Learn English #11 Intermediate | •Advanced

Read the newspaper story below, and then answer the questions that follow it.

Designer dog burns down kitchen

A pet dog caused £30,000 of damage when it turned on its owner's cooker and burnt down the kitchen.

Skylar, a three-year-old "goldendoodle", apparently started a kitchen fire when she tried to jump on the stove to get left-over pizza.

It happened after her owner Fred Haines left his home in Naperville, Illinois, to go to work, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

The designer pooch, a cross between a golden retreiver and a poodle, is believed to have switched on a hob, which ignited the cardboard underneath the pizza.

The flames spread to a nearby plastic cutting board, and then to the cabinets above the stove, Naperville fire officials said.

Haines, 32, said he had been running five minutes late: "I didn't do my typical sweep through the kitchen to make sure Skylar couldn't get at anything," he admitted.

Firefighters broke down a door after neighbours raised the alarm and rescued the unconscious Skylar. Paramedics used oxygen to revive her.

"Skylar's fur is white, but when I saw her that day, she was literally a black dog from the fire's soot and ash," Haines said.


• Text from Ananova.com

Reading comprehension

True or false?

    true false
1. Skylar is a male dog.
2. There was some food left in the kitchen.
3. The kitchen was completely destroyed.
4. There was nobody in the house when the fire occurred.
5. Neighbours saved Skylar from the fire.
       

Exercises

Fire idioms

Do you know what the words below mean? They are all related to "fire". Use the words to complete the sentences. You may need to change the form of the words.

One of the words is used twice.

fuel
smoke
burn
flare up
flame
blaze
fire

Please ensure a Java Virtual Machine is installed and enabled

What do you think?

What lessons do you think Fred Haines learned from this experience? What are some typical types of damage that pets do to the homes they live in? Is there anything you can do about this?

Have you ever had a pet that has produced serious damage in your home?

 

More exercises

 


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