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Do-it-yourself dog-friendly neighborhoods

(Quiz By Jon Fernquest)

Here is a short article and quiz about stray dogs. Answer the questions based on what the article says.

stray dog - dog without owner living in the street

How does a nice dog become a stray dog?

Many dogs are abandoned, thrown away like used tissues when they grew out of cute puppyhood, discarded when their owner moved house or went on holiday or abandoned when they became pregnant. They go from adored to dumped in a minute.

1. Love for cute puppies lasts forever. (True/False)

Consider it from the animal's point of view. From a very young age she's enjoyed being the centre of attention: Fed snacks, cuddled and played with. No one's ever bothered to teach her appropriate behaviour or good manners, she's way too cute for that. Then she grows up, she chews things, she digs holes in the garden, she barks ... and worst of all, now she's got a whole pack of boyfriends hanging around outside. Suddenly she's not the flavour of the month any more and before she knows what's happening she finds herself standing in an unfamiliar street watching the back of the car recede from view. She's scared, she's lonely, she's thirsty, she's hungry and she doesn't feel so good. Well, tough luck little lady, this is your life from now on. And don't forget the eight puppies you'll be looking after in a few weeks - if you can find a safe place to deliver them and if you don't die from starvation or injury in the meantime.

2. What does a puppy not do? a. Eat food their owner gives them. b. Chew things they shouldn't chew. c. Give birth to eight baby puppies. d. Be cuddled by their owner.
3. When an owner abandons a dog, the dog feels all emotions below except:
a. Hunger
b. Adventure.
c. Loneliness.
d. Fear.

For those already running the gauntlet of an ever-increasing pack of mangy mutts or caterwauling kitties just to get to their front door, can anything be done?

Yes, but before even considering it, the removal of all the stray dogs and cats from your moo baan - and condemning them to death by doing so - isn't going to solve the problem. There are an estimated 300,000 stray dogs and 500,000 stray cats in Bangkok.

4. If you abandon your dog, you are: a. helping your village. b. helping your mother and father. c. increasing cute dogs in the neighborhood. d. sending your dog to its death.

A street empty of stray animals is an open invitation for strays from other areas to come and have a party - especially when food is provided in the form of garbage and littering. They'll come pouring in, fighting and breeding all over again. Better to learn to live with the ones you already have.

There's one simple thing every pet owner can and should do: Sterilise their pet. And please, don't dump.

5. If all the strays in your neighborhood are destroyed, new strays will come and make it their home because: a. your garbage is delicious. b. strays love quiet empty places. c. you sent those other dogs to their death. d. these new strays are the ghosts of the old strays.
6. Dump your pet, don't sterilise it. (True/False)

If you're already surrounded by stray animals in your area, listen up, why not get together and tackle the problem effectively through animal birth control? Talk to your local vet and enlist his help. Find out how much he'll charge to give the strays the snip and rabies vaccinations. If you all chip in, you could quickly stabilise the stray population by getting them sterilised. No more pups getting squished in the street. No more dog fights. No tomcats keeping you up all night with their delightful singing.

Introduce a clean feeding programme in an unobtrusive area and you've got yourself a cohesive, healthy and happy bunch of canines or felines who will prevent other animals from entering your neighbourhood - because they sure won't want to share their good fortune with others!

7. If you start a neighborhood sterilisation and feeding programme, you will have more: a. rabies vaccinations. b. dead dogs run over by cars. c. happy pets. d. dog fights.

[Adapted from "Some simple approaches can help control Bangkok's homeless cat and dog population," By BILLIE MINSHALL, 26-08-2007]

If you would like advice on starting your own sterilisation project, email SCADbangkok (formerly Soi Dog Rescue) at info@scadbangkok.org. To learn more, see www.SCADbangkok.org/

Answers:

1. False.
2. c (give birth)
3. b (Adventure)
4. d (Sending dog to its death)
5. a. (garbage is delicious)
6. False.
7. c. (happy pets)

Posted by Jon Fernquest at 05:05 PM

Weekly words (June 18 - June 22)

Each week, I usually define well over a hundred words in our general news section. Hopefully, you are using this section to build your vocabulary. Here is a crossword puzzle to help you remember some of the words I defined during the past week.

Important: This is an interactive crossword which means you can enter the words and check whether they are correct at the end. At the beginning, be sure to look at the top of the webpage to see if your browser is blocking the clues from being seen. If it is, click to "unblock" the content.

When you get to the crossword, click on any of the clues on the right side. When you click on a clue, the blanks for the word in the puzzle will change colour. Fill in the blanks and try another clue. Notice that you can get hints and you can even get the whole word if you need to.

Click here to start.

For a version of the same puzzle that you can print on paper, click here.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 01:19 PM

A robbery story

To do this quiz in an interactive format where your answers are checked for you, click here.

This story is a typical robbery story and it shouldn't be difficult for you. Read the full story and try to understand what happened before you look at the questions. By understanding the main facts of the story, you won't confused by the details in the questions.

Pair escape with B3.5m from security van

Two armed men robbed a security van at a branch of Bank of Ayudhya in Suan Luang district yesterday and made off with 3.5 million baht in cash.

The robbery occurred at the branch on the Rama IX-Srinakarin road.

Two guards employed by Siam Administrative Management were held up at gunpoint as they were taking bags of money from the bank to their van.

Rachan Janrasmee said he and his colleague, Pongsak Khamwong, left the company premises in Wang Thonglang district to collect money from customers. The Rama IX-Srinakarin bank branch was the eighth stop on their route.

The crowded parking space at the bank forced them to park at the back, on Soi Rama IX 60, and walk to the bank. They were carrying bags containing 3.5 million baht out to the van when they were robbed.

Mr Rachan said the two men came at them from behind and held them at gunpoint while they were unlocking the vehicle’s safe door. The robbers told them to lie face down and took the money bags to a pick-up truck.

One robber was in his 30s and the other was probably in his 40s, Mr Rachan said.

When police checked the pick-up truck’s licence plate number, they found it was fake.

Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Maj-Gen Kritsada Pankongchuen said the two employees had been detained for investigation to see if they had a hand in the robbery.

Siam Administrative Management delivery division chief Visan Vitkamchorn said Mr Rachan and Mr Pongsak had unblemished work records.

He said the van was equipped with a global positioning system.

The firm’s cash delivery vans have been robbed twice and each time police have arrested the culprits, he said.

Choose the best answer for each of the following questions according to information from the story.

1. The robbery in the story occurred
a. at the Siam Administrative Management Company
b. in a crowded parking area in front of a bank
c. inside the lobby of a bank
d. behind a bank

2. The two robbers in the story ...
a. fooled the guards by acting as customers.
b. collected money from bank customers.
c. used guns to force the guards let them take the money.
d. captured two bank employees whom they took with them when they got away.

3. The guards in the story
a. are strongly suspected to be part of the plan to rob the bank.
b. had never had a problem in their work before.
c. had been robbed several times before.
d. tried to fight the robbers off but were unsuccessful.

4. Altogether the bank guards and their van were carrying
a. more than 3.5 million baht.
b. exactly 3.5 million.
c. less than 3.5 million baht.

5. The two robbers
a. were probably teenagers.
b. were in their early twenties.
c. were probably both more than thirty.
d. the story doesn't say.

6. Which detail is true about the two robbers?
a. This is the third time they have robbed this company.
b. They escaped from the scene of the robbery in a van.
c. They unlocked the vehicle carrying the money and took everything inside.
d. The license plate they had on their vehicle wasn't real.

7. The word unblemished in the third-to-last paragraph means
a. perfect
b. satisfactory but not outstanding.
c. poor
d. unreliable

8. The word culprits in the final paragraph refers to
a. bank employees
b. wrongdoers
c. cash delivery employees
d. police investigators

Answers

1. d 2. c 3. b 4. a (It was their eighth stop) 5. c 6. d 7. a 8. c

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:00 AM

Weekly words (June 11 - June 15)

Each week, I usually define well over a hundred words in our general news section. Hopefully, you are using this section to build your vocabulary. Here is a crossword puzzle to help you remember some of the words I defined during the past week.

Important: This is an interactive crossword which means you can enter the words and check whether they are correct at the end. At the beginning, be sure to look at the top of the webpage to see if your browser is blocking the clues from being seen. If it is, click to "unblock" the content.

When you get to the crossword, click on any of the clues on the right side. When you click on a clue, the blanks for the word in the puzzle will change colour. Fill in the blanks and try another clue. Notice that you can get hints and you can even get the whole word if you need to.

Click here to start.

For a version of the same puzzle that you can print on paper, click here.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 05:42 PM

A storm in the Gulf

To take this quiz in an interactive format in which your answers are checked for you, click here.

This quiz covers a story about a bad rain and wind storm in the area of the world that normally doesn't get such a storm. Read it and then answer the questions that follow.

Cyclone lashes Oman

Storm suspends oil, gas exports for second day

REUTERS

Dubai — Cyclone Gonu pummelled Oman yesterday, halting oil and gas exports for a second day and forcing thousands to flee the coast, but it weakened as it moved through the Arabian Sea, a major route for Gulf oil shipments.

The storm, which peaked to a maximum-force Category Five hurricane on Tuesday, has been downgraded to a Category One hurricane, with a maximum sustained wind speed of about 120kph, the US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said.

Oman’s meteorology department said the storm’s centre made landfall in Oman around midnight and was moving northwest to Muscat, bringing torrential rains, strong winds and high waves.

‘‘The eastern region has absorbed most of the impact but we expect the rain to continue tonight and early tomorrow as the cyclone moves northwest over Oman,’’ director Ahmed al-Harthi said.

‘‘There could be local rainfall on Friday but it should have finally dissipated by then.’’

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said the storm would reach Iran in the next two to three days but would continue to weaken.

A senior Iranian oil official said the cyclone was not expected to disrupt supplies from Opec’s number two exporter as its main terminals were inside the Gulf waterway.

In Oman, however, the country’s only outlet for 650,000 barrels per day of crude exports, Mina al-Fahal, was shut for a second day as was the Sur terminal, which handles 10 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas.

The United Arab Emirates’ eastern port of Fujairah on the Arabian Sea has been cleared of anchored vessels and is closed to all ships until further notice.

The state news agency said more than 100 ships are anchored along the Fujairah coastline and around 180 vessels, mainly oil tankers, pass through the area daily.

Lieutenant-Commander Marn Balolong, meteorologist on the USS

Nimitz, which is in the Gulf, said it would be unsafe for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in the next 48 hours but said they would speed up after that to return to schedule.

But shipping sources said there had been no disruption to oil tanker transit so far.

Meanwhile, strong winds and heavy rain turned the deserted streets of Muscat into rivers as people heeded warnings to stay at home or shelter in buildings that could withstand strong winds.

‘‘So far we have not confirmed any casualties. But the power is out and phones are disconnected in many areas so we just don’t know for sure,’’ Abdallah al-Harthi, spokesman for the Oman relief committee, said.

Choose the best answer for each of the following according to information given in the story.

1. This story was published when
a. the storm was at its strongest.
b. the storm was finished.
c. the storm was beginning.
d. the storm was losing strength.

2. The area hit hardest by the storm was
a. Oman.
b. United Arab Emirates.
c. Iran.
d. the Strait of Hormuz.

3. The highest winds measured in the storm were
a. 120 kph.
b. slightly less than 120 kph.
c. slightly more than 120 kph.
d. much more than 120 kph.

4. It is clear that for a while the storm stopped
a. all oil exports in the area.
b. most, but not all, oil exports in the area.
c. very little of the oil exports in the area.
d. all economic activity in the area.

5. The story says the people of Muscat "heeded" warnings. This means they:
a. failed to pay any attention to them.
b. were late in taking the warnings seriously.
c. followed the warnings seriously.
d. were not aware of the warnings.

6. According to the story, how many people were killed or injured in the storm?
a. None
b. It was unclear when the story was published
c. Less than 10
d. More than 10

7. From the story, if you were the captain of a large tanker travelling in the Gulf at the time the story was published, it would be best to
a. head for the port of Fujairah.
b. head for the Mina al-Fahal terminal.
c. simply keep going.
d. turn around and go back.

8. Which word from the story is similar in meaning to "weakened"?
a. lashed (headline)
b. pummelled (paragraph 1)
c. peaked (p2)
d. dissipated (p5)

Answers

1. d
2. a
3. d
4. b
5. c
6. b
7. c
8. d

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:09 AM

Weekly words (June 4 - June 8)

Each week, I usually define well over a hundred words in our general news section. Hopefully, you are using this section to build your vocabulary. Here is a crossword puzzle to help you remember some of the words I defined during the past week.

Important: This is an interactive crossword which means you can enter the words and check whether they are correct at the end. At the beginning, be sure to look at the top of the webpage to see if your browser is blocking the clues from being seen. If it is, click to "unblock" the content.

When you get to the crossword, click on any of the clues on the right side. When you click on a clue, the blanks for the word in the puzzle will change colour. Fill in the blanks and try another clue. Notice that you can get hints and you can even get the whole word if you need to.

Click here to start.

For a version of the same puzzle that you can print on paper, click here.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 12:28 PM

August 28, 2007

Do-it-yourself dog-friendly neighborhoods

Answers:

June 22, 2007

Weekly words (June 18 - June 22)

June 19, 2007

A robbery story

Pair escape with B3.5m from security van

June 15, 2007

Weekly words (June 11 - June 15)

June 12, 2007

A storm in the Gulf

Cyclone lashes Oman

June 08, 2007

Weekly words (June 4 - June 8)