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The Talking Mongoose

No one has ever decided what it was.But it called itself a mongoose.And it lived on the Isle of Man in a lonely farmhouse looking out on the Irish Sea.The house,a very old one,was called Doarlish Cashen.It was bought in 1917 by a Mr.James Irving.

In 1931 Mr.And Mrs.Irving began to hear strange noise behind the walls.There were taps,hisses,growls,squeaks,and other animal sounds.Then one day Mr.Irving heard a gurgie.It sounded like a baby learning to talk.Mr.Irving thought he would answer the sounds.He barded like a dog.He meowed like a cat.To his surprise,his sounds were repeated in a shrill,high voice.Mr.Irving made the sounds again.This time he followed each one with the name of the animal he was imitating.The voice behind the wall repeated every word he said.

Within a few weeks,Mr.Irving had taught the thing—whatever it was—to speak well.He asked it what it was and where it had come from. At first it answered that it was a ghost in the from of a weasel.Later it said it was a mongoose.It said its name was Jeff.So the Irvings began to speak of their mysterious guest as “he” instead of “it”.

Jeff didnt let the Irvings see him at first.Once in a while he would show his paws and let the family touch him.After some time Jeff let the Irvings daughter photograph him.But the pictures did not come out well.

Once they got used to him,the Irvings liked Jeff.Since Doarlish Cashen was a farm,he proved to be quite useful.He rid the farm of mice and rats by throwing stone at them or by meowing like a cat.If he had to,he killed them.When the farms goats stayed away too long.Jeff would go after them.He would bark at them like a dog and herd them home.He even caught rabbits for the dinner table.

Jeff did not confine himself to Doarlish Cashen.He made visits to nearby houses and farms.And he loved to go to horse and cattle shows.Jeff would tell the Irvings what he had observed on his trips.His reports were later found to be quite true.

Another of Jeffs pastimes was listening to the radio.Through newscasts he learned a great deal of what was taking place in the outside world.

And the outside world soon learned about Jeff. Strangers began to come to Doarlish Cashen.They hoped to see or hear the talking mongoose.Jeff would talk to strangers,but only when he felt like it.If he sensed that they didnt believe he was real,he shut up like a clam.

Two strangers who did believe in Jeff were Harry Price and Richard Lambert.Mr.Price was an expert on the spirit world and the strange powers of the mind.Mr.Lambert worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation.The two men came to make a study of Jeff.They wrote a book about him.It is called The Haunting of Cashens Gap.

In spite of the book,many questions about Jeff still remain.What was he really? Where did he come from?What made him so clever?Probably we will never know.In the middle 1930s the Irvings sold Doarlish Cashen and moved away.The new owner said that soon after taking possession of the farm he shot a strange animal on the property.It would have been Jeff.For he has never been heard from since.

How well did you read?

1 [Note the setting] This story happened on .

A.the coast of Ireland B. the Isle of Man

C. an island in the Atlantic

2 [Follow the order] One of the first sounds the strange creature made was a .

A. word B. squeak C. gurgle

3 [See the reason] The Irvings began to call the creature “he” because it.

A. gave itself a boys name B. asked them to do so

C. acted like a boy

4 [Judge from details] Paragraph 5 shows that Jeff .

A. did not photograph well B. could copy animal sounds

C. liked killing mice and rats

5 [Understand the facts] Jeff learned about people and places outside Doarlish Cashen by .

A.traveling in the area B. listening to newscasts

C. Both A and B

6 [see the difference] Unlike many strangers, Price and Lambert.

A.believed Jeff was real

B. answered all the questions about Jeff C. Both A and B

7 [Understand the writers thoughts] The writer feels sure that Jeff.

A. was a ghost B. will appear again C. Neither A and B

Learn about words

A.in the paragraph,find the word that best fits the meaning below. Write the word.

1 copying; acting like (2)

2 animal something like a weasel (3)

3 take pictures of (4)

4 seen; noticed (6)

5 felt; realized (8)

B.Read each sentence.Look back at the paragraph and find the word that best fits. Write the word.

6 For some_______reason,the old clock runs backward after midnight. (3)

7 The doctor will_______Jane to her room if she catches the measles. (6)

8 One of the_______Stan likes best is watching television. (7)

9 there are many stories about ghosts_______that old house. (9)

10 She took_______of my bicycle without even asking me for it. (10)

KEYS:

I. 1 B2 B3 A4 B5 C6 A7 C

II. 1 imitating 2 mongoose 3 photograph 4 observed 5 sensed

6 mysterious 7 confine 8 pastimes 9 haunting 10 possession