Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. pass away
    • ex. Greg isn’t coming to work today because his grandfather passed away last night.
  2. feline
    • ex. It’s a feline sickness, so it won’t affect your dog.
  3. life expectancy
    • ex. Thanks to modern medicine, the life expectancy of humans has become longer.
  4. a kitten
    • ex. This kitten is so small; it must be only a few weeks old.
  5. equivalent
    • ex. One liter is equivalent to about four or five glasses of water.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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The world’s oldest cat, Rubble, has passed away at the age of 31. According to feline experts, the average life expectancy of cats is only around 16 to 20 years. Rubble died earlier this year, just before his 32nd birthday.

Rubble’s owner was a 52-year-old woman from England named Michelle Heritage. In an interview, Heritage said that she got Rubble as a kitten when she was only 20 years old. Heritage explained that she treated Rubble like he was her own child and let him go outside freely.

Despite living a very long life, Rubble was not the oldest cat ever recorded. Some sources claim that the longest-living cat ever was Lucy from Wales. She passed away at the record-breaking age of 39, which experts say is equivalent to the age of 172 for humans. Lucy is followed by Crème Puff from Texas, who died at the age of 38.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Owning a Pet

  • Do you think everyone should own a pet? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • What should people think about before they buy a pet (ex. medical costs, a place to keep the pet)? Why? Discuss.
  • Is it a good idea to give pets or animals as a gift? Why or why not? Discuss.

Caring for Pets

  • Do you think it's good that some people treat their pets like their own children? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do you think it's a good idea to let pets go outside freely? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • If someone treated an old pet badly, should he/she be allowed to have a new pet? Why or why not? Discuss.