Reading for Pleasure
Food Festival
In October,every school in England has a food festival.
Children take food to school for a special lesson.
The teacher talks about the food.
After class the children give the food to poor people
who live near the school.
'What did you bring?'Sara asks Mark.'An egg',he says.
'What did you bring?''A bag of rice,"she says.
They give their food to the teacher.'
Sit down,children.'says the teacher.
'We'll learn about food and where it comes from.'
'That's easy!'shouts Jenny.'Food comes from the supermarket.'
'That's right,'the teacher says.
'But where does the supermarket get the food?'
The children sit quietly.They don't know.
They live in the city.They know about buses and traffic lights,
but they don't know about farms.
The teacher picks up a carton of milk.
'Where does this milk come from?'The children are quite.
They don't know.
Sara remembers a picture in her storybook.
'A cow?'she says,'Good,'says the teacher.
The teacher picks up the bag of rice.
'Where does rice come from?'The children are quiet.
Nobody knows.'Does it grow in a tree?'asks Stan.
'No,it doesn't grow on a tree.It grows on the ground.'answers the teacher.
'What country does rice come from?'"England,'all the children shout.
'No,'says the teacher.'Our country is too cold for rice.
Rice needs a hot country with lots of water.''China,'says Mark.
'Good,'says the teacher.'The best rice comes from China.'
After the lesson,the children go into the school hall.
All the class are there.
The students sing songs about farms,nd read poems about animals.
The headmaster them how hard farmers work to give everyone food.
Sara and Mark read a poem.
'Thank you farmers for the food so nice,
for beans and apples and pears and rice."
At the end of the day,
they take the food to old people who live in the city.
The Little Black Panda
A little black panda,a dog,a pig and a horse
lived in an old house at the edge of the village.
One day there was a typhoon and their house was blown down.
The dog,the pig and the horse sat down and cried.
'We have nowhere to live.What will happen to us?'
'Don't cry!'said the little black panda.
'We'll build a new house.'
The dog,the pig and the horse stopped crying.
'First we must build the walls,'said the panda.
'Who will help me collect stones for the walls?'
'My back aches!'said the dog.
'My foot is sore!'said the pig.
'My head aches!'said the horse.
'OK,'said the little black panda.
'I'll collect the stones myself,'
He collected the stones and built four walls.
'Who will help me chop trees for the roof?'he asked his friends.
'I'm reading a book!'said the dog.
'I'm eating an apple!'said the pig.
'I'm painting a picture!'said the horse.
'OK,'said the little black panda.
I'll chop the trees myself.
He chopped down the trees and made a roof.
The house looked very strong but it needed a door.
Who will help me cut wood for the door?'asked the little black panda.
Not me,'said the dog.'I'm looking for a bone!'
Not me,'said the pig.'I'm drinking a cup of tea!'
Not me,'said the horse.'I'm doing Taijiquan!'
OK,'said the little black panda.
I'll cut it myself.'And he did.
When the door was ready the panda smiled.
'The house is finished.Who will come and live in my house?'
'I will,'said the dog.'I will,'said the pig.
'I will,'said the horse.
'You must be joking!'laughed the little black panda.
'I collected the stones,I chopped the trees,I cut the wood.
So I will live in the house all by myself.
Singing Colours
When I feel sad I sing a blue tune
About the cold blue winter sky And the icy moon.
When I feel happy I sing a gold tune
About the summer sun In golden June.
When I'm far away from you I sing a silver tune.
I know you too are looking At the silver moon.
When I feel tired My song is black as night.
I sing of black skies And the clear moonlight.
When I feel good I sing red tunes.
I sing about red dragons And big red balloons.
When I'm bored My song is grey.
I sing about grey raindrops On a cloudy day.
When I feel sick My song si white.
I sing of snow and mountains Then I feel alright.
When I feel hungry I sing an orange tune.
And eat oranges and peaches Beneath the orange moon.
Try,try and try again.
Xiaoguang was unhappy.
He felt sad because he couldn't understand his English homework.
Xiaoguang looked at the story in his book.
'It's really hard,'he said to himself.
'I can't read the words,I can't say the works,I can't write the words.'
Xiaoguang closed the book .
He went outside and played football with his friends Daming.
The next day the teacher asked the children to read the story in class.
'Xiaoguang,please read the story,'said the teacher.
Xiaoguang looked out of the window.
He looked at the words on the page.
He couldn't read the them.He sat in his place and felt stupid.
The teacher was unhappy.
'Why didn't you do homework?Do your English homework tonight.'
In the evening,Daming came to help him.
'Read this word,'said Daming,opening the storybook.
Xiaoguang looked at the word.
'I can't read it,'he said.
'I can read Chinese,but I can't read Egnlish.'
'English is easy,'sais Daming.
'Learn the letters and then it's easy.
Look,dog.What does it say?'Xiaoguang looked at the picture.
'gou,'he said.'gou is Chinese,'said Daming.
'In English it is dog.'
Xiaoguang looked out of the window.
He saw a little bird learning to fly.
The bird flew a little way,the fell to the ground.
It tried again.It flew a bit better,and fell to the ground.
The bird tried again.This time it flew high in the sky.
'I must be like the little bird,'said Xiaoguang.
'I will practise and practise and I will learn to read the words,
to say the words,to write the words,'
He read the story three times that night.
Next day Xiaoguang read the story quickly in class,
and the teacher was very pleased.
'Well done.Xiaoguang,'she said.
Xiaoguagn smiled at Daming.'Thank you,'he said in English.
'You're welcome,'said Daming.