Tears of the Giraffe

Photocopiable

c Pearson Education Limited 2008

Tears of the Giraffe - Activity worksheets of 2

Activity worksheets

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

While reading
Chapters 1–2
1 Answerthefollowingquestions.Howdoyou

knowtheanswer?

a Did the maid work at JLB Maketoni’s house

in the morning or in the afternoon?

b Did JLB Maketoni want Mma Ramotswe to

visit all the rooms in his house on the day of
their celebration?

c How old would Andrea Curtin’s son be now?

d Does Andrea Curtin think it is important that

people care about one another?

2 Arethesesentencesright(3)orwrong(7)?

a Mma Ramotswe likes people who can

keep secrets.

c

b The Embassy told Mrs Curtin about

the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

c

c The farm where Michael lived grew

vegetables for poor people.

c

d Mrs Curtin returned to Botswana

because her husband asked her to.

c

Chapters 3–4
3 Oneofthefollowingsentencesistrue.Which?

Correctthemistakesintheothersentences.

a Mr JLB Matekoni had lunch with Mma

Potokwane at the orphan farm.

c

b The girl in the wheelchair moved to the

orphan farm when her mother died.

c

c The number of orphans in Africa is

growing because an illness is killing a
lot of people.

c

d The ring that Mr JLB Matekoni gave

Mma Ramotswe didn’t have a diamond.

c

e The ants had destroyed the ditches were

the vegetables were grown.

c

4 Whothinksthis?Writethename.Doyou

agree?Circle1ifyouagreecompletely,2if
youagreejustalittleand3ifyoudon’tagree.
Shareyouranswerswithanotherstudent.

a ………………… Young people feel that they

will never die.

1 2 3

b ………………… Modern people think they

can do whatever they want.

1 2 3

c ………………… People usually give up

things that are not easy.

1 2 3

d ………………… We never know what is

going to happen in 50 years.

1 2 3

Chapters 5–6
5 FindthefollowinginChapters5and6.

a The gift that Mma Potokwane suggests JLB

Maketoni can give to his wife.

b Something JLB Maketoni thinks may be

rather difficult.

c Something JLB Matekoni thinks is easy.

d The reason why the Basarwa sometimes

buried living babies.

e What Mma Ramotswe thinks happens when a

person dies.

6 Usethesyllablesintheboxtoformwordsand

completethesentences.

com ates tion yer un dam u ing

mo law ter plain fos aged grad pro

a Mma Potokwane suggested that JLB

Matekoni and his wife could take an orphan
as a …………… child.

b TB badly …………… the girl’s bones.

c Mma Makutsi wondered how many top

…………… of the Botswana Secretarial
College had animals in their offices.

d Mma Makutsi thought that working at a

detective agency was certainly better than
working at a ……………’s office.

e Mma Makutsi was an efficient worker so

Mma Ramotswe decided to give her a
…………… .

f Mma Soloi lookedlike she was a hard-

working, …………… woman.

Chapters 7–8
7 Completethesesentenceswithoneword.

a Mma Makutsi’s first……………… made her

think that it may sometimes be better not to
tell all the ……………… .

b Mr Badule’s wife said that their son’s private

school was paid for by a ……………… .

c Mr Badule’s father was a ……………… at

the High Court. The……………… was
kind to him and to Mr Badule, whom he
helped to go to a good school.

d According to Mma Makutsi’s uncle, after the

detectives sit in their cars and wait patiently,
somebody starts ……………… .

Tears of the Giraffe

Photocopiable

c Pearson Education Limited 2008

Tears of the Giraffe - Activity worksheets 2 of 2

Activity worksheets

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

8 FindthefollowinginformationaboutMrJLB

Matekoni.

a An attractive thought for him.

b Something he thinks the children have never

had.

c Something he thinks the girl deserves.

d Something he knows the children have never

had.

e The feelings that he has for the children after

they have been shopping.

f The reason why his hands fell to his sides,

useless, when he was going to push the
wheelchair.

Chapters 9–10
9 Writethename.

Obed Ramotswe Florence Peko

Paul Monosopati Philemon Leannye

Mma Potokwane

a ……………… thinks that women change

when they get married.

b ……………… pays for favours by making

men happy.

c ……………… needs money because he

spends a lot of money on his child’s health.

d ……………… is a very strong woman.

e ……………… gave Botswana one of its

finest ladies.

10 Ordertheseevents.Writethenumbers1–6.

a c JLB Maketoni telephones his assistant.

b c Florence Peko asks Paul Monosopati for a

favour.

c c JLB Maketoni, Mma Ramotswe and the

children have their first meal together.

d c Florence Peko has a headache.

e c Philemon Leannye gives Florence Peko a

gun.

f c Paul Monosopati calls the police.

Chapters 11–12
11 Completethecrosswordpuzzle.

Across

a At the door of Mr Ranta’s office, Mma

Ramotswe could hear somebody typing on a
computer ………… .

b When she arrived at the university, Mma

Ramotswe went to the ………… Office.

c Mma Ramotswe was sure that Michael had

died in the ………… .

Down

d Mma Ramotswe felt strong and thought that

the ………… she needed to do what she was
doing came from deep inside her.

e Dr Ranta told Mma Ramotswe to leave or he

would call the university ………… .

f Naming Angel had an immediate ………… .

g Mma Makutsi was glad that she did not have

to tell any ………… .

d

e

f

a

g

b

c

Chapters 13–14
12 Arethesesentencestrue(T)orfalse(F)?

Findreasonsforyouranswers.

a JLB Maketoni was not interested in what

happened to his maid.

c

b Mma Ramotswe believed that wealthy

people should help poorer people.

c

c Michael was buried in a ditch.

c

d Africa has changed and now life for

people is more difficult.

c

13 Whichofthefollowingproblemsdoes

Africahave?Write3nexttotheonesthat
arementionedinthesechaptersand7next
totheonesthatarenot.

a unemployment: people who have no job: c

b extreme violence: c

c people do not belong to their village and

family like they used to: c

d people do not own land: c

14 Completethefollowingsentences.Shareyour

answerswithanotherstudent.Doyouagree?

a Mma Ramotswe thinks that being happy and

doing interesting things is as important as

…………………………………………….. .

b Being a geologist is like being a detective

because ……………………………………. .

c A giraffe gives its tears to women because

…………………………………………….. .

Tears of the Giraffe

Photocopiable

c Pearson Education Limited 2008

Tears of the Giraffe - Progress test

of

Progress test

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

Chapters 1–2

1 Replacethewordsbetweenbracketswiththe

correctwordorphrasefromthebox.

client detective agency game tracker commune

a When Michael disappeared, Mrs Curtin …..
1) spoke to the people in the …………… (a place

where people share their work and live together)
that her son had joined.

2) was helped bya …………… (person whose

work is to help hunters to find game).

b Mma Ramotswe …..
1) ran a …………… (business that sells a service

to people who need to find something).

2) decided to accept Mrs Curtin as a ……………

(person who paid for her services).

Chapters 3–4

2 Completeeachsentencewithoneword.Usethe

lettersintheboxtoformthewordsthatyouneed.

e g i k l l m n o o p p r u w w y

a JLB Maketoni’s garage is called Speedy Motors

because their ……………… is speedy.

b JLB Matekoni was worried because the water

……………… at the orphan farm was old and
soon they would have to buy a new one.

c Mma Ramotswe found a piece of ………………

paper pinned to a wall.

Chapters 5–6

3 Wheredotheseeventshappen?Writethecorrect

number.
1 at the orphan house 2 at the agency
a c JLB Maketoni has a piece of cake and speaks

about his marriage.

b c JLB is deeply affected by a story he is told.
c c Chickens come in when the door opens.
d c JLB Maketoni asks himself what he has done!
e c Two people talk about a part of human beings

that stays when we die.

f c A woman can’t speak because her emotion is

too great.

Chapters 7–8

4 Changeonewordtomakeeachsentencetrue.

Usethesyllablesintheboxtoformthewords.

pho er pri to gra ents weak

pher vate ra cli

a After her promotion, Mma Makutsi tells Mma

Ramotswe that she will have her own employees.

b Mma Ramotswe thinks that people who can ask for

help are stronger than people who can’t.

c Mrs Badule wanted to send her child to a public

school.

d When Mr JLB Maketoni and the children left the

shop, a policeman stopped them.

Chapters 9–10

5 Usethewordsintheboxtocompletethesentences.

worse dishonest house gun stealing

prison police lazy

Florence Peko’s brother is in (a)………… for

(b)………… cars. She thinks that other men are
(c)………… than him. She knows some of these bad
men, and needs one to get her a (d)………… . She
wants to put it in Mma Ramotswe’s (e)…………,
but her friend Paul tells the (f )………… . Mma
Ramotswe is not surprised. She knows that Florence is
(g)………… and (h)………… .

Chapters 11–12

6 Writealetterandanumbertomaketruesentences.

(a) surprise (b) interest (c) slight
(d) bore (e) annoy
1 -ed 2 -ing 3 -ly 4 -d
a The girl at the Information Office at the university

looked ….. ….. .

b Mma Ramotswe saw that the door of Dr Ranta’s

office was ….. ….. open.

c Dr Ranta looked ….. ….. when Mma Ramotswe

asked him if she could study to be a detective at
university.

d JLB Matekoni thought that going to the garage

might make Puso more ….. ….. in mechanics.

e Motholeliasked JLB Maketoni if her behaviour at

the garage was ….. ….. .

Chapters 13–14

7 Arethesesentencestrue(T)orfalse(F)?

a JLB Maketoni tried to help his maid.

c

b Dr Ranta lied to Mma Ramotswe.

c

c Michael was murdered.

c

d Michael has a son.

c

e Mma Ramotswe thought that Mma Makutsi’s

report on her first case was perfect.

c