World News for Students of English

07-10-2024 15:00

A new course in Australia’s Northern Territory teaches students how to stay calm when they meet snakes, even dangerous ones like king brown snakes and pythons.

Johnny McGannon is a former park ranger and he says that snakes usually don’t want to attack people.

Students learn to stay safe around snakes without doing risky things like grabbing their tails.

Since the start of the year, about thirty students from different jobs, like military workers and zoo staff, completed the course.

Some people, like Rex Narf who has caught snakes for years, believe that experience is more important than training. But McGannon says all trainers have the same goal: helping people learn to stay safe and protect both snakes and humans.

Difficult words: python (a very large snake which kills animals for food by wrapping itself around them), grab (to catch something or someone with the hand suddenly and roughly), goal (something you want to reach or achieve).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.