Question

My husband Pele and I were staying in a holiday house overlooking the beautiful, lush

rainforests of Indonesia. The glass walls framed a fine view across the Bagon

Valley to what had been the summer palace of President Suharto.

The first morning we strolled hand in hand up a winding pathway, heading to the

main building for breakfast. But once we arrived at the dinning room, I realized 5

we‟d forgotten our money, so I volunteered to run back to the house. Making my

way down the path, I turned the last corner only to find a giant bird, similar to an

emu, standing outside our front door.

“Hey baby, what are you doing?” I cooed, moving slowly so as not to frighten it.

Having a deep, abiding fascination with all creatures great and small, I wanted a 10

closer look. This was my first mistake.

As I came within a few meters, he took a big breath and let out a nasty hiss, stopping

me in my tracks.

“That‟s not very friendly,” I said, clueless. He hissed again and I promptly made the

second mistake of turning and running, instead of backing away slowly. As I 15

rounded the corner I heard his razor-sharp claws scrabbling on the cobblestones.

“Oh!”

His steps sounded like a drum as they hit the ground, quickly coming too close for

comfort. I suddenly changed direction and headed into the trees. Dodged in and out

of the foliage. I hoped my tactic would fool him. A crash behind me indicated no 20

such luck.

Jumping over a small bush, I found myself out in the open and not far from the dining

room. Picking up speed, I bolted over the plants and rockeries surrounding the

perimeter and dashed through the gate. When I turned to close it, the bird was

nowhere to be seen. I didn‟t realize it and at the time, but I had just come face to face with a cassowary, a

bird also found in Australia‟s north Queensland rainforests. Cassowarys weigh 55

kilos or more, stand about 180 centimeters tall and have saber-like toenails that can

open a human from chin to groin like a zipper and kill humans.

“What‟s wrong?” Pele asked as I stumbled back into the dinning room.

“A big bird chased me all the way from the house,” I replied.

30

“What?” he asked incredulously. “You‟re scared of a bird?”

“It‟s as big as me and very mean,” I said in a rather sulky voice.

“Oh, all right,” he laughed. “I‟ll come with you.”

Much to Pele‟s amusement, I stayed behind him on the path and held onto the back

of his shirt as we approached the corner of the house.

35

“See! There it is. Look at the size of the thing!”

Pele chuckled at the hysteria in my voice. “It‟s all right,” he soothed.

Calmly and confidently he walked toward the cassowary.

“Shoo! Go on, get out,” he said.

He made actions with his arms as if it were a pigeon on a window ledge. The

40

response of the cassowary was the same as before: a big hiss and a step forward.

“Hmm,” said Pele and stopped, not so sure of himself. He tried again. “Go on.”

The cassowary then ran a few paces at us, hissing aggressively, so we quickly

retreated around a corner of the house. Pele picked up a rock the size of his hand and

threw it hard, hitting the bird squarely in the chest. It didn‟t budge.

45

“What are we going to do?” I pleaded. This time, Pele picked up a cane chair.

“Stay behind and I‟ll keep him back. When we get to the door, open it.”

Again I held on to the back of his shirt and we started towards the door. This greatly

displeased the already annoyed cassowary. Charging at us he ripped at the chair with

those lethal claws. Pele stopped to steady the chair – and possibly his resolve.

50

Pele threw the chair at the bird and slammed the door shut.

Ducking the flying cane, the bird ran straight at the glass wall, only to bounce off.

But it didn‟t slow down at all. Pecking and scratching at the glass, it continued the

assault with a sickening ferocity. 55

It was another 15 minutes before the bird weakened and slowed its attack. Thirty minutes

later, we quietly opened the door and crept back to the main building.(a) Give the meanings of the following words as used in the passage.

One word answers or short phrases will be accepted.

(i) strolled (line 4)

(ii) fascination (line 10)

(iii) foliage (line 20) [3]

(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.

(i) What was Pele’s wife’s first mistake when she saw the bird? [1]

(ii) What did she do after this reaction of the bird? [2]

(iii) Describe the Cassowary. [2]

(iv) Why did Pele find the situation amusing at first? Why did he

change his attitude? [2]

(v) Use the word “framed” (line 2) in a sentence of your own such that it has a

meaning different from that used in the passage. [2]

(c) With close reference to the last paragraph of the extract and in not more

than 50 words describe how the couple got into their room when they were

together.​

Answer 1

Answer:

We use the present perfect continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the present perfect continuous. Examples: They have been talking for the last hour.

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