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Cire woke up groggily, thinking about work Here we go again, he thought sleepily. He then got out of bed, brushed his teeth, put on his clothes and went downstairs. Cire’s pocket phone buzzed and he took it out. It was a reminder that said, “Meteorologist Meeting at 10 today”. Cire sighed, as he remembered how boring they could get. His wife, Anna, had already prepared breakfast for the three of them: Cire, herself and their son, Xam. Xam started on his, as Cire was chatting to Anna. “Hey, honey,” Cire said.. “I’m off to work now! I have a meeting today!” “Bring Xam to school first, though!” Anna exclaimed. Cire ruffled his hair. “Let’s go, buddy!” Xam giggled with excitement, as Cire wolfed down his breakfast. He quickly got dressed and then they headed outside and noticed that the car was covered with snow. In Warm-month. What the heck? he thought. It’s the middle of Warm-month! The weather is acting weird. I should mention this at the meeting. He sighed, told Xam to stay by the car and went into his toolshed to get a snow shovel. Cire scooped up some snow and dumped it to the side. However, it was only the tip of the iceberg. The snow was everywhere, from the hood all the way to the windows. A seed of worry grew in his brain, as he realized he might be late for the meeting. Man, Cire thought. This is going to take at least 45 minutes. He sighed, picked up the shovel and got to work. —----------—----------—----------—----------—----------—---------------------------------------- After an hour, he had finally finished it. Cire put the snow shovel back into the tool shed, exhausted. Then, he unlocked the car and helped Xam put on his seatbelt. Cire climbed into the driver’s seat and slowly got out of the driveway. He was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. As soon as his front tires touched the street, the entire car began to slip. Cire noticed and his eyes widened. He frantically looked out of the side window and saw that it was covered with ice. Cire could do nothing as the car slid down the slippery slope. The car crashed into a mailbox, sending letters fluttering in all directions. Xam screamed as the car proceeded to crash into another one. “It’s just a speed bump, Xam,” Cire lied. “Everything’s going to be okay.” However, the seed of worry had transformed into a sprout. They hit a lamppost, sending it toppling to the ground with a terrific CLANG! and Cire nearly fell out of his seat due to the impact. Luckily, the seatbelt saved him from banging his head. Xam started wailing. When they hit a fire hydrant, the sprout in Cire’s mind became a worry flower. Water was spraying everywhere, making the road even more slippery. Cire desperately stamped his foot on the brakes, but to no avail. He heard tires screeching and looked behind his car. There was another one that had suffered the same unfortunate fate as Cire’s. However, this car was way faster than his. Cire exclaimed, “Oh sh-” as the two cars collided in a pile of grinding metal and broken windows. They had reached the bottom of the hill, where other cars were still driving. Cire’s car crashed into another one, sending the bumper flying. The pile of cars grew as Cire’s car smashed into another one, making his windshield shatter, right in the middle of an intersection. The pile grew until Cire hit his head hard on the steering wheel and passed out.

Teddy cycled over to Naomi’s house. The November sun was setting and the light illuminated the slightly rusty and weather-beaten sign that read“Lamero Street”. He knocked on the door and Naomi answered it. “Are you ready to go to the house?” he asked eagerly. “Yeah,” Naomi said, grinning. “I just need to grab the flashlights. One sec.” She quickly dashed to the living room, grabbed the three flashlights (one for her, one for Teddy and one for spare) and she rushed out again. “Good,” Teddy said. “Let’s go.” They ran to the end of the street, where an eerie black, dark and quiet house stood. It was very unkempt and no one knew who lived there. The windows were all boarded up. Naomi and Teddy decided to explore it for any traces of anyone or anything scary. Rumors had it that the house belonged to Teddy’s great-great grandfather, who was supposedly rich. Teddy had dragged Naomi over to the house to look for treasure. “Teddy, are you sure?” Naomi asked. “This place gives me the creeps.” “Don’t be a scaredy-cat,” Teddy said. “We packed for this trip for ages! We can possibly be rich! We can’t stop the expedition before we go in!” “Okay…” Naomi said begrudgingly. Teddy opened the door. It creaked open. Teddy went in first, turning on his flashlight that Naomi gave him. Naomi followed timidly. Just as they stepped in, a cold rush of wind blew the door shut, suspiciously locking it in the process. Teddy banged on the door desperately, but to no avail. “We’re locked in,” Naomi groaned. “What are we going to do?” “Let’s keep going,” Teddy said. “We can find another way out. Plus, we could look for the treasure while we’re at it.” They walked into the living room, which looked disgusting. The walls and floor were covered with stains that neither Teddy nor Naomi could identify. Also, the window’s curtains were all shut. Everything in the room was broken. The TV was smashed, the sofa had 3 legs and the rug was covered in stains. “This is really creepy…” Naomi said. “Maybe we should get out.” “No way!” Teddy exclaimed. “We didn’t even check upstairs yet! We have to keep going!” “Okay…” Naomi said. “Just saying, this place gives me the creeps…” They walked into the kitchen, which was tiny. Naomi’s flashlight illuminated the whole thing. Dirty pots and pans were everywhere, including the floor. The sink smelled horrible, like it was full of bowls that have never been washed. Smashed mugs and dishes were scattered everywhere. Good thing we brought shoes. Teddy thought. They entered the dining room, which had a single lit candle in the middle of a table. A single rocking chair was propped up against a wall. It shook by itself in the cold wind. There was also a very cracked and dusty mirror. When Teddy curiously peered at the reflection, he saw a hooded old man with a wicked look. He screamed and the candle blew out.

“Good morning, class!” Mr. Ziminak said. “Good morning, sir.” the students mumbled. “Let’s try that again. Good morning, class!” he said. “Good morning, sir!” the class said. “Good,” he said. “Today is Monday and we’re going to kick things off with Math!” Everyone groaned. Mr. Ziminak gave them a stern look. As Mr. Ziminak started the lesson with algebra, Penny Purimo started doodling on her notebook. She was a very talkative student, but her grades were low, just like the rest of the class. She was thinking about lunch when- “Penny? Please answer the question on the board.” Mr. Ziminak said. “Umm…” she said flatly. “I dunno.” Mr. Ziminak took a deep breath, desperately trying to control himself. “Penny, I expect more from you. I know you are smart, but you just are too lazy to use your brain.” he said. Penny’s cheeks went pink. “If something like this happens again, you will get after-school detention for a week.” Mr. Ziminak warned. Penny gulped. Luckily, Mr. Ziminak hadn’t lost his temper yet and Penny sighed with relief. Mr. Ziminak then stood up and said,” For homework,-” and he was interrupted by the countless groans from his students. “For homework,” he said, raising his voice a bit. “ I would like you to work on pages 253 to 257 of your math books. Tomorrow , we will start Chapter29: The Measuring System of the United States. The homework will be handed in tomorrow. Then, English class began. Mr. Ziminak opened his file cabinet labelled, “Tests”. He pulled out some papers and began handing them out to students. They looked confused, as they didn’t have an English assessment until Thursday. “Today, there will be an exam. This is a surprise test, so I hoped you stu-” He got cut off again by the many yells and screams from the students. There was an uproar. Penny was shocked and gasped, while other students had a more immediate response. They screamed and yelled. “SILENCE!” Mr. Ziminak thundered and the class shut up. “ Now that you have your tests, I expect you to be silent. Anybody who talks will get detention. Beside Penny, a boy named Frank gulped. “You have 60 minutes. Your time starts…now!” All heads were down, analysing the questions. Penny read the first question: “ 1). What is an idiom? a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words a characteristic mode of expression in music or art C.All of the above” Penny frowned. She only remembered a little bit about idioms from last Wednesday because she had been doodling at that time. Penny was stuck on question one. She glanced at the timer sitting on Mr. Ziminak’s desk. There was 15 minutes left! At that moment, Mr. Ziminak slipped out of the door, no doubt going to the bathroom. `Frank stood up, making noise apart from scratching pencils and rustling paper. All eyes were on him. He sprinted to the front of the class. He went behind the desk and went to his file cabinet. He opened a drawer and leafed through the pages. He bit his lip. Mr. Ziminak had a lot of papers. At this rate, Mr. Ziminak would find Frank and give him a detention. He wondered if there was an alternative. After a while, he got it. He decided to walk up to Adam, the class’ smartest person and ask her what the answers were. After a lot of negotiation, Anna finally caved in. She passed the paper to the person closest to her, Penny. She wasted no time, copying down the answers. She made sure to purposely answer a few questions wrong to avoid suspicion. Then, Penny passed the paper to another student. To speed up the process, Frank suggested that the people who were done should pass the papers to other students. The class obliged. There was only one student left, Carlos. Just then, they heard footsteps coming their way. Carlos panicked and rushed to fill in the answers. He finished. The footsteps got louder. Everyone rushed to find their paper. Luckily, the pile wasn’t too jumbled up. A moment later, Mr. Ziminak entered the room. He looked at the timer. It beeped. “ Time’s up! Everyone please hand in your tests.” he said. Just then, the bell rang and the students dispersed for recess. After recess, Mr. Ziminak greeted the students. “ Good news!’ he said, grinning. “ Everyone passed the test!” The students tried their best to look surprised. It wasn’t easy. “As a treat,” Mr. Ziminak continued. “ There will be no History today. I know it’s your lea-” He got cut off for the third time today. This time though, it was cheers instead of groans and shouts. Mr. Ziminak smiled. “Instead, we will have a double period of Science! We will do a baking soda and vinegar volcano experiment!” he announced. Everyone cheered loudly. Penny grinned, catching Frank’s eye and winking. He winked back.

SPLASH! The water of the raging storm splashed against the wooden hull of Sir Trevor Huxley’s boat, The Amazonite. He was on a mission to travel to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean to study rare animals and plants that were native to the area. On the way, there was a terrible storm. Sir Trevor sat in his room, a handful of people that volunteered to accompany him sitting on the floor, on his bed and at his desk.  The men and women were very frightened of the raging torrent that once guided them along with many voyages. They had encountered plenty of storms, but none like this. Raindrops that were as big as conkers fired across the windows and the deck. Trevor looked out the wet window. He could see big rocks and after that, a beach dotted with palm trees. “LAND HOOOOOO!!!” he cried. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder. Then, came the smell of burning smoke. For one split second, it was as if time had stopped. Everyone froze, then they looked at each other. “Ladies and gentlemen, do you smell the smoke?” Sir Trevor asked. The men and women murmured and nodded in agreement. Suddenly, the people who were sitting on the floor shot up in pain, running out the door. The rest of them realized the boat didn’t move. The lightning must’ve hit the ship’s engine room! Sir Trevor thought. Sir Trevor rushed down to the engine room. He saw that lightning had indeed struck the engine room and the sailors down in the engine room had just been shovelling coal into the furnace when it struck, leaving them fried on the spot. “EVERYONE!” he yelled. “GET INTO THE WATER! THE SHIP IS ON FIRE!” “No!” Trevor recognized the voice, it was his wife. “We should try and put out the fire first!” Trevor nodded in agreement and bellowed, “EVERYONE, GET A PAIL AND TRY TO PUT OUT THE FIRE!” The crew heard the shout and immediately got pails and put the pails in the sea. They quickly ran down to the engine room and extinguished the flames, mourning the ones they had lost. Trevor realized that they landed a stone’s throw away from the island’s sharp rocks. He tied the ship to a rock using a rope and the crew slept in the cabin once again. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. The next morning, Sir Trevor announced, “ I will explore these rocks and see if there is land ahead.” He climbed the rocks, looking out towards the horizon. There it was, the sandy beach ahead, the trees that drooped over the steaming hot sand, and finally, the green-brown slope of a tall hill. Excitement overcame all of Sir Trevor’s worry, grief and anger from the storm last night. “Hey everybody!” he called over his shoulder. “We hit land!” Within a minute, everyone rushed up the rocks to look at the glorious land they sought after months at sea. It looked like paradise. The beaches were scuttled with white shells that seemed to gleam in the sunlight. Sunlight skimmed over the shiny fish scales in the ocean. Palm trees dotted the beaches, monkeys snatching the coconuts right off the tree. This was an ecosystem the crew had never feasted their eyes on. They were stunned into silence. Suddenly, it was broken by the sound of scuttling crabs on the beach beneath their feet. The crabs poked and clawed at them, drawing blood. The crew quickly got out of the way, careful not to step on a crab. “Right,”  Sir Trevor announced. “Since we are stranded here on a remote island, we should try and build a distress signal to call for help. After that, we can collect materials from the ship.” The crew began to build a distress signal out of seashells, palm leaves and other things they could find on the beach. They reached the ship with ease. The crew searched the wreck of the ship. When they all were back on dry land, they had guns, gunpowder, bullets, a toolbox, a few axes, a barrel of meat in salt, a barrel of butter, a barrel of bread, a harpoon, a fishing line, a net and a bow, plus a quiver of arrows. They had also found some animals. There were a few pigs, some goats, chickens, a donkey and two dogs. Sir Trevor and the men decided to cut down a few trees to make a shelter for the night, while the women were on their hands and knees to find some berries and other fruits. The men also got some coconuts.  They also had some crab meat, a bit of the meat from the ship (no one could figure out what kind of meat it was) and some berries the women found to be safe to eat. It was late twilight when the men gathered stones and sticks so they could make a campfire. They roasted the crab meat and they ate the soft, flaky meat. The berries were sweet and everyone loved them. The men and women decided to divide the labour between building the hut and keeping guard over the others. Finally, the hut was complete and the crew was very pleased to see that there wasn’t a trace of it collapsing and that when they lay down on the leaves, it was very comfortable. Sir Trevor shut the door and they all slept peacefully without being so rudely interrupted.

All About Pandas Table of Contents Introduction What are Pandas? Human Activity What we could do to help pandas Conclusion Glossary Sources Introduction Imagine an animal that is black and white, eats a lot of bamboo and as a 2 month old, is impossible to resist. Can you guess what it is? It’s the giant panda! In this book is lots of information about pandas. If you love pandas as much as I do, read on to the next chapter to find out more! What are pandas? Giant pandas may not look like bears, but they are. They belong to the bear family, Ursidae. It contains just about any bear you could think of. Brown bears, black bears, polar bears, sun bears and just about any bear you could think of. For a while in the 1900s, many scientists thought that pandas were more related to raccoons, but recent genetic evidence showed that they are indeed bears. Genetic is the science of heredity Giant pandas live in bamboo forests in remote mountainous regions of western China. The majority can be found in Sichuan province but they also inhabit areas in the neighboring provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Like other bears, pandas could eat meat. However, they’re diet is mostly vegetarian. 99% of their diet is bamboo. However, the plant doesn’t give pandas much energy, so they have to constantly keep eating bamboo. Pandas are an endangered species. That means they are in danger of completely dying out, or becoming extinct. As a result, panda breeding has happened a lot in China, the US, Mexico, Japan and Germany. These humans can help the panda’s population thrive. Population is the For example, when twin pandas are born, the mother panda would only take care of one cub. However, in zoos, scientists and ecologists can make both pandas live healthily. Giant pandas are native to China. It is a very important symbol to the Chinese people. The reason why pandas are endangered is because a major problem has rosen and now there are much less pandas than before. You could learn a little bit more about that in the next chapter. They also have a very low birth rate, which means a mother panda doesn’t have a lot of cubs. They are also helpless without their mothers. They are born blind, pink and no bigger than a stick of butter. When pandas are full grown, they could weigh up to 130 kg or 300 pounds. Human Activity Like I said before, pandas are now facing a very big problem in their habitat. That problem is us, humans. Humans are cutting down bamboo and trees, which is also known as deforestation. Deforestation means that a big chunk of forest is being cut down for land.  The Chinese government has plans to expand cities into that newly deforested land. As a result, pandas are forced to live in dense, isolated mountains. Charities such as the World Wide Fund (WWF) are trying to convince the government to stop these plans legally. You could find out how to save pandas in the next chapter. In 2014,the WWF reported that 30% of the bamboo in China was cut down. A bamboo forest being cut down for land What we could do to help If you would like to save pandas, I would suggest that you should join the  WWF (World Wide Life) or other charities and organizations. You could also donate money to those charities, which will go to research and raise awareness for other people. Remember, a small change could make a big difference. Conclusion Well, that’s all I have to say about the giant panda and all the details about it.  If you would like to know more about giant pandas, go to the Sources page at the back of this book. I think you know a lot more about pandas than before. Why don’t you add a bonus for yourself? Take what you learned about pandas in this book and share it with your friends and family! I’m sure they’ll be amazed to see you with all those panda facts! Even better, you could join the WWF as a researcher and help out desperate animals! However, pandas are not the only endangered species. Thousands, maybe even ten thousands, of  beautiful but delicate creatures are in danger. You could also help these animals and be a zoology legend! Have fun and raise awareness! Glossary genetic - the science of heredity endangered - in danger of dying out completely population - the number of living organisms in a certain place habitat - the place where someone or something lives in deforestation - the clearance of a big forest Sources https://kids.kiddle.co/Population https://www.kiddle.co/i.php?q=WWF+logo#gsc.tab=1&gsc.q=WWF%20logo&gsc.page=1 https://www.kiddle.co/i.php?q=bamboo+forest+being+cut+down#gsc.tab=1&gsc.q=bamboo%20 forest%20being%20cut%20down&gsc.page=1 https://www.brainpop.com/science/diversityoflife/pandas/ https://pklifescience.com/article/321/endangered-animals https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda