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READ THIS
A pride of lions is attacked by poachers. The game rangers from the park must investigate and then
attempt to capture and do surgery on the bad tempered lion which has been somehow wounded.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
Already the paw was swollen with the poison and he could not put it down on the ground. When he
walked it was with a heavy limp on three legs. He had driven away other males for the two new mates
and now he was at a disadvantage should it come to a fight -- he was old too and the poisoned paw
made him sick. Each day the lionesses killed, a blue wildebeest or a big heavy oryx, and he ate, though
not to his fill. On a night when the pain grew and strung at his whole leg he began to move again. He left
the bitter waterhole and drove the two lionesses with him, limping and snarling ferociously, and they went
along at his side. They snarled back but were too subdued to do anything. They were his mates so long
as he could hold them. The three travelled away from the dry river towards the dawn, towards life. It was
night and the moon shining and no wind; a wind would smother their spoor.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
Why was the lion limping? (2)
[Need help?]
The lion, while making his escape from some poachers, stepped on a long thorn which broke off in his
pad. It was slowly poisoning his system.
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"Now he was at a disadvantage should it come to a fight."
- Why was it possible that there could be a fight? (4)
[Need help?]
As with many animal packs, only the strongest male is allowed to mate with the females. There are
periodic fights as young males challenge for dominance.
Kgam'ma was now getting old and was injured. If any young male challenged him for dominance, he
would surely lose the fight.
If that happened, Kgam'ma would be forced to leave the pride and go off on his own.
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- Is there anything strange about the fact that it is the lionesses that killed, while the male simply ate of
the kill without having helped them? (2)
[Need help?]
It seems that in most lion prides, the lionesses do the hunting while the males only join in once the animal
is quite dead and ready for eating.
Lions, like most males, are actually quite lazy creatures.
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- Why did the lion not eat his fill? (2)
[Need help?]
Kgam'ma was suffering from pain from the thorn in his pad, and was probably poisoned by it.
He therefore ate to sustain his energy and get liquid into his system, but his appetite was weakened.
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"He left the bitter waterhole."
- Why does the narrator comment that the waterhole was "bitter"? (4)
[Need help?]
The waterhole was indeed "bitter", i.e. the water there was brak and bitter to the taste. The narrator,
however, is probably also using the "bitter water"as a vehicle to personify the lion's bitterness
against humans.
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- What is the significance of this word? (2)
[Need help?]
The narrator is probably also using the "bitter water" as a vehicle to personify the lion's bitterness
against humans.
He had been hunted by poachers and later was hunted by the rangers who eventually killed him.
His existence was therefore a "bitter" one.
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"They were his mates so long as he could hold them."
- What does the narrator mean by this? (4)
[Need help?]
As with many animal packs, only the strongest male is allowed to mate with the females. There are
periodic fights as young males challenge for dominance.
Kgam'ma was now getting old and was injured. If any young male challenged him for dominance, he
would surely lose the fight.
If that happened, Kgam'ma would be forced to leave the pride and go off on his own.
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