C O N T E N T S
1. Smart Tablets 4
2. Fishing 6
3. Who’s Calling, Please? 8
4. Some Helpful Advice 10
5. Grocery Shopping 12
6. Saving Money 14
7. Meeting for a School Trip 16
8. A Picky Husband 18
9. Fires 20
10. Alex, Shirley, and Dave 22
11. Gray Hair 24
12. New Shoes 26
13. Charlie Chaplin 28
14. Watering the Garden 30
15. At the Bowling Alley 32
16. Team Brazil 34
17. Going North 36
18. High School Goes to Indonesia 38
19. Going to the Movies 40
20. Review of Casablanca 42
21. The New Job 44
22. E-mail from Indonesia 46
23. Lost and Found 48
24. The Queen’s Birthday 50
25. Formula One Hero 52
26. E-mail to Indonesia 54
27. Bad Spelling 56
28. Real Estate for Sale 58
29. The Dripping Tap 60
30. A Bad Day 62
31. Sharing a Taxi 64
32. Winter Olympics 66
33. More Helpful Advice 68
34. Florence Nightingale 70
35. The Plumber’s Bill 72
36. The Turtle and the Ice Cream 74
37. The Broken Car 76
38. The Nervous Taxi Driver 78
39. The Broken Mower 80
40. Christmas Present 82
U NIT 1 Smart Tablets
4
A
nton was not the smartest boy in school. Anton always got the lowest score on tests.Sometimes the other children in the class teased him.
“Here comes dumb Anton,” they would say. They laughed at Anton and teased him when he couldn’t answer a question in class.
Anton wished that he could be smarter. One day, he decided to try to become smarter. He stopped watching television and playing sports. He started reading more books.
When there was a test at school, he thought that he might get a better score, but he was disappointed when he still had the lowest score in the class. He wanted to be as smart as Jake. Jake always got the highest score in the class.
Jake was smart, but he
was not very nice to the other children. He teased Anton almost every day.
One day Jake came up to Anton. “Hey, Anton!” he said. “I can help you become smarter. You just need some of these tablets. They’re called smart tablets. I’ll sell them to you. They’re only one dollar each and if you take one every day, you will soon be a lot smarter.”
Anton thought about this. He wanted to be smarter, so he bought some tablets from Jake. They were expensive and he had to give Jake his lunch money every day.
A few days later they took a test at school, and Anton got the lowest score again. He went to Jake and complained. Jake told him that it took some time for the tablets to work. Anton bought some more tablets, but he still got the lowest score on the next test.
He found Jake and complained. “These tablets are no good!” he said.
“I think you’re tricking me!”
“Ah,” said Jake. “They’re starting to work already!”
5 5
1 100
1 155
2 200
2 255
3 300
Vocabulary Review Vocabulary Review
Reading Comprehension Reading Comprehension
Summary Summary
5 Match each word with its meaning.
1. already a. medicine like a pill
2. dumb b. not smart
3. tablet c. sooner than expected
Choose the best answer.
1. Why does Jake think Anton is smarter?
a. Anton can answer hard questions. b. Anton tricked Jake.
c. Anton knows he is being fooled. d. Anton got the best test score.
2. How did Anton feel when he saw his score on the test?
a. disappointed b. excited
c. exhausted d. pleased
3. How would you describe Jake’s personality?
a. generous b. kind
c. lazy d. mean
4. What does a person do if he “teases” others?
a. beats them up b. gives them a hand
c. makes fun of them d. sends them away
Fill in each blank with the correct word.
Anton and Jake were in the same class at school. Jake was very _____, but Anton was not. Jake decided to _____ Anton. He sold Jake some “smart _____” for one dollar each. Anton still got low scores on his tests and _____ to Jake. Anton said Jake was tricking him. Jake _____ him that the tablets were working.
complained smart tablets told trick
