………

3. The apple tree is the ………………

symbol of our kingdom.

Every one shall plant

one next to his home.

D. Think and answer
a. Did the king act differently after the apples helped him get

well? If yes, how did he act?

……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………

b. What lesson did you learn after reading this story?

……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………

164 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

3 Practising grammar comparison

The cabbage is big.
The gourd is bigger than the cabbage.
The pumpkin is the biggest of all three.

Mangoes are expensive.
Oranges are more expensive than mangoes.
Apples are the most expensive of all three.

A leopard is dangerous.
A tiger is more dangerous than a leopard.
A lion is the most dangerous of all animals.

Samip is intelligent.
Sujan is more intelligent than Samip.
Sabin is the most intelligent of all in our class.

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Make similar sentences for each of the following.
a. fox, rabbit, mouse (tactful)
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...... ....................................................................................................

b. zebra, deer, tiger (beautiful)

...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...... ....................................................................................................
c. Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur (attractive)
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...... ....................................................................................................
d. beggar, priest, nurse (polite)
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...... ....................................................................................................
e. cheetah, leopard, giraffe (fast)
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...... ....................................................................................................

166 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

4 Listening and speaking

A. Read and learn.
This is an apple.
It is round.
It is red.
It is fleshy.
It is sweet.

This is bitter gourd.
It is long.
It is green.
It is fleshy.
It is bitter.

Now talk about the followings in the same way.

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B. Read the conversation with your teacher.

Rohan : Is your dad taller than your mom?

Rohit : Oh, no. My mom’s slightly taller
than my dad.

Rohan : That’s interesting. Does she make
fun of his height?

Rohit : Not really! She says that being taller
or shorter is not a big deal if you love each other.

Have a similar conversation with your partner.

C. Listen to the audio and answer the following questions.

Questions Answers

a. Which fruit is the king of fruits? ..................................................

b. What is the taste of mango? ..................................................

c. Which is the world's most ..................................................
favourite juice?

d. Which vitamins are found in ..................................................
mangoes?

168 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

5 Learning English sounds

Listen and practise: Vowels /ʊ/ and /uː/

look / luke pull / pool full / fool

soot / suit foot / boot
Repeat the sentences after your teacher. Note the difference
between red and green words.
Where is my new suit?
I put it nearby the boot.
Who left the suit at the pool?

6 Writing

A. Read and learn.

My Favourite Fruit

My favourite fruit is banana. It has a skin which we have
to peel off. Bananas are tasty. They are good for our health.
We can make banana milk-shake, lassi and custard. I have
banana with cornflakes and milk for breakfast. Monkeys
also like to eat bananas.

B. Write a similar paragraph about your favourite vegetable.
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………….............................................

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7 Reflecting

Your friend brought a whole papaya to school. But he/she forgot
to bring a knife. How can you manage to eat the fruit?

Listening Script

Mango is my favourite fruit.
Mango is the king of fruits.
It is a very sweet and delicious fruit.
Mango juice is the world's most favourite juice.
Mango is rich in vitamins A, C and D.
We should eat sweet mangoes.

170 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

Hobbies and Interests

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13 My Hobbies

1 Warming up Hobbies

New words

A. Read and sing.



There are many hobbies out there
Most of them I do not dare
Some are jokes
Some are fun
Just to think about them
Makes me run

I don’t have a hobby
And I never will
My hands are butter
My feet are stones
I am so alone
Without a hobby of my own

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People go swimming
People are singing
While they are running

172 New Nepal English Reader-2

Me,
I am sitting all on my own
I am so alone
Without a hobby of my own

- By Heba Badr-El-Din
Find the rhyming words from the poem.
a. there : ………… b. fun: …………… c. alone: ……………..

B. What are their hobbies? Put a tick mark in the box.

going to a disco sewing
going to the theatre playing sports
going to the cinema watching matches

rowing bowling
canoeing sewing
fishing knitting

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playing the carrom rowing
playing chess fishing
playing soccer swimming

painting playing cards
drawing playing video games
singing playing chess

cooking taking photoes
making cakes jumping a rope
doing pottery taking evening lessons

174 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

2 Reading

Ibraheem's Hobby

Ever since he was two years old,
Ibraheem loved to play with coins.
He would flick it and toss it and
keep it in his pocket. Sometimes,
he would make a pile of coins and
attempt to make a tower by stacking
a lot of coins one over the other.

As he grew up, he started to collect coins as a hobby. He asked
his father who frequently travelled abroad, to give him coins
of countries he visited. His father gave him some coins from
Hong Kong and the USA. His grandmother gave him coins from
Pakistan. His aunt gave him two coins from Britain. His mother
gave him a few local coins from their own country.

Ibraheem arranged all the coins in an album that his mother
had bought for him. The album contained ten small transparent
pockets on each page to insert a coin into. Also, the names of the
countries were listed on the pages.

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Ibraheem is proud of his coins album.
He shows his album to all his friends
and teachers at school and also to
his cousins and relatives who visit
his home. They just love his album
and really appreciate his hard work
in collecting and arranging the
coins. Whenever anyone in the family goes abroad, they always
remember to give a few coins of that place for his album.

(Source: www.letsshareknowledge.com)

A Playing with words

A. Learn the meanings of the following words.
Words Meanings
flick to move quickly with fingers
stacking keeping things one top of another
frequently many times
abroad to other countries
contain to have
transparent can be seen through
insert to put
appreciate to be grateful or thankful

176 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

B. Look at the map below and find out the following countries.
Nepal Hong Kong Pakistan USA Britain

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B Working with the text

A. Write 'T' for true and 'F' for false statements.
a. Ibraheem began to play with coins at the age of two.
b. He went to the USA to collect coins.
c. His aunt is from Pakistan.
d. He kept the coins in an album.
e. Everyone likes his album.
B. Answer the following questions.
a. What did Ibraheem do with the coins?

……………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………….
b. Who helped him in collecting coins?
……………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………….
c. Describe the album that Ibraheem has?
……………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………….
d. Who sees his coins’ album?
……………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………….

178 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

C. Think and answer.
a. What do you do when you get coins from other countries?

……………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………….
b. Do you like Ibrahim's idea of collecting coins? Why?
……………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………….

3 Practising grammar gerunds

A. Rearrange the following words to make sensible sentences.
a. my mother/ likes to/ music/listening
……………………………………………………………….
b. Ana/ washing/ hates/ her dad's car
……………………………………………………………….
c. my father/travelling/by plane/loves
……………………………………………………………….
d. I /long emails/ hate/writing
……………………………………………………………….
e. Tommy/ dancing/ loves/ in the party
……………………………………………………………….
f. my friend/ getting up/ doesn't like /early
……………………………………………………………….

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B. Complete the following sentences with the help of the
words in the box.

love/loves like/likes don't like doesn't like

dislike/dislikes hate/hates

a. I ……………. eating Momos on Saturdays.

b. My sister ……………. cleaning her room.

c. She ……………. making dinner.

d. Jenish ……………. playing football with his friends.

e. My aunt ……………. watching TV at night.

f. Children ……………. watching cartoons.

g. My brother ……………. reading story books.

h. Mary ……………. sleeping in the tent.

4 Listening and speaking

A. Read and learn.

I like helping I love eating I don't like
you. Mum! soup! eating soup!

I hate staying I hate staying
at home! at home!

180 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

B. Act out the following dialogue.
Amy : Do you like learning English?
You : Yes, I do. I really like it.
Amy : What do you think of Maths?
You : I quite like it, but I prefer Science.
Amy : Do you like singing?
You : Yes, I do. But I'm not a good singer! What do you
like to do?
Amy : I like to play games, watch TV and listen to music.

C. Look at the pictures and talk about them. Then write.
a. Mr. Clark / work with computers
(like) Does Mr. Clark like working with computers?
(No, hate) No, he hates working with computers.

b. Janet / eat apples
(like)
(Yes, love)

c. the children / play football New Nepal English Reader-2 181
(like)
(Yes, like)

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d. the boy / go to the doctor
(like)
(No, not like)

e. Lucy / read books
(like)
(Yes, love)

f. The girls / jump the rope
(like)
(Yes, like)

D. Listen to the audio and complete the conversation.

Ricky : What kind of films do you like best?

Vicky : I like …………………. And you?

Ricky : I’ love action.

Vicky : Really? Who’s your favourite ………….?

Ricky : Anamol K.C.

Vicky : Don’t you watch ……………..?

Ricky : Yeah, I do.

182 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

5 Learning English sounds

Find words with the /uː/ sound below.

Thursday four few wood school sugar two
town Tuesday look choose good new

Put the /u/ words from the previous activity in the following
sentences.
a. The small boy went to ........................... .

b. I have an English class every ........................... .

c. After you finish the lesson, you should ............... a .......... work.

d. It's .......................... o' clock.

e. ............................. of my friends speak English well.

6 Writing

Write the correct -ing form of the verbs in brackets.

Hi, there! I'm Michael and you can see me in the picture
feeding the swans.

My family and I love
(1) ....................................(go) to
the park at weekends. We like
(2)...........................(have) picnics
and love (3) ..........................
(be) near the animals. My
father hates (4) ............................(cook) and my mother likes
(5) ....................... (make) sandwiches for all. My sister and

Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur New Nepal English Reader-2 183

I love (6) ........................ (play) around in the park and (7)
.............................(feed) the animals. My mother doesn't
like (8) ........................ (lie) on a blanket so she always
likes (9) ............................(bring) a tablecloth and loves
(10) ......................(watch) us while we play. The park is a very
relaxing place because we love (11) ..........(listen) to the birds
singing and we like (12) ..............(watch) the little rabbits
running around. We all like the park mainly because we love
(13) ................(be) outdoors and (14) ..................(feel) free.

Now, write a similar paragraph about your family. Talk
about what they like to do .

……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………….....

184 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

7 Reflecting

Move around the class. Collect likes and dislikes of your
friends. Complete the table below and talk about it.

Listen to Study Send Draw
music Maths e-mails pictures

Peter × ×

Listening Script
Ricky : What kind of films do you like best?
Vicky : I like comedy. And you?
Ricky : I love action.
Vicky : Really? I rarely watch them. Who’s your favourite
actor?
Ricky : Anmol K.C.
Vicky : Don’t you watch English films?
Ricky : Yeah, I do.

Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur New Nepal English Reader-2 185

Birds and Animals

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14 Let's Learn About Animals

1 Warming up New Nepal English Reader-2 187

New words

A. Read and learn.

Cats purr.
Lions roar.
Owls hoot.
Bears snore.
Crickets creak.
Mice squeak.
Sheep bleat.
But I speak!
Monkeys chatter.
Cows moo.
Ducks quack.
Pigeons coo.
Pigs squeal.
Horses neigh.
Chickens cluck.
But I say!

Flies hum.
Dogs growl.
Bats screech.
Wolves howl.
Frogs croak.
Parrots squawk.
Bees buzz.
But I talk.

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B. Match the animals with the sounds they make.

A B

A horse • • croaks

A bee • • neighs

A frog • • quacks

An owl • • speaks

A duck • • buzzes

A man • • hoots

Cats • • moo

Mice • • coo

Cows • • purr

Pigeons • • squeak

Chicken • • squawk

Parrots • • cluck

C. Find as many “animal sounds” as you can in the puzzle
below.

TNAGRUNT Hints
GC RG P UR R
HB RR S TUH bark bleat
O A R O A R GM croak growl
WR I WA I OO hiss howl
G P WNH I S S moo neigh
B L EATAKA purr roar

188 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

2 Reading

The Tactful Fox

[As in many fairy tales, the Fox is endowed with cunningness and tact.
Such stories appeal to children as they dramatise the situation in which
a less powerful animal outsmarts the powerful one.]

Once there lived an elephant
in a thick forest. He was very
old and weak. One night he
breathed his last.

Next morning, a wise fox
happened to pass that way.

He saw the dead elephant and
felt very pleased. He was sure
that he would enjoy the elephant’s flesh for a number of days.
But when he tried to eat it, he could not. The thick skin of the
elephant was too hard for the fox to bite. So, he felt very helpless.

Very clever an animal as the fox is, he didn’t feel sad. He began
to think hard as to
what to do and how
to make a hole in
the dead elephant’s
body. Just then a lion
happened to come
there. So, the fox
thought of sending
the king of the forest

Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur New Nepal English Reader-2 189

away but in the most polite manner.

The fox said to the lion, “Your Majesty! Here is a dead elephant.
I am looking after it for Your Honour. Kindly eat it so that I may
feed on your left-over.”

The lion at once said,
“Shut up, you rascal!
Don’t you know that
lions eat their own prey
only?”

“Pardon me, sir! I’m
a humble servant of
yours and it’s my duty
to make an offer to my
master,” said the fox.

The lion was very pleased to hear the flattering words of the fox
and went away smiling from there. Thus the tactful fox saved his
food from the lion.

After some time, a tiger happened to come there. The fox said to
himself, “I must send him away through a trick.” At once he hit
upon a plan and acted upon.

Saluting the tiger, the fox said, “Sir, I can’t dare say, but your life
is in danger here. So, I shall request you to go away as soon as
possible.”

“What danger?” asked the tiger angrily.

“The lion has killed this elephant. Ordering me to stand guard
here, he has gone for a bath in the river. So, I have made this
request to you,” replied the fox.

190 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

Hearing the words of the fox, the tiger was frightened. He asked
the fox not to tell the lion about his visit and left the place to save
his life.

Hardly had the tiger left the place, a leopard appeared on the
scene.

Seeing his sharp teeth, the fox made up his mind to seek help
from him without letting him eat anything.

So, the fox said to the leopard, “Hello, sir! Where have you been
all these days? I am seeing you after a long time. If I am not wrong,
you seem to be very hungry.”

“Yes, you are right, Mr Fox. I am very hungry indeed. I have not
been able to kill any prey for two days. Who killed this elephant?
by the way?” asked the leopard eagerly.

“The lion killed it and he has gone for a bath in the river ordering
me to stand guard. Even then, I don’t mind if you eat some of its

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flesh to appease your hunger. Come on, enjoy it and be off before
the lion comes,” said the fox.

Hungry as the leopard was, he began to bite the hard skin of the
elephant. The fox was looking at him very carefully. As soon as
the leopard made a hole in the elephant’s skin, the fox shouted,
“Run away, sir, the lion has come.”

Hearing this, the leopard took to his heels without even looking
back. And the fox felt very happy to be successful in his plan.

Now, the clever fox started eating the flesh of the dead elephant
without any worry.

192 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

A Playing with words

A. Rearrange the letters to form meaningful words. All the
words have been used to describe the fox in the lesson.
sewi ............................. verlec .............................

catfult ............................. ryghun .............................

leshleps............................. pahpy .............................

B. Read and learn.
This bread is thick. One piece is enough for you.
The beggar was humble, not proud.
The teacher praised me with flattering words.
We salute others saying “hello.”
Dogs stand on guard against thieves.

Now, make sentences of your own, using the coloured words
above.

thick : ...........................................................................................

humble : ..........................................................................................

proud : ..........................................................................................

flattering : ..........................................................................................

stand on guard : ......................................................................................

salute : ...........................................................................................

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B Working with the text

A. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words from the story.
a. One night the elephant ........................... his last.
b. I am looking after it for Your ......................
c. “Who killed this elephant, by the way?” asked ..................
d. The leopard had not eaten for a long time, he was
.......................
e. The lion does not eat another’s ...........................
f. The fox was very happy to be ................... in his plan.

B. Answer the following questions.
a. Where did the elephant live and die?
……………………………………………………………….

b. Why could the fox not eat the elephant’s flesh as soon as
he saw it?

……………………………………………………………….

c. Why did the lion not eat the elephant’s flesh?
……………………………………………………………….

d. How did the fox send the tiger away?
……………………………………………………………….

e. Could the leopard eat any flesh?
……………………………………………………………….

f. Why did the leopard run away?
……………………………………………………………….

194 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

C. Think and answer.
a. How was the fox able to eat the elephant’s flesh?

……………………………………………………………….

b. Who do yo think is the most powerful/strongest animal in
the forest?

……………………………………………………………….

c. Do you think animals live in a family in the forest? Explain.

……………………………………………………………….

3 Practising grammar can/can’t

A. Read and learn

A mouse can burrow tunnels.
A horse can’t burrow tunnels.

The wind can blow the cloud off.
The sun can’t blow the cloud off.

A frog can jump very high. New Nepal English Reader-2 195
A snake can’t jump.

Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur

Now complete the sentences as in the examples above.

A duck can swim. Birds can fly in the sky.

A hen .......................... Fish(es) ..........................

My sister can dance well. Fish(es) can breathe in water.
I can’t .......................... Birds ..........................

I can run very fast. Monkeys can climb trees.

My parents .......................... A buffalo ..........................

B. Ask two of your friends if they can do some of the
things in the box. Then write what he/she can or
cannot do.

Example:

I can sing.
But I cannot dance.

Student A  ..................................

Student B  .................................. Can you—
Student C  .................................. fly an airplane?
Student D  .................................. ride a bicycle?
Student E  .................................. draw pictures?
speak Chinese?
speak Maithili?
read stories?
write stories?
jump over the fence?

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4 Listening and speaking

A. Practise the conversation between in pairs.

Neelu : Geeta, can you write fast?
Geeta : Yes, I can. But I can’t read fast. I read slowly.
Neelu : I can also write fast. How do you read books at home?
Geeta : I read books loudly. Do you also read books loudly?
Neelu : No, I read books quietly.
Have a similar conversation with your partner.

B. Listening

Listen to the record and complete.
a. Mingma is from ..............................

b. He is a guitar ..................................

c. He plays the guitar ................................

d. He also likes to .....................................

e. He dances .........................................

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f. His sister Dolma is .......................................to play the guitar.

5 Learning English sounds

Listen and practise: Consonant /ð/

they / them this / that

father / leather brother / tether

Repeat the sentences after your teacher. Note the consonant
sound /ð/ in the coloured words.

What I say? They or them?
Though I know my father tell,
Doesn’t matter this or that.

6 Writing

Answer the following questions first. Then, using your own
answers, write a short description of the animal you like.
Which animal do you like the most?
How does the animal look like?
Size? Colour? Shape?
What does the animal eat?
Where does the animal mostly live?
What is this animal good at?

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…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………

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7 Reflecting

Are all animals friendly to humans? Make a list of five animals
that are not friendly but scary to us. Then ask your friend how
to remain safe from them.

Listening Script

Mingma is from Dolakha. He is a guitar instructor. He can
play the guitar well. He also can dance. He dances nicely.
His sister Dolma is learning to play the guitar. She can play
the guitar soon.

200 New Nepal English Reader-2 Approved by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur