There is a little animal called the Small Shrew who belongs to a
group of mammals known as Insectivora. The group includes the shrews, elephant
shrews, hedgehogs and golden moles.
Shrews are small animals with long pointed snouts. The snout is
surrounded with whiskery bristles. The body is covered with grey hair.
Shrews feed on insects, and because they are often hungry they
keep looking for food.
We also, sometimes, call a woman with a violent temper a shrew.
Some people also think that a woman who continually nags is a shrew.
On the one hand a shrew is a busy little mammal – that needs to
work hard to keep food on the table. On the other hand a shrew could be a woman
who, potentially, could nag about eleven plus work.
In the `Taming of the Shrew’, by William Shakespeare, one of the characters
attempts to psychologically manage a hostile woman into becoming a willing
bride. This is done by turning everything
on its head. If something is done poorly it is praised.
We can now see a pattern emerging, no eleven plus child would want
their mother to be a nag, and children should not fall for any reverse
psychology offered by parents.
