Luka the Cat
Mark made it sound more attractive than it was. He called and said, "We've got some kitties over here that need homes. Why don't you come look at 'em?" Really, they were grown cats. The neighbors had moved suddenly and left them behind. The one he had in mind for me was a big longhaired yellow male. He was insistently friendly, which was sort of charming, but I became interested in the other one. She wasn't as obviously friendly as the yellow guy, and she was clearly a "talker." She played with sticks or pieces of grass and let herself be petted. I thought that maybe, because she was shorthaired, my sister might not be allergic to her.

We didn't have a box for her to travel in, so we used a stretchy cord to attach a sheet of cardboard onto a plastic crate. She got out about five times before it worked. Each time she escaped, she became madder. I don't know how Mark managed to get her back in the last time, and she screamed as if she were being tortured all the way to my house.

I think I made a good choice, but I do have an unusual cat. She makes my sister sneeze like crazy, so the short-hair idea didn't work. She's pretty—nice black and tan markings with a white stomach and paws. But she's about the loudest domestic cat in the world. Whenever she wants to go inside or outside—about every ten minutes—I have to listen to these huge meows until I give her what she wants. I had to learn that sometimes those meows mean "pick me up and pet my ears" and that the "please" is always silent. It's been over seven years now. I think I'll keep on keeping her. She's really quite sweet under the growly voice.

1
Select the correct answer.
Here is a question from the text aids: How does the cat work out?
A.
She's annoying, but the writer likes her.
B.
The writer is glad that she doesn't cause allergies.
C.
She's too loud to be a good pet.