Q: Today was the Moon's birthday, and Ms. Star wanted to be sure to get the best gift ever for her friend Moon. She had no idea what she was going to get him! A rainbow sounded like a fun gift, but everyone has a rainbow, and she was sure that Moon had one too. Ms. Star looked all around space for the right gift for Moon. She asked Saturn was she was going to get Moon. "Oh, I think I'm going to get Moon a space puppy. He was talking about how much he loved dogs!" That sounded like such a good idea to Ms. Star, but since Saturn was going to get a space puppy, that meant that Ms. Star couldn't do it too! "Try asking Mars." said Saturn. "He might know what to get Moon." Ms. Star asked Mars. "Well," said Mars. "I know that I'm getting Moon a space ship, and that Neptune, Uranus and Pluto are going together to get Moon a new house." "Wow!" said Ms. Star. "How am I ever going to get Moon something as nice as a house, or a space ship, or a space puppy?" Mars thought about it for a little bit. "Hmm." he said. "Maybe you could make him something?" "What a great idea!" said Ms. Star. "I know what would be perfect to make for him!" That night, at Moon's birthday party, when Moon opened the gift from Ms. Star, he was the happiest he had been about any of the gifts. "It's the perfect gift! Thank you so much Ms. Star!" He pulled out of the box a beautiful sweater that Ms. Star had made out of her own star dust. "It's so cold here in space! A sweater is the best gift ever!"

1. Ms. Star
2. Moon's birthday
3. all around space
4. a space puppy
5. He loved dogs
6. yes
7. ask Mars
8. a space ship
9. Neptune, Uranus and Pluto
10. making him something
11. yes
12. a sweater
13. yes
14. yes
15. It was cold in space
16. star dust

Numbered questions:
1. Who was looking for a gift?
2. Why?
3. Where did she look?
4. What was Saturn going to get Moon?
5. Why?
6. Did Ms. Star like that idea?
7. What did Saturn suggest to Ms. Star?
8. What was he getting Moon?
9. Who was getting him a house?
10. What was Mars' suggestion?
11. Did she like that idea?
12. What did she make?
13. Did he like it?
14. Was it useful to him?
15. Why?
16. What was the sweater made out of?

Q: Today, bicycles are elegantly simple machines that are common around the world. Many people ride bicycles for recreation, whereas others use them as a means of transportation. The first bicycle was invented in Germany in 1818. Because it was made of wood, it wasn't very strong nor did it have pedals .Riders moved it by pushing their feet against the ground.

In 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scottish blacksmith, invented a much better bicycle. Macmillan's machine had iron-covered wheels to keep them from getting worn down. He also used foot-operated levers, similar to pedals, so his bicycle could be ridden at a quick pace. It didn't look much like the modem bicycle, though, because its back wheel was substantially larger than its front wheel. Although Macmillan's bicycles could be ridden easily, they were never produced in large numbers.

In 1861, Frenchman Pierre Michaux and his brother Ernest invented a bicycle with an improved pedal mechanism. They called their bicycle a velocipede,but most people called it a "bone shaker" because of the effect of the wood and iron frame. Despite the impolite nickname, the velocipede was a hit. After a few years, the Michaux family was making hundreds of the machines annually, mostly for fun-seeking young people.

Ten years later, James Starley , an English inventor, made several innovations that revolutionized bicycle design. He made the front wheel many times larger than the back wheel, put a gear on the pedals to make the bicycle more efficient,and lightened the wheels by using wire spokes. Although this bicycle was much lighter and less tiring to ride, it was still clumsy, extremely top-heavy,and ridden mostly for entertainment.

It wasn't until 1874 that the first truly modern bicycle appeared on the scene. Invented by another Englishman, H. J. Lawson, the safety bicycle would look familiar to today's cyclists. The safety bicycle had equal-sized wheels, which made it easier to ride. Lawson also attached a chain to the pedals to drive the back wheel. By 1893,the safety bicycle had been further improved with air-filled rubber tires, a diamond-shaped frame, and easy braking. With the improvements provided by Lawson;bicycles became extremely popular and useful for transportation. Today, they are built, used, and enjoyed all over the world.

1. bicycles
2. 1818
3. Germany
4. Kirkpatrick Macmillan
5. blacksmith
6. Scottland
7. iron-covered
8. foot-operated
9. yes
10. yes
11. no
12. Pierre Michaux
13. Frence
14. pedal mechanism
15. 1861
16. James Starley
17. improved design
18. 1874
19. H. J. Lawson
20. 1893

Numbered questions:
1. What is one of the common vehicle in the world?
2. When was it invented?
3. where?
4. Who made a better one then?
5. Who was he?
6. Where was he from?
7. How was his wheels?
8. How about the levers?
9. Is it similar to pedals we have today?
10. Was that bicycle fast enough?
11. Did it resemble anything we have today?
12. Who made next improvements?
13. Where was he from?
14. What he improved?
15. Which year was that?
16. Then who made more improvements?
17. What he did?
18. When did the bicycle looked modern day one?
19. Who invented that?
20. When the air filled tires appeared?

Q: CHAPTER I.

_A YOUNG FAKIR._

"I'm going to try it. Deacon Jones says I can have the right to run both things for ten dollars, and Uncle Nathan is going to lend me money enough to get the stock."

"What scheme have you got in your head now, Teddy Hargreaves?" and Mrs. Fernald looked over her spectacles at the son of her widowed sister, who was literally breathless in his excitement.

"I'm going to run a cane an' knife board at the Peach Bottom fair, and try to make money enough to pay the debt mother owes on the place."

"You're crazy--mad as a March hare! The idea of a child like you setting yourself up to earn three or four hundred dollars, when your father worked all his life and couldn't get so much together."

Mrs. Fernald really appeared to be angry, and she really believed there was good cause why she should lose her temper. The thought that little Teddy--a "whiflet" she called him--should set up his opinion in such matters against his elders, and attempt to earn in one season an amount which Seth Hargreaves had never been able to repay during his thirty-six years of life, was so preposterous that the good lady looked upon the boy's assertion as positive proof that he was not only ready but willing to "fly in the face of Providence."

"I shall try it all the same," Teddy replied in a most provokingly matter-of-fact tone, "an' I'm going down to see Uncle Nathan this very minute."

1. three or four hundred dollars
2. no
3. mad as a March hare
4. Mrs. Fernald
5. his aunt
6. Hargreaves
7. Deacon Jones
8. two
9. ten dollars
10. Uncle Nathan
11. this very minute."
12. the right to run both things
13. yes
14. the Peach Bottom fair
15. a "whiflet"
16. unknown
17. Seth Hargreaves
18. thirty-six
19. Providence
20. excitement

Numbered questions:
1. How much money is a lot of money here?
2. Was Teddy's father able to ever make that much in his life?
3. How crazy is Teddy said to be?
4. Who is really angry?
5. What's her relation to Teddy?
6. What's Teddy's last name?
7. Who says he can have the right to run things?
8. How many things?
9. For how much money?
10. Who's going to lend him it?
11. When's he going to see him?
12. What's he going to buy with the $10?
13. Is his mom in debt?
14. Where does Teddy want to set up shop?
15. What does Mrs. Fernald dismissively call Teddy?
16. How old was Teddy's dad when he (the father) died?
17. What was Teddy's father's name?
18. How old is his father right now?
19. What's Teddy willing to fly in the face of?
20. Why was Teddy breathless?