A letter from Uncle John

Unit 1. Mail

A Letter from Uncle John

November 17, 2007

Hi, Danny!

I am _____________ John from Alaska. How are you doing? I hope you are well.

It’s very freezing cold here. I always wear boots and an overcoat. But I am okay.

The _____________ picture is the Katmai Mountain. This mountain _____________ _____________ _____________ snow as you can see. And the _____________ inside the mountain is still _____________.

I am living in a city called Anchorage. There are mountains around the city. But I cannot see any volcanic mountains around the city. There are many buildings _____________, and they _____________ my view. 8Anchorage is the largest city in the state of Alaska. About 260,000 people live in the city. Its _____________ is “The City of Lights and Flowers.” There are thousands of buildings lighted by tiny white lights throughout winter. And in the summer, there are many beautiful flowers, which makes a view. Anchorage is an _____________ city as well. It is the _____________ center of Alaska. Most airplanes _____________ Alaska _____________ this city. I am working for an oil company here.

I _____________ you, Danny. Why don’t you come here during the vacation? There are many nice places to go. We can go to H2Oasis. This is an indoor _____________. And there are good slopes where you can ski. Anchorage is also home to a great _____________ of wildlife. You can see moose, black bears, and brown bears in the Chugach State Park. Tease your parents for a wonderful vacation in Alaska with me.

I am not sure how long it will take for you to get this letter. I hope it will _____________ soon. Enjoy the photo and please answer this letter. Take care.

Love,

Uncle John

The Postcard’s Trip

Sending and _____________ postcards are fun. You can _____________ postcards to almost all countries. Here is how to send a postcard.

First, _____________ a postcard. Postcards have different pictures on the front. Choose your favorite. Second, write a message to someone. Write his or her name, and _____________ on the back. Third, put a stamp on it. But that is just the _____________. Next, _____________ a way to mail it. Does a mailman come near your home? Place your postcard in a roadside box. _____________ the flag. The _____________ will take the card to the post office. Or do you live near a post office? _____________ your postcard there. Do you live in a city? There are many collection boxes in cities. You can use a collection box. In the United States, there are over 40,000 post offices and _____________ collection boxes. Just put the postcard into the _____________ box.
Then, how does the postcard travel to your friend? Your postcard goes to a central post office. It is _____________ there. Machines read the postcard. They look at the _____________ code. Then they look at the _____________ and city. Next, the cards are put into a tray to get to the right place. After about two days they arrive at the next post office. They are sorted again. They are placed in the mailman’s bag or in his van. He _____________ them to the address. A lot of work goes into delivering your cards to the right address.
_____________ that it takes more time for cards to go from one country to another. Cards mailed to different countries might take more than 10 days to _____________. But, the mail always gets there.

Unit 2. Old Things

Whose Hat Is This?

One cold and rainy morning, Merrill was bored. “Let’s go up to the _____________,” said her older sister Mattie. Together they climbed the _____________ stairs. “Be _____________,” said Mattie. “We might fall.”

They got to the attic. They could smell _____________. “This is a very old _____________,” said Mattie. From the top of the trunk, Merrill took out an _____________-_____________ hat with a ribbon around it and found an old picture of a pretty girl wearing the hat. They brushed dust from the hat and the picture. “Who’s that? I have never seen the girl or hat before,” said Merrill, “This looks very old. But it is gorgeous.” “Look at the picture _____________. She looks like you,” Mattie said. “No, she looks like MOM!” Merrill shouted. They picked the picture and the hat up and ran _____________.
Mom was working on a computer. They knew she did not like this _____________ of hat, but they asked, “Mom, mom! Is this you? Did you wear this hat?” Mom answered, “It’s not me. Look at her. She has beautiful eyes and a lovely _____________. She looks like me. Now, do you know who she is?”
“Grandma!” the sisters spoke out _____________ _____________. “Yes. It was your grandma’s hat and the picture was taken 60 years ago, when she was young,” said Mother. “She gave it to me 20 years ago, but I never tried it on. All right! Now the hat _____________ _____________ you! You both have beautiful eyes and lovely smiles. You

_____________ _____________ have this. But now it needs cleaning first. Okay?” “Okay,

Mom,” said the two sisters cheerfully and they both _____________ _____________ _____________ wearing the hat.

The Older, the Better

Do you have a comic book or a baseball card? Your comic book or baseball card can be worth more than $1 million some day and you can become rich. Not all kid _____________ get rich, but they often become _____________ on their collections. These kids are off to a great start.

Do you know Dr. Comics? He is Alex Lee.

“I’m a big fan of Batman,” says Alex Lee, 14, who with his brother Andy, 11, collects comic books. Together, the Lees have collected more than 1,000 comics in just two years.

“My most expensive comic is _____________ $750,” says Alex. He _____________ his comics. He touches them with white gloves.
Another kid collector is called Joshua Hadraba. He is a 13-year-old boy. Does he collect coins or stamps? No. He likes _____________, which makes him collect cameras. He has nearly 30 cameras. Most of them are older than he is! His favorites are _____________ cameras from the 1970s and ‘80s. His camera club helped him learn more.

“_____________ _____________ are a good place to find old but good cameras,” he says.

Now find things you can collect. If you cannot find old things right now, don’t worry. If you

cannot find worthy things, never worry. If you don’t have much money, don’t worry at all. _____________ is not important. You can start collecting things you like and the things are all around. You can collect your books, _____________ animals, dolls, or rocks! The

important thing is to be _____________. If you collect them for a long time, they will be old, worthy, and _____________.

Unit 3. Teamwork Works

Soccer

It was a long season, but the Cheetahs were happy. Their soccer team played in the _____________ game. The Cheetahs played against the Hounds. The teams played a good game. At the end of the game, the score was 3 to 3. Now they are playing an _____________ _____________. Tom, Kate, Bill, May, and Emmett play for the Cheetahs.

Bill kicks the ball down the field. He passes the ball to Kate. Kate passes the ball to Tom. Tom shoots at the goal, but the _____________ for the Hounds stops the ball.

The goalkeeper kicks the ball up the field. The Hounds pass the ball. One of the Hounds shoots the ball. Emmett is the goalkeeper for the Cheetahs. He jumps to _____________ the ball, but the ball goes into the goal. The Hounds have a _____________. The score is now 4 to 3 for the Hounds. The Cheetahs are _____________, but they keep playing.

Now the Cheetahs have the ball again. Tom kicks the ball down the field. He passes the ball to Kate. One of the Hounds kicks the ball away from Kate. She passes the ball to another Hound, but May kicks the ball away. May kicks the ball down the field again. She passes the ball to Bill. He _____________ the ball at the goal. It goes into the Hound’s goal. The Cheetahs have a _____________! The score is 4 to 4. Now the Cheetahs are excited again.

There are only two _____________ left in the overtime period. The Hounds kick the ball. They shoot the ball at the Cheetahs goal, but Emmett catches the ball. Emmett kicks the ball down the field to Kate. Kate passes the ball to Tom. Tom passes the ball to May. May kicks the ball down the field. She shoots the ball. The goalkeeper for the Hounds tries to catch the ball. It _____________ off of his hands. Kate shoots the ball. It goes into the

goal. The Cheetahs have another point! The score is 5 to 4 for the Cheetahs.

Now the _____________ sounds. The game is finished. The Cheetahs win the championship! All of the Cheetahs run onto the field. They _____________ because they won the championship.

A basketball coach said

Ali Bruce is a basketball coach. He _____________ 11 young basketball players in Texas. They are 9 to 11 years old. They are playing for the championship but they do not only want to win. _____________ Bruce tells them to _____________ _____________ teamwork as well as _____________.

Five of them are main players but all of them work hard. Each of them has their own _____________. But they always work together after school. Coach Bruce says, “Teamwork works.”
Even during summer and winter vacation, they all go to basketball camp. They have special _____________ there. All of them practice basketball for 5 hours a day. They run, eat, play, and sleep together as well. The players learn how to work together _____________ all the seasons.
Coach Bruce makes a leader from the players. The leader is the oldest and _____________ boy. Bruce says, “A team needs a leader who strengthens players. So a good leader should be wise.” He believes that a wise leader is the most important

_____________. “Sometimes a good leader is better than me. As their senior and _____________, a good leader gets along with players.”

The players learn the rules and how to shoot a goal. They practice games in the gym. However Coach Bruce thinks _____________ the ball is the most important. That is because a good pass comes from good teamwork. “Players need to be a team,” Coach Bruce says, “They learn to work together. I like good _____________.”

Unit 4. The Handicapped

Suzie the Wonder Dog

Jonathan lives in Florida with his family and his best friend, Suzie, the dog. Jonathan and Suzie are together almost all the time.

Jonathan was born with _____________ ears and eyes. He can’t walk very well. He wears _____________ _____________. Suzie is trained to help Jonathan get around and do things. Suzie is always _____________ _____________ _____________ with Jonathan.

Before Jonathan met Suzie, he had no friend. He could not go outside _____________ any help. His speaking was hard to listen to. There was no kid to play with him. Jonathan had no sister or brother. He was very _____________. On Jonathan’s fifth birthday, Suzie became family. When Jonathan met Suzie for the first time, Jonathan was too small and Suzie was too big. But little Jonathan _____________ her on the back and he could feel her warmth and strength. Suzie _____________ her tail and they became friends. Since their first meeting, Suzie has help Jonathan.

Suzie helps Jonathan go _____________. They go to school together. Suzie opens doors and carries books in a backpack. She helps Jonathan get up if he falls over.

Jonathan likes school. During the day, Suzie _____________ under his desk. She is _____________ to be very quiet and still. But she is always ready to help Jonathan. When Suzie is on the job, she _____________ only to Jonathan. Suzie never takes food from a _____________. She never wags her tail to strangers. Nobody else can talk to or play with her while she’s working. She must always be ready for Jonathan.

She is not a _____________ dog. Before Suzie came to help Jonathan, there were lots of things he could not do and he was very lonely. _____________ _____________ Suzie, Jonathan can do almost anything and he is not lonely anymore. They make a great team!
Sign Language

Some people have hearing or speaking _____________. But they can communicate with sign language. They use their hands and arms. These can help people to _____________, even though they can’t hear or speak normally.

Sign language is easy to learn. You use your _____________ to make the letters of the alphabet. This is called finger spelling. You turn the _____________ of your hand towards the person you want to communicate with. Then you make a sign for each letter to spell words. Some simple signs are easy to learn. _____________ these.
To say ‘man,’ you pretend you are touching the _____________ of a hat. Pull the _____________ brim lower to say, ‘boy.’ For ‘girl,’ you move your right fist along your right cheek. Move the _____________ towards your chin. Then open your hand with your palm down. To say ‘dog,’ pat your legs and _____________ your fingers. For ‘cat,’ you make the “F” sign and pull your hands across your lips. This looks like a cat’s _____________.
Sign language is understood all over the world. People who speak _____________ languages can use it to understand each other. There are more than 1,000 signs you can learn. Most libraries have books with drawings that show you the signs. You can learn how to use sign language at school. Or, you can learn with a friend. It takes a lot of time and practice to learn all the _____________. Learn to communicate with someone who can’t hear or speak. It is useful and _____________ for them.

Unit 5. Go Abroad

A Canadian in Korea

Thursday

Today my brother, Pat, and I _____________ in Korea. The people of Korea were very kind and helpful. We do not speak any Korean, but many people helped us. They helped us to find a bus from Seoul to Taejon. They also helped us leave the bus at the right place. My _____________ is in Taejon. We stay with her.
Friday

We traveled to Namwon. We saw a lot of Korea. It is a beautiful country. We ate _____________ Korean food. It is very _____________ _____________ Western food. Most of the food is very good. I do not like Kim Chi though. Tonight we sleep in a hotel. We sleep under a ‘yo’ for the first time.

Saturday

Today we traveled up Jiri Mountain. My aunt’s car broke down. We were _____________ up the mountain. My uncle opened the hood and examined it carefully. Finally we _____________ it. We were happy to drive to the top. It is a beautiful place. The view at the top of the mountain “takes your breath away.”

Next we visited an Onsan bathhouse. It was the first time that I went to a public _____________. I was very nervous, but I liked it. It was very _____________. My favorite part was the outdoor baths.

Finally we visited Hwa-Eom _____________. This was also my first visit to a Buddhist

temple. The buildings were lovely and the history of the temple was interesting.

Sunday

We traveled to Seoul today. It is an _____________ city! In Canada there is no city so large or so old. We visited two places. Korea has such interesting history. I like to learn about it.

Then we went shopping. We bought clothes in Itaewon and we bought _____________ in Insa-dong. Now we are on an airplane. We are going home. We will never _____________ the wonderful visit we had in Korea.

On the Euro Rail

Peter and Sally were traveling in Europe. They were moving to Paris from Italy on the Euro Rail. They were both excited about going to Paris. It takes about 10 hours to get to Paris, so they decided to go by Euro Night.

They got in the train and found their _____________. They were seated and put their heavy backpacks under their seats. Peter was sitting next to his friend Sally. They were looking at their _____________ and planning the trip.

“We have five days to _____________ in Paris!” Sally said, “We must go to the Eiffel Tower and the famous art gallery, the Louvre.”

“I want to eat French cheese with some baguettes! Yum!” said Peter.

They _____________ laughed. Then a boy came to their seats.

“Excuse me. Can you speak English?” said the boy.

“Yes. Excuse me, what’s going on?” asked Sally.

“I am sorry but I guess the seat you are in is _____________,” said the boy.

“Could you show your ticket to me?” asked Sally in a _____________ _____________. The boy took out his ticket and they took a closer look and said,

“Okay. Your seat number is 37. Mine is 37, too. But this _____________ number is not 2
but 1. You have to go to the next carriage.”

The boy checked the ticket and _____________. “I am sorry. I made a _____________. Thank you.”

“It’s okay. Have a nice trip,” they said to him and he went away. They smiled at each other.

Suddenly the train stopped in a tunnel, and the lights went out.

“What is happening?” Peter shouted. Sally was afraid because it was so dark. They could hear the other people on the train, talking and shouting. The train _____________ walked along the train.

“Don’t worry everyone! We will be moving again soon,” the man told everyone.

“What is wrong?” Sally asked.

The man smiled, and told them, “A silly _____________ has walked into the tunnel. It got lost in the dark, so we had to stop the train. We didn’t want to hit the sheep with the train!”

“Is the sheep hurt?” Sally asked.

“No, it is fine, and its _____________ is going to take it home,” the conductor said. Then the train started again, and the lights came on.

“OK, I have to go now. Enjoy your trip to Paris!” the conductor said.

“Our vacation has just started, but we have already had _____________!” Sally said. The train _____________ on the _____________, and Sally and Peter went back to planning their trip.

Unit 6. Mexico

A Letter from Mexico

Dear Maggie,

I am writing to you from Mexico. My family came here for a _____________. We are staying in a city named Cancun.

I love this hotel. Its name is Dream Cancun Hotel. I share a room with my sister, Mimi. There are two double beds in a room. I have a _____________ sleep in the bed every night. Our room has an ocean _____________. I see the ocean beside the hotel. I hear ocean waves day and night. In the morning, we have a _____________ breakfast. I like fresh fruits and scrambled eggs and Mimi’s favorite is pancakes with maple syrup and yogurt.

We do many exciting things in Mexico. We swim in the ocean. We also ride in a boat to see a coral _____________. The coral is beautiful.

Today we rode on a _____________ ship, and we _____________ to shoot a _____________ at another ship.

Yesterday, we went on a bus trip. I wore ponytails in my hair. We went to a very old city. It was a _____________ city built by Mayan people. There was a pyramid. I climbed the pyramid. It was very tall!

Tomorrow we will go on another boat trip. We will go to a cave. The cave has a river inside it. We will swim in the river inside the cave.

I am tired now. I will say goodbye to you. Then I will go to sit beside the ocean. I will watch the _____________ _____________ over the ocean. Later, I will show you pictures of the sunset.

All the best,

Your friend, Gina

Which Mexican Foods Would You Like?

My family always enjoys eating Mexican food. There are so many _____________ on the menu that it is hard to _____________ which is best. What would you like?

For breakfast you can have a _____________ and two fresh eggs with Mexican salsa & cheddar cheese. You might like an omelet with two fresh eggs. It comes with Mexican salsa, cheddar cheese, and chili sauce on top. You can also have a _____________ tortilla or corn tortillas. They are served with _____________ and beans.
For lunch there is even more to choose from. A flat flour tortilla topped with cheese, black olives, green _____________, sour cream, tomatoes, chicken and avocado is good. There are also all kinds of tacos. You might like beef or chicken with egg and lettuce. How about a hot beef sausage taco with egg and lettuce? Or a taco with avocado, potatoes, cheese, and sour cream is a favorite.
Then in the afternoon there are always good snacks to eat. A favorite snack is _____________. They are made with beans, cheese sauce, fresh peppers, green onions, black olives, sour cream, avocado, and tomatoes. You can also have a flour tortilla with cheese, _____________ with avocado and sour cream. These are called quesadillas. When they _____________ _____________ _____________ ham they are called sincronizadas. But, Mexican salsa and corn chips by themselves are the best.

At dinner it is good to start with a nice green salad of apples and nuts with a mango _____________. You can finish the meal with a hot hominy & pork soup. Mexican food is really good! Just remember it is very _____________. If you want to eat everything, be sure to take a long _____________ before dinner.

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