Waldo

Waldo is the name of my beloved pup, a spotted black and white Jack Russell terrier. Waldo came into my life when my sister could no longer care for him because of her apartment regulations. Waldo has had an interesting life considering he's only lived 5 yrs of them. Waldo was found roaming in the streets of Brooklyn while my sister's boyfriend was on duty. It was a hot summer day, Waldo was a prize to be won. The local people were trying to catch a hold of him. Luckily, my sister's boyfriend rescued him. He was never claimed and so my sister adopted him. Since he was found in a sea of confusion my sister and her boyfriend decided to name him after the popular books, Where's Waldo? Waldo lived with them for a bit before coming to live with my parents and I. After a couple of months of adjusting, Waldo experienced something no dog or animal should ever have to go through. Waldo escaped in a panic on an afternoon my grandpa was suppose to be watching him. Poor Waldo was suffering from an anxiety attack because of the loud noise from firecrackers going off. The fourth of July was around the corner, which is the worst time of the year for Waldo. On that very afternoon, Waldo went missing. My sisters, and mom, and I went hysterical looking for Waldo. We posted flyers and offered reward money to find Waldo. Hours later, Waldo was found but in a grave state. He had been hit by a car. Waldo was rushed to an emergency hospital and put on life support for the night. He was then transferred to a bigger hospital and that was when we had to make a decision. Waldo had fractured bones, ruptured urethra and trauma. My family was devastated. Fortunately, Waldo was a fighter and quite the trooper. He made it through the ordeal with the help of a couple of operations and blood transfusions. Thankfully, Waldo is back to his old self and can even run and jump without any problem. =]

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Vocabulary

• adopted (verb) to take into one's family
• anxiety (noun) uneasiness
• hysterical (adjective) uncontrollable emotion
• grave (adjective) serious
• pup (noun) a young dog
• rescued (verb) to save
• roaming (verb) wander

Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary words:

• I have __________ at least 4 birds every spring.
• School work gives me ___________.
• I __________ a dog 10 years ago.
• I love _______ the streets of New York City.
• My sister has a new _____, it is only 5 weeks old.
• After the car accident, the girl was in ______ condition. She remained in the intensive care unit for several week after.
• I was ________ after sitting through that sad, tear-jerking movie.

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Grammar Point

In the paragraph above, there are several articles used before certain nouns. These articles are either: a, an , or the. Skim the paragraph and identify each article. Write a paragraph about your pet or an imaginary pet. When you have completed your paragraph circle each article used.

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Link

Adopt and rescue a pet today! It will bring you much happiness and love! Visit: http://www.nsalamerica.org/ for more information on adoption.