Dear Mma Ramotswe,

I read about you in the newspaper and about how you have opened this big new agency down there in town. I am very proud for Botswana 1 that we now have a person like you in this country.

I am the teacher at the small school at Katsana¹ Village, thirty miles from Gaborone¹, which is near the place where I was born. I went to Teachers' College many years ago and I passed with a double distinction. My wife and I have two daughters and we have a son of eleven. This boy to which I am referring has recently vanished and has not been seen for two months.

We went to the police. They made a big search and asked questions everywhere. Nobody knew anything about our son. I took time off from school and searched the land around our village. We have some kopjes² not too far away and there are boulders and caves over there. I went into each one of those caves and looked into every crevice. But there was no sign of my son.

He was a boy who liked to wander, because he had a strong interest in nature. He was always collecting rocks and things like that. He knew a lot about the bush and he would never get into danger from stupidity. There are no leopards in these parts any more and we are too far away from the Kalahari for lions to come.

I went everywhere, calling, calling, but my son never answered me. I looked in every well of every farmer and village nearby and asked them to check the water. But there was no sign of him.

How can a boy vanish off the face of the Earth like this? If I were not a Christian, I would say that some evil spirit had lifted him up and carried him off. But I know that things like that do not really happen.

I am not a wealthy man. I cannot afford the services of a private detective, but I ask you, Mina, to help me in one small way. Please, when you are making your enquiries about other things, and talking to people who might know what goes on, please ask them if they have heard anything about a boy called Thobiso, aged eleven years and four months, who is the son of the teacher at Katsana Village. Please just ask them, and if you hear anything at all, please address a note to the undersigned, myself, the teacher.

In God's name, Ernest Molai Pakotati, Dip.Ed.

Alexander McCall Smith, The n°1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 1998.

I - GENERAL COMPREHENSION

Write down the right answer

1) The text is

a- an article. b- a letter. c- an e-mail.

2) It was written by

a- a teacher. b- a detective. c- a mayor.

3) It was written to

a- a teacher. b- a detective. c- a mayor.

4) It is about

a- a need for money. b- a need for information. c- a need for education.

5) Thobiso is

a- Ernest's son. b- Ernest's brother. c- Ernest's father.

6) Thobiso is

a- at school. b- on holidays. c- missing.

7 The undersigned refers to

a- Ernest. b- Mma. c- Thobiso.

Il - DETAILED COMPRÉHENSION

A- Right or Wrong? Answer and justify by quoting the text.

1) Ernest heard about Mma on the radio.

2) She has had a business in town for a long time.

3) The boy is not an only child.

4) Thobiso had spoken with Ernest three weeks before.

5) Ernest is not able to pay for help.

7) He'd like Mma to write to him if she gets any information.

B- Pick out words or phrases which indicate that

1) the narrator admires Mma Ramotswe.

2) Ernest stopped working for a while in order to look for his son.

3) the boy was familiar with the local environment (three quotations).

4) wild animals used to live there.

C- What do the following words refer to ?

1) (line 8) “My wife and I…”

2) (line 11) “They made a big search”

3) (line 21) “asked them…”

4) (line 22) “But there was no sign of him”

5) (line 26) “…I ask you…”

6) (line 30) “Please just ask them…”

D- Find the synonyms in the text for the following words and expressions:

1) succeeded

2) disappeared

3) to verify

4) rich

5) investigations

GENERAL COMPREHENSION

1. B

2. A

3. B

4. B

5. A

6. C

7. A

DETAILED COMPREHENSION

A.

1. Wrong « I read about you in the newspaper » (l.1)

2. Wrong “[…]you have opened this big new agency down there in town” (l1-2)

“I am very proud for Botswana that we now have a person like you in this country” (l.2)

3. Right “My wife and I have two daughters and we have a son of eleven (l.8-9)

4. Wrong ‘This boy to which I am referring has recently vanished and has not been seen for two months” (l.9-10)

5. Right “I am not a wealthy man. I cannot afford the services of a private detective…” (l.26)

6. Right “[…]if you hear anything at all, please address a note to the undersigned, myself, the teacher” (l.30-31)

B.

1) “I am very proud” (l.4)

2) “I took time off from school” (l.12)

3) “He was a boy who liked to wander, because he had a strong interest in nature” (l.16)

“He was always collecting rocks and things like that” (l.16-17)

“He knew a lot about the bush and he would never get into danger from stupidity” (l.17-18)

4) “There are no leopards in these parts anymore” (l.18)

C.

1. I refers to Ernest Molai Pakotati.

2. They refers to the police.

3. Them refers to the farmers.

4. Him refers to Thobiso.

5. You refers to Mma Ramotswe.

6. Them refers to people who might have seen or heard about Thobiso.

D.

1. succeeded: passed (l.8)

2. disappeared: vanished (l.9)

3. to verify: to check (l.21)

4. rich: wealthy (l.26)

5. investigations: enquiries (l.27)