Every year, volunteers in Brisbane, Australia, meet to clean up the beach. This year, John and his father joined the group. They worked hard all morning to pick up garbage. Near lunchtime, John noticed a glass bottle on the beach. The bottle was old and dirty. It looked like ( 26 ). John picked up the bottle and gave it to his father. His father opened it and took out a piece of paper. He told John that it was a message.
John’s father showed the message to John. It said, “My name is Paul, and I am 10 years old. I am from Canada. I am traveling to Australia on a ship called the Fair Star. Please ( 27 ).” On their way home, John and his father bought a postcard to send to Paul. A few weeks later, they got a reply. Paul said he was now 50, and it was amazing that John had found his message after such a long time.
Hungry Hikers
People are having a bigger and bigger effect on wild animals. As a result, new laws and special parks are being created to protect nature. Some changes have been very successful. For example, there were about 170 wild elephants in 1980 in Yunnan, China. These days, experts think that there are around 300 elephants there. However, the elephants have ( 28 ). As cities get bigger and more farms are needed to feed people, there are not as many places for animals like elephants.
Big animals can cause big problems for people. Because there is not enough food in protected areas, elephants often leave these areas to take food from farms. In fact, a group of about 14 elephants from Yunnan went on a 500kilometer walk to look for food during 2020 and 2021. The elephants sometimes went through towns trying to find food. They appeared on the TV news and the Internet. As a result, they ( 29 ) China. People were interested to find out what would happen to them next.
Finally, the elephants returned to a protected area in Yunnan. However, to try to prevent similar adventures in the future, experts have designed a special “food court” for elephants. The food court cost $15 million to build and is about 670,000 square meters. It has five ponds where elephants can drink, and all the plants that elephants need to eat to stay healthy. The experts hope that it will be enough to ( 30 ).
From: Alan Reznick <alanreznick@bmail.com>
To: Jeff Teanaway <jeff.t@wmail.com>
___________________________________________
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for letting me borrow your DVD of Burning Fist. It’s such an exciting movie. I really liked the part when the hero is riding a cool bike and being chased by bad guys. After watching it last Saturday, my mom took me to a bookstore. I found a book about Burning Fist and bought it. It’s really interesting. I’ll lend it to you when I finish reading it.
While I was at the bookstore, I saw a poster for an action movie festival. It will be held next month at the Old Lawrence Theater, near the Elm Street subway station. It’s close to the Mexican restaurant that we went to on your birthday last year. The poster said that the director of Burning Fist will be at the festival. She’ll answer fans’ questions about her movies and talk about her next movie.
Eight movies are going to be shown over two days at the festival. They’ve all been chosen by the director of Burning Fist. Some of them are old action movies from the 1980s and 1990s. There will also be some new movies, too. I think it sounds great, so I’m definitely going to buy a ticket for the festival. Should I get one for you, too? Talk soon,
Alan
Spicy Soda
Ginger ale is a spicy soft drink. It was invented in Ireland in the 1850s. However, the type that is most popular today was created by a man called John McLaughlin who lived in Toronto, Canada. After he graduated from college in Canada, he went to study in New York City. While studying, he worked part-time at a drugstore. He noticed that many people were buying soda water from the store and mixing it with different fruit flavors.
McLaughlin returned to Toronto in 1890 and started a soda water company. It became very successful. One reason was that his advertisements said the water provided by the city was dangerous and caused diseases. He recommended that people drink his fruitflavored soda water instead. He also made machines called soda fountains. People could use them to buy McLaughlin’s drinks. The machines became popular with shoppers in busy department stores, especially on hot summer days.
McLaughlin had poor health, and he had to stop being the manager of his company. However, he continued inventing new drinks. He knew about ginger ale from Ireland, but many of his customers did not like its sweet flavor. McLaughlin spent three years trying to create the perfect kind of ginger ale. Finally, by 1904, he had created a lighter, spicier drink. McLaughlin’s wife liked it so much that she said it was “the champagne of ginger ales.”
McLaughlin’s “Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale” was a success. As well as being delicious on its own, it could also be mixed with other drinks. Some people like to drink it rather than beer or other alcoholic drinks. Moreover, the ginger can help people with stomachaches or sore throats. It has been over 100 years since Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale was invented. In that time, its popularity has spread from Canada, through the United States, and around the world.
