Most people are afraid of snakes. They fteel like that because snakes may be dangerous. Of course, not all of them are poisonous. Some snakes are absolutely harmless, but, still, people do not like them. People in Australia, however, have learnt to live in harmony with snakes. Snakes are a natural part of the ecosystem, and they are treated with care and respect. In Australian cities you may encounter a snake when just walking along the street. Australians usually say that it is just part of their life. Snakes are protected in the country. If people find D snake in their house or back yard, they call a handler service to remove it. Handlers (or snake catchers) are special people who deal with snakes. A handler arrives at the house and relocates the animal to a safe place. No snake is ever harmed. E handlers are trained volunteers. They are also members of the Wildlife Service that rescues animals. Ms. Alati, aged 25, was one of them. was Once, cooking on her dinner. day off Suddenly, from the she office found out where that she she worked had as run an out of accountant, spices. Ms. Alati MS. Alati urried to the nearest supermarket. Her house was On the outskirts of Sydney, near large bushland area, full Jo snakes. In spite of that, the way to the supermarket ever seemed any dangerous to Ms. Alati. When Ms. Alati entered the supermarket, she headed for the grocery shelves. She eached out for pepper, lemon spices and bazil and suddenly heard 2 low turned her head and saw a snake. It was only 30 cm from her face. A two-meter did was not slowly expect to slithering see 6 out snake of in the the spice supermarket. shelves. The woman stood frozen because python 127 she The snake was looking straight into the woman's eyes and moving its tongue. Its body with a diamond pattern looked graceful and magnetic. Ms. Alati thought she could hear the snake's words "Help! Take me outside, please". The scene was like the Z00 episode from Harry Potter film in which the boy talked to the snake. No one else was puno.re but Ms. Alati remained calm and focused. Unfortunately, she could not speak the snakes' language and couldn't comfort the python. She Ms. was Alati familiar knew with that snakes. pythons P were trained strong snake but they handler, normally Ms. Alati did no had harm rescued to people. about 20 of them before. Because of this, her friends would often call her 'the snake girl`. After filming the snake, Ms. Alati called the shop staff and said she could help them get it She out. went home to take a snake bag and then returned to the supermarket. She trapped the snake on the tail and it just slithered into the bag. The staff took plenty of photos of the trapped snake, some of which were later posted on the local media. Then Ms. Alati released the python into the bushland, away from the living area. The snake was returned to its natural habitat. Ms. Alati said she hoped the python would never "'go shopping' again. 13 Australia has got more poisonous snakes than any other continent 1) True 2) False 3) Not stated 14 When Australians see a snake in their house, they kill it for their safety. 3) Not stated 2) False 1) True 15 Ms. Alati was a cook in a restaurant in Sydney. 2) False 1) True 3) Not stated 16 Ms. Alati found a snake inside the supermarket. 2) False 1) True 3) Not stated 17 When Ms. Alati approached the python, the snake attacked her. Not stated 2) False 1)True 18 Ms. Alati had already had experience in catching and saving snakes. 3) Not stated 2) False 1) True 19 After the incident the local media madea set of special reports about snake handlers. 1) true 2) false 3) Not stated