Sophie sleeps on Duke.
(Photo courtesy of Richard Quiring, Wild Moon Organics)
Level 1
Adapted from Castanet.net
Duke lives on an organic farm
near Armstrong, B.C.
He is a big brown dog.
He is five years old.
The Quiring family owns the farm.
They raise pigs and cows.
Duke is the family’s pet.
An interesting story
A pig on their farm has babies.
She has 12 baby pigs or piglets.
One pig is very, very small.
This piglet is called a runt.
She cannot get milk from her mother.
Her brothers and sisters push her away.
Slowly the piglet gets weak.
She might die.
Read the PDF:
Visit the link:
- Listen and watch a news story about Duke and Sophie.
Listen to the story
- Duke and Sophie are best friends – Level 2
- Reading by: Nila Gopaul
Help for the piglet
Tristan Quiring is 17 years old.
He lives on the farm, too.
He says the piglet needs TLC.
So, he brings her into the house.
She is only seven days old.
She is so small!
He feeds her special milk.
He names her Sophie.
Sophie likes her new milk.
She gets strong.
She is friendly and curious.
She runs around the house.
Then she sees Duke.
A strange friendship
Sophie plays with Duke all day.
Duke likes her.
She climbs on him.
She sleeps on his back.
Duke shares his food and milk with her.
They sleep together in Duke’s kennel.
Duke is a father to Sophie.
She loves Duke.
Sophie loves people, too.
But Sophie does not
play with the other pigs.
She is always with Duke.
The future for Sophie
Duke weighs about 40 kg.
He is an adult.
Now Sophie is a baby.
In a few months she will grow very big.
She will be about 200 kg.
What do you think?
Will Duke and Sophie stay friends?
Vocabulary
- – organic: grown or raised without using artificial chemicals or fertilizer
– runt: an animal that is the smallest in the litter
– TLC: tender, loving care
– curious: wanting to know or learn something
– kennel: a small shelter or house for a dog or cat