A cat called Willow
You stayed all night at the office Shirley? That's way above and beyond the call of duty. But I hope it pays off. I'll have my fingers and toes crossed that you do well in the competition. Be sure to let us know how you get on.
Do you have a dog? I'm neither a dog or a cat person. I don't have any pets at all and didn't have any either, when I was growing up. You might think that's unusual, especially if you know what my dad was and one of my sisters is – a vet!
My sister lives in Australia and it was her surgery over there that was featured in The Flatmates, when Khalid took the cat to see the vet.
Even though I don't have any pets, there's a local cat that likes to come and visit. She's completely white, her name is Willow and she belongs to my neighbour, a few doors down. She jumps onto our back shed, has a wander around the garden and then comes to the back door and asks very politely to come in. For ages, we didn't let her in, but last week we capitulated and she tip-toed in and had a good nosy around our sitting room.
She's really tame and likes to be stroked. I wonder if this is the beginning of me finally become a cat person!
Your writing is very fluent and easy for me (and everyone else, I'm sure) to understand. You also have a lovely chatty style, which is just right for a blog.
Here are a couple of things for you to look at: countable and uncountable nouns, and prepositions. (I'm sure you know them both fine. This is just a bit of revision, really.)
With countable nouns, we put an s on the end to make plural (dog, dogs, cat, cats). But with uncountable nouns, when we want to talk about more than one of them, we don't put an s on the end (for example, it's luggage not luggages and furniture not furnitures). Of course sometimes uncountable nouns can be made into plurals with an s (We had 3 cheeses after dinner last night) And that could be the case with work – We saw 4 different works of Picasso's at the gallery. But in general, this word is a regular uncountable noun. So, can you see what the problem is here?
… several chosen finalists should present their works.
And sticking with that sentence, there's also a problem with the preposition. Any guesses what you should have written here, instead of in front of?
… several chosen finalists should present their works in front of the judges
Going back to our singular and plural nouns – dogs are countables and when we talk about liking or disliking them, we're talking about the animals in general. So how would you change this sentence?
I think dog is adorable
I loved your dog and cat ad. One of my favourite ads has a gorilla in it. Here's the link to it on youtube:
Vocabulary
above and beyond the call of duty – more than you have to do or obliged to do
a few doors down – a house that is close by but not the one right next door
capitulated – gave in and accepted defeat
tip-toed – if you walk on tip-toes you walk very quietly, on your toes
had a good nosy – looked around (in a nosy or inquisitive way)
tame - (used to talk about animals) the opposite of wild. If an animal is tame, you can stroke it, play with it, and feed it without being scared that it will hurt you
Hope you have a good weekend. All the best,
Nuala
PS Thanks for all your lovely comments. You've made me feel very welcome here. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better over the next wee while.
Comments
Hello Nuala, We welcome you as a teacher blogger. Infact, I was just thinking to write comment on your first entry the moment I opened the bbcle website your second entry is appeared. Anyway, I'm Mahjabeen from Pakistan. I'm not a regular commentator but I mostly read the blogs. I like your favourite ad. Gorilla loves choclate :). I'm a pet lover and I've few Australian parrots at my home. I'd few cats too for some time but I think cats are cute but are not loyal and I've found that dogs are very loyal to their owner, isn't it? In Pakistan, one can find stray cats alot and they also love to get stroked:). Here is my HW.First one is: several chosen finalists should present their work. Second one: several chosen finalists should present their work to the judges. Third one is: I think dogs are adorable. Have a splendid weekend!. Bye Bye.
Hi Nuala, I like the way you are telling the tales.I adore it.I can undestand all your sentances,but I can't retell.It's obvious lack of practices.Concerning your task you set,here is my an answer. Several chosen finalist should present their works opposite the judges. My warm regards to you and have a fun.
Hello Nuala. I enjoy blogging by and large because of meeting interesting people from around the world. And, of course, everyone of blog people has an opportunity to improve writing skills. I’m looking forward to your fresh and fair posts. As for dogs & cats, I consider myself as neither dog nor cat person. I have not dared yet to keep any four-pawed creature, because I’m pretty sure it’s exactly the same as a kid! Honestly I’m not ready to have one more kid.
Hi Nuala. I'm a begginer blog reader. I've found your posts really easy to follow and understand for people like me who aren't very good enough at English. You will love the cat!
Hi Nuala, How was your weekend like? I hope you had a fantastic weekend. My husband and my son sometimes drive me to the wall because they listen to the song ‘Gorilla Drummer’ over and over in the car, beat the dashboard and the steering wheel with great enthusiasm. It sounds like the cracking of beans or machine guns. I can’t deny my liking of the ad as it makes me smile although it puts me off from time to time. By the way, I’ve managed to finish the homework. the answers are… .…several chosen finalists should present 1) their work 2)to the judges 3) Dogs are adorable. I’ll wait for your corrections. Take good care of yourself!
Hello Nuala! It´s nice to see you here as our teacher blogger. Although I think dogs and cats are lovely creatures, I could never have one of them as a pet, because I wouldn´t be able to take care of the poor little once I spend a great deal of my time working and at the university. Good bye and take care, Ana Paula.
Hello Nuala and welcome! I love animals but I do not want to be an animal person and the reason is the attachment which you have with them and it's really hard especially when your pet dies. Recently my sister found a kitten which was about four weeks old and it was starving she brought it with her gave some food and now she is living with us permanently. This little kitten has made us think about all those stray cats who can't have proper food and shelter and are vexed by naughty kids but animals can't be kept in homes for a long time or maybe they themselves start to feel like prisoners with us. The corrections to the sentences are: their work, to the judges and dogs are adorable. Looking forward to the correct answers. Take care, Naheed
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