April Fool's Day started in the sixteenth century
in Europe. Before that time, New Year's Day was celebrated on April 1st. Then a
new calendar was introduced called the Gregoriancalendar. January
1st became the first day of the year, but many people did not know about it. So
those who continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1st were teased. They
were called fools.
Nowadays we play jokes on people on April 1st. For
example, someone might put salt in the sugar container so another person could
"accidentally" put it in their coffee. Or someone might change the
time on another person's alarm clock so that person would unknowingly wake up
earlier or later than planned. Or maybe a person would tell a lie to make
someone else shocked.
After we play the trick, we say "April
Fool." Then the poor person realizes he was fooled. It is generally done
in the spirit of fun and doesn't cause any real harm to anyone. Do you have any
great jokes to play on anyone today? Try it out. Just don't forget to say
"April Fool" when the other person begins looking a little confused.
Choose True or False. Check your answers by clicking the arrow below
4. April Fool's Day started in 1908.
5. A long time ago, New Year's Eve was
celebrated on April 1st.
6. Some people didn't realize that New Year's Day had changed.
7. People who celebrated New Year's Day on January 1st were teased.
8. People like to play jokes on January 1st.
9. Sometimes on April Fool's Day people lie to shock someone.
10. After you play a joke on someone, you should say "April
Fools!"
A Special Christmas Present
a Christmas treeDavid wants to buy a Christmas
present for a very special person, his mother. David's father gives him $5.00 a
week pocket money and David puts $2.00 a week into his bank account. After
three months David takes $20.00 out of his bank account and goes to the
shopping mall. He looks and looks for a perfect gift.
Suddenly he sees a beautiful brooch in the
shape of his favourite pet. He says to himself, "My mother loves jewelry,
and the brooch costs only $17.00." He buys the brooch and takes it home.
He wraps the present in Christmas paper and places it under the tree. He is
very excited and he is looking forward to Christmas morning to see the joy on
his mother's face.a spider
But when his mother opens the present she
screams with fright because she sees a spider.
11. What does David want to buy his Mother?
a.
special birthday present
b.
Christmas present
c. a
spider ring
12. Who does David get his money from?
a. his pet
b. his mother
c. his father
13. How much money does David take to the
mall?
a.
$20.00
b.
$5.00
c.
$17.00
14. What does David buy his mother?
a. a ring
b. a brooch
c. a spider
15. What does David do with the present when
he takes it home?
a.
he gives it to his mother
b. he
wraps it in Christmas paper
c. he
is very excited
16.Why does David's mother scream?
a. because the present is
beautiful
b. because she doesn't like
Christmas presents
c. because she thinks she sees a
real spider
17. Why does David buy a spider brooch?
a.
spiders are his favourite pet
b. he
loves Christmas
c. to
scare his mother
18. Where does David put the present on
Christmas Eve?
a. under his pillow
b. under a spider
c. under the Christmas tree
Two sisters and the cat
a cat hanging from a tree limbMrs. Wilson and
Mrs. Smith are sisters. Mrs. Wilson lives in a house in Duncan and Mrs. Smith
lives in a condominium in Victoria. One day Mrs. Wilson visited her sister.
When her sister answered the door, Mrs. Wilson saw tears in her eyes.
"What's the matter?" she asked. Mrs. Smith said "My cat Sammy
died last night and I have no place to bury him".
a woman cryingShe began to cry again. Mrs.
Wilson was very sad because she knew her sister loved the cat very much.
Suddenly Mrs.. Wilson said "I can bury your cat in my garden in Duncan and
you can come and visit him sometimes." Mrs.. Smith stopped crying and the
two sisters had tea together and a nice visit.
A bus It was now five o'clock and Mrs. Wilson
said it was time for her to go home. She put on her hat, coat and gloves and
Mrs. Smith put the dead Sammy into a shopping bag. Mrs. Wilson took the
shopping bag and walked to the bus stop. She waited a long time for the bus so
she bought a newspaper. When the bus arrived, she got on the bus, sat down and
put the shopping bag on the floor beside her feet. She then began to read the
newspaper. When the bus arrived at her bus stop, she got off the bus and walked
for about two minutes. Suddenly she remembered she had left the shopping bag on
the bus.
19.Where does Mrs. Smith live?
a.
in a condominium in Duncan
b.
in a condominium in Victoria
c.
in a house in Duncan
20.Why is Mrs. Smith upset?
a.
because her sister came to see her cat
b.
because her cat died
c.
because Mrs. Wilson was sad
21.What did Mrs. Wilson do?
a.
take the cat with her on the bus
b.
put her gloves in the shopping bag
c.
prepare dinner for her sister
22.Who did Sammy the cat live with?
a.
Mrs. Wilson
b.
Mrs. Smith
c.
Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Smith
23.What time did Mrs. Wilson go home?
a.
when the bus arrived
b.
at 5 p.m.
c.
after she walked for two minutes
24.How did Mrs. Wilson go home?
a.
walked for two minutes before she
caught the bus
b.
read a newspaper on the bus
c.
took a bus
25.What did Mrs. Wilson forget?
a.
the newspaper
b.
her handbag
c.
the shopping bag
26.Where did Sammy die?
a.
in Mrs. Smith's house in Duncan
b.
in Mrs. Wilson's garden
c.
in Victoria
Television Shows
My mother was telling me about how she and her
family got their first television when she was a teenager. Of course it was
black and white. She said she only watched it at night. She doesn't remember
ever watching it in the morning or afternoon. When I was young we had only
about 3 or 4 different channels. I think they were channel 3, 4, 6, and 9. My
bothers and sisters and I would sometimes fight about which channel to watch.
But we usually enjoyed the same shows.
Nowadays we can get hundreds of channels on
TV. I can't believe it! There are channels with only old movies, and channels
with only cooking, and channels with only fishing. It's amazing! There is a
channel for everything. I wonder how much my brothers and sisters and I would
fight if we had hundreds of channels when I was a child. Of course we had only
one television set. These days I notice families with 2 or 3 or more television
sets in their homes. I guess it stops people from arguing over which channel to
choose from.
What kind of TV shows do you like to watch?
Current
Events/ News- serious shows about things that are happening today or lately
Sitcoms- comes from the words "situation
comedy." Funny shows
Sports-
I think you know this
Mystery
Shows- shows about trying to find an answer to something we don't know
Talk
Shows- shows with two or more people talking about a certain subject
Nature
Shows- shows about animals or the earth
Police/
Courtroom Dramas- shows about the police or what happens in a courtroom
27. "He catches the ball and he
runs..."
28. "Today our guest is Julia Roberts.
She will introduce us to her latest movie."
29. "The tiger slowly moves through the
grass..."
30. "Who killed the old lady? Was it the
neighbor or the nurse?"
Sri Lanka’s national carrier, AirLanka, has
eliminated one of its two weekly flights
to Japan because of its sharp drop in Japanese tourists.
AirLanka’s manager for Japan, told airline
officials in Colombo this week that Japanese tourists were avoiding Sri Lanka
because of the rising ethnic violence on the island.
Two Japanese nationals were killed and two others
were seriously wounded in the bomb explosions earlier this month inside an AirLanka passenger jet.
The Sri Lanka Government blamed the blast on Tamil militant fighting for a
separate homeland.
c. canceled
a. AirLanka has reduced
flights to Japan
d. it
is risky to fly from Sri Lanka to Japan
e. he Sri Lanka Government is having problems
with Tamil militants
b. inform
1.The word eliminated (line1) can be replaced
by………………………………………
2. This passage tells us that……………………………………
3. We can conclude from the passage that……….
4. It can be inferred from the passage
that……….
5. the purpose of this passage is to……….
.
