White Fang
by Jack London (excerpt)
In this book excerpt, the character of White Fang, a wolf pup, is
trained to become a sled dog in the Yukon Territory
by his
master
Gray Beaver and his son Mit-sah in the early twentieth
century
[1] When December was well along, Grey Beaver went on a journey
up the Mackenzie. Mit-sah and Kloo-kooch
went with him. One sled
he drove himself, drawn by dogs he had traded for or borrowed
. A
second and smaller sled was driven by Mit-sah, and
to this was
harnessed a team of puppies. It was more of a toy affair than
anything else, yet it was the delight of Mit-sah, who felt that he was
beginning to do a man's work in the world. Also, he was
learning to
drive dogs and to train dogs; while the puppies themselves were
being broken in to the harness. Furthermore, the sled was of some
service, for it carried nearly two hundred pounds of outfit and food.
[2] White Fang had seen the camp-dogs toiling in the harness, so
that he did not resent overmuch the first placing of the harness
upon himself. About his neck was put a moss-stuffed collar, which
was connected by two pulling-traces to a strap that passed around
his chest and over his back. It was to this that was fastened the
long rope by which he pulled at the sled.
[3] There were seven puppies in the team. The others had been
born earlier in the year and were nine and ten months old, while
White Fang was only eight months old. Each dog was fastened to
the sled by a single rope. No two ropes were of the same length,
while the difference in length between any two ropes was at least
that of a dog's body. Every rope was brought to a ring at the front
end of the sled. The sled itself was without runners, being a birch-
bark toboggan, with upturned forward end to keep it from ploughing
under the snow. This construction enabled the weight of the sled
Select the correct answer
What is a theme of the passage?
O A. Leadership does not always come with respect
OB. It is better to be in the lead than left behind"
OC. It is always better to be loved than to be feared
OD. Size does not tend to equal strength