Comment: People and animals need each other

The third task of your exam asks you to comment on the following statement that you can find in Text 3: “People need to be needed and animals need people.” (p. 6, l. 8)

Note that the statement comes from Text 3, “Nursing-Home Pets a Boon to Residents”, which focuses on the positive way in which the lives of the elderly in nursing-homes can be influenced by pets. The statement belongs to Barbara Farling, “therapeutic recreation consultant for the State Department of Health Services” (p. 6, l. 6), who talks about the increasingly popular pet-therapy in nursing-homes.

...

Text 1 and Text 2

You could try and correlate the statement from Text 3 with the other two texts from your exam.

Text 1, for instance, presents Nick’s need to be listened to and understood during the divorce of his parents. The only one who was there for him was the dog, Banyan, whom he treated like “an equal” (p. 2, l. 9). At the same time, Banyan also needed Nick; Banyan was a stray dog saved from the pound (p. 2, l. 7) who gained a chance at a better life thanks to Nick.

...