Text Structures Practice

Chimpanzees and humans are alike in many ways. A baby chimp laughs when its mother tickles it. After chimps fight, they kiss and make up...There are, of course, many ways that chimps and humans are different. Chimps are smaller and stronger than humans...

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"...I often watched how they made their nests, or beds. First, the chimp bent a branch down over some solid foundation, such as a fork or two parallel branches. Holding it in place with his feet, he then bent another over it. Then he folded the end of the first branch over the second. And so on."

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Chimps live in groups and like each other a lot, but sometimes they fight. Because they don't want to stay angry at each other after a fight, they make up by holding a hand out to the other and kissing. They show they are sorry with pats and hugs. Then the anger goes away.

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A chimpanzee's body is made for climbing and swinging in the trees. First, it uses its long arms to reach a branch. Next, with its flexible hands and feet, it grabs and hooks on to the branch. Finally, it swings from that branch to another branch of the tree.

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"The chimpanzees often seemed miserable in the rain. They looked cold, and they shivered...I was surprised that they had not learned to make shelters. Many of them got coughs and colds. Often, during heavy rain, they seemed irritable and bad tempered."

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"After supper I would get out a little notebook in which I had scribbled everything I had seen while watching the chimps during the day. I would settle down to write it all legibly into my journal. It was very important to do that every evening, while it was fresh in my mind."

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"Once you have been close to chimps for a while, they are as easy to tell apart as your classmates....David Greybeard, for example, was a calm chimp who liked to keep out of trouble...Goliath had a much more excitable, impetuous temperament."

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"Another time, as I was sitting on the Peak, I heard a strange mewing sound. I looked around and there, about fifteen yards away, a leopard was approaching...It was walking along the little trail that led directly to where I sat..."

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