The Story of Doctor Dolittle
by Hugh John Lofting (Roots)
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Do you know that animals use body language and sounds to talk to each other?
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Comprehension
Read and answer
1. Match the animals in Doctor Dolittle's house in Column A to where they lived in his house in Column B.
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|
Column A |
Column B |
|---|---|
|
a. goldfish |
Linen closet. [d] |
|
b. rabbits |
Pond. [a] |
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c. white rabbit |
Pantry. [b] |
|
d. squirrel |
Cellar. [e] |
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e. hedgehog |
Piano. [c] |
2. Fill in the blanks with correct information from the text.
a. Doctor Dolittle lived with his sister Sarah Dolittle and many animals.
b. Two of his favourite pets were Dab-Dab the Duck and Jip the dog.
c. The Cat's-meat-Man paid him sixpence for a bottle of medicine.
d. The Cat's-meat-Man suggested that Doctor Dolittle become a doctor of animals.
e. 'Ka-ka oi-ee, fee-fee' means Is the porridge hot yet? in bird language.
Reference to context
3. "He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, young and old, knew him well by sight."
a. Who is 'he'? Why was he well-known?
= 'He' is Doctor John Dolittle.
He was well-known because he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot.
b. What did the people in the town say when they saw him walking down the street?
= The people in the town would say there goes the doctor. He's a clever man.
c. What did the animals do when they saw him walking down the street?
= The dogs and children would all run up and follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the church-tower would caw and nod their heads.
4. "... We are getting poorer every day. If you go on like this, none of the best people will have you for a doctor."
a. Who is the speaker?
= The speaker is the Sarah Dolittle, the sister of Doctor Dolittle.
b. Why is the speaker saying this?
= The speaker is saying this because most of the patients are stopping to come due to the pets of Doctor Dolittle. They are scared of so many pets. This will stop the earning of Doctor Dolittle.
c. What does the doctor say in reply?
= The doctor replies that he likes the animals better than the patients. This offended his sister and she walked out of the room in disgust.
5. "And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler."
a. Why did the doctor's savings keep reducing?
= Doctor Dolittle kept on getting more pets, and of course it cost a lot to feed them. And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler.
b. What changes did he make at this point?
= At this point, he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau-drawer. But the money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he wore on Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer.
c. Did the lack of money worry Doctor Dolittle? Give reasons for your answer.
= The lack of money did not worry Doctor Dolittle. He did not concentrate at the patients or his earning. He was careless about his future as well as his pets'.
6. "My! You don't say so!" said the Doctor. "You never talked that way to me before."
a. Whom is the Doctor speaking with?
= The Doctor is speaking with Polynesia, the parrot.
b. Do you think the Doctor is surprised? Give reasons.
= Yes, I think the Doctor is surprised. That is why he started the sentence with 'My!'. Polynesia never spoke to him in that language before.
c. Why was the Doctor not spoken to in this way before?
= The Doctor was not spoken to in this way before because he would have not understood Polynesia if the bird used that language.
7. "Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear," said the Doctor."
a. Who is the Doctor speaking to?
= The Doctor is speaking to Polynesia, his pet parrot.
b. Who is scratching his ear? Why?
= Jip, the pet dog of Doctor Dolittle, is scratching his ear.
c. What does the person/animal scratching his ear do next? Why?
= The animal, scratching his ear, was twitching up one side of his nose next.
Because he wanted to say the Doctor that the rain had stopped.
Reflect and answer
8. Do you think Doctor Dolittle enjoyed being a people's doctor? Give reasons for yours answer.
= I do not think Doctor Dolittle enjoyed being a people's doctor. He was all engaged with his pets. He kept on getting more pets in spite of his poor condition.
His patients gradually stooped coming to him due to so many pets in his home. His sister Sarah tried to understand him that many 'best people' were being disappointed about his pets. But the Doctor did not care.
He got more and more animals, and the people who came to see him got less and less. At last he had no one left except the Cat's-meat-Man. Yet he did not care. He sold his piano and the brown suit he wore on Sundays but did not try to be a good doctor for the people.
9. What advice does the Cat's-meat-Man give Doctor Dolittle? Do you agree with him?
= The Cat's-meat-Man gives Doctor Dolittle the advice to be an animal-doctor.
I totally agree with Cat's-meat-Man. He understood Doctor Dolittle. Doctor Dolittle was an animal lover. He is passionate about getting more pets and taking care of them. He knows all about animals much more than other vets. He wrote a book about cats. The Cat's-meat-Man's wife Theodosia read and made her husband know the content of the book as he could not read. The Cat's-meat-Man was surprised to know that Doctor Dolittle knew so much about cats. When passion is in the profession, it will be a grand success. Eventually we see that Doctor Dolittle learns the language of animals from his pet parrot Polynesia and gave up being a people's doctor altogether.
About the Author :
Hugh John Lofting (1886-1947), an author and civil engineer, was born in Berkshire, England. Lofting wrote Doctor Dolittle form the trenches during the First World War (1914-1918).