A) Read the extract from the book. Is Happy Bapetsi a man or

a woman?

“Let me tell you a little about myself first,” said Happy Bapetsi.

“I come from Maun, you see, right up on the Okavango.

My mother had a small shop and I lived with her in the house at

the back. We had lots of chickens and we were very happy.

“My mother told me that my daddy had left a long time ago,

when I was still a little baby. He had gone off to work in Bulawayo

and he had never come back. Somebody had written to

us – another Motswana living there – to say that he thought my

daddy was dead, but he wasn’t sure. He said that he had gone to

see somebody at Mpilo Hospital one day and as he was walking

along the corridor he saw them wheeling somebody out on a

stretcher and that the dead person looked remarkably like my

daddy. But he couldn’t be certain.

“So we decided that he was probably dead, but my mother

did not mind a great deal because she had never really liked him

very much. And, of course, I couldn’t even remember him, so it

did not make much difference to me.

“I went to school in Maun at a place run by some Catholic

missionaries. One of them discovered that I could do arithmetic

rather well and he spent a long time helping me. He said that he

had never met a girl who could count so well.

“I suppose it was very odd. I could see a group of figures and

I would just remember it. Then I would find that I had added

the figures in my head, even without thinking about it. It just

came very easily. I didn’t have to work at it at all.

“I did very well in my exams and at the end of the day I went

off to Gaborone and learned how to be a book-keeper. Again it

was very simple for me; I could look at a whole sheet of figures

and understand it immediately. Then, the next day, I could remember

every figure exactly and write them all down if I needed

to.

“I got a job in the bank and I was given promotion after promotion.

Now I am the No. 1 sub-accountant and I don’t think I

can go any further because the men are worried that I’ll make

them look stupid. But I don’t mind. I get a very good pay and

I can finish all my work by three in the afternoon, sometimes

earlier. I go shopping after that. I have a nice house with four

rooms and I am very happy. To have all that by the time you are

thirty-eight is good enough, I think.

Mma Ramotswe smiled. “That is very interesting. You’re

right. You’ve done well.”

“I’m very lucky,” said Happy Bapetsi. “But then this thing

happened. My Daddy arrived at the house.”

b) Why did Happy Bapetsi come to a detective agency?

c) What do you think happened next?

A) Match the questions to the paragraphs of the extract.

a) Where do you come from?

b) Were you unhappy that your father had died?

c) How did Mma Ramotswe comment on the story?

d) Do you have a father?

e) What job did you get?

f) What school did you go to?

g) What happened?

h) What set you apart from other schoolchildren?

i) What is your life like now?

B) Ask and answer the questions.

1. Where do you come from?

2. Do you have a talent? What are you really good at?

3. Did you do well in your exams last year?

4. What job would you like to get in the future?

5. What life would you like to lead when you are an adult?

A) Write an autobiographical poem about Happy Bapetsi. Use

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1224