1.10. Speech practice.

– You are an animal lover. Tell us interesting facts about animals.

II. Animals and human beings

2.1. With a partner, look at this headline. What do you think the articles might be about?

ANIMAL MAGIC

2.1.1.  Now read the texts and see if your ideas were correct. Animal magic: extra-sensory pets

For centuries, man has marvelled at the strong bond formed between owner and pet. It seems that our pets are either telepathic or are gifted with a sixth sense, ranging from simple things like knowing when the owner is about to put his or her foot through the door to knowing when someone has passed away.

Dogs that know in which aircraft their owners are flying, cats that can tell who is calling by phone, guinea pigs who perk up when their owners are about to return home. If the experiences of Sunday Telegraph readers are any guide, pets are constantly amazing their owners with a mysterious "sixth sense".

Three weeks ago we reported on the plans of the distinguished biologist and researcher Rupert Sheldrake to start the first scientific investigation of pets that appeared to be supernaturally perceptive.

It prompted scores of readers to write in with their own tales. In the search for explanations, correspondents have suggested that perhaps the pets recognized the sound of the family car, or that they sensed some change in routine that alerted them to the return of a relative.

But many of the accounts have simply deepened the mystery. For example, Peggy Matty of Rugeley, Staffordshire, recalls how her ginger cat, Bill, always seemed to know when her mother was about to drop in.

“We would look out of the window and there, sitting in the drive, would be this ginger sentinel” said Mrs. Matty. “He never failed to sit in the drive and await her.”

After Mrs. Matty's mother died, her stepfather continued to visit driving exactly the same car. But Bill was not there to greet him and never went out to meet the car again. “How did he know not to wait any more after his friend died?” asked Mrs. Matty.

Two Siamese cats, Flora and Maia, belonging to Mrs. Judith Preston-Jones of Paddock Wood, Kent, display similar abilities.

“Since we had them, my husband, Geoffrey, always knows when I am coming home,” said Mrs. Preston-Jones. “He says that they are complete zombies when I am out but come to life shortly before I arrive. He reckons they know when I am about three miles away.”

Beryl Statham of Wells, Somerset, recalled the dog of Dawson Paul, a pilot who flew at the Essex Aeroclub during the 1930s.

“The dog always knew when its master was coming in to land, and ran out on to the field giving welcoming barks,” she recalled. “Yet the same type of aircraft was used by all the pilots.”

Sometimes a perceptive pet can be a real nuisance. Shirley Stone and her husband, Henry, find it impossible to show each other affection without their border collie, Kerry, bounding in and forcing them apart. “It doesn’t matter where Kerry is in the house, upstairs or downstairs, if we are holding each other she comes down as fast as her legs will carry her and pushes us apart,” said Mrs. Stone.

These talents are apparently not restricted to cats and dogs. Mrs. Phyllis Teage of Darmouth recounted how her guinea pig, Rose, would suddenly sit upright on her lap whenever her husband was about to come in. “She was amazing because I could never hear anything - I don’t know how she did it.”

The most baffling stories centre on pets who seemed to know who was about to call by telephone. How did Carlo the cat always know when Veronica Rowe’s daughter was about to phone home?

“When the phone rang and it was Marian, Carlo would bound up the stairs before I had picked up the receiver,” said Mrs. Rowe.

“He never did it at any other time,” Dr. Sheldrake said he was surprised and delighted by the response from readers:

“These observations are very intriguing. They appear to show that there does exist an invisible bond between pets and their owners, the origins of which may go beyond known forces and fields. It’s interesting to raise the question of whether humans have similar sensitivities.”

Dr. Sheldrake plans to contact the owners of particularly impressive perceptive pets, and to carry out rigorous tests of their abilities.

(by Robert Matthews)