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London City Foxes

Average: 3 (7 votes)

City foxes (Intermediate and above)

Reading - read the text and then match the words in bold with the definitions underneath.
Lesson by Jimi, EC London English school.

In the UK it is increasingly common to see foxes in towns and cities. An Italian student studying at EC London was walking home on a summer’s night and he sensed something moving to his right. He turned his head to see a large fox walking beside him. The fox seemed unflustered even though there was a human close at hand. Meanwhile the student felt a mixture of apprehension and fascination. After a few moments the fox sauntered across the street, scaled a fence and after briefly looking back at the student as if to bid him farewell, dropped down into the front garden of a terraced house.

Foxes are omnivorous and sometimes rummage through people’s bins at night to find food. They also feed from gardens with a diet including mice, worms, insects and berries. At night foxes can make quite unnerving noises like the sound of a screaming child or a stick being run along a fence.

Match the key-words to their definitions below:

  • 1. fear that something bad will happen
  • 2. small animals with no limbs or bones that are long and thin and live in the soil
  • 3. relaxed, without any tension or stress
  • 4. was aware of
  • 5. eating meat, fruit and vegetables
  • 6. say goodbye
  • 7. climbed
  • 8. causing nervousness or loss of courage
  • 9. walked slowly and casually
  • 10. search unsystematically through things in a pile or in a box or other container
  • 11. in a row
  • 12. nearby