A Christmas Memory
There are a few memories from our childhood that will stay with us forever. A few that seemed so awful at the time may cause us to smile years later.
One such memory is a phone call I received when I was about three or four years old. My mother had entered a contest on a local radio show. Entrants were to tell an interesting story about their child. Winners would receive a phone call from Mrs. Santa Claus! Mrs. Claus would award the lucky child a prize compliments of a local store.
Well the call came. My mother talked to Mrs. Claus and then handed the phone to me. I wasn’t phased by the fact that countless people were listening to our conversation. However, the fact that this lady had a direct connection to the big guy, that was important.
I didn’t know it yet, but my mother had caught the attention of the contest judges by telling about the time I had decorated a wall with crayons. Even I knew that this was not the kind of behavior that Santa would approve.
Suddenly, in a very pleasant tone of voice, Mrs. Santa Claus asked me about my art work. Now remember, I believed that this lady was the real Mrs. Claus, not a radio station actress standing in for her. Hey, I was just a little kid!
I threw down the phone and ran crying from the room. My crime had not gone unpunished. Santa would surely know that I’d been bad!
It turned out that I did get a nice present from the radio station and its sponsor. And I guess Santa didn’t find out about the wall. Maybe he did and was in a forgiving mood. In any case, my Christmas presents did not include a lump of coal.
I wonder what Santa has in mind for this year. Hopefully my wife hasn’t written Mrs. Claus any letters.
Do you have any holiday memory that you may remember fondly when you’re grown up? Write about your memory.
A Story Starter:
Miss Joan was an incredible kindergarten teacher who taught in a small rural school. She was very dedicated, working long hours to prepare interesting __1__ for her students. She helped her fellow teachers, giving them many good __2__ to help them teach better. She loved her students and they loved her. Yes, in many ways she was nearly perfect. However, she did have two small flaws. First, she would hide __3__ in her desk. This would have been OK, except it attracted mice and other __4__ guests. Her other fault was that she was __5__ afraid of snakes. She wouldn’t allow anyone in her class to draw pictures of them or even say the word. Not even when her kids were __6__ about words that start with the letter S. One day these two characteristics came together in a
shocking way. A teacher who taught fourth grade down the hall knew about Miss Joan’s two weaknesses. He decided to have some fun at her expense.
The teacher, Mr. Ell, bought a very __7__ rubber snake at the Science Store. When Miss Joan was out of the classroom, he hid the snake in a bag of __8__ that she kept in her desk drawer.
See if you can write the rest of this story.
1. a. stories b. meals c. questions d. lessons
2. a. friends b. papers c. dreams d. ideas
3. a. snacks b. pens c. notes d. magnets
4. a. invited b. unwanted c. paying d. hotel
5. a. never b. slightly c. extremely d. once
6. a. learning b. laughing c. caring d. wishing
7. a. active b. talkative c. musical d. realistic
8. a. crayons b. stickers c. mints d. money
More Choices
They say that before long, we will be able to receive more than 500 television networks on cable or by satellite. Some people think that it’s ridiculous to have that many channels. Their usual criticism goes something like this: “I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch. No one needs to see that much TV. There’s not enough time in the day to watch all that!” They also assert that most of what’s on television now isn’t worth watching in the first place. I think they’re missing the point. If the local library wanted to add another 5,000 books, would we say, “That’s silly, we’ll never have time to read all those books.” The point is that we would have more choices.
I don’t believe that most people should watch more television. And if we had 500 or even 1,000 channels to choose from, we wouldn’t have to spend more time watching the tube. We would, however, have a better selection of programming to choose from. That means that the quality of our viewing time would improve.
I, for one, say that the more channels we can access, the better. Give me more choices! If they’re not worth my time, I’ll just hit the “off” button.
1. The author is writing mainly to ___________________.
a. give important information
b. express an opinion
c. complain about cable television
d. his girlfriend
2. The author wants ________________________.
a. to read more books
b. more television sets
c. more choices
d. to watch more sports
3. The number of television channels is _________________.
a. increasing
b. decreasing
c. never going to be more than 1,000
d. the same as the amount of books in the library
4. To make his point, the author creates an analogy that compares cable and
satellite systems to ___________.
a. junkyard
b. computers
c. libraries
d. amusement parks
5. The author probably wants to ___________________.
a. watch at least three hours of TV each day
b. have less libraries built
c. persuade readers to agree with him
d. keep his television off
A Story Starter:
Daryl really enjoyed going to school. However, he wished it would start a few hours later each day. He really liked to sleep as late as possible. He set his alarm for 7:30, which barely gave him enough time to get ready for the bus. Daryl’s sisters and parents were careful to avoid waking him up a minute earlier. When that happened, he was most unpleasant. Besides, the family agreed that Daryl was most pleasant when he was sleeping. One morning, after it had snowed all night, the radio and television
stations announced that school would be delayed by two hours. The telephone woke Daryl at 6:00 a.m.! It was Roderick calling to inform him that he could sleep for two extra hours. Daryl was so angry about being awakened, he couldn’t go back to sleep at all.
“Roderick is a good friend, and I don’t want to offend him,” he told his sister, Katey, “but how do I tell him not to ever wake me again? He actually thinks he did me a favor! He’s sensitive and it’s easy to hurt his feelings.” Katey was willing to help. “I’m impressed by how well you controlled your temper when you talked to Roderick on the phone. Just say, ‘Don’t wake me up to tell me I can keep sleeping, you idiot!’” “Oh, I’m sure that won’t offend him,” their sister Nikole commented.
Write an ending to this story that will solve Daryl’s problem. Think about
the kind of person each character is, and make their words and actions
believable.
The Deadly Life Saver
When a family climbs into a vehicle to go on a trip or even a short ride, it’s important that every one is as safe as possible. We know that terrible accidents can occur. That’s why devices like seat belts and air bags have been invented and put into cars, vans, and trucks. Unfortunately, devices that are meant to save lives can be a threat
to life. The air bag is such a device. Air bags were designed to inflate rapidly in an accident. They were designed to stop an average adult male who didn’t bother to fasten his seat belt from smashing into or through the front of a car. Therefore, they inflate at approximately 200 miles per hour. An air bag is not a soft cushion. It delivers a blow that
can seriously injure or kill a child or small adult. Air bags can be beneficial, but you must know and account for the dangers.
Children should not sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle that has a passenger side air bag. It’s especially dangerous to put an infant who must use a rear facing car seat in the front of such a vehicle. Children are always safer in the back seat. The center rear seat is best. And of course, all passengers should use their seat belts. Take
your example from race car drivers. They know how to increase their chances of surviving a crash. The day will come when vehicles are equipped with “smart” air bags that automatically adjust their force to the size and weight of a passenger. But for now, each of us has to be smart about these imperfect “life savers”.
True or False?
If the article supports the statement, answer True.
If the article does not support the statement, answer False.
1. Air bags can prevent accidents.
2. Air bags kill more people than they save.
3. Adult males do not need to use a seat belt.
4. An air bag might save an adult’s life.
5. An air bag might kill an adult.
6. Children are safer in the back seat than in the front.
7. Race car drivers use air bags instead of seat belts.
8. Air bags will become safer in future vehicles.
Political Polls
Many people are closely following the political polls during the final weeks preceding this important election. But how do these polls actually work?
Polls are surveys of a relatively small number of people compared to the actual number who will vote. They are an attempt to determine who may actually win an election in advance of the final vote.
Let’s say that 100 million people are expected to vote in the general election. If 100 people are asked for their opinions, each respondent represents a million voters. Obviously, the results of such a poll are not very reliable. The more people surveyed, the more meaningful are the results.
Pollsters have various ways of making their polls more accurate. They try to find a representative variety of people to question. For example, they look for people with similar backgrounds and from similar regions to those of all the voters.
Pollsters also ask questions that try to determine how many people who support each candidate will actually vote. If a candidate has a higher percentage of enthusiastic supporters than his opponent, he has a better chance of winning than the simple numbers might suggest. Pollsters may only count those who they consider to be “likely voters.”
If we look at polls that are taken over time, we can often detect a trend. We can tell if a candidate is gaining or losing support when we compare the most recent poll to earlier ones.
Polls often ask potential (those who could be) voters what they like or dislike about each candidate. The campaigns use those results to help them decide which issues to stress or which positions to clarify. They can also determine which voters to target with their messages.
Because no two people are the same, polls can never be perfect predictors of the real vote. But they can give important clues as to where things may be heading. At the very least, if you like politics, polls can be great entertainment.
There are a few memories from our childhood that will stay with us forever. A few that seemed so awful at the time may cause us to smile years later.
One such memory is a phone call I received when I was about three or four years old. My mother had entered a contest on a local radio show. Entrants were to tell an interesting story about their child. Winners would receive a phone call from Mrs. Santa Claus! Mrs. Claus would award the lucky child a prize compliments of a local store.
Well the call came. My mother talked to Mrs. Claus and then handed the phone to me. I wasn’t phased by the fact that countless people were listening to our conversation. However, the fact that this lady had a direct connection to the big guy, that was important.
I didn’t know it yet, but my mother had caught the attention of the contest judges by telling about the time I had decorated a wall with crayons. Even I knew that this was not the kind of behavior that Santa would approve.
Suddenly, in a very pleasant tone of voice, Mrs. Santa Claus asked me about my art work. Now remember, I believed that this lady was the real Mrs. Claus, not a radio station actress standing in for her. Hey, I was just a little kid!
I threw down the phone and ran crying from the room. My crime had not gone unpunished. Santa would surely know that I’d been bad!
It turned out that I did get a nice present from the radio station and its sponsor. And I guess Santa didn’t find out about the wall. Maybe he did and was in a forgiving mood. In any case, my Christmas presents did not include a lump of coal.
I wonder what Santa has in mind for this year. Hopefully my wife hasn’t written Mrs. Claus any letters.
Do you have any holiday memory that you may remember fondly when you’re grown up? Write about your memory.
A Story Starter:
Miss Joan was an incredible kindergarten teacher who taught in a small rural school. She was very dedicated, working long hours to prepare interesting __1__ for her students. She helped her fellow teachers, giving them many good __2__ to help them teach better. She loved her students and they loved her. Yes, in many ways she was nearly perfect. However, she did have two small flaws. First, she would hide __3__ in her desk. This would have been OK, except it attracted mice and other __4__ guests. Her other fault was that she was __5__ afraid of snakes. She wouldn’t allow anyone in her class to draw pictures of them or even say the word. Not even when her kids were __6__ about words that start with the letter S. One day these two characteristics came together in a
shocking way. A teacher who taught fourth grade down the hall knew about Miss Joan’s two weaknesses. He decided to have some fun at her expense.
The teacher, Mr. Ell, bought a very __7__ rubber snake at the Science Store. When Miss Joan was out of the classroom, he hid the snake in a bag of __8__ that she kept in her desk drawer.
See if you can write the rest of this story.
1. a. stories b. meals c. questions d. lessons
2. a. friends b. papers c. dreams d. ideas
3. a. snacks b. pens c. notes d. magnets
4. a. invited b. unwanted c. paying d. hotel
5. a. never b. slightly c. extremely d. once
6. a. learning b. laughing c. caring d. wishing
7. a. active b. talkative c. musical d. realistic
8. a. crayons b. stickers c. mints d. money
More Choices
They say that before long, we will be able to receive more than 500 television networks on cable or by satellite. Some people think that it’s ridiculous to have that many channels. Their usual criticism goes something like this: “I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch. No one needs to see that much TV. There’s not enough time in the day to watch all that!” They also assert that most of what’s on television now isn’t worth watching in the first place. I think they’re missing the point. If the local library wanted to add another 5,000 books, would we say, “That’s silly, we’ll never have time to read all those books.” The point is that we would have more choices.
I don’t believe that most people should watch more television. And if we had 500 or even 1,000 channels to choose from, we wouldn’t have to spend more time watching the tube. We would, however, have a better selection of programming to choose from. That means that the quality of our viewing time would improve.
I, for one, say that the more channels we can access, the better. Give me more choices! If they’re not worth my time, I’ll just hit the “off” button.
1. The author is writing mainly to ___________________.
a. give important information
b. express an opinion
c. complain about cable television
d. his girlfriend
2. The author wants ________________________.
a. to read more books
b. more television sets
c. more choices
d. to watch more sports
3. The number of television channels is _________________.
a. increasing
b. decreasing
c. never going to be more than 1,000
d. the same as the amount of books in the library
4. To make his point, the author creates an analogy that compares cable and
satellite systems to ___________.
a. junkyard
b. computers
c. libraries
d. amusement parks
5. The author probably wants to ___________________.
a. watch at least three hours of TV each day
b. have less libraries built
c. persuade readers to agree with him
d. keep his television off
A Story Starter:
Daryl really enjoyed going to school. However, he wished it would start a few hours later each day. He really liked to sleep as late as possible. He set his alarm for 7:30, which barely gave him enough time to get ready for the bus. Daryl’s sisters and parents were careful to avoid waking him up a minute earlier. When that happened, he was most unpleasant. Besides, the family agreed that Daryl was most pleasant when he was sleeping. One morning, after it had snowed all night, the radio and television
stations announced that school would be delayed by two hours. The telephone woke Daryl at 6:00 a.m.! It was Roderick calling to inform him that he could sleep for two extra hours. Daryl was so angry about being awakened, he couldn’t go back to sleep at all.
“Roderick is a good friend, and I don’t want to offend him,” he told his sister, Katey, “but how do I tell him not to ever wake me again? He actually thinks he did me a favor! He’s sensitive and it’s easy to hurt his feelings.” Katey was willing to help. “I’m impressed by how well you controlled your temper when you talked to Roderick on the phone. Just say, ‘Don’t wake me up to tell me I can keep sleeping, you idiot!’” “Oh, I’m sure that won’t offend him,” their sister Nikole commented.
Write an ending to this story that will solve Daryl’s problem. Think about
the kind of person each character is, and make their words and actions
believable.
The Deadly Life Saver
When a family climbs into a vehicle to go on a trip or even a short ride, it’s important that every one is as safe as possible. We know that terrible accidents can occur. That’s why devices like seat belts and air bags have been invented and put into cars, vans, and trucks. Unfortunately, devices that are meant to save lives can be a threat
to life. The air bag is such a device. Air bags were designed to inflate rapidly in an accident. They were designed to stop an average adult male who didn’t bother to fasten his seat belt from smashing into or through the front of a car. Therefore, they inflate at approximately 200 miles per hour. An air bag is not a soft cushion. It delivers a blow that
can seriously injure or kill a child or small adult. Air bags can be beneficial, but you must know and account for the dangers.
Children should not sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle that has a passenger side air bag. It’s especially dangerous to put an infant who must use a rear facing car seat in the front of such a vehicle. Children are always safer in the back seat. The center rear seat is best. And of course, all passengers should use their seat belts. Take
your example from race car drivers. They know how to increase their chances of surviving a crash. The day will come when vehicles are equipped with “smart” air bags that automatically adjust their force to the size and weight of a passenger. But for now, each of us has to be smart about these imperfect “life savers”.
True or False?
If the article supports the statement, answer True.
If the article does not support the statement, answer False.
1. Air bags can prevent accidents.
2. Air bags kill more people than they save.
3. Adult males do not need to use a seat belt.
4. An air bag might save an adult’s life.
5. An air bag might kill an adult.
6. Children are safer in the back seat than in the front.
7. Race car drivers use air bags instead of seat belts.
8. Air bags will become safer in future vehicles.
Political Polls
Many people are closely following the political polls during the final weeks preceding this important election. But how do these polls actually work?
Polls are surveys of a relatively small number of people compared to the actual number who will vote. They are an attempt to determine who may actually win an election in advance of the final vote.
Let’s say that 100 million people are expected to vote in the general election. If 100 people are asked for their opinions, each respondent represents a million voters. Obviously, the results of such a poll are not very reliable. The more people surveyed, the more meaningful are the results.
Pollsters have various ways of making their polls more accurate. They try to find a representative variety of people to question. For example, they look for people with similar backgrounds and from similar regions to those of all the voters.
Pollsters also ask questions that try to determine how many people who support each candidate will actually vote. If a candidate has a higher percentage of enthusiastic supporters than his opponent, he has a better chance of winning than the simple numbers might suggest. Pollsters may only count those who they consider to be “likely voters.”
If we look at polls that are taken over time, we can often detect a trend. We can tell if a candidate is gaining or losing support when we compare the most recent poll to earlier ones.
Polls often ask potential (those who could be) voters what they like or dislike about each candidate. The campaigns use those results to help them decide which issues to stress or which positions to clarify. They can also determine which voters to target with their messages.
Because no two people are the same, polls can never be perfect predictors of the real vote. But they can give important clues as to where things may be heading. At the very least, if you like politics, polls can be great entertainment.
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