1.语文

一年级-上册

2.数学

3.英语

一年级-下册

日语

ドラえもん

英语 自然拼读

作者：Kathy Hoggan
插图：Joel Snyder

Written by Kathy Hoggan
 Illustrated by Joel Snyder

莫蒂是一只非常淘气的老鼠，
他总是做很淘气的事情。
莫蒂跟本和弗雷德蹦跶到学校，
他们是他最好的朋友。他们的双肩包跳动着，
他们追逐著，试图，
跳上彼此摆动的尾巴。
他们慢慢地向操场行进。


Morty is a very mischievous mouse 
 Who always does very mischievous things.
 Morty was scampering to school with Ben and Fred,
 his best buddies. Backpacks bouncing, 
 they chased around trying to 
 jump on each other’s swinging tails. 
 They slowly made progress toward the playground.

“嘿！”莫蒂中途停下了，
盯着艾伯特先生的苹果园。
苹果丰收的时节几乎已经结束了，
苹果的香气，落在草地上的新鲜的露水的景象，
和掉在地上的苹果给了莫蒂一个非常淘气的想法。
“还记得艾伯特先生对我们大吼大叫
因为我们摘他的苹果吗？”
本和弗雷德清楚地记得那一天，
记得艾伯特先生的胡须是如何因为愤怒而扭动着，
当他朝着他们尖叫的时候。
“他说：‘你们可以随便拿那些掉在地上的，
但摘我的苹果是偷窃行为！’”莫蒂继续说。
“我知道怎么处理那些烂苹果。。。
我们可以给斯尼克威瑟小姐做苹果酱。”


“Hey!” Morty stopped short 
 and was staring at Albert’s Apple Orchard.
 Apple harvest was almost over 
 and the smell of apples, sight of fresh dew on the grass, 
 and fallen apples gave Morty a very mischievous idea.
 “Remember when Mr.Albert yelled at us 
 For picking his apples?”
 Ben and Fred remembered that day well, 
 and how Mr. Albert’s whiskers twitched with anger 
 as he screamed at them.
 “He said, ‘You can have any that fall to the ground, 
 but picking my apples is stealing!’”Morty continued.
 “I know just what to do with those rotten apples . . . 
 we’ll make applesauce for Miss Snickerwiser.”

很快，本，弗雷德和莫蒂，
争先恐后地在果园四处，
捡起熟过头的和虫蛀的苹果-
很多很多的苹果。他们不断地把苹果装进他们的双肩包，
直到他们因为太重而背不动了。
“来吧，让我们快点！”莫蒂回头叫道，
当他带着他们去教师停车场的时候。


Soon Ben, Fred, and Morty were
 scrambling around the orchard, 
 picking up overripe and worm-eaten apples—
 lots and lots of apples. They filled their backpacks
 until they were nearly too heavy to carry.
 “C’mon, let’s hurry!” Morty called over his shoulder 
 as he led the way to the teacher parking lot.

正如他所知道的她会做的那样，
斯内克威瑟小姐没有锁车门，
她的车是光亮的，红色的，双座的老鼠迷你轿车。
小心翼翼地，这三只三年级的老鼠-
莫蒂，本，和弗雷德开始往车里装苹果。
“我们需要更多的苹果，”
本说着，当他从他的双肩包里拿出最后一个糊状的苹果的时候。
“没错，”莫蒂同意地说。
“让我们在铃声响起之前弄到更多的苹果吧。”
“我们得快点！“弗雷德大叫道。
“我这周已经有一次迟到了。”


Just as he knew she would, 
 Miss Snickerwiser had left the door unlocked 
 on her slick, red, two-seater Mouse Mini.
 Discreetly, the three third-grade mice—
 Morty, Ben, and Fred—began filling the car with apples.
 “We’re going to need lots more apples,”
 Ben said as he pulled the last mushy apple from his backpack.
 “Right,” Morty agreed. 
 “Let’s get more before the bell rings.”
 “We’ve got to hurry!” Fred exclaimed.
 “I already have a tardy for this week.”

飞奔回到苹果园，
他们把双肩包再次装满了。
在车边，他们关上了老鼠迷你轿车的门，
把一扇窗开一条缝，把苹果从缝里塞进去。
当他们在课桌边坐好时，
轿车已经装满了很香的，腐烂的苹果。
太阳在天空中越升越高，
使轿车的温度升高，加热着苹果。


Racing back to the orchard,
 they loaded their backpacks again.
 At the car, they closed the Mouse Mini’s door 
 and cracked a window, shoving apples through the opening.
 By the time they settled into their desks,
 the car was full with fragrant, decaying apples. 
 The sun was getting high in the sky,
 warming up the car and cooking the apples.

“斯内克威瑟小姐知道这么多东西，
以至于她可能是世界上最聪明的老鼠。”
莫蒂曾经告诉他的妈妈。
他喜欢斯内克威瑟小姐大大的微笑，
以及她是如何轻易得被他愚蠢的把戏逗笑。
有时她会把乳酪口香糖作为正确答案的奖赏，
她总是把事情解释得很清楚。
但是最近斯内克威瑟小姐很容易生气。
上周，她生气了，
当莫蒂没有准时完成他的作业的时候，
而且她的声音很尖锐，
当她叫莫蒂给予注意得时候。
她甚至打电话告诉他的妈妈，
当莫蒂在操场上打碎了番茄酱包的时候。


“Miss Snickerwiser knows so much stuff
 that she may just be the smartest mouse in the world,”
 Morty once told his mother. 
 He loved Miss Snickerwiser’s big smile 
 and how she laughed easily at his silly tricks.
 Sometimes she gave cheesy chews for correct answers,
 and she always explained things well.
 But Miss Snickerwiser had been crabby lately. 
 Last week, she got angry 
 when Morty didn’t finish his assignments on time, 
 and there was an edge to her voice 
 when she told Morty to pay attention. 
 She even called his mother 
 when Morty smashed catsup packets on the playground.

在课间休息的时候，
莫蒂在想着他，弗雷德，和本一起把苹果塞进车里的恶作剧，
当他看到看门人在学校后面用一根长的水管洗垃圾桶的时候。


During recess, Morty was thinking of the trick
that he, Fred, and Ben had pulled with the apples 
 when he saw the janitor washing garbage cans 
 behind the school with a long hose.

当看门人洗完以后，
莫蒂抓起水管，
迅速跑到教师停车场。
把流动的水管伸进迷你轿车的窗口，
把水加到暖暖的苹果里，
使气味更浓了。
我真希望斯内克威瑟小姐喜欢苹果酱，
就像苍蝇一样，莫蒂想着当他试图
用喷射出的水冲走聚集在一起大群的苍蝇的时候。



When the janitor was finished, 
 Morty grabbed the hose 
 and scampered to the teacher parking lot 
 to stick the running hose in the window of the Mini.
 Adding water to the warm apples 
 made the smell even stronger.
 I sure hope Miss Snickerwiser likes applesauce 
 As much as flies do, Morty thought as he tried to
 spray the gathering swarm of flies with water.

重新回到班上，莫蒂注意到
斯内克威瑟小姐看起来很伤心和疲惫。
“今天放学以后学校没有象棋俱乐部，”
她宣布：“我需要马上离开，
去陪我在医院的妈妈。”
“还有，我在校正科学项目上有点落后。
我妈妈病得很严重。”
莫蒂注意到泪水在她眼睛里打转。


Back in class, Morty noticed 
 that Miss Snickerwiser looked sad and tired.
 “There will be no chess club after school today,” 
 she announced. “I need to leave right away 
 to sit with my mother who is in the hospital.”
 “Also, I am a little behind correcting science projects.
 My mother has been very sick.”
 Morty noticed that tears pooled in her eyes.

莫蒂感到很恶心。
不是那种你感觉到的来自于在去学校的路上咀嚼烂苹果的恶心，
而是那种，
当你真的为你所做的事情后悔的恶心。
他向本和弗雷德看过去。
本像鬼一样满脸苍白，
弗雷德正盯着地板。


Morty felt sick in his stomach. 
 Not the kind of sick you get from 
munching on a few overripe apples on the way to school, 
 the kind of sick you get 
 when you really regret something you’ve done. 
 He looked over at Ben and Fred. 
 Ben was white as a ghost mouse, 
 and Fred was staring at the floor.

幸运的是，斯内克威瑟小姐宣布下课了，
在一天的课程结束前进行自由活动。
只有45分钟，莫蒂必须迅速采取行动。
在他去外面的路上，
莫蒂跑到看门人的房间去拿了肥皂，
一个桶，和一个海绵擦。
水管还留在莫蒂离开它时放的地方。
莫蒂抓住喷嘴，跑向他的老师的迷你轿车。
没有时间可以浪费。
打开门，粘稠的苹果酱，溢出来流到停车场上-
一堆堆的苹果酱和苍蝇，苹果核，
苹果皮，甚至还有一些蠕虫。真是一团糟。
莫蒂打开水管，开始擦洗。
他摇下了所有的窗户。
只是希望太阳还足够暖和，
可以把汽车里面烘干。



Luckily, Miss Snickerwiser dismissed the class 
 for a free exercise period before school ended for the day. 
 With only 45 minutes, Morty had to act fast. 
 On his way outside,
 Morty scampered to the janitor’s closet to get soap, 
 a bucket, and a sponge.
 The hose was still where Morty had left it.
 Morty grabbed the nozzle and raced to his teacher’s Mouse Mini.
 There was no time to waste.
 Opening the door, sticky applesauce spilled out into the parking lot—
 gobs and gobs of applesauce and flies, seeds, 
 apple skins,and even a few worms. What a mess.
 Morty turned on the hose and started scrubbing. 
 He rolled down all the windows
 just hoping the sun was still warm enough
 to dry out the inside of the car.

莫蒂像他的偶像美家宝老鼠一样擦洗着轿车-
比普通老鼠快速和强壮1000倍，
他甚至洗了轿车的外面。
当他跑着清洁的时候，莫蒂的大脑在高速运转着。
他怎么向斯内克威瑟小姐解释，
他把她的车装满了腐烂的苹果？
他怎么能告诉她
他因为她的严厉而生她的气？
既然他思考了这个问题，
其实比起班里的其他老鼠，她没有对他更严厉。
莫蒂知道了斯内克威瑟小姐的妈妈生病了以后，他是怎么想的呢？
在内心深处，莫蒂知道他的恶作剧，
只是像烂苹果一样，
斯内克威瑟小姐不应该承受这些,
即使她真的对他很严厉。


Morty scrubbed like his hero Mega Mouse —
 1,000 times faster and stronger than a normal mouse. 
 He even washed the outside of the car.
 As he scampered around cleaning, Morty’s mind raced. 
 How would he explain to Miss Snickerwiser 
 that he had filled her car with rotting apples?
 How would he tell her that
 he had been angry at her for being tough on him? 
 Now that he thought about it, 
 she wasn’t any harder on him than any other mouse in the class.
 How was Morty to know that Miss Snickerwiser’s mom was sick?
 Deep inside, Morty knew his prank 
 was just as rotten as the apples, 
 and Miss Snickerwiser did not deserve it, 
 even if she really had been tough on him.

汗水从莫蒂的背上滴下来，
当铃声响起的时候。
莫蒂收起了水管和清洁用品，
开始向看门人的房间走去。
斯内克威瑟小姐正走向她的轿车。
莫蒂笑了笑，当她说：“莫蒂，我的车看起来很干净，很漂亮!
你离开操场是为了来洗我的车的吗？”的时候。
这是莫蒂的一个好机会。
他可以简单地回答是的，
然后给她一个像玫瑰一样的笑容，
就像他妈妈会说的那样。
但莫蒂闻起来像过于成熟的苹果，
而且他总是说实话。


There was sweat trickling down Morty’s back 
 when the school bell rang.
 Morty gathered up the hose and cleaning supplies
 and started toward the janitor’s closet.
 Miss Snickerwiser was approaching her car. 
 Morty smiled when she said,
 “Morty, my car looks so clean and nice! 
 Did you leave the playground to wash my car?”
 This was Morty’s big chance. 
 He could simply answer yes 
 and come out smelling like a rose, 
 as his mother would say. 
 But Morty smelled like overly ripe apples, 
 And HE ALWAYS TELLS THE TRUTH.

在莫蒂能回答之前，
斯内克威瑟小姐打开车门，向里看去。
“它在发光！”她说。
“它闻起来像是
你用了新鲜苹果空气清新剂。
我喜欢那个气味。”
莫蒂正盯着黏在他的爪子上的一颗苹果籽，
当他开始说话的时候。
“斯内克威瑟小姐，在我洗你的车之前，
我对你开了一个很过分的玩笑。


Before Morty could answer, 
 Miss Snickerwiser opened the door and looked inside.
 “It just sparkles!” she said.
 “And it smells like 
 you used a Fresh Apple Air Freshener.
 I love that smell.”
 Morty was staring at an apple seed stuck to his paw 
 when he spoke up.
 “Miss Snickerwiser, before I washed your car,
 I played a pretty mean trick on you.”

斯内克威瑟小姐现在看着莫蒂了，
她扬起了一个眉毛，带着困惑表情，
促使莫蒂继续说：
“我把你的轿车装满了捡来的烂苹果，
它们是从艾伯特先生的苹果园里捡来的，
我加了水，太阳加热了
在你的老鼠迷你轿车里的一堆令人恶心的苹果酱。”
莫蒂看着她的眼睛,“我真的很抱歉。”
斯内克威瑟小姐的脸上没有表情。
她再一次看进她的车里,
用她的爪子拂过仪表盘。
它甚至一点都不粘。


Miss Snickerwiser was looking at Morty now, 
 raising one eyebrow in a puzzled expression
 that prodded Morty to continue.
 “I filled your car with old apples 
 from Mr. Albert’s orchard.
 I added water, and the sun cooked up 
 a nasty batch of applesauce in your Mouse Mini.”
 Morty looked in her eyes, “I’m really sorry.”
 Miss Snickerwiser’s face showed no emotion. 
 She looked in her car again 
 and ran her paw over the dashboard. 
 It wasn’t even sticky.

斯内克威瑟小姐对莫蒂笑笑，拍了拍他的头。
“我喜欢我干净的轿车,”她说。
“我接受你的道歉。”
“但是下次你决定离开操场，
你真的需要告诉我。”然后她问:
“莫蒂,你能帮我一个小忙吗？”
“当你到家的时候，
你能帮我对你的妈妈说‘谢谢’吗？”
现在莫蒂的脸看上去很困惑。
斯内克威瑟小姐笑了，
那是一个大大的明快的微笑，她解释道:
“你妈妈做了很好的工作，
就是教你在做饭以后洗盘子。”


Miss Snickerwiser smiled at Morty and patted his head. 
 “I love my clean car,” she said.
 “I accept your apology.”
 “But next time you decide to leave the playground,
 you really need to tell me.” Then she asked, 
 “Morty, will you do me one little favor?”
 “When you get home, 
 will you tell your mother ‘Thank you’?”
 Now Morty’s face looked puzzled.
 Miss Snickerwiser smiled 
 one of her big twinkling smiles and explained, 
 “Your mom has done a fine job of teaching you 
 to wash the dishes after you cook.”

莫蒂笑着
当斯内克威瑟小姐离开，
开着干净的老鼠轿车的时候。
然后他归还了清洁用品，
找本和弗雷德一起走回家。
他必须捏着鼻子，
当他们路过艾伯特先生的苹果园的时候。
他意识到，
他不喜欢温热的烂苹果的味道。
事实上，莫蒂认为他不介意，
他是否再也闻不到苹果的味道了。


Morty laughed 
 as Miss Snickerwiser drove off 
 in her immaculate Mouse Mini. 
 Then he returned the cleaning supplies 
 and found Ben and Fred to walk home.
 He had to hold his nose 
 when they passed Albert’s Apple Orchard.
 He realized that 
 he did not like the smell of warm rotten apple.
 In fact, Morty thought he wouldn’t mind it
 if he never smelled apples again.

Morty and the Teacher

Introduction
 Hi, I’m Sherry, and I’m an 
 amateur astronomer, which 
 means that just for fun I 
 like to learn about faraway 
 stars and planets and other 
 mysterious things in space. 
 I recently toured Kitt Peak 
 National Observatory. It 
 sits high atop a 6,875-foot 
 tall mountain outside of 
 Tucson, Arizona.

The land the observatory is built 
 on belongs to a Native American 
 tribe. I heard the tribe wasn’t 
 going to let astronomers build 
 on its sacred mountain, but the 
 tribe changed its mind after 
 looking through a telescope! 
 They started saying the 
 astronomers had “long eyes,” 
 since they could see so far 
 with their telescopes

That made me laugh. I 
 pictured people looking 
 up at the stars with 
 eyes longer than their
 arms! But it made a lot 
 of sense because a
 telescope does make it
 seem as though your eye 
 can reach the stars.

The mountaintop is perfect for 
 stargazing. Away from city 
 lights, it stays pitch dark at
 night. Being on a mountain keeps 
 the telescopes above the dusty 
 dirt that the wind churns up in 
 the valley below. Besides, being 
 up high gets you even closer 
 to the planets and stars.

Before going inside the 
 telescopes, we stood at the 
 edge of the mountain to look 
 out at the small city of Tucson 
 in the distance. I could see 
 the base of the mountain near 
 where I live. Though it was a 
 hot and dusty summer day in 
 Tucson, we had to wear jackets 
 on the cool, windy mountaintop. 
 I was glad to have a break from 
 Tucson’s heat!

Kitt Peak has a collection
 of 26 humongous telescopes!
 These aren’t telescopes you
 can hold in your hand. All
 these telescopes need an
 entire building to hold 
 them up and protect them.

The tour at Kitt Peak let me 
 get close to three of them. 
 One is a solar telescope that
 astronomers use during the day 
 for studying the Sun. The 
 other two are star telescopes 
 they use at night for studying 
 stars and planets and other 
 mysterious things in space.

Solar Telescope
 I had never heard of a solar 
 telescope before going to Kitt 
 Peak. Since the Sun is a star, 
 I had always thought that 
 astronomers studied it with the 
 same telescopes they used for 
 other stars. But I learned that 
 because the Sun is so bright, 
 scientists need different
 equipment to look at it. Kitt 
 Peak has the largest solar 
 telescope in the world! Standing 
 next to it I felt like an ant.

It is as tall as a ten-story 
 building. On the top of the 
 telescope it looks as if there 
 is a picket fence, which is 
 actually a windbreak to keep
 one of the telescope’s mirrors 
 from shaking. Then there is this
 large ramp that looks like a
 slide coming off one side. The 
 slidelike ramp actually continues 
 at the same angle four stories below 
 the ground. This thing is huge!

From the inside, the McMath-
 Pierce Solar Telescope looks 
 like a roller coaster track. 
 It has 200 feet of track 
 aboveground and 300 feet below. 
 It needs that much space to 
 keep the Sun’s reflected light 
 from burning up the equipment.

The solar telescope has three 
 mirrors that do most of the 
 work by reflecting the Sun’s 
 light. The mirrors are on a 
 trolley so astronomers can move
 them along a track. I learned 
 that the trolley moves the 
 mirrors really slowly—four feet 
 per minute. That would make it 
 a really boring roller coaster. 
 I could run up and down the 
 distance of the track at least 
 twice before the mirrors move 
 four feet.

Astronomers move the mirrors 
 so they can follow the Sun 
 across the sky. They sit in an 
 observation room underground 
 and watch the Sun through the 
 telescope. The room is full of 
 computers that position the 
 mirrors and record what the 
 astronomers see. They record 
 things such as sunstorms: when 
 they happen, how long they 
 last, and how large an
 area the storm covers.

Star Telescopes
 On the tour, I also got to 
 see two star telescopes: the 
 2.1- meter Telescope and the
 4-meter Telescope. They look 
 like giant fat pencil tops 
 with rounded erasers. The 
 eraser- looking part is called 
 the dome. The telescope
 is inside the dome.

The building for the 4-meter 
 Telescope is almost 200 feet high. 
 It’s so big that you can see it 
 from 50 miles away. These star 
 telescopes are much bigger than 
 any telescopes I’ve seen at my 
 astronomy club meetings. Through 
 my backyard telescope, I can 
 see Jupiter’s spot and the rings 
 of Saturn. Imagine what I could see
 with 90 more feet of telescope!

To work the star telescopes, 
 astronomers use computers to 
 turn the dome so the telescope
 points to the part of the sky 
 they want to study. Scientists 
 open the door in the dome to let 
 in the outside air. The tour 
 guide explained that you need to 
 keep the temperature of the air
 around the telescope the same 
 temperature as the air outside. 
 If the two temperatures are
 different, the air will move 
 and change the image that is 
 seen in the telescope.

Do You Know?
 Have you seen the air 
 above a hot road look 
 wavy? Just like that, 
 air moving in the dome 
 will change what
 astronomers see.

Since astronomers use the star 
 telescopes to look at the night 
 sky, they get to stay up all
 night and sleep all day! Signs 
 outside say, “Day Sleepers.
 Quiet Please.” My older brother
 could use one of those signs
 on his bedroom door.

Star Searching from Home
 I study the stars from home 
 with a pair of binoculars 
 or my telescope. A star 
 chart helps me know where to 
 look for certain stars, planets, 
 moons, or constellations. I 
 can see most of these things 
 with binoculars, but I need to 
 use a telescope to see nebulae 
 and most galaxies.

Each season, the evening sky 
 looks a little different. As 
 Earth moves and rotates in its
 orbit, you can see different 
 things. I make sure to have an 
 up-to-date star chart because 
 I want to know what’s in the sky 
 above me each night. I found a 
 cool star chart on the Internet 
 by typing the words star chart 
 into a search engine.

Conclusion
 Are you one of those kids who wonders
 whether astronomers search for aliens 
 in their telescopes? I actually heard 
 someone ask that question during my 
 tour of Kitt Peak. But most people know 
 that’s science fiction, not science. 
 Astronomers, even amateurs like me, 
 study stars, planets, and galaxies, 
 and write about the facts. Science 
 fiction writers study astronomy and 
 use their imagination to tell a story. 
 I think the truth is often much more
 amazing than any imagined story! 
 Don’t you?

A Visit to Kitt Peak

Introduction
 The tiny red airplane bounced 
 among the clouds, 12,000 feet 
 (3,658 m) above the water.
 Below, icebergs jutted out of 
 the cold waves. Giant black 
 storm clouds lay ahead. The 
 year was 1932. The airplane 
 carried Amelia Earhart, one 
 of the most famous pilots
 in the United States.

She had been the first woman 
 to ride in an airplane over 
 the Atlantic, although a man 
 flew the plane. Now, if she
 made it, she would be the 
 first woman to fly an 
 airplane over the Atlantic 
 herself. And she would be the 
 first person, male or female, 
 to have crossed the Atlantic 
 in an airplane twice.

But first she had to succeed, and 
 there was a reason why so few people 
 had made it. The trip was dangerous. 
 Airplanes in the 1930s were small, 
 and they didn’t have many of the
 instruments that today’s pilots rely 
 on. A pilot had to go by her sense 
 of sight and how the plane “felt,” 
 keeping tight control of
 the airplane for hours at a time.

The black clouds ahead were too 
 large to fly around, so Amelia 
 pointed the little plane right 
 into them. The rain soon turned 
 to ice. The plane’s controls 
 froze, sending it into a tailspin. 
 As the plane plummeted toward 
 the water, Amelia struggled to 
 get control. Finally, the warmer 
 air below the clouds melted the 
 ice. Amelia was able to pull the 
 plane out of its spin.

Many hours later, Amelia set the 
 plane down in Londonderry, 
 Ireland. She had done it. She had 
 crossed the Atlantic Ocean in an
 airplane she flew herself. Before 
 this flight, she had already been 
 famous. Now, she would be a legend. 
 But Amelia Earhart would be most 
 remembered for her biggest failure. 
 While trying to fly her plane around
 the world, she disappeared.

Winged Machines
 The world’s first flight 
 occurred in 1903, when 
 Amelia was six years old. 
 Two brothers, Wilbur and 
 Orville Wright, had built 
 a winged machine out of 
 wood. They launched it
 successfully into the air at
 Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Although many people thought they 
 were crazy, others thought the 
 idea of flying was exciting. It 
 was dangerous, to be sure. Planes
 were fragile, slow, and low-flying. 
 They did not fly well in bad 
 weather, and many pilots died in 
 crashes. By 1937, airplanes had 
 improved a lot. The first airlines 
 had begun carrying passengers on 
 short routes, mostly over land.
 Engineers designed better airplanes, 
 and pilots like Amelia had learned 
 to fly them more safely, but 
 accidents still happened.

Kansas Youth
 Anyone who knew Amelia as a child
 could hardly have been surprised 
 by her later accomplishments. 
 She was born in Atchison, Kansas, 
 on July 24, 1897. She spent most 
 of her time at her grandparents’ 
 home with her cousins and friends.
 They climbed around the banks of 
 the Missouri River. Amelia led 
 expeditions into caves, and she 
 loved to ride horses.

She made up games for the 
 children to play in her
 grandfather’s barn. She and 
 her sister, Muriel, were such 
 active children that their 
 mother made “bloomers” for 
 them to wear. Unlike dresses, 
 bloomers allowed the girls to 
 run and ride and climb just 
 as the boys did. At that time, 
 most girls were not allowed
 to be so active, but Amelia 
 was determined.

Amelia’s happy childhood came 
 to an end when she was eleven. 
 Her parents took Amelia and 
 Muriel to live in Iowa, but 
 her father couldn’t find a job. 
 The family moved several more 
 times. Amelia made very few 
 new friends. When Amelia was 
 twenty-one, her family moved
 to California. One day she 
 attended an air show.

The airplanes dazzled her, 
 flying in loops and doing 
 stunts. After that, Amelia 
 didn’t finish college. She 
 knew she wanted to fly. With 
 her parents’ help, Amelia took
 piloting lessons and saved 
 enough money to buy an airplane. 
 Before long, the young woman 
 was flying in air shows herself.

Time to Fly
 When she wasn’t flying, Amelia 
 moved to Boston and found a job 
 at Denison House. It was a place 
 where poor people, especially
 children, could receive help. 
 She loved her work there, and 
 she was good at it. She was
 making a name for herself.

But then the opportunity of 
 a lifetime presented itself.
 A publicist in New York 
 named George Putnam was 
 trying to find a woman to be 
 the first to ride in an 
 airplane over the Atlantic. 
 It was a dangerous idea. Three 
 women had died trying to cross 
 the Atlantic the previous year.

Only men had ever crossed 
 the Atlantic in an airplane. 
 Anyone who would try it had 
 to be tough as nails in order 
 to withstand the danger and 
 fatigue. George thought 
 Amelia Earhart was perfect, 
 and she was eager to go.

Amelia was just a passenger on 
 that 1928 flight. She called 
 herself “a sack of potatoes,”
 because she felt like she had 
 no purpose. Still, her life 
 would never be the same. The 
 first woman to cross the 
 Atlantic made headlines around 
 the world. After the flight, 
 she was very famous and very 
 busy writing books and giving 
 speeches about flying.

She had no time to go back to 
 work at Denison House. She 
 also designed clothing and 
 luggage for active women like 
 herself and even helped launch 
 two airlines. Eventually she 
 married George Putnam. She also 
 continued to fly. She tested new 
 aircraft on cross-country flights, 
 flew in contests, and set records 
 for long-distance flights.

By the time she was thirty-nine 
 years old, Amelia had made every 
 major flight there was, except for 
 one. She wanted a new challenge.
 The greatest challenge left was 
 to fly around the world. Only one 
 pilot, a man, had ever flown around
 the world, several years before. 
 But he had not followed the equator,
 the longest and most difficult
 route. This was the route Amelia 
 would fly. Would she make it?

By this time, no one doubted 
 Amelia Earhart’s flying skill. 
 On May 21, 1937, she took off 
 with her navigator, Fred Noonan.
 They went from Oakland, 
 California, to Miami, Florida, 
 in a new silver Lockheed Electra. 
 It was the first leg of her 
 flight around the world.

Last Flight
 Amelia and Fred first stopped 
 the Electra in Miami, Florida. 
 The new plane had crossed the 
 entire North American continent, 
 passing its first test. They 
 started the route around the 
 equator that George Putnam, 
 Amelia’s husband, had carefully 
 planned. Each stop was uneventful. 
 They flew to South America, Africa, 
 India, Asia, and Australia. It 
 appeared that Amelia Earhart would 
 once again pull off a historic 
 flight without a hitch.

On June 29, 1937, they stopped 
 at Lae, New Guinea, an island 
 in the Pacific just north of 
 Australia. There, Amelia and 
 Fred enjoyed their usual routine. 
 They fueled the airplane and 
 checked their maps. They sent
 telegrams back to the United 
 States. When they took off 
 from Lae, there was no hint
 of any trouble to come.

As they neared Howland Island, the next stop, their radio
 messages became odd. The tiny island was to be their
 last stop before Hawaii and then back to California. The 
 U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca waited offshore to receive 
 the Electra’s radio signals and help it find the island.

Those radio signals were patchy and strange. It 
 seemed that Amelia could not hear the Itasca’s 
 messages. She spoke of a storm, yet the weather 
 over the island was clear. More than twenty hours 
 into the flight, Amelia’s voice said, “We’re running 
 north and south.” She was never heard from again.

What Happened to Amelia?
 This question still haunts people 
 today. The Itasca, along with the 
 U.S. Navy, began searching for 
 Amelia’s plane immediately. The Navy 
 thought she may have gone down in a 
 storm to the northwest of Howland 
 Island. The search continued for 
 weeks. No sign of the plane, Amelia, 
 or Fred was ever found. After a 
 year of searching, Amelia’s husband, 
 George Putnam, concluded that she 
 had perished at sea. But is that 
 the full story?

Many people have tried to explain 
 what happened to Amelia. Some 
 think Amelia and Fred survived an 
 emergency landing and were picked 
 up by a Japanese ship. They were 
 kept as prisoners on a Japanese 
 island and later died of disease. 
 Others think that Amelia landed 
 the plane, but at a different
 island. There, she and Fred were 
 able to live on native foods but 
 eventually died of either
 disease or old age.

Many think these theories are 
 just made up. They believe 
 the most likely answer is that 
 the plane landed in the water. 
 It would have quickly broken 
 apart in the fierce waves, over 
 10 feet (3 m) high. Perhaps 
 before Amelia and Fred could 
 have inflated their life raft, 
 they drowned.

Whatever her fate, there is no 
 doubt that Amelia Earhart is 
 one of the greatest Americans 
 of the 20th century. She died 
 doing what she loved most. She 
 showed everyone that women 
 didn’t have to live with limits. 
 She showed people that anyone 
 could fly. She changed the 
 world. She was a legend.

Amelia Earhart: A Legend in Flight

Written and Illustrated
by Paula Schricker

What Is a Castle?
 During the Middle Ages, many great castles
were built across Europe. The castles were
made to protect people from their enemies.
They had thick, tall walls and watchtowers
where guards stood watch over the castle.
 The people who lived in the castles were
the nobility, or nobles. However, they were
not the only people living in the castles.
The people who served and protected the
nobility also lived within the castle walls.
The nobles not only owned and lived in the
castle, they also owned much of the land
stretching beyond the castle. They were loyal
to the king. Their loyalty helped the king
control even more land.

Living outside the castle was another class
of people called commoners. They were the
craftsmen and farmers who lived in small
towns and villages and on farms not far from
the castle. The commoners were loyal to the
nobles. They paid taxes, which allowed the
nobles to live privileged lives.

The First Castles
 The first type of castle was called a mott
and bailey. The mott was a high mound
of dirt with a wooden tower built upon it.
A wooden fence, called a palisade, was built
out from the mott. The palisade formed a wall
surrounding the bailey, or the yard, that held
the kitchen, hall, stables, and other buildings
belonging to the noble.

Later, castles had stone motts or towers.
Many of these castles also featured moats.
Moats were ditches, often filled with water,
that surrounded the castle. As time passed,
castles were built with bigger towers and
walls. They became larger, with more rooms
and passages. They came to look more and
more like the large castles we see today.
These castles were well built and have
withstood the test of time.

Outside the Castle
 Newly built castles were painted with
a mixture of lime and water. This mixture
gave the castle walls a fresh, clean coat of
white. For this reason, the mixture was
called whitewash.
 Every castle’s design was different. Still,
they had many of the same features. Most
had towers or turrets, and many castles had
an inner and an outer wall. Many also had
a very strong building in the center of the
castle. This building was called a keep.

Many castles were built in places that
made them easier to defend. Many were built
in the middle of lakes or on jagged hilltops
and cliffs. This made it hard for attackers
to reach the castle.
 The walls were often more than 3 meters
(10 ft) thick. The walls were topped with
crenelations, or notches, that gave them a
sawtooth look. This design protected archers
from enemy arrows. It also made it more
difficult to climb over the walls. The primary
entrance was through the main gate. But often
there were smaller gates around the castle’s
walls. These smaller gates were used for extra
traffic or for deliveries to the kitchens.

Castles had many windows to let light in .
This meant that fewer candles and torches
would be needed to light the rooms and halls .
Windows near the ground were extremely
narrow so that attackers could not climb
through them . Since windows high above
the ground were difficult to reach, they could
be bigger . Most of these larger windows had
shutters to keep out bad weather and often
had bars to keep invaders out .
 The roofs and floors were made of hard
wood . Many castles had cellars that were
used to store food and wine . After the Middle
Ages, dungeons were built in castle cellars .
These dungeons were used to house prisoners .

Inside the Castle
 Castles weren’t just designed to be
defended. They were also designed to make
life comfortable for the nobles. One of the
most important places in a castle was the
Great Hall. It was where meals, entertainment,
and feasts were held. It was also where
everyone gathered to talk or hold meetings.
 The kitchens were separated from the
Great Hall by long passageways. Some kitchens
were outside in another building to avoid the
risk of the castles’ wooden roofs catching fire .
This meant that food
for medieval feasts
could arrive at the
tables cold or wet
with rain!

A castle had enough rooms to house
the noble and his extended family. Visitors
probably slept on straw mattresses in the Great
Hall after the tables had been cleared away.
Most castles had spiral staircases. They wound
upward in a clockwise direction. They were
built this way to slow down invaders by
making it difficult to fight in the stairwells.

Built for Defense
 One of the most important things to
consider in castle design was defense. A castle
usually had two surrounding walls. The inner
wall was taller than the outer one. Archers
standing on the inner wall could fire their
arrows over the defenders on the shorter wall.
It also made it easier for those on the taller
wall to defend against attackers who had
reached the lower outer wall.
 The two sets of gates on these walls often
opened at opposite ends of the castle. This
forced invaders to circle around the inside
of the outer wall to find the other gate. While
looking for the second gate, invaders could
be hit by the castle guards’ arrows.

Between the castle walls were the outer
and inner wards. The outer ward was filled
with shops and houses. The inner ward was
where the food and weapons were stored,
the knights stayed, and water wells were dug.
 In the center of the castle was a separate
building called the keep. It was here that
the nobility lived. It was the safest part of
the castle and the hardest to enter. It was
designed so that if the rest of the castle were
captured, the nobles could still be defended.

People In and Around the Castle
 During the Middle Ages, life revolved
around the church. People believed that
God gave the kings and nobles the power
to rule. The church had at least as much
power as the king. It represented the
authority that gave the king his right to rule.

The king and church had great power.
They ruled everyone in the kingdom. Under
the king and queen were several other classes
of people. The highest class was the nobles.
They paid the king a tax for the privilege to
control land in his kingdom. The knights also
ranked high in the kingdom. Below the knights
were the merchants and artisans. And below
them were the more common people, such
as blacksmiths and shoemakers. All of these
people paid taxes to the nobles. They were
allowed to hold land.

The lowest class was the peasants.
They had to remain on the land where
they were born. Peasants did not own land.
These farmers had to give much of what
they produced to the king and the landowner.

Castles and War
 Castles were the targets of many long-
running wars. Sometimes, walls were built
around entire towns. The peasants would
defend this town wall for as long as they could.
If the town wall were overrun, then knights
would defend the outer wall of the castle. If
that fell, then the inner wall was defended.
And lastly, the center building, or keep, that
housed the nobles was defended.

Defending the castle was not easy.
Enemies used many weapons to try to take
over a castle. They used large battering rams
to hammer away at the castle’s walls and
gates. They used weapons called catapults
to hurl rocks, debris, and even dead animals
or people over the walls. Giant slingshot-like
weapons called trebuchets were also used to
hurl objects over the walls. And to discourage
the castle defenders from rushing out of the
castle to attack them, the attackers used giant
crossbows mounted on carts.

Many methods were used to keep
attackers from entering a castle. Holes were
cut into the floors of arches above the castle
entrance. Defenders poured burning sand
or tar on anyone trying to batter down the
gates. Newer castles replaced arrow slits with
keyhole-shaped windows where cannons
could be placed.

The moat, often filled with water,
surrounded the castle . It was difficult to tunnel
under a moat, and attackers could not wade
across the deep water . There is a myth that
crocodiles were placed in some moats . Some
moats did have eels and other kinds of fish
in them for food, but there were no crocodiles .

Enemies also dug under castle walls
to make them collapse. Sometimes they
moved large wooden towers against a wall.
They then used the towers to climb onto and
over the walls. Attackers were known to use
portable bridges, or barges, to cross the
moat and attack a castle. But often it was
not possible to break into a well-built and
well-defended castle. So the attackers would
simply wait for the castle’s residents to run
out of food or water.

Around the 1600s, castles became less
and less popular. They were no longer easy to
defend because of the use of heavy cannons
in warfare. The nobles also wanted more
comfortable and open places to live. Still,
many castles stand today as a reminder
of an age gone by.

Castles

Harvested by Hand
 You probably know that the fruits, nuts,
and vegetables you eat were once crops
that grew in fields. But did you ever stop to
wonder how those crops are harvested? Some
are harvested by machines, but many—fruits
in particular—are too delicate. Research
shows that nearly half of all U.S. fruit is still
harvested by hand.
 Most of those hands belong to migrant
workers, who travel from farm to farm,
picking fresh food so that we can eat it. It’s
hard work that can pay little, and migrant
workers aren’t always treated well by the
farmers who hire them.
 One man spent his life trying to help
migrant workers. His name was Cesar Chavez.

A Migrant’s Life
 Cesar Estrada Chavez was born to a
Mexican-American family in 1927 near Yuma,
Arizona. As a child, he lived on a small farm.
Cesar loved life on the farm, but dishonest
men cheated the Chavez family. In 1937 they
lost their land. The family joined the many
other poor families who traveled west during
the Great Depression, looking for jobs as
migrant farm workers.

Life on the road was very different for
the Chavez family from life on their farm in
Arizona . Many farmers in California wanted
people to work for little pay . Then the farmers
could keep more money from the food they
sold . As a result, life for migrant farm workers
was often terrible . Workers toiled in the hot
sun for hours but sometimes had to pay
for any water they drank in the fields . The
workers spent much of the little money they
made on temporary housing, usually run-
down shacks that were hot in summer, cold in
winter . The shacks often came with holes and
insects but no bathrooms or any way to cook .
Sometimes instead of mattresses to sleep on,
owners gave the workers straw .

For several years, the Chavez family
moved around California, finding work
wherever they could. By the time Cesar
graduated from the eighth grade, he had gone
to more than thirty schools. He was often
teased because he didn’t have decent clothes
or shoes and because he spoke English with
a Spanish accent.
 Cesar and his siblings worked in the fields
with their parents on weekends and during
the summer.

It was hard work, yet migrant
workers were often cheated out of their
already-low wages. One time, Cesar’s whole
family worked for seven weeks, seven days
a week. At the end of the harvest, they found
that their boss had left without paying them,
and there was nothing they could do.
 Even though they harvested tons of fruit
and vegetables, they barely earned enough to
feed themselves, let alone enough to save and
get ahead.

The best hope for most migrants was—
and is—the education of their children, but
education for migrant children was hard
to come by. Many migrant children grew up
in the fields and started working as young
as age eight. Cesar himself left school after
the eighth grade to work in the fields full time
to help support his family. Without a good
education, the children often kept doing
migrant work when they grew up, and the
cycle continued.

Too Many
Dropouts
 Instead of attending
school, children like
this one grew up working
in the fields. Even today,
young migrant workers
drop out of school at
four times the national
average. U.S. child labor
laws allow twelve-year-
olds to work long hours
on farms—and despite
the law, thousands of
children under twelve
still work long hours, too.

The Birth of a Union
 When Chavez grew up, he decided to start
a labor union for farm workers. A labor union
is a group of workers who unite to demand
certain rights and benefits. A union can go
on strike, refusing to work and shutting
down a factory or company until its demands
are met. Almost every industry, from truck
drivers to movie actors, has a union to protect
its workers. Chavez knew a union could
make big improvements in the lives of farm
workers, too.

Yet many people considered organizing a
labor union for farm workers to be impossible.
Farm workers moved around to follow the
crops, never staying in one place long enough
to plan action. They were often recent
immigrants who did not speak English well.
Also, farm workers had no laws protecting
them from being fired if they tried to form a
union. Although other people before Chavez
had tried and failed, he said, Si se puede—“Yes,
it can be done.”

Chavez met with farm workers in their
homes and talked with them about their
problems. He was small and soft-spoken,
but he was very persuasive. His union grew
slowly, one worker at a time.

The Grape Strike
 In 1965, a group of Filipino farm workers
went on strike against the grape growers in
Delano, California. They were asking for a
pay raise from $.90 an hour to $1.40 an hour.
 Chavez knew he had to support the
Filipino strikers. His organization voted to
join the strike. Soon, more than 2,000 migrants
stopped working. Strikers and their families
went to cities all across North America, telling
people about the working conditions of the
grape pickers and asking them to boycott
grapes. More than 14 million Americans did
just that.

Angry grape growers made threats
on Chavez’s life. Support for the boycott
continued, though, and after five long years,
the grape growers agreed to the union’s
demands. 

Hunger Strike Strategy
 One way people protest injustice is by going on
a hunger strike. They refuse to eat in order to bring
about change. Chavez went on three hunger strikes in
his lifetime. The first one was during the grape strike in
1968. At one point, some of the farm workers became
discouraged and wanted to resort to violence. Chavez went
on a water-only hunger strike that lasted twenty-five days.
His fast put an end to the talk of violence, and that helped
their strike succeed.

Other strikes and boycotts followed, not
just in California but also in Texas. New
unions formed in the Midwest. In 1975,
California finally passed a law that protected
farm workers from being fired when they
tried to unite. Against all odds, Chavez’s
efforts had succeeded. At its height, his
organization, the United Farm Workers,
included 50,000 farm workers. “We shall be
heard,” Chavez said, and they were.

Pesticide Problems
 Many migrant workers are exposed to pesticides—
chemicals that kill bugs. In fact, workers are sometimes
accidentally sprayed with them. Pesticides can cause
nausea, skin rashes, cancer, even death. According to health
experts, on average, migrant workers don’t live nearly as
long as other people. Studies show that pesticide exposure
may be hardest on migrant children.
 In August 1988, Chavez went on a hunger strike to
call attention to the harm that pesticides can cause farm
workers and their children. He ended the strike after thirty-
six days.

A Fond Farewell
 Cesar Chavez died in his sleep on April 23,
1993. He was 66 years old. Thousands of farm
workers and supporters came to his funeral. It
was the largest funeral for any labor leader in
the history of the United States.
 He was a humble and courageous man
who spent his life helping others. For all
his work to improve wages and working
conditions for farm workers, Chavez himself
never earned more than $6,000 per year. Still,
as he said, “The rich may have money, but
the poor have time.” His fight for the dignity
of all people inspired millions of Americans
to work for social justice around the world.

Cesar Chavez: Migrant Hero

Written by Katherine Follett
Illustrated by John Kastner

The enormous lips tickled Trisha’s out­
stretched palm, and she smelled a quick whiff
of apple juice and horse breath before the apple
she’d held up vanished with a gulp.
 “He’s a real thoroughbred,” Adrian crowed,
“the first one we’ve had, so I’m really excited.”
Trisha was even more excited—coming to her
cousin Adrian’s farm in Tennessee from Chicago,
she had never seen a regular horse, much less
a thoroughbred. It was beautiful. Its coat
shimmered, glossy and smooth in the dark
stable, and it snorted horsey breath through its
big nostrils and tossed its mane when it heard
voices. “Wanna see him walk around?”

“Are . . . are we supposed to let him out?”
Trisha stammered. Trisha understood how
Adrian’s father, her uncle, prized his new
thoroughbred after she’d heard him bragging
about it over dinner on her first night here.
 “Sure, I walk him around the stables all
the time,” Adrian answered. He had already
unlatched the horse’s stall and was leading the
horse out by the strap around its long muzzle.
“We call him Pepper for short, because his full
name is Chili Pepper Powder Surprise. His
saddle’s right over here; you wanna see how
it looks on him? Hold his reins.”

into the hog pen or sit in his dad’s tractor.
She’d always held back while he teased her, and
suddenly she decided she was sick of it. “Well,
if you’re sure your dad won’t get mad . . . ,”
she said.
 “Not if he doesn’t know about it,” Adrian
snickered. He explained to Trisha how to put one
foot in the dangling stirrup and swing the other
over Pepper’s back. As she eased her weight in
the stirrup, Pepper sidestepped away as he had
from the saddle, and she had to hop on one leg
to keep with him. Finally she swung her leg over
and landed hard in the saddle.

Before she could figure out what was going
on, Trisha flew out the open door of the stable
and into the blinding sunlight. She hadn’t gotten
hold of the reins, and she nearly flipped over
backward, only clinging to the saddle at the last
second. Her foot was tangled in the stirrup, and
her hair was flying in her face so she couldn’t see
where she was going, and she was going terribly
fast. She screamed and felt Pepper’s body give
a startled jump underneath her. She’d never
imagined a galloping horse would be so
terrifyingly rough—it always looked smooth
and easy in the movies, but it was more like
riding a roller coaster with no straps.

Before Trisha could protest, Adrian handed
her the leather straps and went to retrieve the
saddle from where it hung along the dim stable
wall. Trisha froze, feeling like she was tethered
to the back end of a racecar. Pepper kept dodging
his rump away from Adrian as he attempted to
lower the saddle onto the horse’s back. Finally
the horse submitted and stood under his lumpy
saddle like a beautiful princess forced to wear
an ugly parka.
“Go ahead, get on,” Adrian said with a grin.
“No way,” said Trisha. Adrian had been daring
her to do such things all week, like jump the fence

Pepper ran straight across his corral toward
the fence. Trisha shrieked again, sure he would
jump it, but he started around the corral instead,
running and running and running. She managed
to sit back up and bury her hands in his mane,
but it seemed to bother or hurt him. He tossed his
head, hitting her chin with the back of his neck
and throwing her arms off him. If she fell or
jumped, she’d be dragged by her caught foot,
or she’d crack her head on the ground, or worse.
Finally she managed to lie down and cling to
Pepper’s back while he slowed to an uneven
trot, then a walk, then an uneasy standstill.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she heard
her uncle holler as he ran from the house toward
the corral. Pepper jerked and stepped as the
shouting man approached.
 “Please,” she whimpered, “please don’t startle
him.” Trisha’s uncle leapt easily over the fence
and walked toward the nervous horse, grunting
and whistling commands she’d never heard
before. He gingerly took the reins and held
them tightly, offering his other hand to help
Trisha down and brush the dust from her face
when she finally touched the ground again.
Then he held her chin, lifting her face until he
saw into her eyes.

“Please don’t be mad,” Trisha pleaded. “We
didn’t mean to do anything wrong—”
 “Trisha, I want you to think about everything
that went through your head the moment before
you got on that horse. Now, are you going to look
into my eyes and tell me it never occurred to you
that you were doing something wrong?”
 “No, sir,” Trisha said, dropping her head.
 “Remember that the next time you’re about
to do something you’re not allowed to do. I’m
pretty sure you didn’t take out that horse and
saddle him up all by yourself, especially when
I saw Adrian run off and hide in the barn. You
skip right under that fence and go back in the
house while I fetch him.”

Trisha did as she was told, slipping through
the fence and starting toward the house while
her uncle ran after his son. But before she went
inside, she looked back at Pepper, who grazed
calmly. As she watched, he looked up at her.
 “Sorry, Chili Pepper Powder Surprise,”
she said, and the horse tossed his mane, as if
he understood.

Chili Pepper Powder Surprise

China: An Amazing Country!
 If you were to travel west to the edge of
the Pacific Ocean, you’d come to Asia . Asia is
the largest continent on the planet, with more
land and people than anywhere else in the
world . Asia is also home to one of the biggest,
most diverse countries in the world—China .

China has an incredible mix of people,
landscapes, and wildlife . It is the third largest
country in the world (only Russia and
Canada are bigger) . And it has the largest
population in the world . In fact, one out of
every five people in the world live in China—
that’s more than 1 .3 billion people!

Do You Know?
 China has more than 1,500 rivers—including some
of the biggest rivers in the world. The longest river in
China is the Yangtze (yank-SEE), which is the third
longest river in the world. (Only the Amazon River in
South America and the Nile River in Africa are longer!)

China is also a country alive with art,
music, dance, food, and celebrations . And
it’s known for amazing cultural sites—from
temples and palaces to statues, canals, and
the longest hand-built wall in the world .
 The Chinese also have a long, rich history
of learning and inventing . They were the first
people to make and use paper, ink, writing,
silk cloth, printing, kites, porcelain,
gunpowder, the compass, and
much more .

The Great Wall of China
 More than 2,000 years ago, the first emperor
of China, Qin Shi Huangdi (Chin Shih Hwong-DEE),
started building the Great Wall. It was designed to
keep hostile tribes from invading China. The Great
Wall, which was mostly built by slaves, is the longest
wall in the world. It’s also the largest structure ever
built by hand. It is more than 6,437 kilometers
(4,000 miles) long. It was built wide enough so as
many as 10 soldiers could march side by side when
they patrolled the countryside. Although parts of the
Great Wall are crumbling, you can still see many of
the more than 20,000 watchtowers that served as
lookout points thousands of years ago. The Great Wall
crosses northern China between the east coast and
North Central China.

Wild China
 One thing that makes China special is that
it has many different kinds of natural places .
There are rugged mountain peaks, rocky
deserts, tropical forests, and lush valleys .
 And because China is such a big country
with so many different habitats, it has many
different kinds of living things . There are
giant pandas in the bamboo forests of central
China . There are tigers and monkeys in the
tropical forests in the south . And there are all
kinds of animals and plants that live in and
near China’s many rivers and streams—
including the giant salamander .

Giant Panda
 The Chinese
people are so proud
of the giant panda that
these animals have
become a symbol of
their country.
Giant pandas live
in the steep bamboo
forests of China,
feeding almost nonstop
on these tall, quick-
growing grasses.
Many pandas will
spend more than 16
hours a day chewing
bamboo, eating
about 10,000
pounds in a year.

Unfortunately, China’s population has
grown so quickly that many plants and
animals are losing their habitats . For example,
scientists say there are fewer than 1,600
pandas left in the wild . The bamboo forests
where pandas live are being cut down for
farming and houses .

Celebrating China: From Dragons to Food
 In addition to many natural treasures,
China has a rich culture filled with special
celebrations, art, music, dance, sports, and
food . If you visit China, one of the first
artistic things you might notice is the writing .
The official language of China is Mandarin,
which uses more than 6,000 characters instead
of the 26-letter alphabet used in the English
language . Each character stands for a word
or a part of a word .

If you visit in late January or early
February, you might be lucky enough to take
part in the celebration of the New Year . This
is one of China’s most important festivals and
is celebrated throughout the country .
 To celebrate the New Year, people take part
in colorful parades, wearing bright costumes
and often dressing up as dragons . The dragon
is a sign of good luck in China . Fireworks are
also a big part of the festivities .

Sports are also important to the Chinese .
You’ll probably see a lot of people playing
table tennis (Ping-Pong) . The Chinese are
some of the best table tennis players in the
world! You’ll also see a lot of bike riders,
since most people get around by bike .
 Food and Chinese culture go hand in
hand . If you’ve eaten in a Chinese restaurant,
then you know that there are many flavors
and spices that make Chinese food special .
Different regions of China are known for
different kinds of food . For example, food
from southwestern China is very spicy and
often uses chili pepper oil . You might also
notice that the Chinese only use two utensils:
chopsticks and a soup spoon .

Do You Know?
The Chinese eat three times more fish
than Americans. In fact, the average
person in China eats more than 20
kilograms (45 lbs) of seafood each year .

China: Past, Present, and Future
 China has a long and rich history, which
has helped shape the country today . Most
historians think the country was settled more
than 5,500 years ago—making China one of
the earliest civilizations in the world that is
still thriving today .
 The capital of China is Beijing (BAY-jing) .
It is a city of almost 14 million people . Beijing
is the center of government . It is also known
for its many tourist sites, like Tiananmen
(TEE-AHN-un-men) Square, also named the
Gate of Heavenly Peace—a large square in the
city’s center that is used for special events .

China also has many other thriving cities .
Shanghai (shang-HI) is the largest city in
China and one of the biggest ports in the
world . And Hong Kong, in the southern part
of China, is a major business center known
for its many shops and markets .
Even though many of China’s more than
a billion people live in cities, most people
still live in rural towns and villages . Many
of them farm or herd sheep and goats in
the grasslands .

Land of the Silk Moth
Most of the world’s silk is
produced in China. Silk comes from
the caterpillar of a silk moth—the only
domesticated insect in the world. The
caterpillar spins a silken cocoon, and
people harvest the silk threads from
the cocoon. The Chinese discovered
silk about 2640  bc and kept it a secret
for almost 3,000 years.

Today, China has the second largest
economy in the world . It is a leader in making
and selling many products to other countries—
from toys to televisions and textiles, such as
silk . It also has a huge tourist industry and
hosted the 2008 Olympics in Beijing .

But China faces big challenges . Recent
reforms by the Communist government
mean more private businesses will grow . The
move away from a system where everyone
works for the government means China has
many unemployed workers . The “opening
up” of the economy is expected to be better
in the long term, but this kind of change does
not come easily .

As China’s population grows, people will
need more water, energy, food, and other
resources . The country faces the challenge
of providing enough jobs and resources
for its population while still protecting the
environment and people’s rights .

The Chinese eat a lot of rice . Rice is grown
in flooded fields called paddies . In many
parts of China, rice is served with all meals
and is an important part of the Chinese diet .
You’ll also see people eating noodles, soups,
fish, soybeans, and other foods .

Do You Know?
 The Communist government discourages religion,
so most people do not belong to a church or other
religious institution. However, many people believe in
the teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and other religious
thinking that promotes harmony and compassion.

China

A Japanese Folktale
Retold by William Harryman
Illustrated by David Cockcroft

A very long time ago, there lived an
armorer named Chinzaemon. His swords
were very beautiful and perfectly balanced.
He was famous throughout the land for the
quality of his work. Even more famous than
his swords, however, were his scabbards.
Swords slipped into them so easily and
silently that other armorers began to call
him Chinzaemon the Silent.

A very powerful prince heard about
Chinzaemon. The prince summoned the
armorer to his court. The prince admired
the work of the famous silent armorer.
He wanted Chinzaemon to make weapons
for his soldiers and guards.
 Chinzaemon was not only a skillful
armorer. He was also very funny and clever.
He enjoyed playing practical jokes on people.
He had been a very funny child in school.
Even while serving his time as an apprentice
armorer, he continued to tell jokes and play
pranks on people.

Few people knew that Chinzaemon was
such a funny man. He only shared his jokes
with people he trusted. So when he made the
prince laugh and laugh, for the whole three
hours of his visit, Chinzaemon was hired as
the prince’s new armorer. And no one was
more surprised than Chinzaemon. “The prince
must be a noble man,” he thought to himself.
“I will trust him and be very loyal.”

One night Chinzaemon decided he would
play a joke on the guards. He knew that some
of them fell asleep while they were on duty.
He thought it would be humorous to catch
them sleeping on the job. They would be
very embarrassed. So Chinzaemon waited
until it was very late in the night and then
quietly left his room. He moved silently
through the hallways until he was out on
the palace grounds.

Chinzaemon sneaked out to the gate
where two guards were sleeping. Using very
strong glue made from tree sap, he glued
their sandals to the ground. He was very quiet
so that he did not disturb them. He then did
the same thing to four other guards who had
fallen asleep.

When Chinzaemon was done gluing the
guards’ sandals to the ground, he told some
other guards about his prank. He then told
the head guard and persuaded him to sound
the alarm. A very loud bell was rung that
signaled an attack. All the guards came
running except the six who were stuck
to the ground. They were glued into place.
They couldn’t unlace their sandals quickly
enough to avoid getting caught.

When the prince came out of his palace
to see what had happened, he was still in
his nightclothes. The head guard informed
him of Chinzaemon’s prank. Chinzaemon
was afraid that the prince might be angry.
He hadn’t meant for his little joke to make
the prince get out of bed.

But the prince was not angry. For a minute
he stood silent, and then he began to laugh.
He laughed so hard that he had to bend over
to catch his breath. The other guards laughed
as well. They were glad they weren’t the
ones who had been caught. When the prince
finished laughing, he told the guards who had
been sleeping that they were fired. He also told
them they were lucky he did not have them
beheaded.

Later that day, the prince summoned
Chinzaemon to his chambers. “So,” the
prince began, “you have caused me to fire six
worthless guards. Thank you, oh Silent One.”
The prince smiled so that Chinzaemon would
know he wasn’t angry.

“You are welcome,” Chinzaemon replied.
“But I was only meaning to play a joke.”
He was a little nervous. But he sensed that the
prince was truly grateful for what he had done.
 “Well, I feel safer now,” the prince said.
“You may have saved my life. In return, I will
grant you anything you wish.”

Chinzaemon thought about it for a minute.
He already had a good life. But then he realized
he could use this offer to play a big prank on
the courtiers of the prince’s court. “Well, noble
prince, I have one request.” He was a bit
embarrassed to ask for what he wanted, but
he did so anyway. “Allow me, whenever I want,
to sniff into your ear.”

The prince was shocked. “Strange!”
he shouted, laughing again. “You could have
chosen anything—gold, silver, land. I don’t
understand your request. But if that is all
you request, it is yours.”
 “You couldn’t have given me anything
better, noble prince,” said Chinzaemon,
smiling.

The next week there was a large gathering
at the palace. All the prince’s ministers came,
as did the courtiers. And everyone brought
their wives and dressed in their finest clothes.
Every month the prince accepted visitors,
usually on the full moon.
 Everyone who came had some request
that they wanted the prince to grant. This was
the tradition in every palace, in every land,
all over the Earth. The prince would consider
the requests and do his best to satisfy those
he felt were worthy.

Chinzaemon ran over and sniffed in the
prince’s ear. When they saw him, the ministers
and courtiers all thought he was whispering
something about them into the prince’s
ear. They all were afraid he might whisper
something bad about them that would stop
the prince from giving them what they wanted.

So, one after another, the ministers and
courtiers all began to give Chinzaemon gifts.
They thought that if they gave him gifts,
Chinzaemon might recommend them
to the prince. They didn’t know he was just
sniffing into the prince’s ear. Even their wives
would give him gifts before talking to the
prince. Chinzaemon just smiled and accepted
their offerings. He made them no promises
that he would say good things about them
to the prince.

And so it happened. Before anyone dared
speak to the prince, he or she would see
Chinzaemon first and give him an amazing
gift. Soon, the simple armorer was a very rich
man. He had piles of money, beautiful gold
jewelry, jade statues, and other fine treasures.
He had so many things that he didn’t know
what to do with all of them. In truth, he was
now as rich as the prince, but he still lived
as he always had.

Then, one day, the prince turned to
Chinzaemon and said, “Well, Silent One,
aren’t you sorry you didn’t ask for anything
better from me as a reward?” He saw that
Chinzaemon’s lifestyle had changed very
little over the last months. He wished his
loyal armorer had asked for money or land.
 “My word, noble prince!” Chinzaemon
began, “Something better? Why, your favor
has brought me so much more wealth than
I could ever have imagined. It is more than
I could ever need.” Then he told the prince
what was happening.

When the prince heard how Chinzaemon
was making such fools out of his ministers
and courtiers (and their wives), he laughed
and laughed. He laughed so hard that tears
ran down his cheeks.
 “So much for my loyal advisers,” the prince
said. “They aren’t much use to me. They are
all worthless as advisers. I will dismiss every
last greedy, foolish one of them.” He was
actually very angry. He had trusted these
people, and they all thought they could buy
his favor. He thought about beheading them
all. He decided he would just fire them all
and send them away.

The prince summoned his advisers one
by one. As they entered his chambers, they
bowed and fidgeted nervously. To each one
he revealed what had happened. They all
apologized and begged forgiveness. But the
prince told them to leave the palace and
to not return.

When the prince had finished dismissing
his advisers, he made Chinzaemon his
only adviser. The only condition was that
Chinzaemon must tell the prince if he ever
acted like a fool. Chinzaemon agreed and
was given a large piece of land for his loyalty.

Chinzaemon the Silent

Chinzaemon the Slient

Introduction
 Coral reefs are home to thousands of living
organisms. A massive reef community is made
up of many types and shapes of corals. A reef
can be hundreds of miles long with thousands
of sea animals inhabiting it. All types of
creatures are bustling about, day and night.
Almost 25 percent of all the plants and
animals in the ocean live around coral reefs.

What Is Coral?
 The corals that form the reefs often look
like rocks or plants. Corals are actually groups
of tiny animals called polyps (PAh-lips). Most
polyps are smaller in size than a pea. There
may be thousands of polyps living on a
mound or branch of coral. Each polyp is an
eating machine. It has a sac-like body and a
mouth that is surrounded by tiny tentacles. At
night, its tentacles stretch out like hands to
catch food.

One of the two main types of coral is hard,
or “stony,” coral. Most stony corals live with
nutritious plants called algae (AL-jee), which
provide food for the corals. Stony coral polyps
have a hard skeleton. After the polyps die, the
skeletons are left behind. Over time, millions
of these skeletons help build a reef.

The second main type of coral is soft coral.
Soft corals are flexible and able to bend with
the tides. Some kinds of soft coral are also
poisonous and will sting if touched.

Many corals are named for what they look
like. Stony brain corals look like brains.
Elkhorn corals look like the broad horns of an
elk. Soft sea whip and sea pen corals look like
long whips and pens. Sea fan corals branch
out wide to trap bits of plankton to eat as they
drift by.

A Busy Underwater Community
When people think of coral reefs, they also
think of brightly colored fish—and with good
reason. Thousands of fish of all sizes, shapes,
and colors live around reefs. They depend on
the reefs for both food and protection.

Reefs provide food for crustaceans such as
shrimp, lobsters, and crabs. Sea urchins and
starfish catch clams and other small shellfish
hidden among the coral. Flowerlike sea
anemones settle into crevices to live. Deep
holes in the reef are the perfect homes for long
moray eels.

Where Do Corals Live?
Coral reefs need certain living conditions
to stay healthy. They need the right depth of
water. They need healthy algae plants to feed
them. And both coral and algae need the right
temperature. Coral grows best, and stays
healthy, in warm tropical water that remains
between 21 and 29 degrees Celsius (70–85° F).

Coral reefs are sensitive and cannot survive
in many areas because of environmental
conditions. Freshwater runoff from rivers can
kill coral. Dirt and debris can smother it. The
heavy wave surges from large storms can break
reefs apart in just a few hours. Because coral
grows very slowly, a reef takes a long time to
expand its size or recover from damage.

There are
three types of
coral reefs:
fringing reefs,
barrier reefs,
and atolls.
Fringing reefs
sit close to the
shoreline at
the “fringe”of
the land. Barrier reefs have a larger lagoon,
or area of water, between the reef and the
shore. The largest barrier reef in the world is
the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It is 2,000
kilometers (over 1,242 mi) long.

An atoll is the third type of reef. An atoll
forms in a circular pattern around an old
sinking island. As the island ages and sinks,
the atoll forms a lagoon in the middle of the
circle. The largest atoll, in the western Pacific,
has a lagoon measuring over 97 kilometers
(60 mi) across.

Threats to Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are very fragile and easily
damaged—by both disease and humans.
White band and black band diseases are
caused by destructive bacteria. The band of
bacteria travels up the branch of coral. These
fast-moving band diseases can wipe out an
ancient coral reef in weeks.

Another serious condition is called
bleaching. It occurs when bacteria attack
algae, coral’s main food source. The coral
can’t eat the algae, so it begins to starve. If the
bacterial invasion is stopped, the coral might
recover. If it isn’t stopped the coral—and the
reef—will die.

humans cause most coral reef damage.
Fishing with poisons and explosives destroys
reefs and most of the animals that live around
them. Construction creates soil erosion and
polluted freshwater runoff. Boats and ships
break off large chunks of reefs. Gas and oil
from boat engines poison coral, plant, and fish
life. Divers often drop boat anchors onto reefs.
Others break off pieces of live coral to take
as souvenirs.

江家小朋友的学习园地