being evicted and I believe the scent emanating from her home acted like catnip on her senses. She began feverishly clawing at the porch roof. Huge hunks of wood were flying everywhere. In order to stop the destruction of my home, I went out with the broom and shooed her away again. I reported this to the Vice-President. He asked me to monitor the situation and prepare a presentation with PowerPoint slides for when he got home.
[10] In the evening, after he took in my animated report, he said he would defer the matter for future consideration. He called the first company to cancel the Thursday morning appointment.
[11] Each day thereafter, Mrs. Squirrel continued her attack on my property. There were so many wood chips on the porch by now that I had to shovel them away. Once again, I called the Vice-President to report. He asked me if I wanted him to come
home from his very important 'work to board up a squirrel hole. As he is the sole breadwinner at this time and as I like to eat, I sighed and said, \ [12] I then hauled out the wildlife company's guarantee. I called them to report that \receptionist at the company told me that if Mrs. Squirrel had managed to find another way into the porch roof, it would be a new charge. I replied that I could not ethically continue contributing my husband's hard-earned income to the smoking addictions of her wildlife experts and hung up.
[13] I went out to the porch and banged on the roof. Mrs. Squirrel came out and glared at me. We negotiated some terms, came to a mutually agreeable arrangement and went back into our respective homes.
[14] The next day, I saw the first
company's truck pull up. As we had cancelled, I ran out to see why he was here. I did not want to be charged for this smoker's visit. (Apparently, all wildlife experts smoke due to the stress of the job.) I explained to him that my husband had called to cancel. As I was standing on my porch talking to him, Mrs. Squirrel strolled by, dragging a huge piece of insulation for her home renovations. She and I nodded to each other, as the terms of our accord call for graciousness. The fellow looked at her as she wrestled the material on to my porch roof and then he looked at me. I smiled uneasily and ran inside before they could say anything.
[15] All is quiet these days, although I noticed that large quantities of insulation appear to have been removed from my garage wall and my neighbor's daughter claims that some of her doll-house furniture has vanished. I still intend to
evict Mrs. Squirrel, but I will wait until it is warmer and hopefully until after the birth of the wee ones. It may be lonely without my industrious neighbor, however, so I am considering the presentation of a business proposal to the Vice-President. Eco-condos with low maintenance fees. After all, she has done all the construction and renovations—a regular Bob Vila of the squirrel population. (925 words)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margot Devlin is now a government officer of Ontario, Toronto, ON—Business Contact Information in Jigsaw's business directory.
EXERCISES
I. Reading Comprehension
A. Answer the following questions or complete the following statements.
1. Which sentence best expresses the
selection's main point?
A. The author cannot wait to be rid of the squirrel.
B. The author has learned a lot about the life of squirrels.
C. The author has developed affection and respect for the squirrel.
D. Getting rid of pests in the city is expensive and time-consuming.
2. The author learned from the Internet
that the main problem with squirrels is that they_____.
A. may chew electrical wiring
B. are rodents, and can carry diseases C. can destroy the base of the houses D. are difficult to exterminate
3. According to the selection, people in the pest control companies_____.
A. were only equipped with tools that do not harm animals
B. didn't know how to get rid of squirrels C. were mostly wildlife lovers