Mister — what is that supposed to be?” Oral Comprehension Check What game had Mij invented? What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of (i) school children (ii) Mij? What group of animals do otters belong to?
. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was? barrage of conjectural questions a stream of questions filled with guesses What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love? What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter? What Mij does How Mij feels or thinks plunges, rolls in the water and makes the water splosh and splash Screws the tap in the wrong way Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane . Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.
Maxwell’s description (i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy. (ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does. (iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does. (iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.
(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully. (vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter. (vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual. I.
Describing a Repeated Action in the Past To talk about something that happened regularly in the past, but does not happen any longer, we use would or used to . Both would and used to can describe repeated actions in the past. (a) Mij would follow me without a lead and come to me when I called his name. (b) He would play for hours with a selection of toys.
(c) On his way home… Mij would tug me to this wall. (d) When I was five years old, I used to follow my brother all over the place. (e)