Eindexamen engels vmbo gl/tl 2012, tijdvak 2

Is it OK … to Own a Dog? Dominic Murphy’s guide to a good life 1 I grew up with dogs and loved them. Like many households, we gave them soppy names such as Candy and Rupert. We shared holidays with them and sometimes they slept on our beds. Then I moved to London and began to hate the brutes – or so I thought. 2 My problem, in fact, was with their owners – and the way they indulged in antisocial habits through their pooches. I’m not just talking about fouling parks, pavements and other public spaces. No, there are the boneheads who keep vicious pets as trophies. And don’t forget the otherwise normal types who say, “Don’t worry, he won’t bite,” when their darling creature leaps on your two-year-old and slobbers in his face. 3 The owning of a dog can affect your sanity. How else to explain a weird new trend in dog-turd disposal where an owner will scoop their poops into a carrier bag, then throw them into a hedge? Eccentric? Barking, I reckon. 4 Perhaps this kind of attitude makes doggy types oblivious to a much bigger ethical problem – the suffering that many dogs (and cats) go through so that we can keep them as pets. There are 6.5m dogs spread across 20% of UK households, making them the nation’s most popular pet. Even so, a large number end up

larger dogs are more prone to bone cancer, and long dogs such as basset hounds and dachshunds have back problems. 7 There is some comfort for the animal rights lobby in new legislation coming up. The new animal welfare bill in effect lowers the burden of proof of abuse of animals by including a welfare offence. This will oblige animal owners to keep their pets in a suitable environment and give them an appropriate diet. It means the police can threaten prosecution as soon as they can prove neglect. 8 But there is still no barrier to owning a dog, other than the fact that it will cost you food and veterinary bills of around £1,000 a year and that it’s a big responsibility. The dog licence was abolished in the 1980s and there is little enthusiasm for bringing it back. You’ll still be able to get a puppy from the litter next door, or the doggy in the window at the pet shop. Animal campaigners hope that secondary

Then there’s US Marine Major Curt Expedition beloved Badwater racer. “Two years ago he charged across the finish with a Running on Empty in the other,” recalls Kostman. The Badwater Ultramarathon in Death 3 What’s the route? Valley – 135 miles of desert and mountain ranges, and temperatures up to 130°F (54°C) – is the ultimate endurance test. Competitors trot along melting tarmac 1 What is the Ultramarathon? It is regarded as the most demanding and extreme race on earth and this year it takes place on 12 July. According to race director Christ Kostman, “an ultrarunner seeks out 4 How do the runners cope? epic races in dramatic environments in the harshest conditions.” hallucinate. “Runners have seen 2 Are all ultrarunners crazy? The Londoner who attempted it in a furry rabbit suit won’t be back, but a streak of madness fuels all the runners. British entrants include Jack Denness, back for his 11th race this year at age 69. His crew motivates him with the promise of a Murphy’s Stout. “They often hold one just out of his 5 I heard that, one year, a Japanese doctor observing the effects of heat on runners passed out herself … “People pass out in Death Valley just getting out of their cars and walking across parking lots,” says Kostman. 13 there are no aid stations handing out water along the way. “The volunteers would end up in hospital or dead themselves. It’s just too hot out Ultramarathon contestants head up Mount Whitney in California

6 So why do it? 7 So some runners do actually finish? According to Kostman, it’s “the connection with nature, the love of the support crew, the challenge of the most hellish race course that’s brutal, yet incredibly beautiful. Many seek to do the race again and again, wanting another dose of this immersion in life, the Zen-like focus, the absence of all distractions beyond moving forward.” Despite the alleged loneliness of the long-distance runner, Badwater is a very sociable event; there’s much mutual respect and support within the ‘Badwater family’. It’s certainly not for the prize, because there isn’t one, although those finishing in under 48 hours receive the ‘Holy Grail’ of ultrarunning: the Badwater Ultramarathon belt buckle. Ultramarathon, visit www.badwaterultra.com

Adopt-a-Pig Sarah Todd meets a teenager who offers full pigsty-to-plate traceability 1 It is generally difficult to prise teenage boys away from playing computer games and listening to music, but 18-year-old Duncan Turnbull is not your average adolescent. He was only 15 when he launched Adopt-a-Pig, a scheme whereby customers pay a £50 deposit to choose and name a newborn piglet, visit it as often as they like and keep abreast of its progress via a website photo gallery. 2 When the time comes, seven months later, for the animal to be slaughtered there’s a tough choice to make: are you after a hog roast, pork for roasting – complete with a layer of crispy crackling –, or would you be more interested in Duncan’s 98 per cent meat sausages and bacon rashers? Friends and family often join forces to adopt a pig and share out the meat between them. The final bill is usually between £200 and £300 for the whole pig, depending on the cuts chosen. Given the quality and provenance of Duncan’s meat, it’s surprisingly good value. A pig’s worth of anonymous pork products at a supermarket would cost somewhere between £150 and £200. 3 Meeting Hilda – Duncan’s first pig and the one that got him interested in the endangered Oxford Sandy & Black breed – and her litter of eight adorable piglets

5 Duncan is outside by 6.30am to give them their food (as natural as possible) before heading off to study for his A-levels. Once he gets home, there is an hour’s worth of emails and paperwork to deal with before the evening feed. On Friday evenings he goes to the local brewery to collect waste malting barley which, he says, adds to the taste of the meat. He has school on Saturday, so Sunday is a busy day spent mucking out and doing other chores. 6 With an annual turnover of around £10,000 and projections of over £25,000 next year, Duncan’s enterprise is no longer a laughing matter among his school friends. In fact, three of them went with him to last month’s Salone del Gusto food fair in Turin to try to break into the international market. His plans to promote British meat impressed