Q: One hot summer day in August my family and I wanted to go to the beach. We had not gone to the beach in a very long time and felt that today was a great day to do it.

We piled everyone into the car-my mom, my dad, my sister, my dog, and me. I begged mom and dad to let me sit in the front seat, but they said no. I had to sit next to the smelly dog instead for the whole trip.

When we got to the beach and opened the car door our dog raced down to the water to play. I grabbed the large umbrella we brought and walked down to the sand with mom and dad. After we had found a spot, they let me go play in the water.

It felt really good to cool off in the ocean water on such a hot day. As I swam around I saw many cool things, like fish, seaweed, and shells. I brought the interesting shells that I found to a bucket I had on the beach and threw them in. They would be great to add to my collection at home.

When I got tired of swimming, my sister and I wanted to make a sand castle. We built towers using buckets and dug a huge ditch with our shovels. When our castle was complete we were about to take a picture, but then the dog ran it over and smashed it. I was about to yell at the dog, but then mom said it was getting late and we had to go home.

When we got home I was wiped out from playing all day, so I went to sleep almost immediately. It was a very good day that I'll always remember.

Answer the following questions:
1. Who went on the trip to the ocean?
2. Where did you want to sit in the car?
3. Where did you end up sitting?
4. What did your dog do when you first arrived at the ocean?
5. What did you take from your vehicle to the beach?
6. Was this vacation during the summer?
7. Did you swim in the water?
8. What did you find and collect on the beach?
9. where did you put them?
A: 1. my mom, my dad, my sister, my dog, and me.
2. the front seat
3. by the dog
4. to the water to play
5. umbrella
6. yes
7. yes
8. .shells
9. in a bucket

Answer the questions at the end based on the text.

Eight years ago, my 13-year-old son, Dustin, became very ill with a heart enlarged. For several months, he lived on life support as we were forced to stand by and watch him wither away. ks5u

While his friends were out playing baseball, and sleeping in their own beds, my son was in a hospital bed, attached to a machine that kept his heart beating. As a mother, my first reaction after crying was anger, and then I played the bargaining game: "Take my life for his, Lord. I've lived my life but he still has so much to do." People all around me were praying for a heart to become available, but it made me so angry and confused because I knew for that to happen, someone else's child would have to die. How could anyone pray for that?

I still remember so clearly the morning we got the call that there was a heart. As we stood in Dustin's hospital room watching them prepare him for surgery, we experienced the true definition of bittersweet. His dad and I realized that at the precise moment we were standing there with so much hope and so much love, another family somewhere was saying goodbye. We knelt down together and cried, and we prayed for them and we thanked them for giving such a selfless gift. To our amazement, just 10 days later, Dustin got to come home for the first time in many months. He had received a second chance at life. Over the next two years, he got to go to high school, learn to drive and put his brand new heart to good use volunteering at the homeless shelter and helping the elderly.

Dustin's new heart failed him when he was 16. A tragedy, yes, but we have to see it as the miracle it was. We received two precious years with him that we would never have had without organ donation. We have more pictures, more memories and a great satisfaction in knowing that he was able to experience some of the most exciting times and milestones in a teenager's life. When he died, difficult as it was for us, we knew that it would be Dustin's wish to give back. His eyes went to someone who wanted to see. Someone who, perhaps, had never seen the faces of the family he loved so dearly. I believe that one day I will look into the face of someone else's son or daughter, and I will see those sky blue eyes looking back at me -- the evidence of selfless giving.

1. who was on life support?
2. how old is Dustin?
3. who was forced?
4. forced to do what?
5. what was brand new?
6. who would have to die?
7. who was praying?
8. praying for what?
9. did a heart become available?
10. for who was the heart available to?
11. when did he get the heart?
12. did Dustin have heart surgery?
13. Was the surgery a success?
14. how did the surgery succeed?
15. when did Dustin come home?
16. what occurred 10 days later?
17. what did he do when he came home?
18. did he do anything else?
19. what else did he do?

Numbered answers:

A: 1. Dustin
2. 13 years old
3. Dustin's family
4. stand by and watch him wither away
5. his heart
6. someone else's child
7. People all around
8. for a heart to become available
9. yes
10. Dustin
11. in the morning
12. yes
13. yes
14. by allowing Dustin to come home
15. 10 days later
16. Dustin got to come home
17. he went to high school
18. yes
19. he learned to drive

Answer the questions at the end based on the text.

In a very special course at Knnet School, the social-science teacher Adam Smith guides his students through the "married life". Unlike the traditional course, Adam makes his students experience the real problems married ones may face like housing and child care. "No one tells kids about money-managing problems," says Adam.

Each student should act out in ten weeks what normally takes couples ten years to finish. In the first week, one member of each couple is asked to get an after school job -- a real one. During the term, the income rules their life-style. In the third week, the couples must find an apartment they can afford.

In the fifth week, the couples "have a baby" and then struggle to cover the costs of baby clothes and furniture. In week eight, the marriage comes to the breaking point by such disaster as a mother-in-law's moving in or death. It's all over by week ten (the tenth year of marriage). After serious discussion with lawyers about alimony and child support, the students get divorced .

Adam's course, which has "married" 1,000 students since its beginning six years ago, is widely supported by parents and students. Some of the students have found the experience making them realize their real life marry plans are wrong. Marianne Baldrica, 16, who tried "marriage" last term with her boyfriend Eric Zook, 15, said, " Eric and I used to get along pretty well before we took the course together. But I wanted to live in the city, he wanted the country. He wanted lots of kids, I wanted no kids. It's been four weeks since the course ended and Eric and I are just starting to talk to each other again."

1. Who's the teacher?
2. At what school?
3. What does he teach?
4. How long do students have?
5. What must they do the first week?
6. What happens with their income?
7. What must couples do week 3?
8. When do couples give birth?
9. What struggles do they face?
10. What struggles do they face?
11. What is one week eight disaster?
12. How many have married in his course?
13. When did the program begin?
14. Do parents back the program?
15. Who else backs it?
16. How long after the course did Marianne start talking to her boyfriend?
17. What's his name?
18. Age?
19. What about hers?

Numbered answers:

A:
1. Adam Smith
2. Knnet School,
3. social-science
4. ten weeks
5. get a real job
6. rules their life-style
7. find an apartment they can afford.
8. 5th week
9. cover the costs of baby clothes and furniture
10. to cover the costs of baby clothes and furniture.
11. a mother-in-law's moving in or death.
12. 1000
13. six years ago,
14. yes
15. students
16. Four
17. Eric Zook,
18. 15
19. 16