Self-study activity:
Watch this short video clip and answer the questions below.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 How did the snake get where the children were?
2 What's the relationship between the two boys?
3 Where did the snake strangle them?
4 Has the snake been found?
5 Why does this kind of snake usually kill?
6 Are there any kind of legal problems with the shop?
You can check your answers by reading the transcript below.
The police investigation is still under way at a pet shop in Campbellton. It’s believed the snake escaped somehow from the shop and made its way through the ventilation system to the flat above. Two young brothers were there on sleepover. It’s thought they were strangled in their beds. A friend of the boys was sleeping in another room but he was unharmed. The local man named the brothers as Noah and Connor. The snake itself, similar to this one, was recovered by the police.
The information we’ve got so far… the snake is about between twelve and fifteen feet in length and weight about one hundred pound.
And you said in French it was an African python?
Yes. They call that an African rock python.
Experts say pythons aren’t normally aggressive.
Snakes only constrict for food, so was the snake hungry? Absolutely. That doesn’t mean that this is a snake that was being neglected, and wasn’t being fed enough. Now it’s natural for snakes to, you know, eat before and then potentially to be hungry for a period of time before they eat.
Autopsies are to be carried out on the two boys. Officials say the shop was properly licensed. Police say they are in the early stages of an investigation and it’s too early to say if charges will be brought.
