Passage G1f

 17

PICK, SHOVEL AND SPEAR

In England there are two places very near each other called "Brancepeth" and "Brandon".

What do you think these names mean?

Brancepeth means "the bear's path" and Bran-don means "the bear's den".

Here is the story of how these two places got their names. Long, long ago a bear had his den in the place now called Brandon. There was a forest in that place.

The bear killed many people, and nobody dared to go near "the bear's path".

One day a brave man, Hodge by name, set out to kill the great bear.

He took with him only a pick, a shovel and a spear. The people did not know what he could do with a pick and a shovel.

Hodge went to the wood. With his pick and shovel he dug a pit in the bear's path.

He then covered the pit with turf and nobody could see that there was a pit there.

Then Hodge took his spear and hid himself behind a tree.

At last the bear came out of his den. He walked to the pit and fell into it. Hodge ran up to the pit, and killed the bear with the spear.

In an old churchyard, near that place, there is a stone in memory of Hodge, the brave man who killed the bear. On the stone there are pictures of a pick, a shovel and a spear.

18

BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

There was once a king of Scotland whose name was Robert Bruce.

The King of England was at war with him and led a great army into Scotland to conquer the land and the people.

Bruce fought the enemy most bravely. Six times he led his brave little army against his enemy; and six times his men were beaten. At last he was forced to hide himself in the mountains.

One day, feeling tired and sick at heart, he lay on the ground under a farmhouse. He was ready to give up all hope for it seemed to him that it was no use fighting any longer.

As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, getting ready to weave her web. He watched her as she worked slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her thread from one beam to another, and six times she failed.

"Poor thing!" said Bruce. "You, too know what it is to fail."

But the spider did not lose hope. With still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her struggling with the thin thread. Would she fail again? No! The thread was carried safely to the beam.

"I, too, will try a seventh time!" cried Bruce.

Inspired by the spirit of the spider, Bruce called his men together and made careful plans. Soon another battle was fought. This time the king of England was beaten and driven out of Scotland.

Revision 4

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It was one of the last days before Christmas, and the assistants in the large store had their hands full serving eager Christmas shoppers.

At one counter an old lady was choosing gloves—red ones for her daughter-in-law, light-blue ones for her niece, pink ones for her granddaughter, green ones for her sister—and by the time she had found what she wanted the counter was covered with pairs of all colours and sizes.

When the salesgirl had finally written out the bill and was about to turn to the next customer with a tired "Thank you very much, madam," the old lady suddenly cried out, "Oh, I almost forgot..."—"Anything else, madam? "said the girl. "Yes," began the old lady, "I'd like to buy another pair, but I'm not quite sure about what exactly I should choose. I wonder if you could help me.” “Certainly, madam,” was the girl's reply. The old lady then went on to explain that what she was looking for was a pair of gloves for a girl of her age. She was not at all sure what colour to choose, and the design was a problem, too.

The tired salesgirl did her best to help the old lady make up her mind, showing her all kinds of gloves.

At last the chosen pair of gloves were wrapped up and paid for as well, and as the girl was about to turn to the next customer, the old lady handed her the little parcel and said, “These now, dear, these are for you—and thank you for being so patient. I do hope you have a merry Christmas!”

Passage G1e

 14

GOOD“NEIGHBORS”

There is a family of ants that lives below a tree in front of our house, but I don't know when they got there.

They work hard all day long repairing and cleaning their nest and looking for food. There's not a lazy one among them. They are very friendly toward one another and greet each other with their feelers when they meet. I like them very much and go to see them every day.

One day I went to see the ants just before a big rain. They were busy carrying earth in their mouths to stop up the entrance of the nest. Just then the rain came pouring down. I ran back into the house. As I watched from the window I thought, "What a pity, the ants will surely be drowned."

As soon as the rain stopped I went out to see the ants. They were alive and as happy as ever. The mud at the entrance to the nest had kept the rain out and they were already busy moving it away.

It was late. The people who had been outside enjoying the cool air had already gone home. I thought that the ants would be tired from their day-long work and would go to bed too. But when I shined my flashlight on their nest, they were still working silently. What good, hard-working neighbors they are!

15

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

A TV reporter wanted to find out what people thought of a new film, so she decided to interview people as they came out of the theatre. She asked one woman what she thought of the film. “It was excellent,” the woman replied. “I thought it was the best film I've seen in years.”

Then she stopped a young man and asked him the same question. “It was dynamite” he said. He was surprised to see the reporter dive to the ground and cover her ears. He bent down to ask her what the trouble was.

“Where is it?” she whispered.

“Where's what?” he asked.

“The dynamite!” she shouted. “Where's the dynamite?”

This reporter had a problem. She understood what the word "dynamite" meant, but she didn't understand what the young man meant. In other words, she understood the denotation, but not the connotation, of the word.

16

ABOUT THE CONTINENTS

A: There are seven continents in the world. But I only remember five. Could you tell me the other two?

B: What are the five you know?

A: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America.

B: The sixth is Oceania, the smallest of all the continents. It's mainly made up of Australia and New Zealand.

A: I know Australia and New Zealand, but I didn't know they're of the same continent. What's the other continent?

B: Antarctica, an ice-covered continent.

A: Oh, I forgot I've learned about it somewhere.Which is the largest of the seven continents?

B: Asia.It has an area of about 43 million square kilometres,covering thirty percent of the world's land.

A: Which continent comes next?

B: Africa,with an area of over 30 million square kilometres, about one-fifth of the land of the world.

A: Is Europe very large?

B: No,Europe is only larger than Oceania in area,with a little over 10 million square kilometres,occupying one fourteenth of the land of the world.

A: Why is Latin America so called?

B: Because most of the people there speak Spanish, Portuguese or French. Those languages belong to the Latin family.

Passage G1d

 11

Shop Assistant: Good afternoon, what can I do for you?

Abraham: Could you do me a favour, please, and change this note for me?

Shop Assistant: Well, I don't know ...

Abraham: I've got to phone someone, and I need some small change.

Shop Assistant: Hm, and I thought you wanted to buy something in my shop.

Abraham: Sorry, but I don't need anything except some change.

Shop Assistant: All right, I' ll see what I can do for you.

Abraham: That's very kind of you.

Shop Assistant: Well, let's see. Oh, oh, I'm rather short of change myself. But there's a bank across the road.

Abraham: Well, thanks, anyway. I'll go to the bank.

Shop Assistant: Bye-bye ... and come back sometime.

Abraham: Yes, I certainly will. Bye-bye.

12

NOISE

Mr and Mrs Kay have gone to live in the country after living for twenty years in a noisy London suburb. They are talking about the move after breakfast on Saturday morning.

Mr Kay: I think I was very lucky to get that job. Now we are able to live in a little village.

Mrs Kay: Ah, but it won't be a little village forever. This is a developing area. There'll be a lot more people here in about five years' time.

Mr Kay: Yes, but there won't be any factories. Just two or three office buildings, and they'll be hidden behind that woodland over there.

Mrs Kay: How did you sleep last night, by the way?

Mr Kay: Like a log! Never slept better. I'd forgotten how refreshing the country air could be. And it was so quiet!

Mrs Kay: I didn't sleep too well, actually. I couldn't get used to the silence. The only noise I heard last night was an owl screeching at about two o'clock in the morning.

Mr Kay: Well, the silence was perfect for me.

13

MAKING A BOAT

One day Crusoe decided to go to the lifeboat. He wanted to try to float it, so that he could leave the island. But the boat was too heavy to move. So he left it lying in the sand.

But he did not give up hope. He thought, "I will make a boat."

He searched and found a tree with a thick trunk. He set to work chopping it down.

Crusoe worked on the boat for many weeks and at last the boat was finished. He was very proud of it.

His next work was to roll the boat down to sea. But it would not move. It was too heavy for him.

Then he thought to himself, “If my boat will not go to the sea, I will have to bring the sea to my boat.”

So he began to dig a channel down to the sea. But it was much too far and he could not dig the channel deep enough.

He realized that he had made his boat much too large and too heavy. All his work was wasted. He felt unhappy.

But he still wanted to get away from the island. He decided to make another boat, this time a smaller one.

He chose a tree nearer to the sea, and chopped it down. Then he set to work for the second time. After many weeks the boat was finished and ready to go into the water.

He dug a short channel six feet wide and four feet deep, from the sea to his boat. When the tide came in he floated it down his channel.

Passage G1c

 9

THE STORY OF SILK

The story of silk is a fascinating one.

About 4,000 years ago the Chinese discovered the secret of the cocoon. No one knows exactly how or when this important discovery was made. One story says that a young princess was drinking tea in her garden and watching the silkworms form cocoons. By chance one dropped into her tea and the hot liquid softened it. When the girl tried to take the cocoon out of her tea, she pulled out a long silk thread.

The Chinese learned to weave the silk thread into cloth. For 2,000 years they were the only people who knew how to make silk. Chinese merchants sold silk throughout Asia and Europe and became rich.

Everyone wanted to learn how to make silk, but the Chinese kept the secret carefully.

Finally the secret was stolen in the sixth century. It is said that two monks learned about the silkworms and their cocoons. They spent several years in China and finally found a way to take some silkworm eggs out of the country without anyone finding out. The monks always carried canes. One day they hid some eggs in the canes, and left China with them. It is said that the development of the silk industry in other countries came from those few eggs which the monks carried out of China.

CAREFUL AND CARELESS

Careful and careless are as different as fire and water. But strangely enough, many scientists have both these qualities, that is, they are both careful and careless. Newton, the well-known English scientist, is such a person.

Once Newton invited a friend to a dinner at home. When they were ready to eat, Newton left to get a bottle of wine. But after his friend had waited for a long time, Newton still didn't come back. Finally his friend found Newton in his lab. The reason was that when Newton was going to get the bottle of wine, he suddenly had a new idea for the experiment he was doing, so he completely forgot his friend and the dinner. There was another time when Newton was leading a horse up a mountain, holding the rein in his hand. While he was walking, he kept thinking of problems he had met in his studies. When he got to the top of the mountain, he found that the rein was not in his hand and that the horse was gone.

Among scientists, there are many people like Newton. Einstein was one. Once he was waiting for a friend at a bridge. While waiting, he became lost in thought. It started to rain. The rain kept on for some time. When Einstein took out a piece of paper from his pocket to write something down, the paper was wet and then he realized that it was raining. His clothes had become soaked in the rain. But after he put the paper into his pocket, he again forgot he was standing in the rain.

Many scientists are careless about how they live. This is because they are too careful in their studies.

10

LU BAN'S BET

One day while Lu Ban and his younger sister were visiting West Lake in Hangzhou, they were caught in a sudden heavy rain and had to turn back. "What a pity!" thought Sister Lu.

When they reached home, she said to her brother: "You're the best craftsman around here, but I'll make a bet with you. Let's see who can invent something that will let people enjoy the scenery even in the rain."

Lu Ban laughed. "All right," he said, "but there must be a time limit. Three days?"

"No, just one night. We start tonight and stop at the first cock's crow."

Lu Ban was surprised. "All right, it's a bet."

When it turned dark, Lu Ban started building a pavilion at the lakeside. Under the pavilion, people would be able to enjoy the scenery, even in wet weather. When he finished, he went home and looked through the window of his sister's workshop. All was quiet inside.

Lu Ban went back and built another pavilion, then another, and still another. He built nine and started working on the tenth, but before he could finish, he heard a cock crowing, so he stopped.

Soon the sun rose. As he stood by one of the pavilions wondering what his sister had done, Lu Ban saw something coming towards him, something like the roof of a pavilion. Under it was his sister!

As she came nearer, Lu Ban saw that she was holding a bamboo pole which had something round and flat at one end and was covered with silk of many colors.

“What a useful thing! How clever” he cried out, examining his sister's invention.

Sister Lu smiled. “Mine can only be used by a single person, while yours can be used by many at the same time. What's more, it was your design that gave me the idea. The scenery looks so much nicer with your pavilions.”

Some people say that was the beginning of the Hangzhou umbrella.

Passage G1b

 ONE OF THE BIGGEST POST OFFICES IN THE WORLD

Charlie, a boy of fifteen, once stayed with his friend Mike, who lives in New York. Mike's father, Mr White, is a postman.

One day Mr White took the boys to one of the biggest post offices in the world. They first went to a very large room which looked like a shop. There were all kinds of things in it: books, clothes, radios, bicycles and many parcels.

“All the parcels with the wrong addresses come to this room,” said Mr White.“People who lose their mail come or write to this office. Sometimes they find their mail. Parcels stay here for two or three months. Then the post office sells them.”

Then they went to the sorting room.

“Look at that big red machine, Charlie,” said Mike. “Do you know what it's for?”

There were men who were putting cans into the machine. The cans went down into a tube.

“What's in those cans?” asked Charlie.

“Letters that go to other parts of New York,” answered Mr White. “Those tubes all go under the ground. The cans with letters go through the tubes to all parts of New York.”

“This is really interesting,” said Charlie. “I didn't know letters went under the ground.”

They then entered a big hall where Charlie bought some stamps. When they came out, Mr White showed them the trucks which were taking mailbags to the trains, planes and boats and bringing in other mail from the planes, trains and boats.

Mail was going in and coming out of the post office all the time.

6

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS HATCHET

When George Washington was quite a little boy, his father gave him a hatchet. It was bright and new, and George took great delight in going about and chopping things with it.

He ran into the garden, and there he saw a tree which seemed to say to him, "Come and cut me down!"

George had often seen his father's men chop down great trees in the forest, and he thought that it would be fine sport to see this tree fall with a crash to the ground. So he set to work with his little hatchet, and, as the tree was a very small one, it did not take long to chop it down.

Soon after that, his father came home.

"Who cut my fine young cherry tree?" he cried. "It was the only tree of its kind in the country, and it cost me a great deal of money."

He was very angry when he came into the house.

“If I only knew who killed that cherry tree,” he cried, “I would ... yes, I would ...”

“Father！” cried little George. “I chopped the tree down with my hatchet.”

His father forgot his anger.

“George,” he said, and he took the little boy in his arms, “George, I am glad that you told me about it. I would rather lose a dozen cherry trees than that you should tell one lie.”

7

THE KING'S DISEASE

Part I

Many years ago there was a king who was very bad-tempered. Every one was afraid of him. The king was bad-tempered because he was often ill. He was often ill because he ate and drank too much.

“I'm always ill,” the king told his doctor. “Why can't you cure me?”

The doctor did not dare to tell the king the reason. He knew this would make the king very angry. “I've given you the best medicine. Your Majesty,” he said. “I've done my best.”

“Your medicine makes me worse,” the king said. “You must cure me before the end of the month or I shall put you in prison. You are trying to poison me.”

“Perhaps your food is making you ill,” the doctor said. What the doctor really wanted to say was: “You eat too much.”

“Nonsense, ”the king shouted. “My cook is the best cook in the world. It is all because you're a fool that I'm often ill. You do not know how to cure me. I pay you to make me well, but what happens? I have a stomachache and a headache every day. Now go and study your books. Find a cure for my disease or ...”

“Yes, yes, Your Majesty,” the doctor said and went to his room. He made a lot of medicine but none of it could cure the king.

At last there were only three days before the end of the month. The doctor went into the forest, where he wanted to see a wise old monk and ask him for advice.

(To be continued)

8

THE KING'S DISEASE

Part 2

The wise old monk listened carefully to the doctor's story. Then he said, “I understand your problem, doctor. You cannot tell the king the truth. He will throw you into prison if you do. You must let the king find out for himself why he is always ill.”

“How can I do that?” the doctor said.

“I have a plan,” the old monk said. “Can you get me an invitation to breakfast at the palace?”

“Yes, I can do that easily,” the doctor answered.

The next morning the monk arrived at the palace. He looked very fat because he had cushions under his robe. And he seemed to enjoy the food very much.

“I like a man who can eat a lot,” the king said.

A few minutes after the meal the monk suddenly fell to the floor.

“Oh, oh” he cried. “My stomach! My head! Oh! Oh”

“Do you have a stomachache and a headache, too?” the king asked.

“Always, Your Majesty,” the old monk said, and he walked painfully out of the room.

On the last day of the month the old monk came to the palace again. He looked thin and healthy.

“You look well,” the king said. “Come and eat with me.”

“No, thank you,” the old monk said. “I eat only one meal a day. I saw your doctor. He is a very clever man and he told me that I ate and drank too much. He was right. Now I do not eat as much as before and I am healthy. I no longer have pains in my stomach or head.”

“That is very interesting,” the king said, “I'll eat and drink less, too. Perhaps it will cure me.”

And of course, it did.

Passage G1a

 1

Once Lu Xun spoke to the youth about the study of foreign languages. He said:

"You must not give up studying foreign languages for even a day. To master a language, words and grammatical rules are not enough. You must do a lot of reading. Take a book and force yourself to read it. At the same time, consult dictionaries and memorize grammatical rules. After reading a book, it is only natural that you won't understand it all. Never mind. Put it aside and start another one. In a few months or half a year, go over the first book once again; you are sure to understand much more than before ... Young people have good memories. If you memorize a few words every day and keep on reading all the time, in four or five years, you will certainly be able to read works in the foreign language."

2

A VISIT TO THE LIBRARY IN THE FUTURE

The shopping is finished. Charlie's parents tell him they have to go out for a little while. "Why don't you visit the library while we're out?" says Charlie's dad. "I know they have some new books on basket-ball, your favourite game."

Charlie goes to one of the visionphones. He places a call to the library. He asks to see one of the new books on basket-ball.

*Basket-ball Giant,* the name of the book, is flashed on the screen. "Turn," says Charlie. The first page of the book is shown on the screen. Then the second, and the third. Charlie has read about thirty pages of it. Then he hears his mother's voice coming through a speaker on the wall. Charlie turns off the visionphone. He says hello to his mother.

"Where are you?" he adds.

"We' re driving on the freeway, "Mrs Green says. "This is taking a little more time than we thought. We won't be back until two o' clock. Better get some lunch for yourself."

"What are you doing? "Charlie asks.

"We'll explain later, "she says.

"O. K." says Charlie.

3

THE CAT'S PAW

Long, long ago there lived two animals — a cat and a monkey. One day the monkey found some chestnuts in a fire. He wanted very much to eat them, but was afraid of burning his hand. So he took the cat to the fire and said: "Ah! How good those chestnuts smell! Cat, my dear friend, your paws are made just like man's hands. You are the only one who can pull the nuts from the fire. Why don't you try it?"

The cat was flattered by the monkey's praise. She was willing to do anything for him. So she put out her paw and began to pull the chestnuts out of the fire. She burned her paw each time she pulled a nut out.

"How fine it is to have hands like a man!" said the monkey. "Try to get some more. We' ll share them."

So the cat went on pulling more and more chestnuts out of the fire. But when at last she turned for her share of the nuts, she found that the monkey had eaten them all.

This is how the term "cat's paw" has come into use.

4

PENICILLIN

If you leave a piece of bread in a warm damp place, mould will soon grow on it. When this happens, we say the bread "has gone mouldy". Mould can grow on all kinds of things besides food. It grows from spores which are in the air. If the conditions are right, a spore can quickly get around and form a mould. This happens quite commonly. We have all probably seen it.

In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming found that mould had killed some germs he was trying to grow in his lab. If he had not noticed this, the world would have lost one of the greatest discoveries of the century. Fleming called the substance "penicillin".

Because penicillin can kill germs, doctors use it to treat diseases. It has saved millions of lives. Scientists grow large quantities of common mould so that they can get penicillin from it in order to make antibiotics, that is, substances that kill germs.

Next time you see some mould on a piece of bread, remember that it is one of man's greatest friends!

5

THE VAIN STAG

One hot day a big stag that had a pair of very large antlers stood on the bank of a river. He was thirsty and went down to the water to drink. Suddenly he saw his reflection in the water. He was very pleased with what he saw. "Oh," he said. "What a beautiful pair of antlers I've got How fine my head is! How proud I look! Nobody has such beautiful antlers as I have. Perhaps some people will say that my antlers are too big, but I don't think so. I like them very much. "And the vain stag looked again at his reflection in the water.

Suddenly he heard the barking of dogs. Three hunters and their dogs came out of the forest. The stag ran across the field into the forest. He was already far from the dogs, but he caught his antlers in the branches of some low trees and could not get away.

The dogs ran up to him and pulled him to the ground. Then the hunters came up and killed him.

THE BOYS BUILD A BRIDGE G1sr06

 6. THE BOYS BUILD A BRIDGE

"Do you all agree, then? "asked David. "We will go for a long cycle ride during the holidays. I expect the other three will agree. We can ask them when they come.”

“But what about Sammy?” said Roy. “He hasn't got a bicycle. His father can't afford to buy him one.”

“Oh, we hadn't thought of that,” said David thoughtfully. “I wonder if we can borrow one for him.”

At that moment Robert, Henry and Sammy arrived.

“You three are late,” said Roy. “What happened to you?”

“We had to come round the long way,” said Robert. “The old bridge over the stream has collapsed.”

“And that means we had to walk an extra quarter of a mile and use the other bridge,” added Henry. “The stream must be nearly five feet deep after all this rain.”

“Don't worry,” said David. “The Town Council will soon build another one.”

“Oh no,” replied Henry quickly. “My father has already asked about that. There isn't enough money this year.”

The boys were silent for a moment.

“I wonder who built that old bridge,” Robert said. “It was only a few tree trunks and planks held together with some nails.” Then an idea struck him. “Do you think we could rebuild it?”

“How wide is the gap?” asked David.

“About ten or fifteen yards, I think,” replied Robert.

“You know …” David paused. “I think we could do it, if we planned it properly and could borrow the tools.”

“And if we could get the timber,” added Roy. “What do we need?”

The boys started to consider the idea seriously. Sammy told them that his elder brother worked in the Public Works Department and could probably make a plan for them.

“I'll ask him to come and look at the old bridge tomorrow,” said Sammy. “I'm sure he'll help us.”

Their greatest problem was to find enough planks and thick beams. The next day the boys visited nearly every house in the area. In the evening they returned to their hut and told each other about their visits. Henry was very excited.

“I must tell you this,” he burst out. “Mr Robinson has promised to supply the wood as long as we do the work and finish it within a month.”

“Splendid” said Robert. “That will certainly solve our problem.”

“There's another thing,” said David. “Roy and I found that several people will give us money if we build a new bridge. It's a short cut for them.”

"Then let's start work," said Robert. "Sammy's brother is making a plan now."

The next day the boys cleared away the remains of the old bridge. They then climbed down the sides of the stream and dug holes for the supports— one on each bank.

Mr. Robinson kept his promise and sent a lorryload of timber. The boys soon slipped the supports into their holes, and at the end of a week of hard work, two thick logs had been lowered on to them from each bank. The most difficult job was to get the long logs across the middle. The boys fastened a rope to each log, threw the rope over, and then pulled the log into position. Mr. Robinson walked out each evening to see how the work was getting on, and the boys knew he was proud of them.

The last job was simple. The boys nailed the planks across the logs, and strengthened these with other planks which ran right across the bridge. Three days after the start of the holidays, the bridge was finished. The boys met in their hut to decide on an opening ceremony for their bridge.

The next day, at six o' clock the boys gathered at the bridge. Mr Robinson appeared with nearly forty of the people of that district. In a little speech he praised the boys for their efforts. The neighbours clapped, and the boys felt even more pleased with their work.

THE FIRST TELEVISION G1sr05

 5. THE FIRST TELEVISION

John Baird lived in Scotland. As a boy he was always making things, and most of them were electric. When he was older, he went to college to study more about electricity. Radios had just been invented then, and people were talking about sending pictures by electricity. John Baird began to think about this. He worked so hard at it that he got ill. But he made up his mind to go on working at the wireless pictures until he had found out how to send them.

He made his first set in an old box. He found a toy electric motor in a junk heap behind a shop. He fixed it and used it in his set. He also bought a cheap lamp to help him. Besides this, he used part of an old army wireless set, and some bits of wood. All these he fixed together with glue, string, wax, and many wires.

After many months of hard work, he managed to send a picture of a cross over a distance of three yards. It was not a clear picture, but he could not do any better, for he was running out of money. He had to take his machine to a shop and show the picture to people. In return, the shop owner paid him £25 a week. He stayed in the shop for a few weeks, then left to work at his set again. But the money was soon spent, so he often had to go hungry. His clothes needed mending and his shoes needed repairing. He became ill again, but still he worked at his idea. He was so poor by now that he even had to sell some parts of his set so as to have money to buy some food. That meant, of course, he could not work without those parts.

But then his luck changed. Some friends sent him some money and he soon bought back the parts he had sold. With these to help him he tried to send a picture of a face—not a real face, but the face of a doll he had. The picture only came out like a white circle with three black spots showing for the mouth and eyes.

He now bought some new parts for his set with more of the money his friends had given him. He put these parts into the set and switched it on. He had a great surprise! It now showed the doll's face clearly—nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and hair! John was so delighted that he wanted to find someone whose face could be shown. He ran downstairs to an office just below his room. He found the office boy there, and quickly dragged him upstairs.

The boy must have thought John was mad, but John did not care. He made the boy sit down in place of the doll, facing the strong lights and noisy machinery. Then he shouted to him, "Don't move!" and went off into the room where the picture would be shown. He looked at the screen. Alas! There was no face showing! What had happened? John rushed back into the room, and saw what was wrong. The boy was afraid and had bent his head back from the lights and noise. John made the boy sit still, promising that nothing would hurt him. A few seconds later he was looking at the screen again with the machinery turned on. This time, to his delight, he saw the boy's face! It was quite clear—just as clear as the doll's had been. He called the boy to the screen, and he himself went and sat in the doll's seat. To the boy's surprise, he saw John's face on the screen.

So John Baird had really managed to do it. He had found a way to send pictures by wireless. That was in the year 1925, and it was the beginning of television.

THE BEST ADVICE I EVER HAD G1sr04

 4. THE BEST ADVICE I EVER HAD

When I was about 15, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings. Week by week her list grew: I was skinny, I talked too loud, I was too proud, and so on. I put up with her as long as I could. At last, I ran to my father in tears and anger.

He listened to my outburst quietly. Then he asked, "Are the things she says true—or not?"

True? I wanted to know how to strike back. What did truth have to do with it?

"Mary, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinion. Go make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. You needn't pay attention to the other things she said.”

I did as he told me and discovered to my surprise that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change (like being skinny), but a good number I could—and suddenly wanted to—change. For the first time in my life I began to get quite a clear picture of myself.

I brought the list back to Daddy, but he wouldn't take it.

"That's just for you, "he said." You know better than anybody else the truth about yourself, once you hear it. But you've got to learn to listen, not close your ears in anger or hurt. When someone says something about you, you'll know if it's true or not. If it is, you'll find it will echo inside you."

"I still don't think it very nice of her to talk about me in front of everybody, "I said.

"Mary, there is one way you could stop others talking about you ever again, and criticizing you—just say nothing and do nothing. But then, if you do that, you'd find you were nothing. You wouldn't like that now, would you?"

"No," I admitted.

Later, I was to have another, more painful lesson about hearing the truth. It happened the week we were to put on a play in which I had the lead. How eager and excited I was!

A few days before the show, some of my friends decided to have a picnic at a nearby lake. It was still rather cold. Mother wanted me to stay home so that I might not catch cold, but I insisted on going. After making me promise not to go swimming, she gave in.

Well, I kept the words but not the spirit of that promise. When the others went into the water I couldn't stand being left behind. I put on my swimming-suit, too, and went out in a rowboat.

When at last I headed for shore, some of the boys began to rock my boat. Just as I was about to reach the shore, it went over. Trying to keep out of the water, I took a leap for shore. I made it— but I landed on a broken bottle. My heel was cut right to the bone!

I didn't get to star in the play, but had to lie still in hospital. “But I kept my promise not to go swimming,” I said to daddy.

“Mary, you listened to only half of what your mother said. What she really made you promise was to try not to catch cold. Going swimming was only part of it. You let yourself hear only part of the truth. And that's why you ended up like this.”

I made a final excuse: “All my friends thought it would be all right, if I stayed in the boat.”

"And they all were wrong, weren't they?” He paused a moment. “You’ll find the world is full of people who think they know better than you. Don't shut your ears to them. Hear them out, but listen out only for the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”

Daddy's advice has returned to me at many critical moments in my life and it has worked.

THAT CRAZY TOWER IN PISA G1sr03

 3. THAT CRAZY TOWER IN PISA

*The Dear Old Lady—that is what the people of Pisa call the tower—needs help.*

Three million people visit Pisa each year. That's a lot of people. Why do they come to this town in Italy? To see a tower. A look at the picture will tell you why. The crazy tower leans！ It is known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The tower looks as if it might fall at any time. In fact, some visitors stop at the tower just long enough to take a picture. Then they hurry away. Other visitors climb the 294 steps to the top—and come down, feeling like heroes.

Engineers say that the visitors are safe—at least for a while. But the tower does lean. It slants 14 feet 10 inches at the present time. The tower has been leaning for 800 years. And every year it leans a tiny bit more. If this keeps on, the tower will fall.

You may wonder what makes the tower lean. If you look at the picture, you will see that one side of the tower is deeper in the earth than the other. The foundation on which the tower rests has sunk into the soil on the leaning side. Why has this happened?

Pisa's tower weighs 14,500 tons. The soil of the town is a mixture of clay and sand and water. A heavy tower built on soil like this must have a very strong foundation. The Leaning Tower's foundation is just not deep or wide enough for the tower above it.

Can anything be done about the tower?

Yes, Italian engineers have several plans. They don't want to make the tower straight—just keep it from leaning any further. So all the plans call for a new foundation that won't sink.

But a new foundation can't be built while the tower is resting on the old one. The tower must be raised. And it must have something to rest on while the new foundation is being built.

The tower could be raised with jacks. They would be like the jacks we use to raise cars when changing a tire. Only these jacks would be giant ones. One plan calls for 15 of them to be placed around the tower. Each of the giant jacks would be on its own foundation. And each of them could lift 1000 tons. The 15 jacks would raise the 14,500-ton tower and hold it up while the new foundation is being built.

The Italian engineers are searching for the best plan to save the tower. They know that any plan will take a lot of money. They are trying to get the money from the Italian government. But many Italians refuse to believe that the old tower is in danger. “It leans and leans and leans," they say." But it will never fall down."

The engineers want to make sure that it won't.

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND G1sr02

 2. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

The two largest islands of the British Isles are Great Britain and Ireland. There are three regions in Great Britain. They are England, Scotland and Wales. Scotland lies to the north of England, and Wales to the southwest. Ireland lies to the west of Great Britain. It is a smaller island than Great Britain.

The Atlantic Ocean lies between the British Isles and America, and the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The North Sea is on the east side of Great Britain. To the south is the English Channel. Every day large ships cross the Atlantic Ocean to America, and smaller ones cross the North Sea and the Channel to Europe.

The mountains in Great Britain are almost all in the north and the west. They are not very high; the highest ones are in Scotland. There are many low hills in some parts of the country, but not in the south and east, where there are almost no hills. In summer there is no snow on any of the mountains or hills in Great Britain or Ireland.

There are many rivers in Great Britain, but they are not very long. The rivers which run to the east are longer than the ones which run to the west.

The Thames is one of the longest rivers in England. It is a very beautiful river. It is in the south of the country and runs to the east, into the North Sea. London, the capital of Great Britain, is on the Thames.

London is a very old city. Today it is one of the largest cities in Europe. More than nine million people live there.

The port of London is one of the greatest ports in the world. Ships from all countries go up and down the Thames. They bring food to the people of Britain.

Then they take British machines and other things back to the ports from which they came.

There are many scenic spots in the West of England. The lakes here are the most beautiful in England. There are trees, and flowers and green grass round them.

The water is almost always very still, and you can see the green hills, the brown mountains and everything else round the lake upside down in the water. There are boats on all the larger lakes, which take people from one side to the other. There are always a lot of boats on the lakes in summer.

Travellers from many countries of the world go to the West of England in summer. There are boat races on the largest lakes, and people from many places in Great Britain and Europe come to see them. Young people travel from one place to another on their bicycles, or walk from one lake to another.

There are large lakes in Scotland too with mountains round them. They are not like the English ones; there are not so many trees and flowers, and green hills round them, but they are beautiful too. The mountains here are higher, and they are grey and dark.

Some people think that this part of Scotland with its lakes and mountains is more beautiful than the West of England. Other people say it is not more lovely, but it is more interesting.

Ireland is a very beautiful country. It is not far from England, and some people like to go there for their holidays. Ireland is even greener than the West of England. It rains very often there, but it is never very cold, and snow almost never falls. The west wind brings rain from the Atlantic Ocean, and much of it falls on Ireland and on the west of England and Scotland.

HOW TO USE AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY G1sr01

 SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS

1. HOW TO USE AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY

A dictionary can be most useful, if you know how to use it correctly.
The first thing to know is that the words in the dictionary are arranged in alphabetical order. This means that all the words beginning with 'a' come first, then those beginning with 'b', then those beginning with 'c', and so on. But this is not all. Take two words beginning with 'a', after and ago. Which comes first? After comes first, because the second letter in after, 'f', comes before the second letter of ago, which is 'g'. The same rule is followed all the way through the word. Thus about comes before above, and fifth before fifty. If you remember this rule it will save you a lot of time in looking up words.
Open your dictionary at any page. At the top of the page you will see two words printed in heavy type. These are known as guide words. The one on the left-hand side of the page tells you what the first word on that page is. The one on the right-hand side tells you what the last word on that page is. So if you are looking for a word in the dictionary, you first look at the guide words at the head of the pages. Then you will be able to tell whether or not the word you want is on the page you are looking at.
You will notice that a dictionary very often gives several definitions for one word. How would you decide which of these definitions is the one you need? First, you must know what part of speech the word is in the sentence. Is it a noun or a verb? Is it an adjective or an adverb? A word can be used differently in a sentence, and so may have a different sense. Next, you must see which of the definitions will fit into the sentence. It is important to study the rest of the sentence carefully in order to find out the meaning of the word.
For example, you might come across this sentence: “We use an inclined plane to load or unload a truck.” You look up ‘load’ in the dictionary. The dictionary says: 1. n. a burden, ... 2. vt. put a burden on or into, ... Of course the second definition makes the right sense in the sentence.
You will find that the more you use the dictionary, the better you'll be able to use it and the more useful it will be to you.