World News for Students of English

06-01-2015 15:00

These cute baby kangaroos have unfortunately lost their mothers to traffic accidents, a sadly common occurrence in Australia. But luckily, volunteers like Sam and Owen are on hand to look after them.

“She came with me to the university. Just about everyone in my class has had cuddles with her. Especially during exam time, she’s a bit of a stress-relief. Just hand her around and she has cuddles!”

Their work doesn’t just involve looking after the orphans. It has a wider significance.

“We go to schools and we go to markets and fairs and have all the animals there, so people who may generally not come in contact with these animals – we give them that opportunity to and that way, they can see, they can touch and they can get up and close with these animals and they build their connection with the animals, with the environment and they’re able to see the significance of their actions.”

Difficult words: occurrence (incident), volunteer (a person who does something for free because he wants to do it), on hand (available), to have cuddles with somebody (to be close to somebody and touch or hug him), orphan (a child/ animal whose parents are dead), significance (importance), up-close (very close to).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com