The Kiwi
The kiwi lives only in New Zealand. It is a very strange
bird because it cannot fly.
The kiwi is
the same size as a chicken. It has no wings or tail.
It does not have any feathers like other birds. It has hair on
its body. Each foot has four toes. Its beak (mouth) is very long.
A kiwi likes
a lot of trees around it. It sleeps during the day because the
sunlight hurts its eyes. It can smell things with
its nose. It is the only bird in the world that can smell things. The kiwi’s
eggs are very big.
There are
only a few kiwis in New Zealand now. People never see them. The government
says that people cannot kill kiwis. New Zealanders want their kiwis to live.
There is a
picture of a kiwi on New Zealand money. People from New Zealand are sometimes
called kiwis.
Photo credit: The Kiwi
Put the right word in the blanks. The sentences are from the text.
government smell during kiwi
kill size fly only
wings chicken beak tail
strange hurts feathers body
1. It sleeps _____________________ the day because the sunlight __________________ its eyes.
2. It is a very ____________________ bird because it cannot _____________________________.
3. The _______________________ says that people cannot kill kiwis.
4. It can ________________________ things with its nose.
5. It has no _______________________ or ________________________.
6. The ________________________ lives _______________________ in New Zealand.
7. It does not have any _____________________ like other birds.
8. Its __________________ (mouth) is very long.
9. The kiwi is the same ______________________________ as a chicken.
B Vocabulary (new context)
Put the right word in the blanks. These are new sentences for the same words.
during pictures kiwi only
size smells wings hair
hurts strange tail feathers
tree fly beak government
1. The ______________________ and a few other birds cannot fly.
2. A bluebird has blue __________________.
3. Some students have a scholarship from their ________________________________.
4. An airplane can ______________________ because it has _____________________.
5. What are you cooking? It _____________________ good.
6. My leg ______________________. I can’t walk on it.
7. Most cats have a long ________________________.
8. A person has a mouth. A bird has a _______________________________.
9. Some students are very ____________________. They want to learn English but they don’t come to class.
10. I cannot buy this shirt. I have _______________________________ three dollars.
11. What _________________________________ shoes do you wear?
12. Most people work _________________________ the day and sleep at night.
C Questions
The asterisk (*) means you have to think of the answer. You cannot find it in the text.
1. Where does the kiwi live?
2. What is a kiwi?
3. How big is a kiwi?
4. Does a kiwi have feathers?
5. Does it have a tail and wings?
6. *How many toes does it have?
7. When does a kiwi sleep?
8. Can most birds smell?
9. Why can’t people kill kiwis?
10. *Why does New Zealand have a picture of a kiwi on its money?
D Comprehension: True/False
Write T if the sentence is true. Write F if it is not true. The asterisk (*) means you have to think of the answer. You cannot find it in the text.
1. Kiwis live in Australia and New Zealand.
2. A kiwi has a tail but no wings.
3. A kiwi has a big beak.
4. It sleeps during the day because light hurts its eyes.
*5. You can see a kiwi in some zoos in New Zealand.
6. The New Zealand government does not want all the kiwis to die.
7. A kiwi is like most other birds.
E Main Idea
Circle the number of the main idea of the text.
1. The kiwi is a strange New Zealand bird.
2. The kiwi sleeps during the day and has no tail or wings.
3. New Zealanders like kiwis.
EmoticonEmoticon