Tears of the Giraffe 

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LEVEL 4

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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 

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Tears of the Giraffe - Activity worksheets  2 of 2

Activity worksheets 

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

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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 

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Tears of the Giraffe - Progress test 

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Progress test 

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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